It’s a good series but it’s definitely made for young kids, which is a shame because it’s the Voyager continuation I’ve always wanted. I’ve watched season 1 and am eagerly anticipating season 2, but I hope (misplaced as it may be) that the tone is a little more serious this time.
I would have preferred if they split the Voyager stuff into its own series, but you take what you can get.
No qualms over the animation though. It’s perfectly enjoyable.
Prodigy is excellent. A lot of people who would have enjoyed it never got the chance to watch it.
We had the first few episodes on one of our streaming services and the whole family enjoyed them but they must have lost the rights and we never got any more. I signed up to Paramount which wasn’t always available in our part of the world mainly to watch SNW. It was very disappointing to see Prodigy episodes listed but showing video unavailable. They had a fantastic entry point into the franchise for younger viewers that still managed to keep adults engaged.
My junior high school kid said nobody his age even knows what Star Trek is. This seemed crazy to me but then I realized most people have Netflix and or Disney and Paramount+ is practically unheard of here. The movie reboots stopped ages ago. The franchise really is dead for young viewers in large parts of the world. Which makes it even more amazing how badly Paramount has handled the licensing and promotion of Prodigy.
As much as I hate the Disney Borg, they should consider licensing it to the mouse for close to free to save the franchise and create a market for licensed toys and merch. It is as good as any of the Star Wars or Marvel spin offs and it is where all the families are subscribed. Even the BBC is moving Doctor Who there.
My oldest niece is 9. Last year I said something about Star Trek and she said, “Star Trek is awful.” I really need to ask what trek she’s seen and why she thinks it’s awful. She doesn’t seem to be a sci-fi fan, but that’s the only comment I’ve ever heard about Star Trek from someone her age. I’m very curious now.
This seems more apparent with Star Wars. As a child of the 80s I always preferred the original trilogy, but kids who grew up ~10 years after me seem to prefer the prequels. Do even younger kids prefer the new trilogy that most of us seem to dislike? I need to ask some of them.
Anyway, Prodigy is pretty great. I’m disappointed more people didn’t give it a chance to start with. I’ll readily admit I’m not a fan of Discovery and Picard, but I watched them all the way through, hoping for improvement, and at least have a good idea why I don’t like them. I think it’s worth trying anything that tries to be Star Trek.
Your reaction to Prodigy seems to be very common. Spread the word!
It’s unfortunate that many franchise fans let themselves be put off by the kids/family branding, animation or the fact that it starts out in a place and situation that feels more like another franchise in order to draw new audiences in.
That does mean though that it has room to grow. Prospective buyers are taking note of the numbers of new viewers even since it was pulled from Paramount+.
Most of it is no less great on average than 90s Trek. Just different.
It’s unfortunate many longtime fans weren’t willing to give it a chance to find its groove, much the same as the TOS fans resisted giving TNG a chance.
TNG’ first season and much of the second were rough, but it was a personal risk to stand up at a Star Trek Con in 1989 and say you were a TNG fan. By 1993, when DS9 was running too, everyone at cons were TNG fans too.
As a long haul fan who saw this happen then, I’ve found it sad to see Trek fandom repeating the cycle.
Well said. I actually think Prodigy, like SNW, has much stronger first seasons than the Berman Era shows, all of which were kinda weak in their first seasons and got better as they went on.
On one hand this interview gives a strong signal that the fans need to keep pressing with the advocacy to support getting Prodigy back on a streamer, but on the other it keeps teasing more and more that will pull in a broader range of adult fans.
Another visit to DS9? So many fans would campaign just for that alone.
And there’s other legacy Star Trek shows with very prominent space stations we like to visit.