Paramount Exec Vows “This Will Not Be The End” For ‘Star Trek: Prodigy,’ Talks Up Season 2

(Jason Meier)

| July 25, 2023 | By: Anthony Pascale 28 comments so far

At San Diego Comic-Con, Paramount and CBS Studios celebrated 50 years of Star Trek animation, which began with Star Trek: The Animated Series in 1973. The announcements for the 50th anniversary celebration included new animated shorts, special screenings of Lower Decks, and more. But one thing loomed over the panel: last month’s removal of Star Trek: Prodigy from Paramount+. But Prodigy still got some love, and there are some Prodigy products coming soon.

Prodigy lives at SDCC 2023

Before getting to the main news of the panel, Paramount Vice President of Star Trek Brand Development John Van Citters took a moment to talk about Prodigy and how the company is still committed to the future of the series:

First and foremost, I don’t think we could have a panel celebrating Star Trek animation without addressing kind of the 800-pound Rok-tahk in the room, Star Trek: Prodigy. We all know that Prodigy is not currently available on Paramount+. But this isn’t the end of the story for Prodigy. Season 2 is still in production. The creative team is working hard to finish what is a great storyline and we’re working to find Prodigy a new home.

When it was first announced in June that Paramount Global would be removing a number of series from Paramount+, the company said it was to try to find a new streaming home for both the first and second seasons of Prodigy.

At Comic-Con, Van Citters, who has been part of the Star Trek family for decades, also talked about what the show means to him and to the franchise:

I personally love Star Trek: Prodigy, having known what the Hagemans and everyone have been working on for years. This won’t be the end of Dal, Gwyn, Rok-Tahk, Zero, and especially Murf. As you know, he is indestructible. They’re still part of Star Trek. They are part of the canon. They always will be… Star Trek and its fans are always full of surprises. This is a universe that is filled with hope and possibility. And the crew members of the Protostar are absolutely perfect examples of that. This will not be the end of that crew.

John Van Citters speaking about Prodigy at San Diego Comic-Con 2023 (Photo: TrekMovie.com)

Season 1, Volume 2 Blu-ray/DVD available for pre-order

To demonstrate the continuing commitment to Prodigy, episodes 11-20 of season 1 have been released digitally, and they are also coming to Blu-ray and DVD on September 26.  Both are available for pre-order at Amazon. The Blu-ray is priced at $21.99 and the DVD is priced at $17.99.

Prodigy book coming next week

Van Citters also said Paramount is still working on Prodigy-related merchandise, noting a new book arrives on August 1st. The middle grade novel, written by Cassandra Rose Clarke, is titled Escape Route. Here is a synopsis:

The crew is on their way to Starfleet. Their shuttle is cramped, and everyone is cranky. That’s when Murf spots a moon that isn’t on their charts. Murf really wants to go there, so the crew decides to make a stop to stretch their legs and get some supplies.

But a small detour turns into a big dilemma when the inhabitants of the moon ask Murf to stay with them. The rest of the crew begins to wonder if this is a sign. Could it be time for each of them to go their separate ways?

You can pre-order it at Amazon in hardcover for $12.99 or paperback for $6.99.

The Prodigy team is keeping the faith

Yesterday the petition to save Prodigy passed 30,000 signatures, and this milestone was celebrated by co-creators Dan and Kevin Hageman.

Co-executive producer Aaron Waltke also thanked the fans for their support.

Finally, the header image for this article comes courtesy of Prodigy CG supervising director Jason Meier, who made it as a thank you to all the fans.

Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.

We may link to products to buy on Amazon in our articles; these are customized affiliate links that support TrekMovie by earning a small commission when you purchase through them.

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Well this is good to hear at least and it sounds like they are committed to season 2 being shown with a new home. I’m sorry I’m still bitter about it as I imagine many are. I have said many times this was my favorite new show. It felt very Star Trek in all the ways that mattered, but still felt different from the others. I was actually worried about this show being cancelled first than all the others and sadly, I was only off by one show. But hopefully he’s right and this isn’t the end for it. And I just found out a Futurama reboot is out on Hulu that started like yesterday. That’s another animated show that just won’t die no matter how many times they tried lol. So there is hope.

And it’s great it got so many signatures with the petition and now slightly passed the original Pike show petition by a few hundred. Still only half of where Legacy is at with 62 thousand, but 30 thousand is very impressive for a show like this.

Yeah I am amazed at the resilience of Futurama too. I still remember their Star Trek Homage episode. Welshy….

Hope their commitment doesn’t go along with the “upcoming” Kelvin movie.

Good Point!

LOL, oy! I will say though the major difference is the season is finished and all the money has already been spent to make it. It’s just a matter of someone picking it up to air it unlike another Kelvin movie where they can’t seem to even agree on a script, much less have the money to make it.

But yeah it’s not a done deal until someone buys it.

Not sure what they were thinking. These abrupt changes are totally rude/insensitive to their audience. Fans and no fans.

Really hope they retract, apologize, and upload the show again, back to Paramount+.

Prodigy is not the Star Wars Holiday Special. This show is superb in all aspects. A great show not only for children, but also for groups of all ages.

It is impossible they are not making profits.

I read an article on another site today that says Prodigy is one of the most sought after shows on streaming.

I can see the logic behind that. Paramount thought it would bring in lots of new viewers who were young, but obviously it was the same adult star trek fans. Another service would probably hope to get that fan base over to them.

Kids think Star Trek is Basic.

See? I knew this was just a tactic to get people to rally around the show. Cancel something. Get people to talk it up and back it. Bring it back so people feel they won. Free press. It’s a win for everyone.

Damage control. They’re getting killed with bad press. They’re “committed” to a show that they love that they canceled dirty and shelved, and expect people to buy that.

I think it might be more that its different people saying different things. I’m sure that the Vice President of Star Trek brand development was not involved in the decision to cancel Prodigy. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he is somewhat annoyed with the higher ups who did cancel the show, because I’m sure that makes his job more difficult.

Maybe, maybe not. I’m sure Kurtzman and his staff have nothing to do with it. They’re hired to make the content. The VP of Star Trek may have been tasked with cutting the budget and recommending which series to shelve. We don’t know how high up he goes.

Perhaps. I’m under the impression it comes from “Paramount” being this ginormous corporation divided into multiple little fiefdoms, though, which might occasionally not work in sync or might even be at odds, and that it was the streaming division, Paramount+, that canceled it, while CBS Studios is apparently still quite committed to it.

I will say that of the numerous productions recently not just cancelled for any further episodes but entirely dumped unceremoniously from (HBO) Max, Disney+, and Paramount+ to cut costs, Star Trek: Prodigy is the only one I’m hearing anything about that indicates it might still have a future.

How can Paramount be “committed” to a show that they didn’t just cancel, they completely scrubbed from their streaming service? They essentially *erased* it- all for a tax write off.

I’m glad they talked about the elephant in the room at SDCC, but let’s not pretend that they still care about it.

Or they’re trying to figure out the logistics of pivoting back to it now they suddenly think it’s worth more than they previously believed. Ironically the very act of cancelling it and sparking a pushback may have led to that situation.

I think it’s going to be released straight to home video. And, my guess, is that they are giving the Prodigy creators time to rework S2 to close up the series, similar to Disco S5. But, I’m always wrong.

Why doest all this “stuff” about Prodigy sound like nothing more than “hush money” towards the fans. Oh look we cancelled the show and completely erased it but we will also give you guys some stuff just so you could shut up about it.

Agreed. The ‘higher ups’ motives appear disingenuous at best here. No surprise the creators and producers are still talking it up, especially at a fan conference, but overall the whole thing reeks to me. I hope the show finds a new home at a totally different studio.

That seems unlikely. I don’t think releasing some merch will make the fans shut up, and I don’t think that the executives really care whether or not fans are complaining.

There is something sadly appropriate that the one Secret Hideout Trek show that doesn’t outright suck is the one they unceremoniously dumped. But that seems to be the way things are going right now.

Wait!

Doesn’t this Exec know that Phil and Denny C on Trekmovie said this could not happen and to move on (Phil) and that there would be no group discussion among the Paramount brass and Trek producers group on Prodigy’s fate (Denny C)?

Did they mean to tell us here that Phil and Denny C aren’t being included in these meetings at Paramount Studios?

Please say it isn’t so Paramount? Please bring Phil and Denny C back into your inner circle braintrust on this!

Speculation: is the cancellation a ploy to increase home media sells since P+ is in dire straits and needs a source of cash?

Uh… enough with the conspiracies

You’re right. It does sound far-fetched.

I don’t see the point of any of that. And isn’t the point of the studio needing cash is reason why they are selling it off in the first place?

Ok. Good Point!

So did Paramount+ cancel the show or Nickelodeon?