In late June came the news that Paramount+ had joined the likes of Max and Disney+ as one of the large studio streaming services to pull select content from its service as a tax write-off.
The biggest of those excisions was the animated and young adult-focused “Star Trek: Prodigy” which had only just finished airing its first season.
The studio reversed its decision on a season-two pickup and then, shortly afterwards, said that they would complete postproduction work on the series ahead of shopping it around for a new buyer.
Despite being the one ‘Trek’ show to get pulled, the series was reportedly doing well and so both fans and the show’s writers and producers were caught off guard by the news.
The show’s co-head writer and co-producer Aaron Waltke told ScreenRant recently they were in the middle of a promotion cycle when they got the bad news:
“I mean, we found out around the same time as you. It was not a planned thing, as you can imagine. Obviously, we were doing the marketing push for season 2, planning to release that winter and whatnot.
So it kind of came as a surprise to all of us. The streaming landscape is in very much a transitional space right now. So I think everyone is trying to figure out how their shows can best thrive and continue.
The hope for a new streaming home for ‘Prodigy’ is that we will get to showcase our show to so many other new audiences that may not have seen it before. You have to live that ‘Star Trek’ optimism in real life.”
Waltke also reveals the second season is a more traditional “Trek” series with sharper and more defined characters. The full first season of “Star Trek: Prodigy” is currently available on VOD.
