# Star Trek: Lower Decks

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-lower-decks/

20 people recommended Star Trek: Lower Decks in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 4 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 10 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Fans call it a love letter to classic Trek, with strong later seasons after a rough first season. Critics point to that weak opening season and visuals that felt distant.

Summary written by Claude from 29 comments. It was written before the November 2026 recount, and 26 of those comments still count.

## Why people recommend it

- Favorite or strongest new Trek spin-off (3 comments in the sample): "Lower Decks is one of my favorite star trek shows, and I normally don't click with animated series." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47398246)) "I have a hard time saying Lower Decks is my favorite Star Trek show, but it really kind of is." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49987949)) "I actually think Lower Decks (post season 1) was the strongest spin off in new Trek." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50315302))
- Love letter to classic Trek (2 comments in the sample): "Lower Decks which was a love letter to classic Trek" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47735696)) "It’s more like a love letter to TOS." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47393298))
- Stronger later seasons after rough start (2 comments in the sample): "Lower Decks in traditional Trek fashion had a rough season 1 but was stronger later" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47393248)) "Took a while to find itself but finished strong." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49987373))
- Accessible, fun Trek energy (2 comments in the sample): "I think it's a very welcome tone change, and it's very accessible to people who haven't watched much of Star Trek" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50314031)) "Lower Decks was absolute blast with so much Star Trek energy in it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49692926))

## Other animated series people recommend

- [South Park](https://hackerapproved.com/p/south-park/): 14 recommend, 5 mixed, 7 criticize
- [The Simpsons](https://hackerapproved.com/p/simpsons/): 11 recommend, 2 mixed, 14 criticize
- [Arcane](https://hackerapproved.com/p/arcane/): 10 recommend, 2 mixed, 1 criticize
- [Neural Viz](https://hackerapproved.com/p/neural-viz/): 9 recommend, 1 mixed, 2 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Star Trek: Lower Decks", https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-trek-lower-decks/ (20 recommend, 2 mixed, 4 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.