It turns out that the flyover of Netflix HQ was indeed the flight home. The megastreamer has rescued Star Trek: Prodigy following its infamous abandonment in June by Paramount+, which also saw them abandon Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and Queen of the Universe among dozens of other titles including original movies like Snow Day and a substantial portion of Nickelodeon library, which this series, produced by Nickelodeon Animation Studio, also counts as. Netflix's pickup of Prodigy is not only for the United States but most international territories.Paramount+, who continues to tout its place as the "home of Star Trek", had abandoned Prodigy after renewing it for a second season in November 2021, just a couple of weeks after season 1 had premiered on the service. It had even scheduled to premiere Prodigy season 2 in Winter 2023 as recently as March, just 3 months before it happened. This would have placed it between the currently-ongoing Lower Decks season 4 (which premiered in September) and the final season of Discovery, set for early 2024. When they did abandon it, production was allowed to continue while it was shopped around. It was because of this that showrunners/co-creators Dan and Kevin Hageman and producer Aaron J. Waltke were able to share a 4-minute first-look clip at the second season at the Star Trek Las Vegas convention in August, and is also how after season 1 arrives on Netflix by the end of the year, season 2 will still be arriving in 2024, which can result in a delay of just a couple of months if the cards are played right. At the time, the Hagemans and Waltke were 99% sure that a new home for the series will be found.
A huge fanbase spurned by the cancellation began the #SaveStarTrekProdigy campaign. United Kingdom-based Star Trek fan Michele Stokes, whose online handle is megsmamma created a Change.org petition rather immediately, and it gained over 33,000 signatures by August, though it slowed down to not break 34,000. On August 17, she created a GoFundMe to raise £1,000 ($1,200) to hire an airplane to fly over the offices of Amazon and Hulu in Santa Monica and Netflix’s on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Within 5 days, the goal was met, and by the time Stokes closed donations on the day before the flight, the total raised was about 125% of the goal. The plane took flight on August 24 with the full endorsement of the crew, including the Hagemans, Waltke, and the writers. They continued to be spurned as Prodigy was only given a single indirect reference to the number of spinoffs produced since The Animated Series during the streamer's Star Trek Day 2023 presentation, but otherwise completely unacknowledged.
But hey let's get to the celebratory public statements. “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 the Hagemans. “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 Kathryn Janeway, who began the role in the 1995-2001 UPN series Star Trek Voyager.
Netflix isn't unfamiliar ground to Nickelodeon or Star Trek, whether its library or new productions. For Star Trek especially, Netflix was the home for the television series, while of course the movies of both eras tended to bounce around, in the pre-Paramount+ days. Deep Space Nine seems to have been the last straddler, leaving on July 1, 2022. The series that began the modern era of Trek for what was then CBS All Access, Discovery, started with a lucrative Netflix deal, which took all international territories outside the United States and Canada for a hefty license fee that largely covered the series's budget. The arrangement ended in 2021 and considering the cost-cutting going around that caused such write-offs like Prodigy, can probably be taken to why Discovery is ending.
The amount of Nickelodeon library titles that have been shared with Netflix, making their way back there after 7 years when such returns started in 2020 is probably too big a diversion for this article though the monster streaming success of the Avatar: The Last Airbender franchise happened there and led to the re-expansion of the franchise, with new series intended for Paramount+. Netflix is also where certain Nicktoons, like Glitch Techs, Pinky Malinky, and Sharkdog reside. It's also where Rocko's Modern Life: Static Cling, Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus, The Loud House Movie, and Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie released. It is also where That Girl Lay Lay has streamed both of its seasons after their linear runs before Paramount+, and will be mimicked by Erin & Aaron on November 3.
The territories that won't be getting Prodigy on Netflix are already known. Canada, where Prodigy is on CTV.ca and the CTV App, and in SkyShowtime’s European jurisdiction: the Nordics, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Central and Eastern Europe are excluded.
In addition to Mulgrew, Star Trek: Prodigy stars Brett Gray as Dal, Ella Purnell as Gwyn, Rylee Alazraqui as Rok-Tahk, Angus Imrie as Zero, Jason Mantzoukas as Jankom Pog, Dee Bradley Baker as Murf, John Noble as The Diviner, and Jimmi Simpson as Drednok. Also featured in the series are recurring voice cast members Daveed Diggs as Commander Tysess, Jameela Jamil as Ensign Asencia, Jason Alexander as Doctor Noum, Robert Beltran (Janeway’s #1 on Voyager) as Captain Chakotay, and Billy Campbell as Thadiun Okona. Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth serve as executive producers with Kurtzman and the Hagemans. Ben Hibon also directs, executive-produces and is credited as the show’s “creative lead”.
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