News Star Trek Prodigy Cancelled, Season 2 to be shopped around

[fireproof78]

What was described as a series aimed at kids and maybe tweens has turned into a Voyager sequel, introducing the characters that kids and tweens may not know, have no familiarity with and could lose interest since it's veering away from what should be the main characters.

I mean, isn't the point and approach to introduce Star Trek concepts to a newer, and sometimes younger, audience? And isn't Voyager considered by some to be the easiest to rewatch and binge (or something to that effect, based on Netflix data)?

Why would this be less interesting just because people show up the audience doesn't know? They don't know any of them!

 

[KirkusOveractus]

My apologies, I should have prefaced what I said more as my opinion on things. To me, Prodigy should have been a standalone series. If it wanted to be a Voyager sequel, they should do one.

But from what I gathered in the original premise that was out there before the series premiered, it was to be something standalone and different altogether in approach.

Either way, it's a shame that it was pulled altogether from Paramount+, as it had some good moments.

 

[fireproof78]

My apologies, I should have prefaced what I said more as my opinion on things. To me, Prodigy should have been a standalone series. If it wanted to be a Voyager sequel, they should do one.

But from what I gathered in the original premise that was out there before the series premiered, it was to be something standalone and different altogether in approach.

Either way, it's a shame that it was pulled altogether from Paramount+, as it had some good moments.

I can see the point, but if the idea is to hook in a younger audience and introduce concepts from Star Trek, should it have been done more generically or connected to past Trek?

Genuine question, since it often gets tossed about that Trek's greatest strength is it's slavish adherence* to continuity in some fashion.


*tongue in cheek.

 

[KirkusOveractus]

I can see the point, but if the idea is to hook in a younger audience and introduce concepts from Star Trek, should it have been done more generically or connected to past Trek?

Genuine question, since it often gets tossed about that Trek's greatest strength is it's slavish adherence* to continuity in some fashion.


*tongue in cheek.

To me, Prodigy should have been on its own, or at the very least have episodes like the one with the TOS callbacks for one episode and that's it. To me, having Voyager slowly be shoehorned into Prodigy was a mistake.

Concepts from Star Trek can be used quite well without having to use another one of the series as a crutch. Prodigy looked to have been a series to do that, and instead they made it a Voyager sequel.

I think for me it was a letdown, because I was thinking it would have been a chance for Star Trek to do something independent of everything else, to see how it could be done now. Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite Trek series of the streaming era has been SNW for it being pretty consistently good and entertaining. But what got me interested in Prodigy was the thought of it being free of anything else in Trek. Having a nod to TOS or something is fine for an episode, to be that small introduction to new people watching. IMO, it made a mistake by being too reliant on something else when it didn't need to be.

 

[fireproof78]

To me, Prodigy should have been on its own, or at the very least have episodes like the one with the TOS callbacks for one episode and that's it. To me, having Voyager slowly be shoehorned into Prodigy was a mistake.

Concepts from Star Trek can be used quite well without having to use another one of the series as a crutch. Prodigy looked to have been a series to do that, and instead they made it a Voyager sequel.

I think for me it was a letdown, because I was thinking it would have been a chance for Star Trek to do something independent of everything else, to see how it could be done now. Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite Trek series of the streaming era has been SNW for it being pretty consistently good and entertaining. But what got me interested in Prodigy was the thought of it being free of anything else in Trek. Having a nod to TOS or something is fine for an episode, to be that small introduction to new people watching. IMO, it made a mistake by being too reliant on something else when it didn't need to be.

All completely fair. I would not have done it that way, but so far it's "reliant" on Voyager in so far that there are characters from it. To me, this is like saying that one needs to watch "JAG" because some characters from it appear on NCIS. The pull of Prodigy is the characters, even if I would have done it differently.

It doesn't feel too reliant though it does feel needlessly referential. But, again, that's what I'm told is all the rage is that Trek must refer to itself at all costs.

 

[Oddish]

I think that its connection to VOY might be PRO hedging its bets a bit. It's trying to gain an audience from a demographic that Trek has never moved on... so maybe it's also hoping to appeal to a more reliable audience as well: adult Trek fans.

 

[Avro Arrow]

so maybe it's also hoping to appeal to a more reliable audience as well: adult Trek fans.

Well, then... mission accomplished!

(Speaking only for myself, of course. )

 

[Oddish]

Not just you. I was eager for it because I heard Janeway was coming back.

 

[jackoverfull]

I think that its connection to VOY might be PRO hedging its bets a bit. It's trying to gain an audience from a demographic that Trek has never moved on... so maybe it's also hoping to appeal to a more reliable audience as well: adult Trek fans.

and in this they are certainly succeeding. In interesting new fans probably not too much.

 

[Oddish]

Maybe they were hoping to get the Trekkie parents... normally, your kid leaves the room when it's your turn to use the TV, because they're not really interested in Trek... but an animated Trek with cute and relatable characters might encourage them to stick around, and might even interest them in related shows (like Voyager).

 

[fireproof78]

Maybe they were hoping to get the Trekkie parents... normally, your kid leaves the room when it's your turn to use the TV, because they're not really interested in Trek... but an animated Trek with cute and relatable characters might encourage them to stick around, and might even interest them in related shows (like Voyager).

I mean, they would do well to appeal to many people not just one group.

And Star Wars is doing a little kid's show as well. Yet Star Wars is considered a child's franchise. Why do that then? Strange...

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

Per the terms of the tax write-off they can't release season 2 on physical media unless someone else picks the season up. Otherwise the tax write-off becomes null and void.

Damn you Tax Write-Offs!

 

[tomalak301]

Not just you. I was eager for it because I heard Janeway was coming back.

That was why I gave it a chance. That and a few months (or was it a year) before I had watched the Star Wars animated shows and was surprised how much I liked them. I figured if I could like a Star Wars show for Kids, at least give the Trek show for kids a chance and the rest is history.

 

[Wouter]

and in this they are certainly succeeding. In interesting new fans probably not too much.

While the latter may be true, would they have gotten more reach with non-fans/new-fans if they left most or all of the Voyager elements out? I don't think it would make any difference.

And holo-Janeway may be partially an element of Voyager, but it was also an original character with a well-written arc.

It also remains to be seen (let's hope we can take that very literally...) if the current emphasis on Voyager and other legacy elements will be reflected in the actual episodes. After all, even the first season of the show could be described much like S2 has been lately: "Star Trek legend" (Janeway, in two flavours), further legacy characters (Chakotay, Okona, Jellico) and opponents (Ferengi, Borg, Klingons, Romulans) and arguably two episodes that span "x" years of Star Trek history (with x being a suitably high number) between "Kobayashi" and "all the world's a stage". I'd argue that the first of the two managed to do so without feeling like the original characters of Prodigy had to take a back seat (as it was also an episode that changed the dynamic between the characters and furthered the plotline) and also without feeling like it was being needlessly referential.

The other one was more referential IMO, but it also managed to further the plot and deepen the characters, even so.

 

[jackoverfull]

While the latter may be true, would they have gotten more reach with non-fans/new-fans if they left most or all of the Voyager elements out? I don't think it would make any difference.

it would have changed nothing. The problem is that Star Wars is seen as super cool while Star Trek is still seen as something for nerds (even if things DID improve a lot in the last couple of years), so it’s not really an issue of what’s in the show.

in the past years we’ve seen several attempts at gathering to the general public (the Abrams movies, arguably discovery, Prodigy, maybe SNW) or to the older fans (Picard, LDS, SNW does a bit of this too) and results have been far from predictable.

 

[Wouter]

it would have changed nothing. The problem is that Star Wars is seen as super cool while Star Trek is still seen as something for nerds (even if things DID improve a lot in the last couple of years), so it’s not really an issue of what’s in the show.

I agree, it's not very hip at the moment. And star trek does seem to aim strongly at the us market, which was maybe less the case with tng, which was popular in other west leaning countries.

 

[Commander Troi]

Why isn't Star Trek more "hip"? SNW certainly is. Is it simply because more people have Disney+ and therefore more people have seen recent SW? Is it marketing?

 

[Wouter]

Why isn't Star Trek more "hip"? SNW certainly is. Is it simply because more people have Disney+ and therefore more people have seen recent SW? Is it marketing?

There is so much content being made, and star trek sits in an isolated corner on p+. SNW may be popular by some metrics - it's a hit within its niche - but I know (outside the internet) only one person who watches it. Tng had a far wider reach.

Moreover, as a family/children show prodigy also suffers from the tiktok and youtube culture, with the quick rewards associated with those platforms being the norm. It requires patience to follow the story (with a relatively complicated plot and a truncated release ) and on top of that, star trek is associated with nerds and trekkies.

 

[fireproof78]

Why isn't Star Trek more "hip"? SNW certainly is. Is it simply because more people have Disney+ and therefore more people have seen recent SW? Is it marketing?

Public perception. Trek is inaccessible due to mountains of lore, uber serious nature of fans, and limited access with Paramount Plus.

But, even before streaming Trek had a public perception that was uncool.

 

[The Wormhole]

Yeah, Star Trek has always had a reputation of being intellectual and a "thinking man's show" which doesn't translate to success among the masses the way Star Wars or the MCU do with their reputations as action franchises.