Star Trek: Prodigy - Cancellation Averted, With a New Season and a New Audience on Netflix
By John Kirk
Back in 1968, the original Star Trek was on the verge of cancellation. But a letter campaign organized by science fiction fan and writer, Bjo Trimble and her husband John managed to bring the series back from the edge and renewed it for a third season.
There are some who say that Star Trek owes its existence to these two loyal fans. It’s one of the greatest fan legends in Star Trek and I want to come back to it.
Star Trek: Prodigy is the story of a group of juvenile misfits from all different species, imprisoned and enslaved on a desolate asteroid, mining it, searching for an abandoned experimental Federation Starship, The USS Protostar, before their captor, The Diviner (voiced by John Noble), does.
Rumours of Star Trek: Prodigy’s demise were premature.
When the teens find it first, they come together as an ersatz, underdog crew, intent on returning the ship to the Federation and becoming Starfleet cadets. It’s an endearing show that doesn’t just capture the spirit of optimism that Star Trek is known for. It’s charming, vibrant and opens up the universe of Star Trek to a younger and new audience.
As part of a cost-saving measure though, Paramount Plus shocked the Star Trek community with the announcement that this series that had quickly captured the hearts of fans was to be cancelled after the first season. Fans called for them to reverse their decision and after months of deliberation, Netflix announced that they would take over the distribution of the show, saving it from cancellation and assuring a second season.
I had a chance to sit down with co-showrunners, Dan and Kevin Hageman, creators of Star Trek: Prodigy, to get their take on the recent events.
“It’s so nice to be back, talking to the fans about Season One!” Dan said, starting off the interview with the same spirit that sets Prodigy apart from its other Trek counterparts. “It feels great. All the subscribers at Paramount Plus, it’s like they got a sneak preview – now there’s going to be a whole new, different audience!”
It’s refreshing to see the power of fandom asserting itself for good. This is an occasion where Star Trek fans affirm their influence and twice in history manage to save a Star Trek series from obscurity. Star Trek: Prodigy lives, thanks to those fans, and has another home on Netflix instead of Paramount Plus.
I asked the Hagemans how they felt about the fans’ influence on the move.
“We can’t say enough to the fans.” Kevin, said. “They’ve been in this place before! You know, we’re finishing Season Two this Christmas and that support has given our crew such wind in our sails as we were wondering: would we find a new home?”
Dan added: “Where will it be? Those things were unanswered for such a long time. But it was great to see all the banners, the toys selling out – it’s amazing, the support. When we started this job, we had our expectations coming into the Star Trek universe, the fierceness of the fandom and stuff like that, but you know that fierceness turned into such love and I’m so proud to be a part of all that love.”
I brought up the Trimbles to Kevin and Dan.
“Oh, definitely. It’s my hope that we’re repeating history.” Kevin brought up. “It’s also like Lucille Ball and Desilu Studios, only this time, it’s Netflix saving Prodigy. Will there be a Season Three? We’ll have to see.”
“What’s interesting about Netflix, is that it’s going to be a totally new audience.” Dan added. “They have a much bigger animation and family audience. Not to disparage Paramount Plus – they’re a newer streamer. But Netflix has been in the animated game for a longer time. So, it’s really going to be interesting to get to a whole new group of people who have not heard of Star Trek to catch this show and to be introduced to its ideas, values and the IP of Star Trek.”
New audience and a new frontier. It’s not just a story about Star Trek in fiction but one in fact as well. It is testament to the power and the love of the fans who didn’t want to see this show simply disappear.
Of course, that’s also good news to the young dynamic cast, featuring the voice talents of Brett Gray, Ella Purnell, Rylee Alazraqui and Angus Imrie. They’re backed by veteran actors with voice experience like Dee Bradley Baker (American Dad), Jason Mantzoukas and Jameela Jamil (DC League of Superpets).
And with Kate Mulgrew and Robert Beltran reprising their Star Trek: Voyager roles as Kathryn Janeway and Commander Chakotay, it’s not a show that should be so easily discarded.
It should also be remembered that the Hagemans are Emmy winners themselves, and Star Trek: Prodigy received a 2023 TCA Award nomination for “Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming,” along with a 2022 Children’s and Family Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Series. The production designer, Alessandro Taini, won the award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation.
There’s quality in this show and the fans knew it and were heard. Star Trek: Prodigy lives to be seen and welcomed by a younger audience.
“There was a need for Star Trek: Prodigy, and that was really scary.” Kevin said. “Kids aren’t jumping into Trek. The toy shelves are filled with Star Wars toys – not Star Trek. We wanted and knew that this show needed to exist and we need to keep the lifeblood of Star Trek alive by finding young fans.”
Dan added, “The professionals in the fandom that we’ve met – ‘I am an astronaut; ‘I am a scientist,’ and so on – are who they are because of Star Trek. It’s a joy and this needs to continue. No Star Wars fan is going to say ‘I am a Bounty Hunter because of Star Wars!’,” he said with a laugh.
It’s a labour of love for the Hagemans, and it’s a calling to continue this Trek for the sake of a new generation.
The fans today who spoke out for Prodigy might even get their names in the history books for saving another Trek series from cancellation.
Season one of Star Trek: Prodigy debuted on Christmas Day with Season Two to follow in 2024 on CTV Sci-Fi Channel and the CTV app.