Spoilers Star Trek: Prodigy General Discussion Thread

[marillion]

I had completely forgotten that S2 was placed on Netflix. I dropped it for a while and didn't give it a passing thought when I re-upped last month. I've been blazing through the episodes and am really enjoying it. The Voyager memberberries aren't too over the top, and in fact, quite awesome. Ok, I'll admit that Wesley is a little too Wil Wheaton, but that's not a bad thing.

 

[Christopher]

Ok, I'll admit that Wesley is a little too Wil Wheaton, but that's not a bad thing.

Oh, absolutely. I've long felt that the character of Wesley totally failed to make use of Wheaton's true talents. Prodigy found a logical way to evolve the character that allows Wheaton to do his thing, making Wesley far more entertaining than he ever was before.

 

[tomalak301]

I had completely forgotten that S2 was placed on Netflix. I dropped it for a while and didn't give it a passing thought when I re-upped last month. I've been blazing through the episodes and am really enjoying it. The Voyager memberberries aren't too over the top, and in fact, quite awesome. Ok, I'll admit that Wesley is a little too Wil Wheaton, but that's not a bad thing.

Kind of matches with what little we got from him in Picard. He was very Wil Wheaton in that little scene to end season 2.

 

[James Cole]

I too, struggled for first few episodes. Show could of definitely started stronger IMO

I almost chalk that up to executive / studio notes to start out being as broadly accessible to the intended audience as possible. "Generic Star Wars animation" vibes and all.

Something very similar happened with STLD... their worst episodes are at the beginning of season 1 (the most RICK & MORTY quasi-generic Adult Swim), only to close with three strong episodes in a row.

Meanwhile, it's been a while now since the season 2 drop and I haven't really been paying attention to any Star Trek news. Any word on how it did in the end? Chart in any rankings? Any hope for a possible season 3 commission?

 

[Christopher]

I almost chalk that up to executive / studio notes to start out being as broadly accessible to the intended audience as possible.

Why would that need to come from the studio? Wasn't that the goal of the creators from the get-go, to make it an on-ramp to Trek for new audiences? That's not a bad thing.

"Generic Star Wars animation" vibes and all.

I will never understand why people think that analogy means anything. First off, all three of the main Star Wars 3D-animated series, The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Resistance, had extremely different animation styles from one another; TCW used stiff, "carved" character designs inspired by Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation, Rebels had more cartoony designs and more fluid and expressive animation, and Resistance was cel-shaded 3D done in a very ugly way that looked like cel-shaded shows from 15 years earlier. There is no such thing as a "generic" Star Wars animation style.

Second, Prodigy's design style doesn't have anything specifically in common with any of the Star Wars shows, any more than any of the dozens of other 3D-animated shows out there. It's actually considerably better animation than the Star Wars shows, or most of the other 3D shows I've seen. It really does it an injustice to compare it to them, and there's no basis for the comparison at all.

 

[trekfan_1]

Why would that need to come from the studio? Wasn't that the goal of the creators from the get-go, to make it an on-ramp to Trek for new audiences? That's not a bad thing.





I will never understand why people think that analogy means anything. First off, all three of the main Star Wars 3D-animated series, The Clone Wars, Rebels, and Resistance, had extremely different animation styles from one another; TCW used stiff, "carved" character designs inspired by Gerry Anderson's Supermarionation, Rebels had more cartoony designs and more fluid and expressive animation, and Resistance was cel-shaded 3D done in a very ugly way that looked like cel-shaded shows from 15 years earlier. There is no such thing as a "generic" Star Wars animation style.

Second, Prodigy's design style doesn't have anything specifically in common with any of the Star Wars shows, any more than any of the dozens of other 3D-animated shows out there. It's actually considerably better animation than the Star Wars shows, or most of the other 3D shows I've seen. It really does it an injustice to compare it to them, and there's no basis for the comparison at all.

There's reality. And then there's perception. Unfortunately, many of my aquentences got tthe Star wars /disney vibe .Ironically many of them havent seen any of the new Star Wars cartoons.. Its like they see Prodigy as what they would imagine a cartoon version of the original SW movie would be like. "Prodigy is like Star Wars" is more of an asumed generalization. .Warented or not, this perception is there.

 

[Christopher]

There's reality. And then there's perception. Unfortunately, many of my aquentences got tthe Star wars /disney vibe .Ironically many of them havent seen any of the new Star Wars cartoons.. Its like they see Prodigy as what they would imagine a cartoon version of the original SW movie would be like.

And that's utterly bizarre to me. Why would people who haven't even seen Star Wars animation jump to that as their default assumption? That seems contradictory. Is it just because they're so genre-illiterate that Star Wars is the only thing they've heard of?

"Prodigy is like Star Wars" is more of an asumed generalization. .Warented or not, this perception is there.

And I hate it when people assume their ignorance of a subject makes them experts on it.

 

[trekfan_1]

And that's utterly bizarre to me. Why would people who haven't even seen Star Wars animation jump to that as their default assumption? That seems contradictory. Is it just because they're so genre-illiterate that Star Wars is the only thing they've heard of?



And I hate it when people assume their ignorance of a subject makes them experts on it.

I think ironically you get this perception from those who that aren't even big Star Wars fans and consider Trek more " intelligent " by comparison. The ones that see yoda stuffed toys and the kids marketing with Star Wars toys in McDonald's kids meals. Then see kids running around on their fathers Star Trek, see some hand to hand combat with kids involved and equate that with light saber dulas and they make that very shallow, superficial comparison. I imagine they see the "chosen one" storyline with the father being a vilian as Star wars-y . Even though those are themes that Trek and many other franchises have explored before . I agree it is very very irritating.

 

[fireproof78]

Warented or not, this perception is there.

Errors of perception should not be rewarded.

 

[trekfan_1]

Errors of perception should not be rewarded.

Agred but perception is subjective. What's the saying? If enough people believe in a lie , it essentially becomes the truth. Unfortunately, perception , word of mouth, even if ignorant, can affect tangible measures like ratings

 

[Christopher]

Agred but perception is subjective. What's the saying? If enough people believe in a lie , it essentially becomes the truth. Unfortunately, perception , word of mouth, even if ignorant, can affect tangible measures like ratings

Umm, that "saying" is actually a quote from Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. It's not just about perception, it's about a technique for actively tricking the masses into believing a lie.

 

[fireproof78]

Agred but perception is subjective. What's the saying? If enough people believe in a lie , it essentially becomes the truth. Unfortunately, perception , word of mouth, even if ignorant, can affect tangible measures like ratings

And that's absurd. One does not keep repeating a lie for the sake of mass appeal.

 

[trekfan_1]

Umm, that "saying" is actually a quote from Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. It's not just about perception, it's about a technique for actively tricking the masses into believing a lie.

And that's absurd. One does not keep repeating a lie for the sake of mass appeal.

Misuse of that quote/ saying not withstanding, absurd or not, misnomers and stigmas are a real thing. And It it could affect media viewership of something.

Even without the dubious Star Wars label, the sad fact is there's alot of people who may otherwise like Star Trek and science fiction, who will not give Prodigy ( Or Lower decks) , the time of day purley because it's animation

 

[fireproof78]

Even without the dubious Star Wars label, the sad fact is there's alot of people who may otherwise like Star Trek and science fiction, who will not give Prodigy ( Or Lower decks) , the time of day purley because it's animation

Some people don't like animation. No stereotyping required.

 

[Christopher]

misnomers and stigmas are a real thing.

Which is exactly why it's important to call them out and offer more accurate information, rather than just shrugging misinformation off as unavoidable. Ignorance can only be cured if it's treated.

Even without the dubious Star Wars label, the sad fact is there's alot of people who may otherwise like Star Trek and science fiction, who will not give Prodigy ( Or Lower decks) , the time of day purley because it's animation

Of course that's a problem, but it's a separate question from why they'd think it resembles Star Wars animation at all, which it really doesn't. The former is sad, the latter is just weird.

 

[137th Gebirg]

Misuse of that quote/ saying not withstanding, absurd or not, misnomers and stigmas are a real thing. And It it could affect media viewership of something.

Even without the dubious Star Wars label, the sad fact is there's alot of people who may otherwise like Star Trek and science fiction, who will not give Prodigy ( Or Lower decks) , the time of day purley because it's animation

I’m not worried. It’s their loss if they want to close their mind to other alternate media formats. You can lead the horse to water, as it were…

 

[Jim Gamma]

Which is exactly why it's important to call them out and offer more accurate information, rather than just shrugging misinformation off as unavoidable. Ignorance can only be cured if it's treated.

But attempts to treat can make people double down. I've attempted to call family members out before for assuming it's "mums" as opposed to "parents" in cafes with small kids before and got told "they're stereotypes for a reason" (which from that family member was translatable as "I'm right, you're wrong, shut up.") I am not saying we shouldn't try, just that we sometimes need to pick and choose our battles.

 

[Christopher]

I am not saying we shouldn't try, just that we sometimes need to pick and choose our battles.

This is a public discussion forum. Conversations here are not one-to-one, but presented before a general audience, including lurkers and visitors referred by search engines. So countering an inaccurate or misleading assertion with accurate information is not necessarily for the benefit of the person who made the inaccurate assertion; it's for the benefit of everyone else who might read the thread, now and in the future.

 

[trekfan_1]

But attempts to treat can make people double down. I've attempted to call family members out before for assuming it's "mums" as opposed to "parents" in cafes with small kids before and got told "they're stereotypes for a reason" (which from that family member was translatable as "I'm right, you're wrong, shut up.") I am not saying we shouldn't try, just that we sometimes need to pick and choose our battles.

I agree. Not stereotyping here. Personal experience, most people are hard to change their minds on something of this nature.. Can cause them to double down and creates an antagonist dynamic. Sometimes it's better to placate and use tact . Especially if it's concerning something that, at the end of the day, is a matter of taste. Even if that taste is derived from a misunderstanding of the facts.

 

[trekfan_1]

This is a public discussion forum. Conversations here are not one-to-one, but presented before a general audience, including lurkers and visitors referred by search engines. So countering an inaccurate or misleading assertion with accurate information is not necessarily for the benefit of the person who made the inaccurate assertion; it's for the benefit of everyone else who might read the thread, now and in the future.

My intial comments about Prodigy"s challenge with kidsy/Star wars /disney stigma is based on my real life interactions outside this forum. With people. Of course this mentality should be challenged in message forums. I for one do not like the comparison to SW so you don't need to convince or counter me.. But many who have those malformed opinions do not go on forums and are prospective viewers . I was just providing word of mouth feedback that I've come across.