Only a few days before Star Trek: Prodigy is scheduled to return to streaming TV on Netflix on Christmas Day, showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman are out talking up what we can expect for the animated series in season 2, and beyond.
The Doctor and Chakotay might not be the big news for S2
Netflix hasn’t set a release date for the second season of Prodigy beyond sometime in 2024. Last week co-creators and showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman revealed they had finished their work on the final episode of the 20-episode second season. Dan Hageman told the TrekCulture podcast “I know our show will be ready at the end of this year.”
Dan and Kevin are well aware of the audience’s eagerness for season 2, and to see what loose threads will be addressed. Kevin acknowledged a Chakotay-shaped hole as much of the first season focused on the search for Admiral Janeway’s former first officer. He acknowledges that the story is incomplete without addressing the character’s whereabouts. As he tells TrekCulture:
“And we’re still waiting for Chakotay, right? Thank God we weren’t cancelled because, my gosh, that would have been the biggest carrot in front of Trek fans…”
Dan Hageman knows what a sticking point this is with some fans. After mumbling about “JC shippers” for TrekCulture, Dan jokes with Collider:
“Now you have Janeway and Chakotay. What’s gonna happen with them? Are they gonna smooch?”
Admiral Janeway and Captain Chakotay in the season 1 episode “Asylum” (Paramount)
Chakotay isn’t the only Star Trek: Voyager connection for season 2 as a teaser clip released over the summer revealed that Robert Picardo is returning as The Doctor. Despite involving characters and stories from Voyager, Dan and Kevin contend that Prodigy was always intended to have its own distinct identity and should not become “Voyager Season 8.” Janeway, The Doctor, and (conceptually) Chakotay were brought in at a point when they could be meaningful to the story. The core narrative of Prodigy will be separate from Voyager, as evidenced by a very understated comment by Kevin in the TrekCulture interview:
“You’ll see there’s even larger surprises coming that are not tied to Voyager.”
Season 2 will also see the Prodigy’s crew start to come into their own. Season 1 found them as a batch of inexperienced teenagers who barely manage to escape captivity in a hijacked starship. After learning under Hologram Janeway, they’re now considered Starfleet material. Dan Hageman explains in the Collider interview:
“In season 1 the kids steal a ship, in season 2 they earn a ship. They’re in a much bigger world now that they’re in Starfleet.”
With the teen crew now on the USS Voyager-A, and The Doctor taking a nonspecific mentorship role over them, the audience can assume Dal, Rok-Tahk, and the others will be well-tutored in not only Starfleet science and engineering but life lessons as well.
Robert Picardo returns as The Doctor from in S2 clip released in August
Season 2 could just be the starting gate
Dan and Kevin Hageman are happy that their show was “saved” with seasons 1 and 2 set to arrive on Netflix, but they don’t want to stop there. In fact, they are already envisioning season 3 and beyond. If Netflix orders another season after this year, Dan claims they are ready to go, as he told CinemaBlend:
“There is no definitive end. Are we making season three? No, but can we make season three? Yes. I think a lot of this has to do with what type of appetite is there for Prodigy.”
Kevin reveals that not only are they ready for a third season, but in the style of Star Trek shows from the 1990s, a full seven seasons of Prodigy have been planned. Kevin tells Samantha Cooley of Collider:
“There’s threads of what’s next. If we’re lucky enough to go to Season 3, I’m really excited about where the show can go. We wrote this thing to go seven seasons at least.”
If Prodigy were to go seven seasons, it would be the first Trek show to do so since Star Trek: Voyager, and were it to go beyond that, it would be the first Trek show ever to do so. The decision to order more seasons will fall on Netflix, and will likely be determined by the number of subscribers that stream the show.
Kevin and Dan Hageman at STLV 2023 (trekmovie.com)
Season 1 of Star Trek: Prodigy will be available on Netflix starting December 25, 2023.
Keep up with news about the Star Trek Universe.
I wonder if this show manages to find its audience on Netflix. 7 seasons would be a dream but I wouldn’t hold my breath.
I rather see another season of Carol & the End of the World.
Ditto. Love this show
I’m trying to think how many Netflix shows have gone seven seasons and I can’t think of one lol. I mean there may be some, I just don’t personally know what they are. But that’s not a great sign either way. And most streaming shows seem to go about 5 seasons average. But yeah I would love it could go that long but I would be happy with 5. Hell, I would be happy with 2 at this point lol.
“Orange Is The New Black” is one example of a Netflix show that has run for 7 seasons. There are a few others. But I agree that it seems to be the exception rather than the rule.
Kate Mulgrew also starred in that show too. Is that possibly a good omen for Prodigy, I’m going to say yes! 😁
I doubt Netflix will order more new episodes. I hope they do, but it seems unlikely.
Same. Netflix is known for canceling popular shows.
Netflix cancels shows that get low ratings, just like every television network from the dawn of time. Name one popular highly rated show that Netflix has canceled? I’m waiting. I bet you can’t.
Be gone, troll.
Don’t get mad at me because I was right and you was wrong. Be Better.
Yeah, your point was correct???
It’s not just popularity, it’s return on investment. Popularity per dollar spent or some similar metric is presumably a thing. My understanding is that’s what got Enterprise cancelled, it was reasonably popular but way more expensive than reality shows that were just as popular.
Yeah it only took 20 years for Enterprise to become semi popular. That’s a bad investment. TV shows are products, and if that product isn’t making economic sense then you cancel it and move on to something that dose make sense.
If it took Enterprise, it should only take Discovery 30 years then.
I’m joking…sort of. ;)
Perhaps, but there has to be a balance. One reality show might be less expensive than a scripted narrative show while delivering comparable ratings and therefore be more profitable, but I don’t think that means having an entire streaming service full of nothing but reality shows is a magical key to streaming profits, as I don’t think a lot of people are going to sign up for a service just for such shows. I might be wrong, but I think a streamer is likelier to entice more viewers with a mix of fare that includes scripted narrative works.
Great point! I know Discovery is nothing but cheap reality shows but you couldn’t pay me to watch that service. I know many do but I don’t think it’s ever going to be on the level of Disney+ or Netflix either. It’s mostly stuff you watch as an after thought or you’re just really into cooking or dating shows, but it’s not must see TV either.
They are and I agree that is a strong possibility. But everyone knows there are consequences to cancelling a Star Trek Show. Netflix was already in the media when Prodigy was canceled and they hadn’t officially been announced as even having being involved with them yet. Don’t piss off trekkies.
Netflix has a long history of ordering more seasons of shows cancelled elsewhere, like Longmire, Lucifer, etc. It is cheaper for them to grow a cult fanbase than building a franchise from scratch — and they clearly want a piece of Star Trek.
Longmire was never a Netflix show. And Lucifer was a Fox TV show that Netflix saved when Fox cancelled it.
That’s what Prescott said?
Damn you’re right. I somehow read it wrong.
Yeah why would Netflix spend money on a show they don’t own.
To attract subscribers.
They have been doing that with their own shows for years now.
They did it with ‘Cobra Kai’ and ‘The Last Kingdom’ as well. Netflix is happy to pay for external shows if they prove they can deliver subscribers. Prodigy will get the chance to hopefully prove that.
Count me as one. I canceled Netflix a few years ago but will signup for Season 2. I’d probably try to binge it in a month and cancel again though, but I’d come back for future seasons.
And also with licensed shows. They paid 100 million dollars for Friends at one point.
And from my understanding Prodigy is now a Netflix show. They aren’t licensing it like they did Discovery it’s now officially their show they outright own since P+ and Nickelodeon dumped it.
It is still licence as they do not own the IP.
Yeah you’re right. Good point. But it is different from Discovery which they just distributed and not actually produce so they get more control at least.
OOPS, you beat me to it.
Hi bud, long time no talk! I’m not sure what you are saying is totally possible. At the end of the day Prodigy is still Star Trek and the Star Trek IP still belongs to Paramount. I think they have to retain some sort of rights to it.
Yeah I wasn’t thinking about the licensing, I was mainly thinking about the actual content they produce from it. But of course they don’t own it completely.
At least not yet! 😂
If that horrible fast and furious kids cartoon can get several seasons on Netflix, then no reason why Prodigy can’t with its built in audience. And say what you will about Netflix but they definitely promote and push their kid programing, F&F, JP camp Crustecious, etc etc. I’d expect nothing less from them for Prodigy
Don’t know if you can say Prodigy would be first to seven seasons since Voyager ………. Seems like Lower Decks is more likely to get there first, and probably also more likely to get there at all than Prodigy is.
LDS definitely has the chance to make it to 7 seasons and hopefully it will. Not holding my breath yet since I feel it might be done after next season and with Paramount+ woes but if any show has a chance it’s certainly that one. 😎🖖
Of course I would love for Prodigy to go 7 seasons too but I’ll just be happy if it goes at least 3. At least it got to go longer than one lol .
I’d put half my money on Strange New World too. I see both these shows as good ones worthy of a full 7 seasons.
Oh yeah, SNW as well. I think Picard also could’ve lasted seven seasons if Stewart wanted to keep going. Again it doesn’t mean it would have, I just mean in terms of the potential, especially after season 3 and bringing back the TNG cast.
Same with SNW as well! 👍
But I guess we have to see where Star Trek will even be in the next year or two before Paramount gets more desperate and sells the company to Facebook or something.
Yeah I think LDS has the best chance to go 7 seasons (and then a movie!!!). Of course it could get cancelled next season but that would be the one I think has the best shot at least. It’s crazy I’m saying that about LDS, but here we are lol.
I have no idea what metrics Netflix would need to see to produce more. I’ll take what I can get.
Nor do I, but I think if nothing else it bodes well for the show that it’s on Netflix, as Netflix has around four times as many subscribers as Paramount+ does. It’s quite possibly more people will see Prodigy now than saw it when it debuted on its home turf.
The Kids did NOT steal the ship. It was found abandoned far away from the alpha quadrant and salvage law applies. Also reminiscent of DS9 and the crashed Jem’Hadar Ship!
What kind of strange understanding of law do the producers have?
Children are given such a strange sense of justice?
Do everyone follows salvage llaws though outside of Earth and 400 years into the future?
And I’m pretty sure Starfleet considered the ship stolen when Admiral Janeway were hunting them down last season. They weren’t just going to let them keep the ship lol.
If anything, the kids liberated a ship that was stolen by somebody else and returned it.
Eventually that’s basically where they landed but Starfleet saw them as thieves at first for obvious reasons. And originally Dal didn’t want to return it. He wanted to play Captain and keep one of Starfleet s most advanced ship as his. They wouldn’t be joining Starfleet if he did try to keep it.
And I’m pretty sure even in 2023 if someone found a sophisticated military vehicle that went missing and they started joy riding in it they won’t be able to claim it as theirs and would be considered stolen and prosecuted for taking it. Especially if it’s armed.
It’s not the same as finding a bike lol.
Speaking of strange understanding of law… The ship was on another planet, taken by non-humans. The salvage law is not a galactic law, it’s an Earth law. Who says it applies?
Agree with you on this.
Salvage law actually states that anybody who helps in the recovery of a ship or cargo is entitled to a reward from the owner of said ship/cargo. It does not mean that you can simply keep whatever you find.
Hadn’t it already begun to be salvaged? The kids stole it from the scavengers!
“In season 1 the kids steal a ship, in season 2 they earn a ship. They’re in a much bigger world now that they’re in Starfleet.”
Wait… has Dan H. not seen his own show? They never stole a ship. LOL.
I pretty sure Starfleet saw the ship as stolen last season lol. It’s splitting hairs, it wasn’t theirs so yeah they stole it even if they were just using it to escape a bad situation.
Ya I mean duh. No one is saying the kids are bad. And they are not responsible for the ship being lost from Chakotay. But they did literally steal the ship from John Noble lol
All this makes me very excited! 😄
LDS and PRO are tied as my two favorite shows in NuTrek. I just love them both so much. I’m very excited for next season, especially with the Doctor returning and being on Voyager A.
They also said another big legacy character will show up next season and be part of the show that ISN’T from Voyager. So probably someone from either TNG or DS9! I would love if it was Bashir, Dax or Worf. Would also love to see Kira but LDS basically established she’s still running DS9 so it would be hard to see her being on Voyager in the Delta Quadrant for some reason.
It all sounds great though and I’ll be watching the entire first season on Netflix next week even though I have season one and watched it twice in its entirety. Gotta support this fabulous show any way we can!
I hope to see a S3 or maybe a Netflix Star Trek Prodigy movie.
Would absolutely love a Prodigy movie!
I if were them I would make a super strong pitch to Netflix to fund season 3 where they kill off Janeway and Chakotay in a dramatic two part opener, then have a multi-year time jump, where ep 3 has the crew now fully trained and operating as a special crew on special permanent mission within Starfleet
This would recharge the show and get rid of all the deadwood Voy fan service that nearly got the show canceled for good.
Umm… we all know your disdain for the show. But the premise of the show was that Janeway was in it. Right from the start. Even before the show aired. She’s even in the titles. Sooooo… what you are saying is not, in fact, true. You are just putting your own feelings regarding the show into what you said in your post.
I am not sure what you are talking about as I have always enjoyed Prodigy and have said so many times?
What I am talking about here is a new direction that will make the core kids cast the center of the show for the larger audience of young adults and kids who access Netflix.
But you do know that the show is and has always been geared around Janeway, right? That was the original pitch. Why would you kill off Janeway if she is a core and central character? Your reasoning just doesn’t make sense.
Perhaps I should have clarified — I am talking about making a huge dramatic impact in the series by killing off the “alive” Janeway, not the hologram version that is part of the crew.
I don’t think the show ever needed the real Janeway and certainly did not need Chakotay. And obviously that did not bring in enough former voyager fans to grow the fan base for the series — That’s why I think they need to go back to the basics here on Netflix and try to appeal to a broader audience than 40+ older Trek fans who obviously haven’t showed up in enough numbers to support the show
Can’t kill Janeway. She was talked about in Picard Season 3.
Good point. I’m sure they could explain that away though if it served the plot.
Kill off Janeway? Oh boy… Have you been drinking your camp Lejeune mineral water?
😂
I don’t know why you guys keep bothering. I really don’t.
Which of course is why you are indirectly personally attacking me here through someone else’s post — again violating our agreement where we both committed to not do this.
And of course, yeah, you are bothering, and everyone can see it.
You seriously got some issues bro.
I think this show needs a radical injection of excitement and new direction if there is any chance of Neflix funding a season 3. Maybe my suggestion is over-the-top, but I think they need to pitch something dramatic and series-changing like this to Netflix if they are going to get a third season funded.
I liked the show better before it became Star Trek Voyager Redux
Exactly. The first few eps were the best. There was certainly zero need for Chakotay — that’s when the show jumped the Voy fan service shark.
Never liked Chakotay, in fact I really don’t like him. Bad character, bad actor, bad energy. Bringing in Janeway is a restrained dose of Voy fan service that will arguably displease some but many will approve. Chakotay however can stay wherever the hell he is.
Chakotay is ok, I just don’t like the actor.
Agreed! 👍
He does have a chip on his shoulder for sure. Whether that was earned because of Berman and co. I have no idea.
Chakotay however can stay wherever the hell he is.
Exactly!
I know I’m only one of the dozens and dozens of fans out there, but I always loved Chakotay. Yes, they could’ve done more with him for sure but I always loved how much he cared about everyone and he was actually the voice of reason most of the time when he and Janeway butted heads over an issue. I usually side with him most of the time, especially in Scorpion.
He’s also a big reason I got more excited for the show when it was revealed he was going to be in it too! So I’m excited to see how they rescue him in the 25th century!
I like Chakotay too but far from my favorite character or anything but like him. I was even a Janeway/Chakotay shipper for awhile.
But I can’t stand Beltrain himself. He acts like he was too good for Trek and complained about a job that made him a multi millionaire and set him up for life. Boo hoo bro. 🙄
I agree 100%. It would have been way more fun if they had a ship with a normal warp drive with them just having adventures. The writers were way too much in a hurry to get them back to the alpha quadrant. If they wanted to make “Voyager part 2” they should have just made a separate show with Janeway. No surprise this show failed to attract kids on Nickelodeon.
It would have been way more fun if they had a ship with a normal warp drive with them just having adventures.
Agreed — that is why the first few eps are the best so far. It was a more original show at that point and the fan service was minimal.
If they wanted to make “Voyager part 2” they should have just made a separate show with Janeway. No surprise this show failed to attract kids on Nickelodeon.
100%
Where have you been? Prodigy is a Top 10 Netflix kids show now. All of your opinions stated as fact have proven to be untrue. If anything is to blame for its prior performance, it was because Paramount+ is not a destination for young audiences, which is why they just removed dozens of other animated shows last week.
You should be happy that Prodigy is successful now.
I don’t disagree, but they did that by having the kids join Starfleet Academy. We clearly see a progress toward something here, which makes me want to see more.
I’m looking forward to watching the new Academy show
I wouldn’t mind a time jump (just a few years), but kill off Janeway and Chakotay? What have you been smoking? Voyager is (or at least was a few years back before NuTrek) the most-streamed Trek show. And prior to Prodigy, anecdotally at least, it seemed the most responsible for pulling in newer (at that time) viewers. I don’t know how many times I have seen someone posting about Voyager was their first Trek show. And pulling in, now older, Trek fans with these story elements is probably a large chunk of viewership and is certainly the most visible part of marketing (no plushies and few toys for this show is criminal!) and convention draw and general Trek news mentions. Killing that part of the show might kill the show itself.
As for your contention that the Voy fan service “nearly got the show canceled” – there is zero proof for that. None. All reporting I have seen says it was a bean counter decision to reduce costs and get a tax write off. If you have some actual proof, put it forward or sit down.
But you see that’s the kind of thinking that didn’t materialize into enough people actually watching the series to support it’s ROI. If those numbers had been as large as you might hope they would be, we would not be in this situation.
They need to retool the show for a broader audience of young adults and children on Netflix that don’t give a hoot about Voyager fan service — I think that’s the only way this series gets a third season — and I think a dynamic radical pitch like this might get Netflix suits interested in investing in further Prodigy. Your view that all of a sudden all these Voyager fans are going to show up and that will make the ROI case for a third season on Netflix I think is doomed to failure — that pitch is going to fail.
And as I clarified above, I’m not talking about killing off the hologram Janeway, just the live one, and along with the overkill fan service Chakotay reach
You have no proof “the numbers” had anything to do with this. WBD killed off Batgirl and they literally had no numbers to speak of. And it was going to be the return of Keaton’s Batman and that alone meant, good movie or bad, a LOT of people were going to give it a first look. They killed it off anyways and they were very clear why. Tax write off. Not ratings. Taxes.
Obviously if they thought they had a good movie that was going to bank $ they would not have went the tax write off route. Can I prove that? No. But am I a moron who can’t make an obvious deduction like that? No, I am not.
You are missing the point. Whether the movie was going to make money or not is irrelevant. That’s a gamble. Tossing it in the trash is a guaranteed cash win from the IRS because they got reief on Taxes. It is VERY publically known that is why Darth Zaslav did what he did.
No, that actually is most relevant point.
If they thought it was going to be a hit and make significant $ there is no way they would canned it for the tax write-off. They obviously did the ROI calculation knowing that they had a shit movie, and took the path of financial least resistance versus spending good money after bad with a marketing campaign and release…otherwise we’d have seen the movie by now.
It’s that simple, and you are letting your wish to have seen this particular film get in the way of logic and common sense, no offense.
DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran has said that the shelved Batgirl movie was “not releasable”. The film, which starred Leslie Grace, Brandon Fraser and J.K. Simmons, was axed in 2022 following reports of poor test screenings. At the time, it was reported that the project was written off for tax purposes.
Speaking at the DC presentation in Los Angeles, Safran clarified concerns around the film’s quality. “I saw the movie,” he said. “There were a lot of incredibly talented people in front of and behind the camera on that film. But that film was not releasable. It happens sometimes. That film was not releasable.”
He added: “I actually think that Zaslav and the team made a very bold and courageous decision to cancel it, because it would’ve hurt DC. It would’ve hurt those people involved. I think they really stood up to support DC, the characters, the story, the quality and all that.”
Exactly. It’s hilarious. None of this has anything to do Voyager, kids just don’t care about Star Trek, period. It doesn’t matter what characters are on the show, it just doesn’t pull in young people. Majority of people who watch the show are older and of course Voyager fans. So that makes no sense.
This guy does nothing but argue against the stuff he doesn’t like and constantly try to prop up what he does. Same guy who said on and on that LDS was getting cancelled
but that Discovery was going to go multiple seasons, the show half the fanbase hates.
And the opposite happened! 😂
And it’s been pointed out time and time again TAS got cancelled after just two seasons and like 20 episodes. So why did that get cancelled? Was because kids hated all the Kirk and Spock fan service? No because most kids just don’t care about Star Trek and wasn’t watching it and it got cancelled. Where was all the TOS fans? And that was only Star Trek around at the time unlike today. History is just repeating itself.
But good luck trying to get him to admit that lol.
That’s why he fights with half the board over these ridiculous arguments. He constantly puts down things he doesn’t like but then whine like a baby when people put down Discovery lol.
Hey, I’m right here, Einstein, lol. Despite your attempts to make fun of me through others, a lot of us are having a good discussion on this. Obviously the status quo will not get us a third season, so how do we get one? It’s a fun and interesting question to discuss, so why not let us discuss it and you go play some video games or something? If I were a bitter person I would tell you to F off, but I have too much holiday spirit to do that. :-)
Perhaps you should worry less about trying to “score points” on me through others and start your own Trek conversation elsewhere here instead of through the thread that I started, and that quite a few of us are having a fun discussion on? Just a thought?
These aren’t the droids you are looking for…move along
No your argument is ridiculous and silly. Getting a third season has nothing to do with whose in it , people just don’t care about kid cartoons and most kids don’t care about Star Trek at all. That’s it. Exactly why TAS crashed and burned after 20 episodes lol.
And I don’t get into fights with anyone here. You do all the time lol.
Dude, it’s so freaking obvious that you get jealous when I get a good discussion going with others here — you can’t help yourself but to take these personal little potshots at me through others.
Can you please just stop this juvenile thing you do where you need to put me down through others all the time — everyone here, even those who don’t like my comments, can certainly see that you are doing this. It’s petty and cowardly.
I didn’t put you down I just said your argument is ridiculous. Real quick why did TAS get cancelled? Was it because kids didn’t care about the Kirk fan service in the show or because they just didn’t care about Star Trek like the adults did?
And since one person actually agrees with you I guess this would be a good discussion for you lol.
Calling someone jealous discussing Star Trek is just weird lol.
No, everyone can see that you have an issue with me here and can’t help yourself but to snipe at me through others’ posts when you don’t like a popular thread I start.
That aside, for the sake of augment, if you were right on TAS and Prodigy, then we will NEVER get a third season of Prodigy, because the audience of VOY fans interested in Prodigy obviously was not enough to support the ROI case for Nick and P+, and it’s not going to be much better on Netflix.
I am proposing some radical changes in the direction of the show, and whether you agree with the specifics of what I am proposing, I am at least trying to come up with something new an radical that MIGHT cause an increase in the audience. You, on the other hand, are not offering any solutions that gets us a Netflix-funded 3rd season. So while you take potshots and minimalize my attempt to develop an innovative pitch to Neflix for a 3rd season, you offer nothing that gets us to a 3rd season.
Your position is defeatist, and if the creators take your advice and just pander to the limited set of VOY fans who like Prodigy, then this will all end with S2 being the last we ever see of Prodigy.
Bro you’re just too weird. The guy who made 6 sock puppets just to talk to me after I kept putting you on ignore is telling me I’m obsessed with you lol. Hilarious.
And I didn’t realize we were problem solving to keep the show on lol. Hopefully more people will watch and it will be on a site that people actually own and not on one that will probably be dead in another year, so that’s a huge plus. That’s about all we can do man. 😉
I’m feeling more positive we’ll get a season 3 because it being cancelled on P+ has reenergize the base. How am I being a defeatist? I think way more people will at least check out season 2 and hopefully they won’t market as just a kid’s show. That’s what I think really put a lot of people off. And it sounds like they already have a game plan for season 3 if it’s renewed so I’m excited.
The funny thing is, I learned from my bad behavior which was nearly a decade ago now. I admit I screwed up and learned from it.
You now just resort to bringing that up as a “free pass” sort of thing for you to respond to me with every time I confront you on your incessant sniping and personal attacks at me through others here. So because I did that, you can justify any bad behavior towards me that you want…congrats on being the perfect Teflon antagonist!
I hope you are right on Prodigy, but I remain skeptical.
Bro I didn’t know you a decade ago. Seriously.
But I only brought it up because you just accused me of being obsessed with you. If I was obsessed with you I wouldn’t be ignoring you lol. What’s frustrating is I really did like talking to you, but you just can’t let stuff go and want to control what others say.
But OK I admit this has gotten out of hand and I started it this time so I will apologize to you . And I won’t bring it up again. I’m not trying to embarrass you. I swear. I’m happy you learned from it.
I only responded commenting on the ridiculous idea of killing off Janeway when all that would do is cause a huge backlash in the fanbase. If Kurtzman doesn’t get enough hate now, imagine how well that would go down? People are still angry at Braga for killing off both Kirk and Trip. And it’s more ridiculous because she’s still alive in the 25th century. We get it you really don’t like Janeway and why you proposed it, but she’s not going anywhere chief. She’ll be part of Star Trek for decades to come. 😉
And you could’ve just simply recommended the kids just move to a new ship in season 3 with a new captain without killing anyone lol. If you want to start fresh, that’s all you need to do. It’s not even necessary and wouldn’t break canon in the worst way possible since white Khan showed up in STID. So I don’t even see the point. She’s not their mother, in time they will just continue on without her. And that very well could happen if the show sticks around. And I would be more than OK with that. Because the show isn’t about Janeway, it’s about these new characters first and everyone understands that. But she’s an amazing bonus!
I apologize again though. Ok? I’ll move on now.
I apologize too. Happy Holidays, and I mean it! :-)
Ok that’s fair! I hope you have a great holiday as well! 🙂
I will at least say bringing in the Doctor in season 2 will also get a lot more interest and hype for the show. That may not mean a ton more people will watch it, but the interest overall will be higher for sure.
I wish they brought him in the first season but I understand they didn’t want to crowd the show with too many legacy characters…they seem to wait until the later seasons like they did with Discovery, Picard and Strange New Worlds lol.
Super excited for The Doctor! 😎👍
I agree I wish he was in the first season too. He could’ve been on the Dauntless with Janeway but I guess they just wanted it Janeway focus.
I’m still hoping Tom and B’Elanna pop in at least one episode too. I miss all these guys!
Wait, who says we won’t get a third season? Yes this is now a Netflix show and not P+ but IMO if anything that bodes better for a 3rd season than if it was P+. Netflix has a LOT more clout and room to play than Paramount does.
Can you prove that? ;-)
Seriously, Netflix seems much more attuned to ROI and viewership numbers than P+. They piss off viewers of lesser watched but beloved shows by cancelling them all the time. I think it’s naïve to think they are going to give more rope to Prodigy than P+ did.
“IMO”. Can you prove otherwise?
Nope, but I am extremely skeptical based on everything we know.
Now this is SOLELY my gut and speculation only but I too think we will get a third season but partly based on the unique circumstances dealing with Netflix and Star Trek.
Netflix really really really wants to be in the Star Trek business! It has since 2010 and we know they wanted to produce their own show as far back as 2012. That’s why when DIS got announced they fought so hard not only to distribute it internationally but even help co-produce it. Now, it didn’t quite work out lol, but it really shows how committed they are to having Star Trek. And btw, this may be old news at this point but TrekCulture, the site referenced in this article confirmed that DIS was pulled off Netflix because they had stopped paying for the show’s production after its second season and Paramount+ produced the last two seasons alone. Now I don’t know if that was always the deal or Netflix just decided the show wasn’t doing well enough to keep paying for it, but it make sense why they had no problem giving it back to P+. But it also helped speed up DIS demise faster when P+ was now paying for it alone and it was only getting more expensive.
OMG, where was I going lol. Annnyway, the point is Netflix has been wanting new Star Trek on its site for a long time now and the fact they picked up PRO after the drama with DIS (which many people including me thought it wouldn’t be on Netflix because of that) tells you they still see Star Trek as a viable franchise that they still want more of. The good thing is that PRO is now their first and ONLY Star Trek show in America now. It’s their first foot back in the door since P+ pulled all the classic shows off their site to run exclusively.
Now, sure, they probably picked it up partly because they didn’t have to pay for season two, but I do think this is thinking more long term. Again, the creators confirmed it, the option is to make more and Netflix obviously wants to make more because they have been wanting to make Star Trek forever and oddly they now have their chance to do it.
Of course if not enough people watch it, they won’t make more. But I do think there will be more leeway given for this show because it can be the start to have more Star Trek in the future. I don’t think it’s going to go seven seasons or anything, but can it can go a few more. I’m just much more positive about this for many reasons.
And I just have a feeling in the next few years, Star Trek will end up back on that site, especially as the streaming wars have basically imploded at this point. I have been saying I see the classic shows all returning to the site in America at some point and they will probably license the new shows to other sites as well because the ‘exclusive’ thing is just not working out. I mean multiple DC movies have showed up on Netflix now and MAX is profitable now. But that’s probably because of deals like that.
But Netflix still wants more Star Trek considering how well the classic shows were doing in repeats, especially Voyager and this could be the start to something bigger down the line regardless.
So fingers crossed!
Funny how you think a small minority of posters on the internet as half the fan base.
Frankly, the “VOY season 8” gloss is the reason why the show is relatively popular among the Trek fan base. Without it, it’s just another kids’ show (even if a reasonably well-made one).
If that is the ROI case, then no way Netflix funds a 3rd season.
Exactly. That’s who is watching it lol.
The problem is people who don’t care about kid shows won’t watch it regardless. That’s the main issue.
Star Trek is geared for older people. It’s why LDS had no problem getting 5 seasons while shows like TAS and PRO got cancelled quickly because they were marketed as kid shows. LDS was marketed as an adult cartoon and why it’s more popular than those.
But this guy hates Janeway and Voyager and trying to blame a character and not the reality most kids just don’t care about Star Trek. They wouldn’t care if it’s old or new characters because it’s all new to them. They would rather watch Star Wars, Marvel or anime. It is what it is.
“The problem is people who don’t care about kid shows won’t watch it regardless. That’s the main issue.”
I can tell you for a fact anecdotally how true this can be. I have stated on these boards my own girlfriend loves Voyager and Janeway. She has never been much of a Star Trek fan until maybe the last few years and started watching it more with me. But it was Voyager that made her a much bigger fan and she absolutely adores Janeway. She likes basically all the classic shows and a few of the new shows but Voyager is really the show that she clutched onto and Janeway is hands down her favorite character in the franchise, it’s not even close. If people watched that TrekCulture podcast with the Hageman brothers and listen to its host Ellie Littlechild talk about how much she loves VOY and Janeway, that’s how my girlfriend talks about her. And I watch or listen to this this podcast weekly and she always goes on and on about her. She literally sounds like my girlfriend lol.
I set this up in this big of a way because as much as my girlfriend loves Janeway and Mulgrew she has zero interest in Prodigy lol. Practically none, because she doesn’t watch animated shows in general and it being called a ‘kids’ show has made her even less interested. She obviously knows how much I love this show, with or without Janeway, and she knows its a good show it just doesn’t appeal to her even with Janeway on it. She always said if it was a live action show and Mulgrew was there in person, she would watch it in a heartbeat.
But that’s the problem exactly. Now my girlfriend is strictly a casual fan, she doesn’t go out her way to watch any of the shows except mostly VOY, TNG and a bit of DS9. She loves all those shows but VOY by far. She also likes TOS a lot but it does feel really dated to her but she definitely likes it. For the new stuff she’s watched a little of all the live action shows but only watched one season in its entirety which was Picard season 3 due to the TNG cast being back and because, I kid you not, she was hoping Janeway would show up lol. SNW seems to be her favorite overall with the new shows and she does like DIS too but only watched a handful of those shows so far.
But she has no interest in LDS or PRO. She has watched some of LDS but feel she misses too many of the jokes and the humor doesn’t appeal that much to her. But she would probably watch it more if it was live action.
Now plenty of casual fans are only watching this show BECAUSE of Janeway, at least initially. I read that all the time too. But sure I think many don’t care because it’s a
‘kids show’ and that drives plenty of people away. I mean it took me six years to give The Clone Wars a chance for literally the same reason lol. But once I finally gave it a chance I was blown away how amazing it was just as I am with PRO now. But being a casual fan it took a long time to get there as I imagine for many casual Trek fans and this show.
This is exactly what I mean. Many people just won’t give it a chance no matter what. And there are people who liked it but doesn’t look at it as the same level as the live action shows l. My girlfriend also loves Janeway and Voyager and it was the only reason she watched the first episode of LDS last season. She has seen some of PRO too and like all the characters, especially Janeway, but it’s not ‘must see’ TV either. Not the way it is watching something like TNG, VOY or Enterprise, her favorite shows. She thinks of it as a cartoon only. But at least she thinks it’s a quality show or the complete opposite of what she thinks about LDS lol. It’s just not something she has to watch either.
It has nothing to do with any of the characters, which she likes, it’s just the style and tone itself doesn’t draw her to watch it. But now that it’s back she is thinking about watching the entire first season with me so maybe her mind can be changed. Haven’t had time to start watching it on Netflix yet but will start watching it again this week!
It took me some time to get into Clone Wars too, but not for being a kid’s show, I just really hated the prequels and thought an entire show around them was going to be abysmal….like Discovery lol. I was so happy to be proven wrong.
I forgot to add if Prodigy was a live action show and we had Janeway in the flesh again, then this show would be a much bigger hit for sure. Many people want to see the real Janeway. Most will settle for this but it will never be as great as the real thing and I truly love this show.
The original purpose of the show was to attract new Star Trek fans (kids), not old fans. The show is full of mixed messages.
The original purpose of the show was to attract new Star Trek fans (kids), not old fans. The show is full of mixed messages.
Exactly!
No, it’s not a mixed message at all. They made it clear before the show started they wanted Prodigy to be a gateway for new/younger kids from the start. It wasn’t just to watch a Star Trek show, it was also to introduce them to the bigger universe overall and Janeway was there to literally do that.
But of course it was still meant to appeal to old fans because EVERY show and movie is meant to appeal to old fans. PRO was just the first Trek show that was meant to appeal and attract a specific demographic, the kiddos, but obviously they wanted the old fans to watch too, hence why it was put on Paramount+ and not just Nickelodeon.
Prodigy was set up in a way the Kelvin films were set up in the sense it was meant to grab more new fans but they wanted the old fans just as much because they know without them, it could still fail, hence putting it in a new universe for the new fans, but bringing in Nimoy to play Prime Spock again to keep the old fans. It was saying, ‘sure its a different universe, but old Spock lives here now too, so you should like it.’
Now how well they have done that have been very very mixed. I have always said the Kelvin movies did bring in the most new fans without question, but they just couldn’t really hold on to them either and why those movies are now DOA for the last seven years. Prodigy was going to always be trickier because it was aiming at a group that has never cared about Star Trek in the first place. And while it was meant to get old fans onboard, ironically most of them watch Star Trek because it’s a very adult show in general and targeting the show for 8 year olds just scared a lot of them off instead of appealing to them.
So yeah, it’s complicated lol. But this is the problem and what I constantly say, Star Trek NEEDS new fans and certainly younger ones, but it just has a hard time attracting them. But same time they are sooooo afraid of losing the old fans because they know they keep the franchise alive basically. Hence why they moved back to the prime universe after the Kelvin movies didn’t become a bigger deal or very popular to the fanbase as a whole and why we now got stuff like SNW, Picard season 3 and LDS. It’s not a shock why those are so popular today, because they all appeal to old fans in every way.
Janeway is too major of a character to have her die in Prodigy. It would be like if they permanently killed Spock in The Animated Series. I enjoy Prodigy but don’t take it as seriously as the other Star Trek shows. Janeway deserved to be killed in Prime Time like on a major series or in a movie.
Chakotay on the other hand, kill kill away! Never liked him. He deserves a meaningless death on a morning cartoon show for kids.
Again, I’m not talking about killing off the hologram Janeway, just the live one, and along with the overkill fan service Chakotay reach.
100% agree on Chakotey…die die die…lol
Are you seriously thinking they would do that? Kate Mulgrew is the biggest headlining star the show has and a huge reason fans keep coming back. And you want them to kill her off? What if negotiations had gone wrong and Picard actually died in Best of both worlds? Do we even know if the “TNG” era would have survived that?
As I said:
I’m not talking about killing off the hologram Janeway, just the live one, and along with the overkill fan service Chakotay reach.
So Mulgrew stays, but as the crew’s holographic mentor only, which is the perfect role for her that worked so well in the first set of eps before the show drifted so much into I’ll-advised VOY fan service territory.
Forget that specific show for a minute. Lets count the number of Trek stars who have died and stayed dead. Spock? Nope. Yar? Yes. Dax? Yes. anyone else? I can’t fine one. No Star Trek Captain in the history of Trek has ever been killed off. Picard technically “died” in Picard but was uncermoniously brought back to life via a Soong type andriod like 5 minutes later. Thats the best agrument you have. Janeway is going nowhere. I will bet 1000 on it.
Yes. anyone else? I can’t fine one. No Star Trek Captain in the history of Trek has ever been killed off.
SERIOUSLY??? You gotta be kidding — the greatest captain of them all, Kirk, was killed on screen and stayed dead.
How on earth could you possibly have missed that???
Because he was kinda resurrected in Star Trek Picard.
lol, nah
You, uh, understand that a corpse isn’t alive, right?
All I will say is killing off Janeway would be completely ridiculous and not in the realm of reality. It would never happen because of what everyone has already said, especially killing off not just an iconic character in the last nearly 30 years now, but Star Trek’s first woman captain. The fanbase would go nuts if you killed off Janeway, my girlfriend especially lol.
Now, THAT said, it doesn’t mean you can’t kill her off, I mean they killed off Luke, Han and Leia in the new Star Wars movies, but you see how popular that idea went down lol. If you did it, it has to be for a big reason, but doing it in a kid’s show would be a horrible decision. That and the fact Janeway is still alive and well in the 25th century.
Now Kirk is another example how well these things go down in the fanbase lol. But that was only different because the studio had moved on from that era of Trek (we haven’t visited the movie era since TUC) and frankly they were just sick of Shatner lol. I don’t think they really wanted to work with him again and was fine with killing off the character. But it’s Star Trek, it doesn’t mean he can’t come back but as much as the fans wanted to see him again, especially when the first Kelvin came around, the studio seemed to want the complete opposite and there we are. And of course he could still come back, I just don’t know if Shatner will ever play him again.
And that’s another point, if they killed off Janeway eventually they would bring her back anyway at some point. Data says hi. ;)
The first Kelvin movie.
If they tried to kill Janeway off, people would be sending everyone who worked on that show death threats lol. It would kill off interest for the people who is only watching the show because she is on it. The backlash would be huge.
And most fans are waiting to see her in live action again.
But you’re probably right and they would just bring her back next season anyway… it’s Star Trek lol.
Didn’t know that about the studio and Shatner. I was never bothered they killed him off because all that was before my time as a fan although I love the original Kirk. Especially more than ever after getting fratboy Kirk in JJ verse and now dead wood Kirk on SNW. Not a big fan of either of these guys
I did like Pine more in Beyond but not crying if we never see him again and so far that has not been a problem..😂
How is this going to recharge the show again? Please elaborate?
People will tune in to this two-parter at the beginning of season 3 when they promote it as a dangerous mission where characters may not come out of it alive.
Think of all the promotional and media interest at the beginning of Picard season 3 — That’s how you do it and then you build on from that interest by hooking viewers on Netflix from that great two-parter.
I’m really looking forward to rewatching season one before season two comes out… Fingers crossed the show is able to continue.
Honestly with everything that is going on with P+ and possibly the WBD merger right now, it might not be up to Netflix. This is going to be a slow burn to see what happens.
Good to see you bro! 😄
But I’m not worried about that. That deal has already went through so it will definitely be on Netflix, at least the next season.
But the way things are sounding who knows how much new Trek will be around after next year if WBD does buy it? I don’t think the Academy show will happen if they buy it first.
Hey good to see u 2! Missed you! For reals not lying! But ya, here is the thing tho. I know the deal went through and the deals are made and stuff like that. But the same was true of Batgirl. Heck that movie was practically done if not for real done with post production and Darth Zaslav still axed it. He can say all he wants that it was because of the lack of quality or whatever but the truth is AT&T (jerks) over extended themselves when they bought Discovery and they needed to recoup money fast and getting a tax write off was the quickest and easiest way to do it. These days Paramount is in pretty much the same boat where they either have to merge with someone or raise the white flag because they can’t afford to keep going the way they are. And the only reason any one would even give them a look is because of the few IPs they have like Trek and Transformers, etc… Ok that was my $0.02. Again, happy as always to see you!
Merry Christmas man!!! I really miss you too. I’m hoping Trekcre starts producing more articles again so we can posting regularly again. But lack of new episodes does that but this place always find something to discuss.
Anyway, I know what you’re saying but wasn’t the entire point that P+ gave it away was already for a tax write off? So I don’t see how MAX would be affected? It’s already paid for and if another season comes Netflix will cover that. I don’t see how MAX would lose any money since they won’t be paying for anything. But I don’t pretend to understand all this stuff but the way I see it they could actually make money because they will be licensing it to Netflix. In fact I think WBD may just license the entire show to other sites if they feel Trek is not strong enough to keep on MAX alone.
Or they just cancel all the shows. 😂😐☹️😥
Nah, I don’t think they would do that…I hope? But Prodigy may be the only one that could be OK right now as strange as that sounds. But I don’t really know how it works.
I hope you had a great Christmas with your family! 😄🖖
I was watching CNBC yesterday at work and they were discussing how the merger was raising serious antitrust concerns, so *fingers crossed* it does not happen or is pared down to almost nothing.
Seems unlikely given both companies are struggling. If it was Disney and Netflix, now that might get the feds to step in.
If it does go foreward, I wonder if Zaslav will find a way to do it before April 8 and avoid a massive tax hit. If not, I could see this dragging out for months.
Agreed
Ya but you know what? On the one hand I agree with them. But on the other hand 1) they already let Disney buy FOX so they don’t have a leg to stand on. 2) America in terms of government no longer cares about anti-trust. These days if any anti-trust files go thru, it’s from the EU and a company has to abide and they natually do the same in the US. But i’m sorry to say out modern government simpley does not care about corporations getting too large.
This situation is no where near a near-monopoly situation, which is what the anti-trust laws are designed to protect against. In fact, it’s the opposite — we have too many services, and quite a few are not performing well, and so some consolidation is desired to better serve consumers and protects jobs and shareholders.
I just wish it was consolidating with a better streaming service that could actually promote and grow its offerings.
Agreed. I was hoping for Apple TV+
Heck I’d even settle for Hulu. I wonder if CBS (the actual broadcast network) will re-license their content to Hulu if/once this merger goes through?
*off topic question*
To the moderators here. Question please. Would it be possible to get the ability to be emailed when someone replies to your post so we can come back here and continue the conversation. That would be very helpful if possible. Thank you!
There is a button “Notify me of new replies to this comment” right next to the “Post Comment” button. I haven’t tried it but it sounds like what you’re asking for.
ya but I’ve tried that. I never get notified. But thanks for telling me none the less! :)
Yeah I used to click it too and sometimes I get an email saying someone has replied but most of the time I wouldn’t receive one so I stopped bothering with it. I love TM, but this message board is just waaaaaay too outdated today. I’m happy they finally installed an edit button but it probably needs new software completely. But I guess Anthony doesn’t bother since so few people post on it.
This makes me very excited!!
I watched the podcast when it originally aired and I love their passion and enthusiasm with the show. I really can’t wait for season 2, the two minute clip we got really excited and it will be fun to see how the characters grow and develop working in Starfleet.
Bringing the show up on Netflix this Christmas morning, I see they have the two-parter version of the premiere “Lost and Found”, rather than the double-length single episode form in which it was originally presented on Paramount+ and which we have on the Blu-ray / DVD releases. Huh. I knew such a version (a two-parter) existed and that it was presented that way in some venues, and had wondered whether I’d ever see it (as it seems to have been mainly a way to air it on actual television in certain markets outside the US before now, though I’m uncertain of the details).
I’ve put on that first half of the premiere, but as it’s Christmas I’m doing holiday stuff with family and haven’t been able to give the show much attention and do A/B comparisons with the double-length single-episode version on the disc. I’m curious about what differences exist.