"Star Trek: Prodigy" News & Discussion Thread

Fone Bone

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I think the best of TNG still holds up. Heck, looking at what is going on in US, episodes like The Drumhead and Chain of Command, to name a few, are probably more relevant today than ever before.

Oh, the BEST of TNG holds up, no question. The problem is that only amounts to about a fifth or a fourth of the entire 178 episode run. The rest of it is cringe compared to today's stuff.
 

The Overlord

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To be honest, with the notable and welcome exception of Deep Space Nine, I don't find the sequel shows all that relevant for what's going on in the world today. The original series had television's first interracial kiss. The next four sequel series refused to even have a single character who was actually gay. The shows feel dated in their unfunny jokes and unlikable secondary characters too. I think Star Trek would do better to try and reach a new generation with material THEY can relate to, instead of believing they'd be willing to catch up with a bunch of shows that are outright corny by today's standards. We who grew up in the 80's and 90's had a fine run of Star Trek for ourselves. It's totally cool with me if the current generation gets the same privilege.

Who knows? Maybe their versions will seem dated in 30 years too.

I still think the best TNG episodes (like the Drumhead or Measure of a Man) really hold up, along with the Borg stuff and the best Q episode.

A message that may have seemed obvious at the time (like Chains of Command being a two-parter with a clear anti-torture message) really resonate today.

Never the less, I do not think kids today would have seen the old Star Trek series (from either the 60s, 80s or 90s).

I like Discovery, but it's not suitable for kids and in the US it's on a more obscure streaming service.

I do think this Nick cartoon if done well, could introduce the franchise to a new generation. They would have to take the Star Trek ethos and present in a way that is accessible to kids. This show would have be less dry then some of the previous shows were, but I do think Star Trek is a versatile enough franchise, that would be easy to make appropriate for kids and still be engaging.


Oh, the BEST of TNG holds up, no question. The problem is that only amounts to about a fifth or a fourth of the entire 178 episode run. The rest of it is cringe compared to today's stuff.

I think a lot of the episodes hold up and TOS despite being progressive for the 60s, would have cringey elements to do it (like Spock's brain).

Heck, I think later Enterprise is actually engaging, despite the first 2 seasons being pretty bad. Voyager is the one show in the franchise that I think is just bland throughout its run.

It's still easy to take the best elements from the franchise and repackage them for kids today. Kids would not be sick of the Borg or Klingons like older fans are.
 

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TrekCore had the chance to interview Star Trek franchise heads Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin at NYCC: EXCLUSIVE: Alex Kurtzman and Heather Kadin on that Nickelodeon STAR TREK Show, If We'll See a DISCOVERY Movie, PICARD Season 2 (!), and Much More • TrekCore.com

TREKCORE: How about the Nickelodeon animated series that was announced back in April? The writers room was revealed on social media a while back… is that something to look for, maybe, in 2021?

KADIN:
Looooonger. I was surprised! As someone who makes big, live-action shows, I heard how long it was going to take and I was like, “What?!” Because it’s 3D animation, so just takes that much longer…

TREKCORE: Oh, so it will be more of a digital look, compared to the “cartoon” animation in Lower Decks?

KADIN:
Exactly.

KURTZMAN: (Nods) Very different animation style.

KADIN: But the Hageman brothers [come from] Ninjago and TrollHunters, they’re doing it, so it’s definitely going to be more in that visual look.

TREKCORE: Lower Decks was picked up to series with a two-season order, due to the animation work, I believe.

KURTZMAN:
Yes.

TREKCORE: Is that the same for the Nickelodeon show?

KADIN:
Yes.

TREKCORE: When do think there might be a title for that series?

KURTZMAN:
We have a title. We’re just not going to tell you what it is! (Laughs)

REKCORE: The other Star Trek shows are accessible, mostly, to younger viewers, but some fans have expressed a bit of apprehension about a Trek show that’s aimed to be specifically for a younger audience.

What are your thoughts on that reaction, for those who think it might not be the right move for Star Trek?

KADIN:
The reason we went to the Hagemans is because if you’ve seen their work, you know that they’re not writing “Muppet Babies.” It’s not “Little Spock and Little Kirk.” It’s not playing down [to viewers] that way.

Even [with] their characters in Ninjago — they are teenagers — I was able to watch that with my kids and they write with a very epic quality. They tell stories the way we tell stories in live action: serialized, turning over cards…

I think it will be a great way for fans to introduce the franchise to their kids, and for new fans to be formed, because it’s such a big franchise, [it can be hard] to get into as a kid.

TREKCORE: So you expect it to have some ongoing storylines, and not just be an ‘episode of the week’ kids show?

KADIN:
(Nods) A hundred percent, yeah.
 

PicardMan

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I guess this is years down the line. We have also learned that Star Trek shows keep their title a secret and that's why the show with Picard didn't get it's title revealed as Star Trek: Picard until recently.
 

The Overlord

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I guess this is years down the line. We have also learned that Star Trek shows keep their title a secret and that's why the show with Picard didn't get it's title revealed as Star Trek: Picard until recently.

Its a shame that will be a long way away, but I hope the animation will great because of that.

I am glad to hear this show will not dumb things down for the kids. I hope this show will appeal to kids and still get the mythos of Star Trek right. Maybe this show will do a lot of allegories, visiting planets affected by pollution, bigotry, corrupt governments, etc and deal with them in this cartoon because it deals with aliens rather than a human society. I like Discovery well enough, but sometimes I think it tries too hard in regards to trying to be edgy.

It's interesting this show will be serialized rather than stand-alone episodes. Both Star Trek TOS and the Next Generation were stand-alone, Deep Space 9 was serialized, Voyager was not (to their detriment I would argue), Enterprise started as stand-alone episodes, but became serilized by season 3 (which made that show better) and Discovery is serialized. I think episodic TV is becoming rarer outside of comedies nowadays.
 

The Overlord

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Hope we get the cat lady from the original animated series.

You mean M'Ress?


Since the premise of the show is teens running away and finding an old ship to fix up, I am not sure she would be part of the main cast.

M'Ress may be too old to be hanging out with teenagers and if this show is not set in the 23rd century, she may not be alive. M'Ress was a lieutenant on the Enterprise, so she would be older than a teenager. Unless this is set later and M'Ress is tasked by Star Fleet to bring these kids back home, M'Ress could be annoyed with such an assignment, but follow orders none the less and be a secondary, sympathetic antagonist.

However maybe one of M'Ress people, the Caitains (silly name, but whatever) could be one of the teenagers. It would be nice if the cast characters was a blend of humans and aliens.
 
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The Overlord

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One thing I worry about is that if this Star Trek cartoon does not get Spongebob level ratings out the gate, that Nick will send it to Nicktoons to die on the vine. I hope CBS will be able to keep this show on the main channel or failing that, put it on Netflix or CBS All Access in short order, rather than just sending it to Nicktoons. Nick doing this to a lot of their recent animated shows does not fill me with confidence.
 

PicardMan

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The ninja turtles shows did well and Korra at least got to go to streaming, so the track record for recent action cartoons on Nickelodeon is at least not that awful.
 

The Overlord

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The ninja turtles shows did well and Korra at least got to go to streaming, so the track record for recent action cartoons on Nickelodeon is at least not that awful.


Fair enough, but I still think shows like Harvey Beaks display Nick's recent bad treatment of quality animation. If Nick cancels it after one season and just sends the reruns to Nicktoons and a streaming service, I think that be treating this show badly. I hope they have a real commitment to this show and that if it does not work on the main Nick, they do continue it on streaming. I think if Viacom/CBS wants to thrive in the streaming wars, they cannot be as careless with their animated properties as they have been in the past. Though Star Trek seems to be one of the big franchises that helped spur the reuniting of Viacom and CBS, so I hope that means this show will be treated well because of it.

I do think this show is the most important show for the Star Trek franchise because I think it would be that could make younger people interested in Star Trek. I am looking forward to Star Trek Picard, but that seems like a show that would appeal to the old fans, rather than bring in new fans.

Though I am still not sure sending the latest TMNT cartoon to Nicktoons means it is doing well.
 

The Overlord

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So I found a website of a guy who is working on this show and apparently its called Star Trek Prodigy.


That fits with the teen rebels finding a starship type story from the plot outlines.
 

The Overlord

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Has anyone seen the animated Short Treks, ''The Girl Who Made the Stars" and "Ephraim and Dot" on CBS All Access? If so, would either of the animation styles of either Short work for this cartoon?

Also I hope the fact that CBS and Viacom are now merged and Star Trek is one of the major franchises CBS is promoting and Star Trek is one of the biggest franchises Viacom/CBS controls, will mean Nickelodeon will treat it with more respect than other shows that they mistreated like Harvey Beaks, Rise of the TMNT and Welcome to the Wayne.
 
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PicardMan

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CBS is promoting and Star Trek is one of the biggest franchises Viacom/CBS controls, will mean Nickelodeon will treat it with more respect than other shows that they mistreated like Harvey Beaks, Rise of the TMNT and Welcome to the Wayne.

It will get the Saturday morning death slot with little to no reruns, just like the TMNT cartoons. Action/sci-fi cartoons seem to not be allowed to air past noon.
 

The Overlord

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It will get the Saturday morning death slot with little to no reruns, just like the TMNT cartoons. Action/sci-fi cartoons seem to not be allowed to air past noon.

Is Sat morning a death slot for kids? Times have changed.

I am hoping CBS convinces Nick to treat this series right, considering it would be a crown jewel in the CBS/Viacom library and really needs to appeal to kids to get new fans.
 

PicardMan

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Is Sat morning a death slot for kids? Times have changed.

Cartoon Network puts all of its heavy hitters with usually prime time premieres and reruns them at least occasionally (although most reruns go to one or two pet shows. The Nick TMNT cartoons premiering in the morning wasn't as bad as them never having afternoon/evening reruns. The fact that Steven Universe can air in the evening but not a TMNT cartoon says something.
 

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Yeah, action shows track record these days is really meh unless they go directly to on demand. All shows on all networks in the past decade suffered to a degree from bad slots and ratings. If Trek is actually on Nick proper then I'll be surprised, because I'd say it doesn't belong there to begin with - unless it's a sitcom in disguise.
 

The Overlord

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Yeah, action shows track record these days is really meh unless they go directly to on demand. All shows on all networks in the past decade suffered to a degree from bad slots and ratings. If Trek is actually on Nick proper then I'll be surprised, because I'd say it doesn't belong there to begin with - unless it's a sitcom in disguise.

Perhaps the CBS merger will convince Nick to treat this show better, CBS has really been trying to make a Star Trek into a big franchise in recent years, I think Nick mistreating one of the most important franchises that company has would be stupid.
 

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Well, depends who will have the upper hand in everything and how much action will the show be. Disney managed to mistreat rival Star Wars and action show are dead these days, so there's that. Just hearing Star Trek and Nick in one sentence is weird - regardless if it's Nickelodeon or NickToons or TeenNick. It just sounds odd like it doesn't fit and is destined to fail from the start. Even MTV or a CBS channel would maybe be a better fit. But they can really just surprise us, though I'm not expecting much.
 

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