Although "Star Trek: Lower Decks" takes place within the greater "Star Trek" canon, there is a parody element to the show. It isn't constantly making fun of its parent franchise, but it does good-naturedly poke fun at the tropes and cliches inherent in the "Star Trek" universe. Therefore, it serves as both a spoof and a legitimate piece of science fiction — kind of like the 2003 Adult Swim series from creator Christopher McCulloch, "The Venture Bros."
In the early days, this show was about a family of (mostly) incompetent adventurers. Scientist Dr. Thaddeus Venture and his boys, Hank and Dean, served primarily as a sendup of classic adventure cartoons. As everything progressed, however, it grew into its own piece of sci-fi adventure, with characters the audience could invest in and storylines that could make them laugh and tug on their heartstrings.
Like a few other titles listed here, it's a hair more adult than "Lower Decks," but that shouldn't be a problem for most viewers. As a work of imaginative storytelling, this is one of those shows that gets its hooks in you and never lets go — even if there are shockingly few seasons over a long period of time. Chances are, once you give it a watch, you'll want to keep going until the "Venture Bros." movie maybe comes out.
