Star Trek: Prodigy has quite the survival story.
Back in June, Paramount+ confirmed that it would remove the animated Star Trek series from its streaming platform, even after it had already renewed it for a second season. Thankfully, after a strong fan campaign, Prodigy was saved when Netflix snatched it up, which will be the home to both Prodigy Season 1 and the upcoming Season 2 sometime next year. Now, co-creators and showrunners Dan and Kevin Hageman have opened up about how it all went down.
“I have to say, it was utterly frightening,” Kevin Hageman said in an interview for IGN. “You’ve spent four years of your life on something you love and adore, and know is good, and to go on YouTube and see nothing of it, like it doesn’t even exist, is frightening.”
Star Trek: Prodigy found itself in an odd place when it launched on Paramount+ in October 2021.
The young streaming service had only been around since March of that year and faced competition from the likes of Netflix and Prime Video. As the Hagemans put it, part of the trouble for Prodigy was that Paramount+ didn’t have the same animated legacy as other streamers.
“Paramount+ is a younger streamer, so they don’t have as many… people aren’t paying that monthly thing to go and watch animation,” said Dan Hageman.
Of course, the siblings are no strangers to animation – their recent hit Trollhunters made waves on Netflix. Now, they hope to replicate that success when Prodigy heads to Netflix.
“If you look at Netflix, someone who might not know Star Trek at all and just loves the thumbnail and goes ‘well that looks kind cool’ and check it out, and I think that’s what we’re most excited about,” Dan said.
The problem when Prodigy was on Paramount+, they say, wasn't that people didn't like it. Like most cancellation and renewal announcements, it all came down to the numbers.
“Well, they loved it!” said Kevin. “I mean, everyone at Paramount+ loved our show, they were huge supporters of it, and they just showed us the numbers and for some reason, the numbers just died on our show. And for me… I don’t know why.”
“We had our theories,” added Dan. “But we can’t necessarily speak to those… so we have no definitive reason.”
“Yeah, I have no idea why,” said Kevin. “All we knew was – our show was better than this. Like, I understand if the viewers drop and it’s a turd of a show, but I was like ‘Our show’s too good for this. I don’t understand it’.”
What’s really interesting is that it was never actually canceled... at least, not in the Hagemans' eyes.
Prodigy's strange journey
Star Trek: Prodigy was removed from Paramount+ without warning back in June, despite Paramount previously announcing that it was renewed for a second season. Weirdly, that plan hadn’t changed.
“When we were told the news, we were shocked,” said Dan. “Like, ‘What do you mean, you’re taking it off the air?’ But then they were like ‘We’re still going to pay for Season 2 to finish’ and that was the place of hope because, what studio is going to spend money if they’re not even… and then ‘Oh you’re selling it!’”
“I don’t think we were down for like, two minutes,” added Kevin. “And then we were carrying the hope flag,” added Kevin. “We just felt so confident, we were one hundred percent that we were going to land it a home.”
Although Star Trek: Prodigy was originally plotted as a Paramount+ exclusive, the plan quickly changed… and, of course, Netflix became the show’s new home. And that presents an even bigger opportunity.
“On Paramount+ we had a lot of Trek fans, adult fans, and it had to spread the word because it was like a young Nickelodeon show, and at the beginning, no one really took it seriously,” said Kevin. “And then word spread within the Star Trek community, and they loved it. I think with Netflix they do have more kids’ eyes. We’re going to hopefully get more of that kid audience.”
“I think that’s what we’re most excited about,” said Dan. “We always wanted it to be a show that, yes, it would please older Trek fans, but for somebody who doesn’t know a thing about Star Trek, it doesn’t fend them away by expecting them to know the difference between a Romulan and a Vulcan. For a Trek fan, that’s like Level One stuff, but for someone new, that’s a huge barrier to entry for some people and they’re worried about getting into it. So, we’re excited about that opportunity.”
“My favorite part is seeing families come together over a show,” he added. “It’s tough to do because who watches the same shows in the same house.”
“I think Netflix is going to help us to find that new audience,” said Kevin.
Star Trek: Prodigy heads to Netflix on December 25, 2023.
Want to read more about Star Trek? Check out who was voted the greatest crew member of all time as well as why we love it when Star Trek embraces its silly side.
Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
