Almost four months after being removed from Paramount+, the animated series Star Trek: Prodigy has found a new streaming home. The show is headed to Netflix.
Prodigy saved… on Netflix!
The news was first reported by Variety, but has also been confirmed by CBS Studios: Netflix has picked up Prodigy. The first season will debut later this year, and the second season (which was never released on Paramount+) is coming in 2024. Today’s announcement confirms Prodigy is coming to Netflix in the USA. [International update] Additional Netflix territories are expected to be announced closer to the launch of season one in the USA later this year.
The removal of Prodigy from Paramount+ was part of a larger series of cost-cutting moves made by the streamer. This is the first removed Paramount+ show that has found a new home. It is also the first original Star Trek show in the new era that will exist exclusively outside of Paramount+ in the USA. After the removal from Paramount+, an active #SaveStarTrekProdigy fan campaign emerged, which included flying a banner above the Hollywood offices of potential new homes for the show (with Netflix among them).
Save Star Trek Prodigy banner flies over Netflix offices in Hollywood in August (Photo: Aaron Harvey)
Producers and Mulgrew celebrate the news
Co-creators and showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman and star Kate Mulgrew sent out a message to fans via the official announcement:
“Thank you to our incredible ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ fans, who championed not just a show, but a community that’s always been connected by the belief that we build a better future together,” said executive producer Alex Kurtzman and co-showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman. “We set out to inspire you, but you inspired us. The team is still hard at work on the second season, and we can’t wait to share it with the amazing fans around the world.”
“I’ve always held that the Star Trek fan base is among the strongest and most intelligent in the world. They have shown their collective passion, and we’re happy to be able to celebrate Prodigy once again,” said Kate Mulgrew, voice of Admiral Janeway.
The Hagemans also sent out a special message to fans on social media:
A message to our incredible fans from us and @Alex_Kurtzman. Happy to share that #StarTrekProdigy has found a NEW HOME! Star Trek: Prodigy is coming to @Netflix later in 2023, and all-new episodes in 2024.#SAVEDStarTrekProdigy pic.twitter.com/3VhYMDZQKm
— Dan & Kevin Hageman (@brothershageman) October 11, 2023
Season 2 in the “final mix”… promises return of a rivalry
The first 20-episode season wrapped up on Paramount+ in December of 2022. At the time, work on the second season of 20 episodes was already well underway. When the show was removed from Paramount+ in June Paramount made it clear that work would continue as they searched for a new home for the series. A teaser clip for the second season was released during the 57 Year Mission convention in August, revealing it will feature the USS Voyager-A and the return of The Doctor from Star Trek: Voyager (voiced by Robert Picardo).
Screenshot from clip of Robert Picardo’s The Doctor in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 (startrek.com)
In a recent TrekMovie interview, co-executive producer Aaron Waltke confirmed the team should be finished with all 20 episodes of season 2 by the end of this year or early 2024. Originally, Paramount+ had planned to debut the first half of the season in the winter of 2023. Recently, Waltke gave an update on the season, teasing one of the plotlines for an episode that will explore one of the franchise’s “most fascinating rivalries.”
Recently watched the final mix for another episode of #StarTrekProdigy Season 2 — one that finally explores the aftermath of one of the most fascinating rivalries in the franchise's history. You are not prepared. 💫🖖
— Aaron J. Waltke (@GoodAaron) September 26, 2023
This is a developing story, so stay tuned for more updates.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
Hooray!
Awesome news though they paid Netflix millions to get Discovery back only to end it after the 5th season and then they pulled Prodigy from Paramount to sell to Netflix?
Strange as hell. I understand why they bought the international rights back from Netflix as Discovery is a big ratings hit for Paramount and they only canceled it because they were (and still are) having major money trouble and had to cancel some of their bigger budget shows.
But i had hoped that Prodigy have good ratings since it was a really good show but i guess this shows that it wasn’t a success for Paramount.
I get the impression that it was the poor performance on Nickelodeon that was the issue for Paramount. The show was supposed to engage with a younger audience and it clearly failed in that regard. That’s not necessarily an issue for Netflix, they’ve been investing heavily in animated content and they don’t have a vested interest in making Star Trek accessible to kids. Whilst I envisage that they’ll still keep a family friendly tone for the show it’s success will be purely determined by the numbers and they won’t care if it’s mostly older Star Trek fans that are watching it. Incidentally I could see the Academy show running into similar issue. Long-term fans might love it but if it doesn’t engage with their target demographic and grow the audience then it will likely be considered a failure and shopped around.
Yup…, I concur with your assessment! 60 y/o here, and I love Prodigy!
Though sometimes…, it did kind of have a dark star wars feel to it.
But I’m glad netflix picked it up, because like Kurtzman & Mulgrew said…,
I believe it will find a larger base with older & younger viewers on NF.
Besides…, Janeway is the bomb!
That’s one of the main reasons I watch prodigy, and with them bringing in the doctor in the 2nd season, makes it even better! I loved the doctor’s humor.
While I do like the kid friendly format…, I’d like to see them add a little more Lower Deck spice to the action.., meaning I enjoy LD, because of references to ST universe, and their occasional off color speech. I don’t know if you could do that with PRO because it geared for a younger audience, but I would like for them to bump it up a notch.
I also like the Character Dal…., kind of a Disney “Aladdin” of ST with his charming self.
Also, I just learned recently that the Actor that plays Jankom Pog, that his voice sounded vaguely familiar.
One day I was watching the TV and this Mucinex commercial came on with this character that was green and looked like a loogie.
That the same voice that Jankom Pog uses I thought,
and looked it up, and sure enough it was him.
Yup, I concur with you there as well. It’s how it will be written.
Will it be 90210 in Sanfran, or will it be more about stories like when wes crusher (TNG) was in the incident with the NOVA squadron in SFleet?
Not sure about Sec 31 though…, seems kind of dark/militaristic for starfleet, but who knows?
If they gave me two show that I could produce on ST (In my dreams)
1) Would be “Klingon Court” in the ST VI ” The Undiscovered Country” Style.
2) Also a documentary style where past character talked/reflected on past missions/ships.
To get a feel of what I’m talking about, go to u tube and look up,
“Prelude to Axanar”
Brilliantly laid out with interviews with past klingon and SF captains and officers talking strategy and ships.
I could see Trip (ENT) doing well in this format.
Different timeline…, but I’d love to see trip & parris as buddies in a crossover of some type.
Ok… this was way to long…, but I was excited to see Prodigy back! : )
As much as folks complain about the “writing” of the new shows…P2A has some absolutely abominable teleplay.
The front half of season1 was surprisingly decent. But I would agree that the writing, and the show overall really dropped off in the 2nd half. And honestly them finding Star Fleet totally felt like a series ending event.
P2A = Prelude to Axanar.
Sorry. Was unaware of that abbreviation.
The only fan production I’ve seen has been Continues. Which honestly was better than about 95% of what Secret Hideout has done. And for a ton less $$ too.
This was an amazing post Ajay and agree with nearly all of it! It’s great to see older fans so enthusiastic about Trek, especially with the more modern shows like Prodigy and LDS!
Agreed, nice post. Thoughtful.
Some nice ideas Ajay. I have seen Prelude to.Xanar, Its an interesting idea, I don’t know if I could necessarily see the docudrama approach working for a full series but it would be a novel approach for an episode or ‘special presentation’. SNW would be ideal for this, it could even be a way of bringing in surviving legacy actors like Shatner or Takei who could be contributing to a documentary based on an incident at the beginning of their careers.
I don’t think Academy is being geared to a younger audience. It’s the next flagship Trek show.
I’d be surprised if they’re not targeting a younger demographic but maybe I’m oversimplifying things. It’s still a sequel series to DSC so they’ll still be counting on that audience and I think that every Trek project will still try to find ways to appeal to the core fans even if they’re trying to modernise the storytelling. Unlike Prodigy this will be solely on Paramount+ so maybe they’ll be more forgiving of it doesn’t bring in younger fans. As a Trek fan I don’t want to see any new show fail.
I agree with all of this. It really does sound like PRO had the same issues that TAS had and that it was supposedly a kids show that was being less watched by kids, but more by adults. Nickelodean probably didn’t see enough kids watching and that’s who all the commercials were aimed for so it was gone.
And I also think by marketing so hard it was a ‘kids show’ kept a lot of the older casual fans away too. If they made it more clear it’s a family show for everyone (this and SNW really are the only family shows in modern Trek right now) then the reception would’ve been stronger. But it’s amazing how many posts I saw from fans on other sites saying because they don’t have kids, they don’t have an interest in the show as if that was a precursor.
But being on Netflix, as you said, they won’t care if less kids are watching. And now they can market season 2 much differently and make it clear to the adults they scared off the show is for them too. I mean we’re all watching it and (most of us) love it, even more than a lot of the adult live action shows; so that really does say a lot.
And we’ll see about the Academy show. I’m being optimistic about it either way.
Yeah I think Netflix are just happy to have new Star Trek content on their platform. If it does well then I’m sure we’ll get season 3. An Academy show would not be my first choice for a new Trek series but even if I have a few criticisms I’ve still enjoyed all of the Kurtzman shows so like you, I’ll keep an open mind and remain optimistic.
I’ve been watching ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ for the first time in my 30s. The high school seasons did feel a bit odd, but I can’t say the fact that most of the characters are younger than me is a problem. Hopefully ‘Starfleet Academy’ will be similar.
“‘You Couldn’t Live with Your Own Failure, Where Did that Bring You? Back to Me.'” — Netflix…
Internationally, at least in Latinoamerica, it joins The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, which still stream on Netflix here (Picard does on Prime Video).
Same here in Sweden!
Nice.
Hallåj från Sverige också!
In France we have Picard on Prime + Lower Decks (but only S01/S02, dont know if the rest will come))
Lower Decks is only on P+ here.
When I was recently in the Philippines, I couldn’t access Paramount Plus but was pleasantly surprised to find Star Trek on Netflix.
I hope they never remove it.
LOL I remember being in the Philippines the first season of Discovery and was happy to see it land on my Netflix there as an American. I thought I was going to have to wait until I got back home to watch the next episode.
Excellent news. I hope Netflix does a season 3 as well, but for now I’m just excited that we’re getting season 2.
If the ratings are as bad as it was on Nick and P+ then don’t hold your breath.
“As of August 2023, Paramount+ had 61 million subscribers. This was up from 60 million subscribers in the previous quarter.”
“As of the second quarter of 2023, Netflix had 238.39 million paid subscribers worldwide. This was an increase of 5.9 million subscribers from the previous quarter.”
More people are likely to watch Prodigy on Netflix than they did on Paramount+.
You need to remember that Prodigy was a Nickelodeon show and was never intended to be shown on Paramount+. The ratings on Nickelodeon was what really caused the cancellation. Also I don’t think Star Trek fans carry that much weight on Netflix.
Well, here many of the classic series have a sort of note that says words to the effect of “Most watched show by subscribers”, or “members”. Something like that. So, they’re certainly still very popular.
Those shows were removed years ago. In the US at least.
In the US. Not here and, going by an above comment, Sweden.
TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT are on Netflix in most of the world. From my understanding in the USA, they’re on Paramount+ and in Canada on Crave.
Yeah the classic shows are still on Netflix worldwide in 200 countries (minus China sadly). I’m convinced that’s why those shows have all gotten a second life today with newer and younger fans because A. they are seen in more places than they ever been and B. Just more accessible/easier to find.
I still remember talking to a girl from the Philippines on Reddit a year ago who got into Star Trek by watching Enterprise. She was only 15 and had never even heard of Star Trek until she started watching it on Netflix. Now she wanted to watch it all and was asking people what should she try next after she finished ENT.
That’s the difference in a giant global streamer like Netflix vs something like Paramount+ (which is still not in the Philippines, at least legally, among many others).
…good points, Tiger. And for those of us here in the US, a bit of humble perspective.
Thanks Danpaine! I’m just happy to see the show reach people it probably wouldn’t have without the ease we have now. And sadly it’s unheard of to find Trek playing on TV in most Asian countries, but now it’s in everyone’s pocket basically if they have a phone and Wifi (which is the main source for the internet for most in the Philippines).
There’s no telling what kind of viewership numbers it’ll need for Netflix to order a third season, and even if it happens we’ll have to wait an inordinately long time for it anyway. If nothing else, though, in a matter of months this will double the total amount of Star Trek: Prodigy we can watch, and that’s a very welcome turn of events.
Whether it gets renewed for S3 or not, more people will be able to see it, since Netflix has wayyyy more subscribers than Paramount+, so that’s a win in and of itself.
Exactly! Of course as fans, we’re always thinking what’s next, but we have to take one battle at a time. Just to have PRO back and on Netflix is a huge win in itself. Being able to see season 2 is the biggest win for old fans. But it’s just nice it has a permanent home (again) now that people will hopefully find in the years to come even if it doesn’t go beyond season 2. That WAS the entire point of making all these IP shows in the first place, to be an anchor for old and new fans to find years long after they been cancelled.
But I guess someone needed to remind Paramount about that before they got rid of it.
Me too bro!
I’m just happy we are getting second season now. Anything beyond that is a plus. And Netflix has real viewers so way more people will be exposed to it now unlike P+ which has only a quarter of the subs Netflix has and may not even be around in a few years lol.
All of NuTrek might end up back on that site with old Trek if P+ dies off.
That’s the crazy thing, if P+ falls, streamers like Netflix may eventually be the home of all Trek shows like they originally wanted. Now that may not ever happen obviously and P+ could survive in the long run, but I don’t think anyone would be that shocked if we start watching more Trek shows on other streaming services the way things are going even if it does survive. P+ probably makes more money licensing the shows and movies to others than having them exclusively as they originally thought. Nearly every streamer out there is now moving shows/movies to other places just to survive.
PRO may not be the last Trek show being shown someplace else in America when all of this is done.
I can see that as well and LDS could be the next battle if P+ really does try to cancel it after next season.
Now there is another possibility out there and a different service could keep it going. I know it’s more complicated since I doubt Paramount will just boot the entire show like they did Prodigy… but give it time. 🙄
I think both Netflix and Amazon still want Star Trek in their library, so I wouldn’t be surprised another show can land on one of those.
Any that might even include the Legacy show if Paramount pass on it or just don’t have the money to make it. Give it to one of them instead! 😁
Cool! The current home of the Power Rangers is now the new home of Star Trek: Prodigy! Gee, I’m so ready for season two and beyond! Go fast!
Better Netflix than Tubi
Tubi is good enough for a free service!
Tubi just keeps recommending me weird adult movies.
Good news, but unless I am reading this wrong, this still seems far from a re-launch given Netflix has not committed to funding a third season, right?
This is simply offering to stream eps that have already been completed (including S2 un-aired eps), right?
So this isn’t, like say, the equivalent of Amazon taking on The Expanse.
Right, there´s no news of season 3. I´m guessing it very much depends on viewership. If people watch and talk about the show Netflix will see there´s interest for more.
That’s probably the case but this is still amazing news! And I think it’s safe to say fans will be laser focused on season 2 now lol.
At least the original storyline will be complete. 😎
A kids show that kids don’t watch won’t make that much talk.
Oddly Prodigy getting the boot from P+ has made the show much more talked about than when it was running lol. I think season 3 is in the cards but we won’t know anything until we see how well season 2 does first.
Amazon funded more seasons for that show.
YEEEEEEAAAHHH!!!!!!
INCREDIBLE NEWS!!!
I’m so happy right now! One of the best Trek shows ever is not only coming back but is on one the biggest streamers in the world. Hopefully it means we can now get more seasons too, but it will just be great to have the show air it’s second season and now we get the kids back along with Admiral Janeway, the Doctor and Voyager A. Something to look forward to!!! 😀👍
And I know I’m waaay jumping the gun here but maybe LDS can continue on Netflix in season 6 if P+ is too broke to keep that going as well. I’m just thinking out loud.
Happy day man. Happy day.
Happy to see Prodigy come to Netflix.
At least the earlier seasons of Lower Decks are available on Amazon Prime outside the US so the show may also end up there if Paramount+ decides not to continue it.
I actually thought the show would end up Amazon in America too since Netflix got so burned with Discovery.
I definitely think LDS could end up on Amazon as well since it’s still there in a few other markets. P+ just doesn’t have the audience that Amazon and Netflix has so it’s a win IMO. Discovery could even have a sixth season if it stayed on Netflix.
Even though I own S1 on bluray, I’m going to watch it a couple hundred times on Netflix just to support Prodigy.
For sure. And I have season one on digital but I’m still going to rewatch it on Netflix before season 2 starts.
P+ is not broke; it’s called corporate greed. And let’s remember, P+ isn’t just original content. It’s also all first-run content for CBS’ live broadcast network. You can’t watch CBS shows like the FBI franchise or Survivor or The Amazing Race on Hulu anymore (even though they may have older seasons); just like NBC did with Peacock, CBS pulled all first-run content and made it exclusive to P+. Add in the content from MTV/VH1 (the Drag Race franchise is a big one), Comedy Central, etc … and the live sports component … it’s not Netflix, and it never will be, but P+ has carved a niche for itself. I don’t think it’s in any danger of disappearing.
Anyway – I’ll jump off that soap box. I would love for Netflix to pick Prodigy up for a third (and possibly fourth) season; although I wonder if they would decrease the episode count from 20 to 10?
As far as LDS goes, I don’t think P+ is going to drop it. It and SNW are now the “Trek mainstays.”
No it may not be, but it may not be able to keep making expensive shows either the way Netflix Amazon and Disney does. They may not be broke but probably not swimming in money either and probably a big reason they can’t make another movie. Maybe if it was a sure thing but it clearly isn’t anymore.
And I like P+ actually. I don’t want it to go. I still don’t keep it all year but it feels like a real streaming site now that has more than CBS shows.
I hope you’re right about LDS. You out of all people know how much I love it. It made me fall in love with Star Trek again. Hopefully it will still be making new seasons for several more years. 😎🖖
This is welcomed news. I’m defiantly a fan of the second half of season 1 which got really good. By the time I was ready for a re-watch it was gone. I’m very curious to see how the gang will do now that they are in Star Fleet. Also I’m pretty sure the rivals are the Romulans after the Neutral Zone incursion in the second half of season 1.
Sad, if they had kept it kids exploring space and learning about Starfleet with some action/adventure mixed with STEM I think this would have been a hit on Nickelodeon (a bit of a return to Star Trek being Star Wars with intelligence)
Instead its Voyager continued with nonsensical time travel stories and soap opera for kids missing being in the 90s.
Instead what, Transformers is going to be the action/adventure kids show?!?
Unreal.
I agree. I would prefer the kids to be having their own independent adventures. It was fine having hologram Janeway, but I really don’t like real Janeway being in it.
Yeah the show jumped the rails when it became the voyager redux show.
Didn’t the show air on P+ first and then Nickelodeon months later? I doubt that rollout helped!
Nah, it’s more that Paramount+ and Nick are hemorrhaging viewers. That’s something Netflix is already doing much better with, given their audience is 10 times larger.
And the time travel plot makes perfect sense, so I have no idea what you are talking about.
You should read the posts from people that yell and moan about all the shows that Netflix justifiably cancels because of low ratings.
You should read the posts from the people that spam the comments section of articles with angry and pessimistic comments about a show getting saved. Pretty sad!
What you call pessimistic, I call realistic.
I think one of the reasons the show started going downhill in the 2nd half was because it was becoming more and more obvious they were going to reach Star Fleet very soon. This should not have happened until the very end of the series. The show would have been much better served to be them trying to find Star Fleet and having their adventures along the way. Holo-Janeway was really all they needed to help guide the youngsters. It didn’t serve the show well to start turning the show into a semi-Voyager spinoff. And all that time travel stuff was ridiculous and completely unnecessary.
A bit of a shame as it started off as the most promising nu-Trek show ever.
“A bit of a shame as it started off as the most promising nu-Trek show ever.”
Agreed.
So, so thrilled about this. Prodigy’s my favorite of the new shows, and I’ve been actively posting online in support of the show. And everything we’ve seen and heard of season 2 has me even more hyped to watch it. Hopefully it can go many more seasons, but at the very least I’m glad we’ll be able to watch season 2 after the hard work everyone’s put in.
Yep, I been super hyped for season 2 since they showed the clip with the Doctor. I’m just happy we’ll be able to see it and it didn’t turn into a Batgirl situation lol.
AND THEY ARE ON THE VOYAGER A!!! This warms an old Trekkie’s heart!
Huzzah! Even if it ends after season 2, I still feel this is a victory of sorts.
Bummer, I just cancelled Nexflix ….
But that is the beauty of current streaming. When a service doesn’t have what you want, you drop it. With no annual commitment, you can pick Netflix up again in 6 months or whenever PRO season 2 premieres. Win-win for both you (saving money till then and seeing PRO season 3) and Netflix (seeing a subscriber come back due to new content).
Yeah, I mean like, duh! Poor Phil! :-)
Me too, but now I envision a happy binge when it’s closer to being complete. Glad this show is back.
There’s a “new invention.” You just sign up for a streaming service for a month or two and binge watch all the shows you want, then move onto the next streaming service.
:-)
The good news is, Phil, that they will let you come back. :)
Season 2 is months away if not longer Phil, you’ll have plenty of time to sign up again. :)
Cool news for Prodigy fans.. Now let’s have an official ST4 announcement!😎
While we’re at it, also an LDS season 6 announcement!
RRE: ST4…..they said they were thinking about it. A lot.
AWESOME! I love this show so much! Bring on the VOYAGER-A!
that’s pretty unexpected and cool. ive seen like 10 eps so far and it was really good. maybe netflix can save other trek shows. they used to have discovery worldwide and was very happy with it until paramount cancelled the deal that was paying for the whole show. the entire disco budget was paid for by netflix for international rights. then once paramount had it back in the fold they cancelled it before season 5 even airs. still makes no sense.
yay. now do disco :)
What are the chance of a season 3? Zero?
Or a movie.
I imagine if the show does well on Netflix there is no reason it couldn’t get a season 3. But it will depend on the numbers of views the show will get.
Congrats on the new home.
Congrats to the Star Trek: Prodigy team! Great news and now even more people will watch it!
Look at Netflix doing something right for a change. I was convinced it was going to be Amazon.
Good to know that Netflix is still interested. I once read that years ago Netflix had hopes to become the international home for all the new Star Trek shows but CBS screwed them over when they gave Picard to Amazon Prime. Then they also pulled Discovery from Netflix a few years later.
All of Paramount Plus’ ongoing financial challenges and their impact on funding future Trek shows aside, this is truly awesome news! It would have been a very bitter disappointment to have such a groundbreaking show killed off before allowing it to fully develop! Thank you NETFLIX!!
Why does everyone buy into the hype that Paramount Plus is having financial difficulties/broke/hemorrhaging money? They’re not.
I want / hope for a Titan animated show (Riker or Shaw based) in the vein of The Clone Wars, where its for kids but older kids alla Batman TAS or X-Men TAS
Great news (although I don’t subscribe to Netflix so I won’t be watching) but it is so awesome to hear that the show is saved – and on one of, or even the biggest streaming services in the world. Congrats to the cast and crew of Prodigy and so happy that their story will continue.
Congratulations to the entire writing/production crew and everyone who makes Prodigy.
Kudos to Netflix for picking up this great show!
I’m looking forward to seeing Voyager and her crew in 2024. I know we will get a S3 and beyond. I’m just really excited for everyone!
Very cool. I don’t know what metrics it needs to survive for a third but I’m grateful season 2 won’t go to waste. Looks like the team worked hard making this a good one.
prodigy now will have the largest audience of any trek series which is hilarious.
Wasn’t VOY the most streamed series back when Netflix had the Trek license? So there might be a receptive wider audience there already.
netflix was great for star trek and not just voy but ds9 and tng… it grew the fanbase… including disco which it paid for entirely incl the 4th season then paramount took it back then cancelled it before season 5 even aired. paramount should have been more into sharing to access as many fans as possible. IMO
I know Voyager was the show with the most rewatched episodes back in 2017.
I probably helped since I rewatched that show on Netflix multiple times as far back as 2010.
So Prodigy will fit well there since it’s basically a Voyager sequel.
This ^ powder face. Right on.
I’m guessing Netflix will split Season 2 in half (just like P+ did) since its also 20 episodes, which is fine, but I hope we still get a physical release at some point. Star Trek is one of the few properties I still collect physical media for.
Netflix typically releases all episodes of their shows at once. The only time I’ve seen them not do that is for content they themselves do not produce. Typically foreign content. When season 2 arrives I suspect Netflix will simply release all episodes at once especially since the report is the entire season is nearly complete and it is not slated to be released until next year.
I agree, they’ve been doing split releases more lately.
so up until discovery season 4 preemed netflix had intl rights to discovery which paid for the entire budget of the show. paramount cancelled the deal because they want disco back in the fold. proudly announces it then cancels disco before season 5 even airs. then erases prodigy and now netflix has it. i mean… that’s so kind of hilarious and ridiculous
It is hilarious. 😆
Getting rid of Discovery on Netflix is probably what helped doomed it while putting Prodigy on it is helping to save it!
It’s actually quite likely if Netflix had all the financial control and was the home of Star Trek Discovery it’s highly unlikely the show would have lasted beyond 3 seasons. And that’s being generous. Netflix notoriously cancels shows early. It’s got to be quite big to get more than 3 seasons there.
i do know netlfix does that but they paid for the 4th season… they seemed to be pretty happy… paramount was the one who gave the money back.
Yeah maybe… Netflix does cancel a lot of shows.
I actually agree with this as well. DIS could’ve lasted longer on Netflix, but looking at their own record, the chances are it would’ve been cancelled sooner than later. Netflix has made a ridiculous amount of shows but the average for them seem to be be 3-4 seasons. The only shows I can think of from the top of my head that went 5+ seasons are House of Cards, Orange is the New Black and Stranger Things which is wrapping up in season 5. And I’m sure there are other shows that continued after season 5 but probably in small company.
The reality is most shows are basically dinosaurs in the streaming market by season 5. Even Paramount+ only has one show so far that lasted longer than 5 seasons and that is The Good Fight with 6 seasons. Everything else has been cancelled sooner and most lasted less than 3.
Exactly. Well said, I still don’t understand the complete erasure of Prodigy. They don’t even mention the show, like it doesn’t exist. If not the best, Prodigy is one of the best Star Trek productions, ever.
I assume it’s going to get dropped in binge-able installments since it’s Netflix.
Personally not a huge fan of that model, I like having them doled out one by one so there’s time for more people to discuss each episode on the same schedule. With binges it always feels like the conversation around a show is over within 2 or 3 weeks.
I prefer the Netflix model of releasing all episodes at once. I don’t binge but I can watch them at whatever pace I like. And that is typically no more than in a row. 3 happens if I’m sick or something but is uncommon. Then I’ll catch one or two more a few days later. I just can’t sit around watching TV shows for hours on end. Can’t do it. I fell compelled to get up and do something.
That binging concept has one major flaw though – at least for me, the viewer: In social media or real life somebody is always ahead of you and spoils things. Kinda ruins the viewing experience. When it’s released on a steady frequency, everybody has a better chance to catch up and be on the same page. I would think that the streaming service prefers stretching a season over several weeks as well. I think P+ prefers that so viewers subscribe longer.
I find it pretty easy to avoid spoilers. But then, I don’t heavily peruse social media. And when I do see something about what I haven’t seen I avoid it. Does it always work? No. But it does far more often than not.
I think other streamers use the weekly model because they are counting on keeping subscribers for 10 weeks at least. They feel the need to stretch it out. Netflix doesn’t seem to feel the need to string subscribers along like that. Possibly because they are so established they simply don’t need to. At least they didn’t until they did that silly delay for the last episode (was more of a movie) of Stranger Things. But that seems to be an anomaly.
Not just social media. Forums like this and friends and family. If they aren’t on the same schedule then someone is always ahead or behind and it changes the shared experience a little for the worse IMO. But in the end the show is getting seen and on a high profile outlet, so that’s what’s important.
The best (Star Trek) News of 2023.
🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊 Huzzahhhh! 🎊🎉🎊🎉🎊🎉
Thank you Netflix. Say, if you end up liking the numbers for Prodigy season 2. Feel like giving Discovery another shot?
Could someone explain how P+ saves money by not having Prodigy available? If the show is already made, where do the savings happen when you no longer have it in the P+ library? I’m missing something here. It’s one thing to save money by not financing a program. But once it’s made and the money spent, you no longer save anything by pulling it down… or do you?
They can cut their losses by turning its cost into a tax write-off. So the calculation here was between what it’s worth for broadcast + streaming subscriber growth/retention vs what a third party would pay vs what they could lessen their tax bill by.
This is what Warner Bros Discovery did with Batgirl and a Scooby Doo movie. They got tax write-offs because they never profited by releasing the movies and I assume they didn’t need to pay some clauses in talent contracts related to distribution. The latter is probably what informed Disney+ pulling the plug on the likes of Willow and Artemis Fowl.
I agree with those speculating that anemic Nickelodeon advertising revenue was what sealed Prodigy’s fate.
But in the end it’s just great they’ve found a home, and now it’s on Netflix to judge if it’s getting enough viewers to justify more seasons.
Netflix would probably pay far less if the show was still available on Paramount+ as well. So P+ is pulling it from their own service to be able to ask for a higher license fee.
FANTASTIC NEWS!!!!!!
Thank Kahless this has happened. I was literally thinking about this show yesterday and if we were going to get any news by the end of the year. But this is probably better news than I could’ve imagined and to have this on Netflix after the Discovery debacle is pretty sweet…and ironic.
And while we obviously have to thank Netflix, we really have to thank the fans more than anything. The way they galvanized around this show was just amazing from buying up all the season one discs in record days to the #SaveStarTrekProdigy campaign that was everywhere online. And let’s specifically thank fans like Michelle Stokes who did the banner campaign. I know its mentioned in the article but I wanted to cite her name specifically. This is a woman from the UK who spent some of her own money and got other fans to pitch in because she grew up watching Voyager and Janeway which led into her own daughter watching Prodigy. This is what Prodigy was meant to do, to get kids into the show along with their parents who were kids themselves watching Trek back in the 80s and 90s. That was the entire point.
Now we obviously don’t know if this will lead into a season 3 but I’m guessing it’s in the cards at least if season 2 does well enough. But I just wanted the show to have a home again, even if we got just season one. It deserved that at the very least. Now it’s on a site with a MUCH bigger audience and with a chance with more people to watch it. Even if it still doesn’t grab tons of fans it will still be more than P+, especially if Netflix carries it globally.
I’ve always made clear out of all the modern shows this one is my favorite. Love LDS, really enjoy SNW and Picard season 3 was a treat but Prodigy is oddly the show that makes Star Trek feel the most special for me again. Can’t wait to see Voyager A do her thing next season with Admiral Janeway at the helm and while we watch the kids grow and develop.
It’s a great time to be a fan! :)
Good, at least we will have some more Star Trek next year
There’s already plenty on its way. Discovery Season 5, Lower Decks Season 5, and very likely SNW season 3 before the end of the year (filming was already underway pre-strike, and will probably be back in production before end of the year).
All told with that alone, it’ll be more episodes than we got from 1987-1993, and 1999-2005.
Lots of trek still to come, don’t be a Debbie downer.
What the hell are you talking about? And by the way, the only confirmed is Discovery ending, and we can only hope for Lower Decks 5, but don’t expect to see Strange New Worlds cliffhanger resolution before 2025. So having more Star Trek next year is a good thing.
this is netflix so i give it a a year
Excellent news.
I imagine that Netflix is desperate again for content given the half-year gap in production because of the strikes, like after the covid shutdown which launched 500 real crime documentaries.
…and my wife absolutely Loves those. It’s brutal for me at home…ha.
Netflix may be in a better position than many other streamers and TV channels because they have a lot of Netflix originals that are produced outside the US and not affected by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. For example, they have quite a bunch of Korean productions, some of which have become global hits.
Yeah, we’re waiting impatiently for the second season of Attorney Woo