Paramount+ Star Trek: Prodigy (Paramount+) (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

That’s exactly it. And with that being the lay of the land, some of the comments here that seem to want it both ways don’t necessarily seem entirely fair. If someone hasn’t found the time to watch this show since it debuted in October 2021, I don’t think Paramount+ can necessarily be blamed for interpreting that as lack of interest and not being willing to pay residuals in perpetuity for something that isn’t being watched.

Josh, I understand you're just trying to be fair, but really, Paramount/P+ does not warrant your defense... and you're mistaken in your 1st paragraph anyway particularly given what actually happened w/ the release schedule for this series.

In my case at least, I did watch the initial installment (soon after its release), but just haven't gotten around to watching the rest in large part precisely because of their haphazard release schedule. Also, given how they released the different parts of S1 and what they've actually also done w/ some other series on P+, if they're really that concerned about the residuals (for episodes released long ago back in 2021), they could've removed just the 1st installment (and maybe even the 2nd), but leave the most recent installment for the 2nd half of S1 around for a little while longer (as those were only released toward the end of last year ending just ~6 months ago)... and actually let people know when episodes would be removed on the site/app itself.

Also, they did actually have some kinda "last chance" section before, but for whatever reason, removed it. Clearly, they already had the ability to warn customers of content leaving soon right on the site/app. And really, it shouldn't be too much to expect them to give customers fair warning about content leaving anyway. They might be the *only* major streaming service/platform that does not at this point -- and again, they actually had that section (though w/out any clarity about when unlike most others) for a short while several months ago.

And again, this is not an isolated case w/ ST: Prodigy at all. As I pointed out, they also suddenly removed almost all the episodes for Young Sheldon, including most of the recent season that was released earlier this year that only completed in May, but strangely, left just a few middle episodes plus the finale around. And of course, there are other cases, not just those 2.

Face it. P+ is just sucking big time... and has basically sucked in various ways since the very beginning (before the rebranding) w/ very little improvements since (and some regression as well).

I get that you want P+ to succeed... probably in large part because it's the primary outlet/platform for all things Star Trek that you want to see thrive. I want to see it succeed in large part for that reason too, but it really serves nobody to sugarcoat all that's been going wrong w/ the service/platform. We're really not being unreasonable at all w/ most of these complaints. Paramount really needs to do better in general, period.

_Man_

 

[Museum Pieces]

Devils advocate position: if you’re just the average customer, you’re not watching this show anyway. They’re not removing this content because it’s popular; they’re removing it because no one’s watching it.

Part of the implicit (and later explicit) promise was that by subscribing, I would (eventually) have the entire Star Trek franchise at my disposal in one spot. If that ever was true on P+, it wasn't true for long. So that's a promise that has been blatantly broken, setting a terrible precedent by doing it.

 

[Nelson Au]

‘Star Trek: Prodigy’ Removed From Paramount+ As Fans Rally To Save The Show

#SaveStarTrekProdigy is gaining momentum.

trekmovie.com

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, thanks for the posts about one of the reasons for why they pulled the series from the service. It makes sense they are trying to avoid paying the royalties and such by continuing to allow it to be streamed for the few who are watching it. That makes sense. This seems to be such a sore spot, as you guys know, there was comments from the TOS cast way back in the 1970’s about being paid for one of two repeats and then all the times the series was rotated on syndication, the actors did not get anything for it. That was the way it was then.

And by the way, the Prodigy blu ray appears to be available for purchase again on Amazon, but the delivery date is estimated July 31. So maybe they are guesstimating when they will get more stock In inventory. There was quite a rush to buy up copies recently! No one has copies, Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and Deep Discount.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, I'll be sure to let them know why when I cancel my subscription at year's end (and only expect to reactivate a month or two each year).

I get they're in a hard place and need to make difficult decisions about programming, etc, but the biggest beef is really their largely awful management of customer expectations and communications on top of some other (mostly technical) issues.

They aren't the only ones rotating content or pulling/canceling shows afterall, but all the other major players generally manage all that (often much) more gracefully than them... and some of them, like WBD, actually has greater excuses (even if at least some of those may be their own prior mistaken doing) and do seem to make some/much better attempts at addressing issues...

_Man_

 

[Museum Pieces]

Here's what Wil Wheaton had to say about it on his FB page:

We live in an age of amazing television that seems to be cut off at the knees right when it is hitting its stride. This is, as far as I can tell, largely due to garbage executives padding their salaries by canceling shows after roughly 20 episodes (what used to be a single season, but is now split into two seasons), often leaving fans of the show hanging with no resolution (may all the gods bless the fan fiction writers who give us closure).

So I am, sadly, not surprised to learn that Star Trek: Prodigy does not currently have a home for the second half of its first season (which is, according to 2023 nomenclature, it second season). This show is special and unique, has an audience that loves it, and is in the middle of its story ... so OBVIOUSLY the best call is to *checks notes* cancel the series while the second season is in production and pull the entire series from Paramount+, because of reasons.

Those reasons have nothing to do with the audience, the quality of the show, or the story the creators are telling. Those reasons are: Greed and greed and also some greed. The executives are taking a tax loss and writing it off against their already-bloated earnings. We are seeing this all over the industry right now. It's heartbreaking.

A few people have asked me about all of this. I've just told you how I feel about it. What I will tell you now is: Star Trek: Prodigy will find a new home and the second half of its first season (called its second season) will be loved by its audience. It's not that Prodigy isn't good or that it isn't beloved. It's that someone in a corner office wants to add a deck to his yacht.

There's a Change dot org petition that I encourage you to join. It won't bring Prodigy back to Paramount+, but it will be meaningful data that will help it find its new home sooner than later.

 

[Nelson Au]

Wow, Wil is kind of biting the hand there. But it’s great. From his pint of view, it sounds like they wanted to cut some shows. Prodigy may not have had the lowest numbers of viewers, I don’t know. Maybe it was a low rated show for viewers. It was just one of the shows picked to cut.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Part of the implicit (and later explicit) promise was that by subscribing, I would (eventually) have the entire Star Trek franchise at my disposal in one spot. If that ever was true on P+, it wasn't true for long. So that's a promise that has been blatantly broken, setting a terrible precedent by doing it.

Yes, and this speaks to the limitations of purely data-driven decision-making. Whatever they save on this one show this one time is likely to be more than offset over the longer term by no longer being able to claim to be the exclusive, comprehensive streaming home of all things Star Trek.

Some of the executives who made this decision are probably aware of that. But Wall Street in recent years hasn't been especially good at prioritizing longer term growth over short-term profits. Once David Zaslav slashed HBO Max's content in an effort to help make the numbers work for a bad and debt-burdened merger, the shareholders of all the other streaming services began demanding similar cost savings. The case of Paramount is a little more complicated because around 80 percent of it is owned by Shari Redstone and National Amusements. But it's still publicly traded on NASDAQ and accountable to its shareholders.

But it also speaks to more fundamental problems with the economics of the streaming model. The major studios went from a sell-through model (ticket sales, physical media sales, digital copies) where each dollar spent was spent on a specific product to a subscription model where far fewer dollars were being spent to access far more content. There was just no way an $11.99/month subscription, even with a larger subscriber base, was ever going to fully replace the revenue that came from a theatrical window, followed by a premium cable window, followed by physical media sales, followed by basic cable licensing deals. And the marketplace is just beginning to grapple with that in ways that aren't especially consumer-friendly.

Wow, Wil is kind of biting the hand there. But it’s great. From his pint of view, it sounds like they wanted to cut some shows. Prodigy may not have had the lowest numbers of viewers, I don’t know. Maybe it was a low rated show for viewers. It was just one of the shows picked to cut.

Career-wise, for him, it's actually smart. It might cost him "The Ready Room" -- though I doubt it -- but it will preserve his cred on the convention circuit, which is probably a longer-lasting and more dependable source of earnings anyway.

 

[Jason_V]

Irony:

Prodigy nominated for a TCA Award...Outstanding Achievement in Family Programming

2023 TCA Award Nominees

 

[Nelson Au]

Now my collection of Star Trek blu rays is up to date, for the moment. Josh, I’ll check out your blu ray review.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Season 1 Episodes 11-20 officially coming to Blu-ray on September 26th!

 

[Nelson Au]

Guys, I did not see any recent mention of the second half of the first season release of Prodigy on blu-ray beyond Adam’s post above. It’s out today and I’ve added it to my cart and will pull the trigger. I see Amazon also has stock of the blu-ray with the first 10 episodes.

 

[Sam Favate]

Yup, got my copy in the mail today.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Guys, I did not see any recent mention of the second half of the first season release of Prodigy on blu-ray beyond Adam’s post above.

Sorry about that. Normally that would have been up for me to do the official review but I’ve just moved and absolutely nothing home theater is set up yet so I had to pass on that. The technical quality of the presentation on the first half was stellar so I would imagine that will be true of the second half as well.

 

[Nelson Au]

Josh, no worries! I was not looking for reviews. I was just saying I had not seen any posts about the new disc.

Congrats on your new home.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

My copy arrived today!

 

[TJPC]

I am a Star Trek loyalist and completest, so I have purchased this set as well. It will sound like a lie, but I have literally fallen asleep trying to watch these shows in first run, and now on disc. I am usually not this mean, and more power to you if you enjoy them. I have enjoyed ST Discovery, Lower Decks, Strange New Worlds, and season one and 3 of Picard, but I find this kids shoe excruciating to force myself to watch.

 

[Nelson Au]

Terry, I am a long time loyal fan as well and a completist. I must confess I had trouble watching this series too without losing consciousness a few times.

But I want to give it a chance as I never saw the final episode of the first 10 and I wanted to stick with it to see how Janeway plays into the story as well as Chakotay. My plan is after the second half of the season blu ray set arrives tomorrow Is to try to do a viewing of both sets. That’s an ambitious claim as I’m not sure how it will turn out.

Star Trek animated is tough especially as I’ve gotten older. I am doing a re-watch of the 1973 Star Trek TAS which I’ve seen several times over the decades on laser disc annd over-the-air and DVD and now blu ray. I’ve seen the first 4 episodes and I am surprised as I am paying attention to the story and there are themes from TOS coming through which is great. But there is still something now the same. I’m going to keep going as there are a few epsiodes I like that I have not seen in a while. It’s also a kick to hear Doohan and Nichols and Barrett doing other roles.

Lower Decks has been successful, they chose a good period to set it and the characters for the most part are good. Prodigy is well made, animation wise. It’s light years beyond TAS. I’m not sure what is not working for me. Could be the characters, could be because it’s not about a Federation crew. It could be the storyline isn’t working for me.

 

[TJPC]

For some reason, I have found the 1973 Animated series much easier to watch on b!eu than only DVD

 

[Alex...]