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Published Nov 11, 2022

RECAP | Star Trek: Prodigy - All the World's a Stage

The Protostar crew makes second contact with a unique planet.

StarTrek.com

After the incident with the Borg last week, we can probably expect a quiet episode of Star Trek: Prodigy this week... right? Wrong! Let’s dive right in to this amazing homage to redshirts in the Trek universe.

The episode opens with a bang — Admiral Janeway is interviewing the now-conscious Diviner. Specifically, she wants to know why he was muttering the word " Protostar " while he was delirious.

The Diviner's memory appears to be fractured, but he does tell the crew that the Protostar stole his daughter. When Janeway asks if the Diviner has seen Chakotay, he says "yes.” He knows that Chakotay was taken prisoner, but he still can’t remember the details of what happened. It’s unclear if he recalls whether Starfleet is his enemy, but when he sees their combadges, he has some unpleasant flashbacks.

Ensign Asencia tells the Admiral that they're tracking Lieutenant Barniss Frex, the survivor of the Federation relay station . He was picked up by a passing ship. Janeway is very interested in talking to him, as she's on a mission to find out who stole the Protostar — not realizing that the culprit is likely sitting in her Sickbay.

Meanwhile, back on the Protostar , the crew is getting used to the fact that the Living Construct can't be removed, which means they can't go to Starfleet. Even hailing another Starfleet ship would lead to disaster. Instead, they’ve decided to use the Protostar to help others.

Hologram Janeway picks up a distress call from a planet, but a subspace distortion field is preventing her from telling the crew anything about what they might find down there. She does detect life signs, however.

Meanwhile, Murf is having a difficult time. Is our favorite Mellanoid Slime Worm sick, or is there something more going on here? Rok-Tahk decides to stay on the ship to look after Murf while the rest of the crew beams down to the surface.

The transporter process is strange — as Dal notes, it takes longer than usual, which may be due to the interference Janeway detected. They end up on a lush, green world, where the crew finds two random people wearing somewhat familiar looking uniforms. They're calling themselves Sool'U and James'T (familiar names!), and they recognize the combadges Dal and his team are wearing. They’re excited that what they call "Star-Flight" of the "Fed'ration" has returned to their planet.

Clearly this race, self-designated as Enderprizians, have somehow encountered and been influenced by Starfleet, but how? As Janeway tells them, no Federation ship has been here in over 100 years. These people clearly aren’t members of Starfleet; there's something weird going on here.

They're shown to a colony of New Enda-Prize — which appears to be modeled after a starship, complete with nacelles. Everyone gapes at them. Zero mentions that this isn't a deception. Members of this culture really think that they're Starfleet.

The Enderprizians (who even go so far as to mimic the voice cadence of different officers from The Original Series ) insist on showing the Protostar crews their “logs,” which are clearly a cultural touchstone. As they watch the re-enactment of what happened to these people, they see the crew of Kirk’s Enterprise being unable to intervene in events because of the Prime Directive, which prohibits them from interfering in the natural development of a culture.

But someone in a red shirt called En Son (or Ensign) by traveling down to the planet to help these people, the Enderprizians, who are in need. While En Son brings great knowledge, he also brings a warning. Don't go into the woods because there's evil there — The Gallows. Those who ventured near were afflicted with a sickness. After passing on the tales of Starfleet, En Son died. But not before he promised that Starfleet would return and get rid of the curse in the woods.

Dal's ready to leave, recognizing that this culture wasn't ready for first contact a century ago. He sees the people are living a lie, and it feels all too familiar. The Protostar crew are not really Starfleet, after all. As they decide to head back to their ship, a wounded young woman staggers in, saying she saw The Gallows.

The crew recognizes that curses aren't real, but whatever The Gallows is, it's hurting these people. Just then, Dal finds similar lesions on his own skin. Zero says he can synthesize a cure, but because of all the interference, he needs to know more about what they're dealing with. It's time to investigate the woods.

As Rok-Tahk worries over Murf back on the ship, Gwyn contacts her and asks for EV suits and medical supplies. Rok leaves Murf in the care of Hologram Janeway and heads out to help her friends.

Meanwhile, Dal is having a bit of a crisis. He’s uncomfortable, sick, and realizing the future of an entire species might depend on him. But the local doctor has some wise words for Dal. They might not be Starfleet, but they believe in what it stands for. And at the end of the day, that’s what Dal and his crew members feel as well.

Rok-Tahk, Gwyn, and Jankom Pog approach The Gallows; it’s inside a glowing cave. They find two red “eyes” that are actually from a spacecraft. A Federation shuttlecraft, to be clear, from the Enterprise NCC-1701 , called the Galileo . It’s leaking plasma from the warp engine, which is what's causing both the sickness and the subspace interference.

Jankom takes his life into his own hands and jumps into the decrepit shuttle that's on the verge of falling into a bottomless abyss. He is able to get through to Zero and describes the situation, which allows Zero to quickly synthesize an antidote.

But the landing party is in trouble, and they can’t be transported out. The Protostar will have to fly in, but being that close to the interference will knock out both the ship’s autopilot and Hologram Janeway. Dal has no idea how they're going to mount a rescue with so few team members — until he realizes he has a crew. The Enderprizians.Hologram Janeway voices her doubts about the newcomers, but Dal insists they can handle it. They just need a chance.

The Enderprizians are unsure of how to manage the complex (and modern) controls of the Protostar , so Hologram Janeway changes the control interface to something the aliens are more familiar with — that of a 23rd Century Constitution -class starship.

They fly in and manage to beam the away team up right as the shuttle falls into the abyss. While they’re doing that, a log from the Galileo plays. This was the shuttlecraft of Ensign Garrovick, last seen in The Original Series episode “ Obsession .” He came to save the locals, but it turned out that they actually were the ones that saved him.

They return the Enderprizians to their home, and Dal realizes that if this group can be Starfleet without a ship, so can the Protostar crew. They’re going to contact Starfleet and do it without the ship that might endanger the Federation.

But we’re not done yet. Remember Murf? Well, it turns out there was more going on with him than just being sick. He's gone into a cocoon, and there's no telling what will happen when he emerges.

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Swapna Krishna (she/her) writes about tech, science, and sci-fi. She’s a contributing editor at SYFY FANGRRLS and has been published at Engadget, Gizmodo, Mental Floss, the Los Angeles Times, and more. You can find her on Twitter @skrishna.

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 is available to stream on Netflix outside of markets including Canada where it is available on CTV.ca and the CTV App, France on France Televisions channels and Okoo, in Iceland on Sjonvarp Simans Premium, as well as on SkyShowtime in the Nordics, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Central and Eastern Europe. Star Trek: Prodigy is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

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Star Trek: Prodigy

A group of enslaved teenagers steal a derelict Starfleet vessel to escape and explore the galaxy. A group of enslaved teenagers steal a derelict Starfleet vessel to escape and explore the galaxy. A group of enslaved teenagers steal a derelict Starfleet vessel to escape and explore the galaxy.

• Dan Hageman
• Kevin Hageman
• Rylee Alazraqui
• Dee Bradley Baker
• 146 User reviews
• 6 Critic reviews
• 2 wins & 3 nominations

Episodes 40

• The Diviner

• Hologram Janeway …

• Ship Computer …

• Commander Tysess

• Doctor Noum …

• Captain Chakotay
• Kazon Trader …

• Barniss Frex …

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• Trivia Set in 2383, five years after the ending of Star Trek: Voyager (1995) in the Prime Timeline.
• Connections Edited into Star Trek: Prodigy - Die Helden (2022)

User reviews 146

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• Nov 3, 2021
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• October 28, 2021 (United States)
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• Untitled Star Trek Animated Kids Series
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Technical specs

• Runtime 24 minutes
• Dolby Atmos
• Dolby Digital

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Star Trek canon just changed one very big starship rule

Forget beaming down.

Beaming down is so over. In the Star Trek canon, the crew members of the various starships tend to avoid landing their starships, mainly because said ships are too big. Back in the ‘60s, that special effect would have been too expensive. But now, in Star Trek: Prodigy , one of the rarest sights in the Trek mythos— a starship landing on a planet — is suddenly common.

Here’s why the USS Protostar is shaking up canon and what it might mean. Spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Prodigy Episode 4, “Dreamcatcher.”

Why starships don’t usually land in Star Trek

The saucer of the Enterprise -D crash-landing in Star Trek: Generations .

In the Trek canon, the size of starships generally prohibits them from landing on the surface of planets on a regular basis. In canon, the idea is that starships are designed to exist in space, pretty much exclusively. In the 22nd century, before Starfleet perfected the transporter, heading down to a planet required a shuttle pod. And, well into the 23rd, 24th, and 32nd centuries of the Trek timeline, using smaller ships like shuttles, runabouts, or scoutships was generally the way to land on a planet if you didn’t want to beam down.

In real life, the reason why the classic USS Enterprise didn’t land on planets was mostly a matter of VFX economics. Having the ship land on each alien planet every week would have been hell on the physical models of the Enterprise , and early in the development of the series, Gene Roddenberry thought it seemed unrealistic anyway. The Original Series then created both the transporter and the shuttlecraft and demonstrated how the star trekkers could leave their ships. That is until Voyager .

Voyager (briefly) changed the starship landing game

The USS Voyager post-landing in “The 37’s.”

Starting with the Voyager episode “The 37’s,” it revealed that advanced — and smaller — starships built after 2371 had the ability to land and take-off from planets without any serious strain. Before this, if a Federation starship ended up in the atmosphere of a planet, it was likely a crash-landing, like when the entire saucer section of the USS Enterprise hit the trees in Star Trek Generations .

While some other governments — like the Klingons — used smaller ships like the famous Bird-of-Prey to land on planets all the time, the idea that an entire Federation ship would land was pretty much unheard of until Voyager .

In Voyager, this process only happened five other times on the show. When it was time to land Voyager, Captain Janeway ordered “Blue Alert.”

What the Protostar borrows from Picard

The La Sirena parked on the planet Coppelius in the Season 1 finale of Star Trek: Picard.

The relative size of the USS Protostar , at least in contrast with other Star Trek ships, is probably very, very small. So far, we haven’t seen any turbolifts, which seems to imply there are perhaps only three to four separate decks.

Like Captain Rois’ speed freighter, the La Sirena in Star Trek: Picard , the Protostar seems ultra-compact. In fact, the ship is so compact that even calling it a “starship” might be a misnomer. Then again, in Deep Space Nine , the souped-up shuttlecraft called “runabouts” were often referred to as “Federation Starships,” and those runabouts obviously landed all the time.

The difference is that runabouts — and the La Sirena — look like they can land. For lack of a better analogy, the La Sirena and the various shuttlecraft in Star Trek have a kind of Millennium Falcon vibe. You know they’re not tiny, but they’re also not so huge as to cause trouble when they touchdown.

The Protostar on the surface of an alien world.

But the Protostar looks more like Voyager. Because there’s a hologram of Janeway aboard, and the ship is in the Delta Quadrant, it feels more like Voyager , too. Although this hasn’t been established in the show yet, it feels possible the Protostar might not even use transporters as a standard operating procedure. When Dal and the crew decide to land on the M-Class planet in “Dreamcatcher,” Hologram Janeway doesn’t even suggest they beam down. Instead, landing the ship is viewed as not only the best option but also the only option.

And it’s right there that the Protostar represents something new for the Star Trek canon. Even if the ship has beaming capability, the fact that the default is to land the ship says something interesting about the ship’s design. Maybe it’s not as super-advanced as we think. Instead, perhaps the Protostar has some things about it that are intentionally retrograde. Space travel is all well and good, but if the starships are too unwieldy to hang out on planets for long periods of time, then what’s the point of boldly going at all?

Star Trek: Prodigy will air its midseason finale on November 18 on Paramount+.

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Shuttle Pod / All Access Emergency Pod: ‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Cancellation Discussion The TrekMovie.com Star Trek Podcast Network

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After the big news broke on Friday that Paramount Global is canceling and removing a number of shows including Star Trek: Prodigy, the TrekMovie podcasting teams assembled for an emergency pod to talk about it. Kayla and Brian from the Shuttle Pod join Tony and Laurie from All Access Star Trek to break down the news and put it into context with what is going on with Paramount and the streaming business. The podcasters also express their sadness to see such a great show get canceled but are hopeful it will find a new home, as Paramount has said they plan to license both season 1 and the upcoming second season to another network. They also have a frank discussion about the state of Star Trek merchandise and about what all of this could mean for the future of Star Trek on television.

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There’s a lot of good banter between all the crew members that would fit right in on the show. There are direct references to already-aired episodes, including “Dreamcatcher,” “Kobayashi,” “Time Amok,” and “A Moral Star, Part 2.” My children loved that they knew the lore behind the game.

Besides residing deep in the heart of Prodigy , there are some wonderful touches from the greater Star Trek universe as well. References to various species ( Xindi !), locations ( Rura Penthe !), and substances ( Kemocite !) add to the immersive experience. There’s even a little history lesson from Holo-Janeway… about a mission when some older heroes went back in time to find some whales. This made me smile and I made a mental note that it might be time to plan a family movie night to watch Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home  together.

The actual gameplay itself was very entertaining to both myself and my kids. It consists of levels with mini objectives that contain both puzzle points and combat portions. The puzzles are the correct level of challenging for the age group and they do a great job of utilizing Dal and Gwyn as a team. Each has their own unique abilities, so you have to pick the right person for each job.

This makes the two-player co-op mode very satisfying for both players, as both are required at every stage — but you can also enjoy the game in single-player mode, swapping control of one character to another with the touch of a button.

As a parent, the co-op mode is one of the best things about this game. Needing both characters to complete the puzzles made it a really satisfying bonding experience to play with my kids. It was really fun to say, “Ok, Gwyn, we need you now, press that switch!” to my child — compared to other games we’ve played together, where two player co-op just increases the number of bad guys you’re fighting.

My child on the younger edge of the age group, who isn’t as experienced with these type of puzzles as my older two, liked playing this way best. (I did, too, but not from a gaming perspective as much as I just loved seeing my kid’s face light up as we solved puzzles together!)

This game takes full advantage of the type of side quests that my kids love to do. There are several things to collect, including isolinear chips (which they call “relics”, which made me feel old!). You can trip out the Captain’s quarters with treasures from all different eras of  Star Trek history, and the holodeck offers mini “training levels” which you can complete to upgrade your crewmates abilities.

Jankom Pog can upgrade your weapons in exchange for the in game currency. My kids really got a kick out of getting to be on the Protostar in between levels of the main quest to manage all of these extras.

There are a few issues that distract from the overall experience. (Noting here, that I am reviewing a prerelease copy of the game). There were a few times where the characters glitched into places that I could not “unstick” them from and had to reset, losing some progress each time. That was frustrating to my kids, especially.

Semi-related to that, this game needs at least three times as many save points as it has, because you pretty much have to finish a level to save — which is even more inconvenient for kids who can only handle shorter gaming sessions due to attention span (or math homework that they have to finish!).

I found the combat portions to be a little repetitive, as groups of “watchers” would frequently appear, but the ability to upgrade your weapons and the fact that other crew members would appear to help occasionally relived some of that monotony. And the “boss battles” were fine. There was also an issue with the on screen dialogue not matching the words spoken by the characters.

We are very sensitive to that issue as a household with a hearing impaired child. It took us out of the story every time it happened.

But these issues were relatively minor overall. Star Trek: Prodigy — Supernova is a really fun game with a great Star Trek story and gameplay that kept all ages in my household entertained. Sharing Prodigy with my kids has been really exciting for me as a parent, and this game adds to that experience by meeting them at their level in a way only a great video game can.

I highly recommend it for kids and their parents, but I also think that adult Star Trek fans in general would have a fun time going through it as long as they understand that while it truly is a “kids game” in the sense of difficulty level, it is also a Star Trek game story well worth the time — if the kids ever let you get a turn to play!

We also had the chance to get the inside story on  Star Trek: Prodigy — Supernova from Outright Games producer Rudy Lamy, who answered a few of our questions over email earlier this month.

TREKCORE: How did you approach developing a game with over 50 years of Star Trek lore behind it — and how much does a new player have to know about the Star Trek universe going into Supernova ?

RUDY LAMY (Producer, Outright Games): The game has been designed with the whole family in mind, so parents and kids can enjoy playing together. Veteran fans can teach the newer players all the references they find, but we are sure that the younger players will have a lot to say about the lore of the show and the saga in general.

As game developers — although we are fans of the Star Trek saga — we don’t know all of the details of every incarnation. However, we were fortunate to have the continued support of the Star Trek teams at Nickelodeon and Paramount, who were always on board to help us give the game an unparalleled Trekkie layer.

The game does occur after the Protostar crew has united during Season 1 of the series, and does tie into the history of the Vau N’Akat, but due to the specific time setting and new locations, Star Trek: Prodigy —Supernova is also a great opportunity to jump into the Prodigy lore.  The game design and narrative express the core Star Trek values of cooperation, diversity, and friendship, and we believe it can also serve as a solid introduction to the Star Trek universe.

TREKCORE: What was the process like working with the Star Trek: Prodigy cast to help bring their characters to life? 

LAMY : It was a privilege (and lots of fun) to collaborate with the cast from the series, and get them to bring their characters to the game. Working with the different cast members, they genuinely feel like a crew: with their own personalities, senses of humor, and motivations.  We’re especially proud of how natural the banter and emotions come across in this game.  It can be hard to juggle the transition between jokes and the epic, emotional stakes of adventure, but the Protostar crew really delivered.

The gameplay is full of fundamental Star Trek staples: characters, rich personalities, their abilities, knowledge and cultures, and the use of the Star Trek technology such as the Tricorder, the Transporter, etc.

TREKCORE: You mentioned targeting the 6-to-11-years age range, which is a pretty wide target when it comes to video games. How is this game designed to appeal to all kids in this group?

LAMY : Supernova is a co-op game where kids will find it very accessible to have a lot of fun, the difficulty progression of the game is designed to be played by everyone. We have tested the game so players don’t get a high level of frustration, etc.; the conversations between characters are meant to be fun, engaging, and authentically Star Trek for the whole family.

We put a lot of work into ensuring this game can be enjoyed by all ages. We think we’ve hit a really nice balance between ease vs challenge, so it’s going to test the younger players but parents for example will be able to enjoy the settings, characters and exploration so it’s not all about difficulty.

The co-op mode is fully drop in/drop out, so anyone can play together — and we have our companion AI take over in single player, which definitely helps keep the game nice and approachable if you are a younger or less experienced gamer.

TREKCORE: My kids love discovering Easter eggs, glitches and fun things like that inside games, so they wanted me to ask: are there things like that for them to discover in  Supernova?

LAMY : Yes, of course, we also love the secrets behind every video game.  In Star Trek:  Prodigy — Supernova you can find a variety of relics from the different Star Trek series which will appear in the captain’s quarters aboard the Protostar, and we dare you to find them all! Also, there are some fun cheats to unlock by completing certain gameplay objectives.

TREKCORE: Any chances for a future Supernova DLC?

LAMY : We don’t have anything to say about future add on content for the game at this point — but do keep an eye on our socials for any updates about the game.

TREKCORE: Is this a standalone adventure? Is there room open to continue in this story, or would another game be a completely separate story?

LAMY : Our game is very much a standalone adventure, however it is also deeply tied to the events and characters of the existing TV series — so we really get to have the best of both worlds! We worked incredibly closely with the Star Trek teams at Nickelodeon and Paramount to see where our game would take place in relation to the show.

We identified a really curious window that was unaccounted for due to a time jump, so our game is set then and explains what happened during this time. We’re not at a point where we are able to talk about our future titles, but we’re just so proud of what we’ve made here and are incredibly excited to see the reaction from fans and newcomers alike.

Star Trek: Prodigy — Supernova is out now on PlayStation 4 and 5 , Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox X|S, and and on Steam for PC players.

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Star Trek: Prodigy takes a different opening tack than any previous Trek series

The show aims at viewers who are tuning into the final frontier for the first time

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When the title of a new TV series begins with “Star Trek,” it’s natural to be intimidated. The Trek franchise has a well-earned reputation for having a dense canon, which has been built up over the course of 55 years and more than 800 canonical installments. It’s possible to start any individual series and eventually get your bearings, but many of them aren’t terribly welcoming unless you’ve absorbed the prerequisite mythology, either directly or through cultural osmosis. Star Trek: Prodigy , the new animated series that premiered Oct. 28 on Paramount Plus, fully breaks from this trend, presenting Star Trek in an entirely new way, and becoming the most accessible jumping-on point for the franchise since J.J. Abrams’ 2009 film reboot.

Most Star Trek spin-offs presume a level of pre-existing engagement in the franchise, and use their first episodes not to sell viewers on Star Trek , but to sell them on this Star Trek . They’re in the business of iteration and contrast, of proving that this incarnation has something sufficiently different in store. For 1987’s The Next Generation , the very premise of doing Star Trek without familiar characters Kirk and Spock was novel enough to differentiate the series. Deep Space Nine and Voyager are distinguished by their placement in space, Enterprise and Discovery by their placement in time, Picard and Lower Decks by their vastly different approaches to the legacy of The Next Generation . Every series has developed its own identity, but each is defined from the outset by its relationship to what’s come before.

But the double-sized premiere of Prodigy seems to be entirely in its own lane, refreshingly unconcerned with previous Star Trek series until two minutes before the closing credits. The first episode, “Lost and Found,” takes place on the mining colony asteroid Tars Lamora, where teenage prisoner Dal R’El (voiced by Brett Gray) is making his umpteenth unsuccessful escape attempt. Over the course of this opening hour, we see Dal assemble a ragtag group of fellow enslaved workers to hijack an advanced derelict starship that’s buried within a crevice of the asteroid.

Anyone even vaguely familiar with Star Trek will recognize this ship, the USS Protostar, as having all the aesthetic markers of a Starfleet vessel. Dal and his companions, however, do not — in fact, they’ve never heard of Starfleet or the United Federation of Planets that it serves. To them, it’s just a way out of bondage. The fact that it’s also their gateway into a diverse space utopia only sweetens the deal. They’re in the middle of their own space adventure, only to discover at the last minute that they’re on Star Trek , whatever that is.

Shifting the perspective of the characters from seasoned professionals coping with new wrinkles to complete outsiders learning the ropes was a deliberate decision made by series creators Kevin and Dan Hageman ( Trollhunters, LEGO’s Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu ), as they explained at New York Comic Con earlier this month. Star Trek head honcho Alex Kurtzman tasked them with devising an entry point through which young, uninitiated viewers might find their way into Star Trek , and determined that the best way to do that would be via characters who would be introduced to it themselves.

Exploring the Star Trek canon is typically easier with a guide, and the crew of the Protostar have one of their own — a holographic training program in the likeness of Star Trek: Voyager ’s Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Introduced at the end of “Lost and Found,” Hologram Janeway is the only element that places the episode in a particular place or time in the Star Trek universe.

Prodigy has a few other, looser ties to the franchise’s past. Three members of the main ensemble represent races from previous Star Trek works, but each is more obscure than the last. Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas) is a Tellarite, the least recognizable of the Federation’s four founding species (alongside Humans, Vulcans, and those blue guys with the antennae, the Andorians). Zero (Angus Imrie) is a Medusan, a non-corporeal entity whose people haven’t been heard from since the 1968 episode which introduced them. Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui) is a Brikar, a species that originates in Peter David’s tie-in novels from the 1990s, and has never been depicted on screen before. Since even the established pieces of lore are plucked from obscurity, viewers for whom “Lost and Found” is their very first Star Trek aren’t missing anything. At least for now, dyed-in-the-wool Trekkies have almost no advantage over the new kids.

This distance from the larger Star Trek universe won’t last, and it’s not meant to. The Hagemans have already indicated that the Protostar’s course will take them closer to Federation space, and that they’ll encounter more familiar characters and cultures over time. This doesn’t have to make the series any less approachable to new viewers. As the young crew journeys in from the outskirts, hopefully new fans can be gradually acclimatized. Success would mean that a young viewer can explore the wider Star Trek library with Prodigy as their compass, not their homework agenda.

The first episode of Star Trek: Prodigy’s 10-episode opening season is now streaming on Paramount Plus, with new episodes arriving on Thursdays.

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Star Trek: Prodigy Teaser Trailer Introduces Holo Janeway’s Starship - Comic-Con 2021

The first trailer for the first kids trek show debuts..

The Star Trek Universe panels have become a staple of Comic-Cons in recent years, and while 2021 is another remote Comic-Con@Home year, Paramount+ still brought out its Trek stars to tease what’s coming next for the franchise. Specifically, the animated shows Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: Prodigy were the focus, with none other than Kate Mulgrew herself, Captain Kathryn Janeway, on hand to talk about the brand new kids-focused series Prodigy, while trailers for both Prodigy and Lower Decks debuted. (Check out the Star Trek: Lower Decks trailer here .)

The panels were held back to back as part of the bigger Paramount+ "peak animation block.” For Star Trek: Prodigy, this was the first full Comic-Con panel featuring the show’s voice cast: Kate Mulgrew (“Hologram Janeway”), Brett Gray (“Dal”), Ella Purnell (“Gwyn”), Angus Imrie (“Zero”), Rylee Alazraqui (“Rok-Tahk”), Dee Bradley Baker (“Murf”), and Jason Mantzoukas (“Jankom Pog”). Executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman (Trollhunters, Ninjago) and director/co-executive producer Ben Hibon were also on hand.

You can watch the trailer here:

https://t.co/U5tNPKHBAv — Star Trek (@StarTrek) July 23, 2021

Produced by the Nickelodeon Animation Studio and CBS Studios’ Eye Animation Studios, Prodigy will premiere on Paramount+ in the U.S. in the fall. It’s the first Trek show created for the Nickelodeon demo, and features a group of young aliens who discover a Federation starship and must learn how to fly the thing – and also how to work together along the way, all under the tutorship of a holographic version of Star Trek: Voyager’s Captain Janeway.

The Star Trek: Prodigy teaser trailer gives us a tease of the show’s cast of young characters before culminating in a first-look at the Prodigy starship.

Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1 Teaser Trailer Images

Lasting just under a minute, we see Brett Gray’s Dal working in some kind of hazardous slave labor as an unseen voice says, “No one will escape.” “I’m getting outta here, to a better life,” the kid says. Angus Imrie’s Medusan Zero can be spotted giving a shrug, and then Rylee Alazraqui’s rock-like Rok-Tahk is heard saying “What will happen if they catch us?” while some kind of glowing-eyed, multi-legged critters are seemingly in hot pursuit. Jason Mantzoukas’ Jankom Pog takes a more comedic moment, stating, “Like it or not, you’re stuck with me,” while Dee Bradley Baker’s blob-like Murf squeals. Ella Purnell’s statuesque Gwyn declares to Dal, “I tried to save you.” He responds, while offering his hand, “And now we can save each other.” And then we see it: the experimental starship that the kids will embark on their journey on. It’s “our ticket out of here,” Dal says. The trailer culminates with the Star Trek: Prodigy title card as Holo Janeway can be heard saying, “We’ve only just begun."

As for the panel itself, Ben Hibon confirmed that the show is indeed canon as part of the bigger Star Trek world. One of the most interesting reveals came from Angus Imrie, who explained that while his character Zero looks like a robot of some kind, he’s actually a Medusan -- a non-corporeal being in a containment suit. We’ve previously seen a Medusan way back on The Original Series episode "Is There in Truth No Beauty?" but this will be the first time a member of that particular race gets a main character role.

At one point, Rebecca Romijn and Ethan Peck suddenly popped up in the background at moderator Jerry O’Connell’s house. The pair, of course, are currently shooting Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, where they play Number One and Spock, respectively. (And O’Connell plays Commander Jack Ransom on Lower Decks, so that’s quite a Star Trek household right there!) Peck had the shaved Spock eyebrows and everything.

As for the return of Janeway, Mulgrew at this to say: “She’s Janeway at her best. She’s there to help this motley crew and get this defunct ship working. And she does. She’s full of warmth. She’s determined to help these kids get off this dangerous and dark planet. She’s funny, she’s alive, she can be funny… but mostly, she’s driven to help them succeed.”

Star Trek: Prodigy will premiere on Paramount+ in the U.S. in the fall.

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Star Trek: Prodigy Gives Starfleet a Major Upgrade

As the cast of Star Trek: Prodigy explore their new starship the Protostar, they discover a significant upgrade marking a huge leap in Starfleet tech.

WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Star Trek: Prodigy Season 1, Episode 2, "Starstruck," streaming now on Paramount+ .

With the new Star Trek animated series Star Trek: Prodigy blasting off into the untamed expanse of the Delta Quadrant , the motley crew of young misfits have commandeered an abandoned Starfleet vessel known as the Protostar. And after managing to escape from the harsh mining planet of Tars Lamora and the clutches of its brutal leader, the Diviner, the de facto crew finally has the chance to properly explore their new home as they cruise the cosmos. And one such discovery marks a major technological upgrade for Starfleet that is fully functional within the Protostar's systems.

With the Protostar's crew led by the self-appointed teenager Dal, the kids decide to detain Gwyn, the daughter of the Diviner who pursued them onto the starship before it left Tars Lamora , within the Protostar's brig. And when the Protostar's maiden voyage with its new crew encounters trouble when they accidentally chart a course directly into the powerful gravity well of a dwarf star, the disruption to the ship's systems results in Gwyn inadvertently being freed. Sneaking to the Protostar's shuttle bay, Gwyn discovers a replicator advanced enough to manufacture an entire ship on the spot in a matter of minutes that would allow her to leave the Protostar and return to her father on Tars Lamora.

RELATED:  Star Trek: Prodigy’s Dee Bradley Baker Explains Voicing Murf, Space Blob

Replicators have been a staple in the   franchise since  Star Trek: The Original Series , though they've primarily been used to create food for the crew, instantly and perfectly made-to-order in a Starfleet mess hall. The technology behind the replicators has been explained as being an advanced matter converter, able to seemingly produce food and beverages out of thin air in a matter of seconds and has helped the United Federation not only overcome hunger but helped lead to much of the Federation rendering conventional currency systems obsolete as it has become a civilization of abundance.

Prodigy marks the visible debut of a replicator; though, as opposed to food replicators which appear to virtually beam in the requested food orders from air within its confined food prep area in seconds, the ship replicator is a more involved, slightly more time-consuming process. Gwyn programs the replicator to create her a small ship to escape but the process takes minutes and, in the ensuing skirmish against the Protostar's chief of security Rok, the area where the ship is being prepared causes added complications to the fighting as the requested ship's frame gradually comes into place around them. This makes the ship replicator more in line with something like a 3D printer than the food replicators which don't visibly contain as many moving parts.

RELATED: Star Trek: Prodigy's Series Creators Chat Crafting a Clever Series for Kids

Historically, Starfleet vessels are already stocked with a number of shuttlecraft whenever personnel need to be picked up or depart from the main starship outside of just sticking with the transporter systems, for whatever reason. The ship replicator reveals that Starfleet can now produce an entire fleet of smaller vessels in a matter of minutes, making conventional shuttlecraft obsolete while taking replicator technology to a higher, game-changing level and one that may resurface in the Star Trek Universe as the franchise continues to boldly move forward.

To see how replicators work in this animated series, Star Trek: Prodigy streams on Paramount+, with new episodes released on Thursdays.

KEEP READING:  Star Trek: Prodigy’s Kate Mulgrew On Bringing Captain Janeway and the Franchise to Children

What creators hope young fans will get from watching Star Trek: Prodigy

A fter being cancelled by Paramount+, Star Trek: Prodigy had no home. Thanks to the unwavering support of the fans and the determination of the team behind the show designed for young adults, Prodigy found another place on Netflix. The first season debuted on Christmas Day and hit the top ten in several countries. Now fans are waiting for the second season of the series which should release sometime this year, although, we don't have a solid date.

Prodigy is one of those shows that is designed for young audiences, but older fans love, too. And that's just one of the many reasons why there was such an outcry when the series was cancelled...and why fans rallied behind the series to help find it a new home. There is a purpose to each episode, a lesson along with good entertainment. And speaking with Kevin and Dan Hageman , the brothers who created the series, Star Trek Explorer #11's John Kirk wanted to know what message the creators hoped the young audience would take from the show.

"You can't go through life alone. You need friends, a family, a group, and you need to work together with people." Kevin Hageman

This message is evident in every episode of Prodigy. Though Dal starts out as wanting to be the leader in charge of everything, it doesn't take him long to realize that he needs the rest of his team (and soon-to-become friends) and Hologram Janeway to navigate each obstacle.

"It's about the importance of communication. It's not just about one person talking, but about the team."Dan Hageman

Another great point the writers of Prodigy drive home with each episode. Dal and Gwyn started out as enemies, but after working together and hearing more than just what they wanted to hear, they became friends. And it was that friendship that helped saved Starfleet. Once Jankom Pog realized he was being heard, he became the engineer the team needed, and Zero became the voice of reason and comfort. Rok-Tahk, though young, has managed to communicate quite effectively with the non-talkative Murf. And after a really bumpy start, they have worked together practically seamlessly.

Kevin and Dan Hageman are achieving exactly what they want from Prodigy. Not only do the characters communicate, the fans communicate as they did with other streaming channels to uncancel the series no one wanted to lose. It's a satisfying achievement for all concerned.

This article was originally published on redshirtsalwaysdie.com as What creators hope young fans will get from watching Star Trek: Prodigy .

Star Trek: Prodigy's Brett Gray Prepared For His Role By Keeping Himself In The Dark

The second season of "Star Trek: Prodigy" is still awaiting a release date in North America, although French readers should be able to view it right now on the region-specific France.TV. The story of the cancelation of "Prodigy" is sad for Trekkies, as the kid-centric animated series, created by Kevin and Dan Hageman, was just growing into its own and emerging as a proper "Star Trek" series.

The premise was fun: in an unknown and distant part of the galaxy, a group of teenage aliens — fleeing slavery in a mine — discover an abandoned Starfleet vessel called the U.S.S. Protostar. On board, they meet a holographic version of Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), who assumes the teens are Starfleet cadets and require tutelage. The teens are hotheaded, feisty, and brooding in the way that teens tend to be, but Janeway teaches them to operate as a crew and mature as individuals. By the end of the first season, the teens were wearing uniforms and staging dangerous rescue missions.

The ersatz captain of the crew was Dal R'El, played by actor Brett Gray. Dal didn't have a family and didn't even know what species he was. He initially took command out of bluster and unearned confidence but eventually learned to get along with his crew and even came to care for them as friends. Scant exposure to Starfleet ideals was enough to inspire ambition and growth.

It seems that Gray, when preparing for "Prodigy," deliberately didn't do any "Star Trek" research. Gray was not a Trekkie by any stretch and had no working knowledge of the franchise. However, since Dal was also clueless about the details of Starfleet, Gray felt it was fitting to keep his homework to an absolute minimum. Gray admitted as much in a 2022 interview with TrekMovie.

Barely preparing

Of course, Trekkies would likely prefer to hear from actors that they are as learned in "Star Trek" as most diehard fans. "Star Trek" is a vast and complicated universe and I think many Trekkies would be comforted to know that the actors they watch every week are just as sensitive to continuity as they are. Not so with Gray. When asked about how much "Star Trek" knowledge he entered "Prodigy" with, Gray was frank, saying:

"You're not going like this answer. I tried to barely prepare it all. I was really nervous coming into it. I thought maybe I should watch every 'Star Trek' and I should go learn about everything; see who the people are and things like that. But as I was reading the scripts for the first season, I realized that I could discover this all as myself with Dal. I don't know if that was the right way to do it but I feel like it's freed me up so much."

To be fair, ignorance would actually aid Gray in creating a character like Dal. If the character had never heard of Starfleet, then it would stand to reason that the actor shouldn't have either. Dal and Gray could, then, go on parallel growth arcs, learning about "Star Trek" through snippets of knowledge, all while offering their own eye-rolling, irreverent viewpoint. Dal didn't find Starfleet sacred, allowing Gray, as he said, to do more with his character. Indeed, when it came to a known element of "Star Trek" narration, Gray said that his ignorance impressed the producers.

'I don't even know what a captain's log is'

Gray went on to relate a story about his unique read of the classic "Star Trek" exposition device — the captain's log:

"I remember my first captain's log — I don't know if you've heard any of them, but they're getting better — but when I first started them it was super flippant and the producers loved it. They said, 'Wow, these are usually done very matter-of-factly and super seriously, did you choose to do that?' And I was like, 'I don't even know what a captain's log is!' I think in some ways, it's freed me up to bring some freshness and to bring some life into these characters in a different way than we've seen before." 

Indeed, "Prodigy" is one of the most in-depth examples of an outsider character learning about Starfleet for the first time. Gray reinforced that he and Dal were learning at the same time. 

In June 2023, it was announced that "Star Trek: Prodigy" had been canceled and that the show would be removed from Paramount+. This came as an utter shock to the "Prodigy" cast and crew . They were given leeway to finish the second season, but there was to be no more "Prodigy" after that. Currently, "Prodigy" is available on Netflix. The sudden removal of "Prodigy" was the first sign that Paramount had invested too much in "Star Trek" and that the franchise needed to contract . "Picard" is over, "Prodigy" and "Discovery" have been canceled, and "Section 31" was transformed from a series into a movie.

Those of us outside of France will have to wait and see if Dal truly grows up.

'Star Trek: Lower Decks' May Be Looking For a New Home After Cancellation at Paramount+

It wouldn't be the first animated 'Trek' series to move to a different streamer!

The Big Picture

• Star Trek: Lower Decks may find a new home after being cancelled at Paramount+.
• Jack Quaid expressed gratitude for the show and hopes for future seasons elsewhere, praising the cast and crew for their hard work.
• Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5 will premiere on Paramount+ later this year.

Star Trek: Lower Decks may have been cancelled at Paramount+ , but it may not be the end of the USS Cerritos ' mission. At least one cast member of the animated series has voiced hopes that, like fellow Paramount+ castaway Star Trek: Prodigy , the show could find a new home. Jack Quaid , who voices Brad Boimler on the series, expressed his hopes for a pickup at another network on his Instagram: "Hopefully we find a new home, but until then please look forward to an amazing season five (airing this fall)".

Quaid also expressed his gratitude for the cast and crew behind the series:

"I can’t begin to tell you what an honor it’s been to be a part of this show and the Star Trek universe at large. I am unbelievably grateful for 5 awesome seasons with this wonderful family. I want to thank each and every person who put so much of their hard work and talent into every episode. You are AMAZING. The good news is that everyone who makes Lower Decks LOVES making Lower Decks . I could play Boimler for 17 more seasons. No joke. I’m serious. I love that purple-haired nerd."

In addition to voicing Boimler on all five seasons of the show, Quaid also played Boimler in live-action on " Those Old Scientists ," a crossover episode with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds .

How Was 'Star Trek: Prodigy' Saved?

Star Trek: Prodigy , a CG-animated series aimed at a younger audience than most Star Trek fare (although still loaded with nods to Trek lore) debuted on Paramount+ in 2021. Starring a crew of teenage misfit aliens and a holographic artificial intelligence patterned after Admiral Kathryn Janeway ( Kate Mulgrew ) as they attempt to escape a fanatical dictator in an experimental prototype ship, it was a hit with critics and audiences and was renewed for a second season.

In 2023, however, it was cancelled and wiped entirely from Paramount+ , even as its unaired second season was nearly completed. It came at a time when studios, facing the end of the streaming bubble, were beginning to not only cancel series but wipe them entirely from their streaming services as a tax write-off. After an extensive letter-writing campaign by fans , the series was sold to Netflix ; the first season of the series is available to stream now, while the second season is expected to be released later this year.

Star Trek: Lower Decks chronicles the adventures of the Cerritos , a Starfleet support vessel assigned to less glamorous duties than the likes of the Enterprise . In addition to Quaid, it also stars Tawny Newsome , Noël Wells , Eugene Cordero , Dawnn Lewis , Jerry O'Connell , Fred Tatasciore , and Gillian Vigman . Star Trek: Lower Decks ' fifth (and for now, final) season will premiere on Paramount+ later this year . Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.

Star Trek: Lower Decks

Behind every great captain, is a crew keeping the ship from falling to pieces. These are the hilarious stories of the U.S.S. Cerritos.

Watch on Paramount+

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‘Prodigy’ Finale Teased Big ‘Star Trek: Voyager’ Connection Coming In Season 2

| December 30, 2022 | By: Anthony Pascale 26 comments so far

Thursday’s season finale of Star Trek: Prodigy wrapped up a lot of the storylines built up over the 20-episode first season and set up some new stories for next season. It also cued up a big change for the show by introducing a new element tied into Star Trek: Voyager— so the following can be a spoiler for both the season 1 finale and season 2.

Admiral Janeway needs a new ship

The battle of the Living Construct ended when the main characters sacrificed the USS Protostar, with Hologram Janeway volunteering to go down with the ship as the kids escaped in a makeshift shuttle and later found their way to Earth.  The Protostar wasn’t the only ship lost by Starfleet; the finale showed the battle had a devastating effect on the rest of the fleet. Admiral Janeway’s ship, the USS Dauntless, was also crippled, and Admiral Janeway even ordered her crew to abandon ship in “Supernova, Part 1” before help arrived. In Part 2 it was revealed that Starfleet was planning to explore the wormhole created by Hologram Janeway which replicated the one that sent Chakotay into the future. The admiral intended to be on that mission, and said she was being given “a ship of my choosing.”

The USS Protostar moves away from the battle in “Supernova, Part 2.”

The season 1 finale set up season 2 as a search for Chakotay led by Admiral Janeway, with her new “warrant officers in training” along to help. There were no specifics on her new ship for this mission, although there was a bit of a fakeout when she showed the kids the first of a new Protostar-class vessel, a near duplicate of their former ship. Then Janeway made it clear the new Protostar-class ship wasn’t her new command when she told them, “Oh, I have a much bigger plan for us,” as she looked up to see a ship streaking through the sky.

New Protostar-class ship from “Supernova, Part 2”

It’s the USS Voyager-A

Co-creators Dan and Kevin Hageman know they have created a bit of a mystery. In their post-finale Ready Room interview , Dan teased, “Admiral Janeway has promised them a new ship, but not the Protostar. So I think that is something fans can speculate.” And Kevin added,”Something much bigger.” Even without a definitive answer, there are some clues regarding the ship, the biggest of which comes about midway through the finale when the kids crash-land in San Francisco Bay. The rescue shuttles that come to save them have the designation NCC-74656-A. Janeway’s original USS Voyager had the designation NCC-74656, so these shuttles clearly came from a successor ship: the USS Voyager-A.

Shuttles with NCC-74656-A designation

Originally launched in 2371, the USS Voyager returned to Earth after seven years in the Delta Quadrant in 2378, six years before the events of the Prodigy season finale. Its fate hasn’t been established in canon, but in the Voyager finale, “Endgame,” Admiral Janeway from an alternate future said that in her timeline the ship was turned into a museum on the grounds of the Presidio in San Francisco. It’s reasonable to assume that something similar happened to the storied ship in the prime timeline—unless of course, Starfleet R&D kept it to themselves to study all the advanced technology and upgrades provided by future Admiral Janeway. It’s entirely reasonable to assume the USS Voyager was decommissioned prior to 2384.

The USS Voyager returns home in “Endgame.”

It has been established that Starfleet commissioned additional ships with the name Voyager. In Star Trek: Discovery ‘s third season, set in the 32nd century, Starfleet included the USS Voyager-J (designation NCC-74656-J).

USS Voyager-J in Discovery ‘s “Die Trying”

A new ship for a new season

The original USS Voyager was an Intrepid-class ship (so too was the 32nd-century Voyager-J, although it was clearly a new type), designed for long-term exploration. In the finale, Janeway was told Starfleet was planning on sending an “exploratory ship” to the new wormhole. For her part, Kate Mulgrew spoke about her affinity for the original USS Voyager on the Ready Room , saying “I have an absolute fidelity to [the] Voyager Intrepid-class. That is my starship. That is where my captaincy rooted itself. And that’s where Admiral Janeway went down [in “Endgame”].” Even though Intrepid-class ships are likely still in service in 2384, it’s likely a Voyager-A would have a new design, giving the artists on the show a chance to create a new hero ship, as they did with the Protostar.

For now, all we know for sure is Admiral Janeway got to choose her new command, and the ship is “something much bigger” than a Protostar-class ship. Almost any Starfleet ship would be physically larger than a Protostar class, but Janeway’s comment at the end of the episode could be about the ship having a larger importance or possibly personal meaning to her. Putting the pieces together, what would be a better ship for Admiral Janeway on her mission to find Chakotay than the new USS Voyager? It would be a delight for fans and offer the chance to feature a new hero ship with a strong legacy.

Final shot of season 1 of Prodigy

What do you think?

Do you agree with the above, or do you think Janeway will get something entirely new, or maybe something entirely familiar? The Enterprise-E or Enterprise-F? Another Dauntless? Or something else entirely? Let us know in the comments below.

Keep up with all the news and reviews from the new  Star Trek Universe on TV at TrekMovie.com .

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Sound like a perfect opportunity to bring in some more legacy VOY actors. Personally, I’d like to see Picardo’s EMH back, maybe running a fully staffed sickbay on the VOY-A. Or for the kids to be mentored by an officer Naomi Wildman. Just keep Neelix far, far away…

OMG, it would be great to see a grown up Naomi Wildman now in Starfleet herself. Terry Matalas even said they were considering using her as a main character in Picard next season before they dropped the idea. And they can even bring back Icheb before…you know. :(

I’m open to any Voyager legacy characters showing up! Yes, even Neelix lol. That’s actually the irony, I thought they would run into him in first season since he’s the only character still living in the Delta quadrant.

It has to be Voyager-A. I wouldn’t be surprised if maybe Ensign Kim is aboard and finally gets his long long waited promotion.

OMG. LOL. Please, NO

Yeah, Garrett Wang is kinda annoying and Ensign Kim is uninteresting. Please don’t give him another Trek platform. The Doctor I would accept though!

No. I need him to be an ensign on Lower Decks lol

That would be an excellent joke!

Love Kim, would love to have him back! I think eventually more will show up here and there.

I was definitely figuring a new Voyager, but I’m also hoping “much bigger” refers to something like a whole fleet mission or something.

Sheesh, enough with the legacy connections. Let this awesome group of young characters establish their own Star Trek history now. Kids today who have been brought in by this great series could care less about Voyager connections. And I think a lot of Trek fans would have been fine if the boring and poorly drawn character of Chakotey had sort of just faded into history.

They… did that in Season One?

Voyager has already established itself as the entry legacy show for tweens.

It’s the show that became ‘the show’ for our kids at that age just a few years ago. From the Netflix ratings, our kids weren’t alone.

So, there was a very strategic reason to tie this show closely to Voyager such that can take advantage of the already existing bridge into the older shows.

Whatever you, I or my spouse might think to the contrary, Voyager is the franchise gateway for the younger generation not TOS, TNG or DS9.

I really don’t think the typical 10 year old who is watching their first Star Trek show on Nickelodeon with Prodigy either knows or cares about Voyager. Sure, they probably like Janeway, but not because she’s from a legacy series that they have never watched, but because she is a likable parent figure who is teaching them stuff.

And that what is this series is suppose to do, market-wise — bring kids into Star Trek. And in general, kids today could really care less about characters from a show from 30 years ago, and it’s doubtful that when they get older that they will want to watch much of the older Trek in blurry SD, 4/3 aspect ratio, let alone with dated sets and special effects.

I think it’s a pipe dream to expect 5 to 11 year old’s to pick up Prodigy and then become Voyager fans…that’s an older Voyager fan’s wishful, sentimental thinking at work. Sorry dude, but I’m just not buying that.

I didn’t expect one of our now teens to write a fifth grade composition explaining why Janeway was who they looked up to as a hero, but there it was just a few years ago.

(Tiger2, ML31 and other long time commentators on this board will attest that I was saying “Wait! What?!! about this when it happened.)

Given that my spouse never liked Voyager or Janeway, and that I started our kids off with TAS followed by a curated set of TNG and TOS episodes, our tween kids’ putting Voyager at the top of the franchise completely unforeseen.

Best just to get over it, we have.

“A few years ago” was before Prodigy. I am talking about kids that watch Nick that get into Star Trek from that experience. Apples and Oranges.

BTW, “a few years ago” we had the Kelvin movies, which got my older son into Star Trek, and then TOS, Enterprise and DS9 ended up being his fav shows, and he was lukewarm to both Voyager and TNG. There was nothing close to him viewing Voyager at the most accessible show to him — again, DS9 was actually his favorite.

Also, the point is NOT to get these kids into the classic shows, it’s more to create a broader market for future Trek media produced by P+. That’s an older fan’s wishful thinking to say that. And if P+ really cared about that, then they’d be funding HD versions of Voy and DS9, but of course they are not. A gateway to the older shows is obviously not a priority. Paramount know this — they know what they are doing and their actions show it.

The older actors from those shows like Voyager and being shoehorned into Prodigy so they can also maximize the market of adult/older fans — it’s for us, not the kids. And for me, I am concerned that they are going to be overdoing that now given the news of S2 of Prodigy…I don’t think we need expanded legacy involvement in Prodigy.

Yes the point is to get them into the classic shows. They said from the beginning the show is designed to turn kids on not to just the Trek universe but the shows in general. Not tomorrow lol, but eventually. It’s a gateway to the other shows and Voyager is the main gateway.

Kids who are watching Prodigy now could be watching Voyager and the other shows in a few years time. And the longer this show goes into Voyager lore will make them appreciate that show even more once they watch it. Imagine if this show goes 5 years, that would literally be a hundred episodes. Janeway is basically the star of the show now and Chakotay is part of it. Imagine once they introduce the Doctor, B’Elanna, Paris, etc. It’s building on that show’s legacy and will get many to watch it. Especially if they are watching with parents who are only watching this show because they’re Voyager fans in the first place. They will get their kids into this show and eventually Voyager too!

New fans are watching Voyager every day. I know because I see constant posts and they are usually older, ie, in their 20s. Imagine watching this show at 10 years old and watching the older shows around 13.

CBS knows what it’s doing. ;)

I have to give credit to Kurtzman as well. I really thought when he took over, we were just to get a lot of boring TOS prequels once they announced Discovery. But he’s widening the base in so many ways and trying make the franchise for a wide demographic with shows and time periods to reflect that. It’s a great time to be a fan…and new fan! :)

I agree, but lots of ST fans really like seeing old, familiar faces, it seems.

It’s the reason why we even have Picard and SNW in the first place. ;)

I’m old enough to remember people whooping and hollering for bringing back Picard and the 24th century along with the same fans begging for a Pike show because it’s basically a TOS prequel show. End of the day, people wanted to be on the original Enterprise and eventually run into Kirk and Bones (which we already got Kirk one season in lol). Basically Picard is turning into a full on TNG sequel show, SNW is turning into a TOS prequel show and Prodigy is a Voyager spin off show.

Like it or not, this is the stuff most fans want. CBS knows that. They have to figure out a way to get people to pay for Star Trek all year. People on this board doesn’t count, we will watch it all lol. But believe me, a lot of casual fans are even bothering to watch something like Prodigy because of Janeway. If not, it would’ve just been that kid’s show to a lot of fans. They were obviously aware of that on day one.

To me, I just think it’s kind of funny. You can’t push for characters you want to see on one show but then complain about bringing back characters on another show lol. EVERYONE wants to see legacy characters, that’s just a fact. Now it doesn’t mean every show has to have them, but it’s not a shock most of the shows stars legacy characters. And in fact, I have a feeling from every show on will have more legacy characters from TNG, TOS, VOY, DS9 etc because it gets fans more invested on day one.

i took it that the ship streaking away was the one Gwnn was on.

Yeah, I agree with you.

I thought that it was canon that Voyager was decommissioned when it returned from the Delta Quadrant? It’s on barely legible text during the Academy scenes in Picard’s “The Stargazer”.

Sounds about right. Decommissioning and making it a museum piece is consistent. Then inaugurate the Voyager-A, next in line.

Agreed! My head canon always thought Starfleet would study the Borg tech on board and decommission it to set it up like a museum.Its a famous ship.

I’m so excited if the Voyager A will be the main ship next season!!!! And yes, it would be nice to have 1 or 2 more legacy characters on it. My personal favorite would be the Doctor (and it would make the most sense since it could be a new version of him obviously). But I’m open to anyone, I love those characters so much!

It’s going to be fun to see where this show goes in the next few years!

‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Renewed for Season 4; ‘Lower Decks’ to Conclude With Season 5 (EXCLUSIVE)

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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“ Star Trek : Strange New Worlds,” currently in production on its third season, has been renewed by Paramount+ for Season 4. Meanwhile, “ Star Trek: Lower Decks ,” the first animated “Star Trek” comedy, will conclude its run on the streamer with its fifth season, which will debut in the fall.

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“Lower Decks” charted brand new territory for “Star Trek” when it debuted in 2020, as both an animated comedy and a series that focused on the junior officers of the USS Cerritos: Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome), Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid), D’Vana Tendi (Noël Wells) and Sam Rutherford (Eugene Cordero). Set in the years following the feature film “Star Trek: Nemesis,” the series has included voice cameos from many beloved “Star Trek” alumni, like George Takei, Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, John de Lancie, Will Wheaton, Armin Shimerman, Nana Visitor and Robert Duncan McNeill.

Given its premise, concluding “Lower Decks” make sense considering the main four characters all received promotions in Season 4. But in a message to fans, Kurtzman and executive producer and showrunner Mike McMahan left the turbolift doors open for continuing the characters’ stories following their time at the bottom of the Starfleet pecking order. 

The “Star Trek” TV universe, overseen by Kurtzman through his Secret Hideout production company and produced by CBS Studios, has enjoyed a robust expansion since “Star Trek: Discovery” first premiered in 2017. Along with “Strange New Worlds,” the made-for-television movie “Star Trek: Section 31” recently concluded production with star Michelle Yeoh, and the new series “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy” will begin shooting later this year.

“It has been incredibly rewarding to continue to build the Star Trek universe, and we’re so grateful to Secret Hideout and our immensely talented casts and producers,” said Jeff Grossman, executive vice president of Programming at Paramount+. “‘Strange New Worlds’ has found the perfect blend of action, adventure and humor. Similarly, ‘Star Trek: Lower Decks’ has brought the laughs with an ample amount of heart to the franchise across its four seasons. We can’t wait for audiences to see what is in store for the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos in this final season.”

“‘Lower Decks’ and ‘Strange New Worlds’ are integral to the ‘Star Trek’ franchise, expanding the boundaries of the universe and exploring new and exciting worlds,” said CBS Studios president David Stapf. “We are extraordinarily proud of both series as they honor the legacy of what Gene Roddenberry created almost 60 years ago. We are so grateful to work with Secret Hideout, Alex Kurtzman, Mike McMahan, Akiva Goldsman, Henry Alonso Myers and the cast, crews and artists who craft these important and entertaining stories for fans around the world.”

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'Star Trek: Lower Decks' Season 4 blasts onto Blu-ray and DVD on April 16

Paramount+'s rowdiest gang in the galaxy hits home video starting today (April 16).

Thing are definitely heating up in the "Star Trek" universe this month.

The fifth and final season of Paramount+'s " Star Trek: Discovery " rolled out on April 4, and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" is fast approaching the completion of principal filming for its upcoming third season in Toronto.

And sprinting onto home video to join the spring festivities is " Star Trek: Lower Decks" Season 4 , whose Blu-ray and DVD versions were released today (April 16). The show stars the crazy crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos and their often-chaotic adventures in the final frontier.

This deluxe edition is packed with all 10 episodes of the most recent " Lower Decks " run, in addition to exclusive cast and crew audio commentaries revealing personal details on the show's creation, fresh featurettes, and plenty of bonus content.

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Watch Star Trek: Lower Decks on Paramount Plus: <a href="https://paramountplus.qflm.net/c/221109/175360/3065?subId1=hawk-custom-tracking&sharedId=hawk&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.paramountplus.com%2F" data-link-merchant="paramountplus.com"" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Get a one month free trial 

Get all the Star Trek content you can possibly handle with this free trial of Paramount Plus. Watch new shows like Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and all the classic Trek movies and TV shows too. Plans start from $4.99/month after the trial ends.

Here's the official description:

"Created by Emmy Award winner Mike McMahan, in Season 4 of 'Star Trek: Lower Decks,' an unknown force is destroying starships and threatening galactic peace. Luckily, the crew of the U.S.S. Cerritos isn’t important enough for stuff like that! 

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"Instead, Ensigns Mariner, Boimler, Tendi, Rutherford, and Provisional Ensign T'Lyn are keeping up with their Starfleet duties, avoiding malevolent computers and getting stuck in a couple caves — all while encountering new and classic aliens along the way.

"The Starfleet crew residing in the 'lower decks' of the U.S.S. Cerritos includes Ensign Beckett Mariner, voiced by Tawny Newsome; Ensign Brad Boimler, voiced by Jack Quaid; Ensign Tendi, voiced by Noël Wells; and Ensign Rutherford, voiced by Eugene Cordero. The Starfleet characters that comprise the U.S.S. Cerritos' Bridge crew include Captain Carol Freeman, voiced by Dawnn Lewis; Commander Jack Ransom, voiced by Jerry O'Connell; and Doctor T'Ana, voiced by Gillian Vigman."

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Paramount's two-disc assembly is fortified with every Season 4 episode and showcases a constellation of guest stars such as Jack McBrayer ("30 Rock"), Andy Richter ("Late Night with Conan O'Brien"), and Wil Wheaton (" Star Trek: The Next Generation ").

Special features listed are: audio commentaries by Jack Quaid, Mike McMahan, and Brad Winters for Episode 401; Tawny Newsome, Noël Wells and Gabrielle Ruiz for Episode 404; Noël Wells, Eugene Cordero, Chase Masterson and Mike McMahan for Episode 406; Dawnn Lewis, Tawny Newsome and Mike McMahan for Episode 409; and Robert Duncan McNeill and Mike McMahan discussing Episode 410. Also included in this comprehensive home entertainment collection are the featurettes titled "Lower Decktionary: Setting Up Season 4" and "Old Friends."

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Jeff Spry is an award-winning screenwriter and veteran freelance journalist covering TV, movies, video games, books, and comics. His work has appeared at SYFY Wire, Inverse, Collider, Bleeding Cool and elsewhere. Jeff lives in beautiful Bend, Oregon amid the ponderosa pines, classic muscle cars, a crypt of collector horror comics, and two loyal English Setters.

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