‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Showrunners And Writers Nerd Out With Hype And Tidbits For New Series

| June 15, 2021 | By: TrekMovie.com Staff 19 comments so far

Yesterday fans got buzzing after Paramount+ revealed a first look and character and cast details for Star Trek: Prodigy. But it didn’t end there, as many of the people working on the upcoming kids CG-animated series took to social media to show their enthusiasm and join in the discussion.

Showrunners nerd out on Prodigy

Chief among those sharing their enthusiasm was the Emmy-winning Hageman brothers who created Prodigy and are executive producers and showrunners for the new show. Dan and Kevin took to Twitter to share yesterday’s announcement, adding “SO MANY GOODIES TO SHARE! So proud of our cast and first looks!” They also had a rather nerdy reply to Star Trek author David Mack, who is working as a consultant on the series and praised Prodigy as the best new Trek show since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, adding “It has brains, humor, action, and best of all, heart. This is going to rock.”

The Hageman’s reference to Chimerium is a very deep Star Trek cut, referring to a rare mineral invented by Mack, first appearing in one of his Star Trek: Corps of Engineers novels.

The brothers also replied to a fan who was particularly excited about the character Zero, a Medusan described as “genderless” and using genderless pronouns. Dan and Kevin told the fan “Zero is ready to melt some faces.”

And when Larry “Dr. Trek” Nemecek weighed in with his excitement for a Tellarite character (Jankom Pog) as a series regular, the Hagemans promised they will be ready to talk about this character and more soon.

Writers offer tidbits and hype

In response to another fan excited about Jankom Pog, Prodigy writer Aaron Walke offered up some details on how to pronounce his name, along with how to pronounce “Vau N’Akat,” the new species for the character Gwyn.

Walke also showed some of his nerd cred with his response to a fan excited about Zero being a Medusan, by sharing a screenshot of a Medusan from the TOS episode “Is There in Truth No Beauty?”

Prodigy writer Julie Benson also promised there are more reveals to come, as well as saying fans should prepare to “fall in love with the crew: Gwyn, Dal, Murf, Zero, Jankom Pog, and Rok-Tahk.”

Writer Erin McNamara also took to Twitter to praise the artwork from the team led by creative lead Ben Hibon.

Writer Chad Quandt also chimed in to praise the cast.

And finally, writer Shawna Benson shared how excited she is for fans to see the show.

UPDATE: Kate joins the chorus

Late on Tuesday Prodigy star Kate Mulgrew added her voice, asking her fans to welcome the new cast.

Find more Star Trek: Prodigy news and analysis.

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I wasn’t initially that excited for this show, but with the latest reveals and just how ecstatic the cast and crew have been, I’m now really looking forward to this! I’m especially intrigued with how a Federation ship ended back up in the Delta Quadrant, not long after Voyager made it home, and how a Tellarite ended up there as well. I’m hoping we can some fun and crazy sci-fi plots and exploration – something that has been somewhat missing in nuTrek.

I am optimistic as its from creatives on Tales of Arcadia, and I love that franchise.

Ooh, I will have to check that out!

Somehow I have the very strong feeling this series will not disappoint me.

The one thing that I really like about this series is the fact that finally we have mostly alien as a main crew. Of course it makes more sense in animation and probably cheaper to do in animated form rather than live-action but it has been a long time coming for the aliens to take center stage.

LEEROYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Jankom!

>> Star Trek author David Mack, who is working as a consultant on the series and praised Prodigy as the best new Trek show since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

That sounds like honest and impartial opinion. I’m gonna go with it XD

Yeah, haha, I thought of Larry when I saw the Tellarite BOMBSHELL. Sometimes dreams do come true.

They/them is not genderless, it’s plural. For a single being? WTF? I know ‘it’ is probably not an option, but still ;-)

They is absolutely fine to use when the gender is unknown/not specified. Has been for donkeys’ years. They as an individual pronoun used by people is new, yes, but it’s better than inventing a new word. You wouldn’t use “it” for a human, and I doubt we would use it for a sentient race. For a species that doesn’t have gender or sex in ways we understand, I think is a non-issue. I don’t think we can even call this non-binary representation (but if people feel represented by this character, great!)

Oh, come on. Are you kidding me. In formal German we address EVERYONE in the third person plural.

But beside of that, I’m also not a fan of the they/them thing, if I’m honest

Get with the times.

You certainly use it when you don’t know the gender of the person. For example, if you find an iPhone on the sidewalk you say:

“I wonder who this belongs to? They are probably worried. I will be glad to find them and give it back to them.”

See? No use of gender. Also not plural.

I don’t see it. For me it’s plural

They refers to someone who is non-binary so it makes sense for it to be plural. Many queer folks use it as well being that they don’t just fit in a male or female box but navigate between them. Again, because of that, plural makes sense in that.

It is well-established term. Closing thread

Just for the record, in the original episode, the Medusan is referred to as “he” and “it” (the later derogatorily) and refers to himself as “I” and “us” (although that’s both because he merges with Spock and speaks for his whole species). Gender, or lack thereof, never really comes up. But that’s to be expected.

I’m not saying this should, or shouldn’t, have any effect here. Just reporting. I leave my own opinion out of this for obvious reasons.

I seem to recall a source- the TNG technical manual, maybe? Or maybe the earlier Officer’s Manual- that stated that there were Medusans on the Enterprise-D as navigators. Of course, the blueprints had dolphins (or whales?) on board in that capacity, I think based on an on-screen sign.

Hmm… For a endogenous alien it is unfortunate English doesn’t have neuter definite articles and pronouns like some languages do. Would make things easier.

Not really, in German for example there is one, but can not be used because it would be percived as very derogatory.

I wonder how it is in Turkish with no grammatical gender at all.