Star Trek TNG Unkillable Redshirts Are The Original Lower Decks
Most Star Trek fans know that the hilarious Lower Decks cartoon takes its name from the “Lower Decks” episode of The Next Generation. But while that episode inspired the show’s name, the inspiration for lowly characters having their own crazy adventures goes back much further. In fact, Star Trek: The Next Generation accidentally perfected the “lower deck” officer idea by using the same actors to play the same background redshirt characters in dozens of episodes.
The Redshirts
Even for a Star Trek story about unkillable redshirts, this is going to get weirder than you think, so you should activate the seatbelt on your captain’s chair. We need to start with the infamous redshirts of The Original Series, who mostly existed to beam down to a planet, find something scary, and get killed in a freaky manner. However, some redshirts managed to survive, including Lieutenant Kyle, a transporter chief who went on to appear in 11 episodes of The Original Series, eight episodes of The Animated Series, and even The Wrath of Khan before returning in Strange New Worlds with a new actor.
Next Generaiton Kept The Tradition Going
In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the redshirt thing was less prominent and also less accurate: in this spinoff, security officers now wore gold uniforms instead of red. Still, there are some memorable “redshirt” deaths in the show, including main character Tasha Yar’s shocking demise in Season 1. In retrospect, what is even more shocking than Yar’s death is how she was outlived by an entire lower decks crew, most of whom never say anything onscreen.
Star Trek: The Next Generation continued The Original Series tradition of reusing familiar redshirts such as Kyle. In Sickbay, for example, medical assistant Martinez is a fixture, appearing in 84 episodes as well as Insurrection and First Contact.
The Extras That Lived
Additionally, Star Trek: The Next Generation had a more literal redshirt (in the dangerous job sense) in the form of security officer Armstrong. Despite working in a job with a high mortality rate, he survived 22 TNG episodes and the first two films, managing to even survive the Borg invasion of the Enterprise-E. Similar to that unsung Star Trek hero is security officer Kellogg, who appears in 41 episodes and the first two TNG movies.
Some Have A Fan Following
It’s tough to decide who Star Trek’s most impressive unkillable redshirt is…in terms of both her many appearances and sheer popularity, that honor might go to Jae, who appeared in 63 episodes and the first three TNG films. In terms of career accomplishments, though, it might go to engineer Russell. He appeared in 62 episodes of The Next Generation as an ensign before getting a promotion and a transfer, later appearing in nine episodes of Voyager.
Inspired The Amazing Lower Decks
All of this is to say that Star Trek: The Next Generation invented the concept of lower decks (as in, lowly officers working even lowlier jobs) long before the show of the same name. It’s clear these background characters are living some pretty full lives, with strong evidence that Jae once dated Captain Picard and Commander Riker (not at once, though). The evidence is conclusive, fans: all of these great background actors and their memorable characters walked so that Boimler and Mariner could run (or, you know…just do the Chu Chu dance)
