Star Trek has long been overlooked by mainstream awards, which historically gave little recognition to genres like science fiction. However, the franchise has received plenty of love from other awards bodies, including the Hugo Awards and the Saturn Awards.
Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds, the two flagship Paramount+ series carrying Trek forward, have each built their own trophy case. But the two shows have not won the same kinds of awards.
Recently, Lower Decks earned recognition from one prestigious awards body that no other recent Trek series has, while Strange New Worlds has established a legacy of its own. Here’s how their wins actually compare.
Star Trek: Lower Decks Has One Prestigious Sci-Fi Award That Strange New Worlds Doesn’t
The Hugo Awards were established to honor the best in science fiction. Covering everything from novels and films to comics and television, the awards are presented at the World Science Fiction Society’s annual convention. While Strange New Worlds has been nominated multiple times, Lower Decks has won once.
Lower Decks won the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form for its series finale, “The New Next Generation.” It beat popular contenders like Agatha All Along, Fallout, and Doctor Who, and it was the only animated nominee in the category. Showrunner Mike McMahan said that winning the Hugo Award was a dream come true (via BSky).
Lower Decks has also won other honors, including the Astra TV Award for Best Supporting Voice-Over Performance for Jack Quaid, the Tell-Tale TV Award for Favorite Animated Series, and the Women’s Image Network Award for Outstanding Actress in an Animated Program for Dawn Lewis. Strange New Worlds has not won any of these awards, despite being nominated for two Hugo Awards.
Strange New Worlds Joins the Franchise’s Legacy with Saturn Awards
While Star Trek: Lower Decks may have made the Hugo Awards its turf, Strange New Worlds has found success at the Saturn Awards. The Saturns have long recognized Star Trek, with the franchise’s shows accumulating wins over the years for actors and individual episodes, and Strange New Worlds has benefited more than once.
The Star Trek franchise had an excellent showing at the 2024 Saturn Awards, earning a total of 14 nominations across three shows. Picard won several of those awards, but Strange New Worlds also came away with a victory: Paul Wesley won Best Guest Performance in a Television Series for playing Captain James T. Kirk.
The first season of Strange New Worlds earned four Saturn Award nominations and one win, while the second season followed with six nominations and another win, giving the series two Saturn victories so far. Lower Decks has received nominations but has not won.
Here are all the awards that Star Trek: Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds have won.
| Star Trek: Lower Decks | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds |
| Hugo Award Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form | Saturn Award Best Science Fiction Television Series |
| Astra TV Award for Best Supporting Voice-Over Performance | Saturn Award Best Guest Star in a Television Series |
| Tell-Tale TV Awards for Favorite Animated Series | Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards Legacy Award |
| Women’s Image Network Awards’ Outstanding Actress | Concept Art Association Award Excellence in Live-Action Series Prop and Vehicle Concept Art |
Which Star Trek show do you like the best? Comment below.
All Star Trek shows are available to stream on Paramount+.
