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

[Adam Lenhardt]

Originally developed for Nickelodeon, it is now slated for Paramount+:

02.24.2021

PARAMOUNT+ IS THE HOME OF THE STAR TREK UNIVERSE


Animated Series “Star Trek: Prodigy” from CBS Studios and Nickelodeon
to Now Premiere on Paramount+ This Year
First Look at the “Star Trek: Prodigy” Bridge Crew Also Revealed Today

CLICK HERE for the Star Trek Universe Video Narrated by Alex Kurtzman
from Today’s ViacomCBS Streaming Event
CLICK HERE for First Look Image of the “Star Trek: Prodigy” Bridge Crew​

ViacomCBS today announced that the Star Trek Universe will head to Paramount +. The news was revealed during ViacomCBS’ Investor Day event for its highly anticipated new streaming service. Included within the line-up is the upcoming all-new animated kids’ series STAR TREK: PRODIGY which will now premiere on Paramount+ in the U.S. in 2021. Developed and produced by Nickelodeon and CBS Studios, PRODIGY is the first Star Trek series for the kids and family audience and will bow later on Nickelodeon, following its premiere run on Paramount+.

A first-look image of the STAR TREK: PRODIGY bridge crew was also released today. In PRODIGY, six young outcasts know nothing about the ship they have commandeered – a first in the history of the Star Trek Franchise, but over the course of their adventures together, they will each be introduced to Starfleet and the ideals it represents.

With the addition of STAR TREK: PRODIGY, the entire Star Trek Universe will now be available to stream on Paramount+. The Star Trek Universe on Paramount+ will also include current and upcoming seasons of the original series STAR TREK: DISCOVERY, STAR TREK: PICARD, the animated series STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS and the upcoming STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. The Star Trek Universe on Paramount+ also includes all 726 episodes from the six classic Star Trek series and a selection of Star Trek films.

“In three years, we’ve expanded the Star Trek Universe to new heights, creating five original series – each with its own unique storytelling and distinct cinematic feel,” said Alex Kurtzman, Executive Producer Star Trek Universe. “We’re so excited to partner with Dan and Kevin Hageman and the team at Nickelodeon for STAR TREK: PRODIGY as we bring Trek to a new generation of younger fans with an animated series as rich in character and scope as our live action shows. I’m thrilled audiences of all ages now have instant access to the full Trek library, classic and new original series, on our new home at Paramount+.”

“When STAR TREK: DISCOVERY first premiered, we knew we had the beginning of something special,” said Julie McNamara, Executive Vice President and Head of Programming, Paramount+. “Over three years later, we are thrilled that Paramount+ will serve as the streaming home of the Star Trek Universe, with an unparalleled existing and expanding library of Trek content. The upcoming addition of STAR TREK: PRODIGY to Paramount+ means subscribers now have a Trek series for every member of the family – including kids. We are excited to bring this next chapter to a new generation of Trek fans alongside the creative masterminds behind Secret Hideout and Nickelodeon, as well as the talented Kevin and Dan Hageman.”

“Debuting Prodigy on Paramount+ alongside the complete Star Trek universe points to our strategy of growing Nickelodeon’s reach by expanding our top franchises and diving deeper into their worlds, and their characters and stories,” said Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon Animation. “And on top of having great characters and absolutely gorgeous animation, PRODIGY shows how the ViacomCBS brands can come together to make great, compelling content that appeals to both new audiences and long-time super fans. We’re incredibly proud of this series and we’re looking forward to building its audience across the Paramount+ and Nickelodeon platforms.”

Developed by Emmy® Award-winners Kevin and Dan Hageman (‘Trollhunters’ and ‘Ninjago’) the CG-animated series STAR TREK: PRODIGY is the first Star Trek series aimed at younger audiences and will follow a group of lawless teens who discover a derelict Starfleet ship and use it to search for adventure, meaning and salvation.

STAR TREK: PRODIGY is from CBS’ Eye Animation Productions, CBS Studios’ new animation arm; Nickelodeon Animation Studio, led by President of Animation, Ramsey Naito; Secret Hideout; and Roddenberry Entertainment. Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, Katie Krentz, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth will serve as executive producers alongside co-showrunners Kevin and Dan Hageman. Ben Hibon will direct, co-executive produce and serve as the creative lead of the all-new animated series. Aaron Baiers will also serve as co-executive producer.

About Paramount+
ViacomCBS’ existing subscription video-on-demand and live streaming service, CBS All Access, will be rebranded as Paramount+ on March 4, 2021 as part of the service’s expansion to feature content from ViacomCBS’ leading portfolio of broadcast, news, sports and entertainment brands. ViacomCBS will also bring Paramount+ to international markets with an initial debut in Australia, Latin America and the Nordics in 2021.

About CBS Studios:
CBS Studios is one of the world’s leading suppliers of entertainment programming with more than 70 series currently in production for broadcast and cable networks, streaming services and other emerging platforms. The Studio’s expansive portfolio spans a diverse slate of commercially successful and critically acclaimed scripted programming, genre-defining franchises including the ever-growing “Star Trek” universe, award-winning late night and daytime talk shows, and an extensive library of iconic intellectual property.

About Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon, now in its 41st year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location-based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).

* * *
Twitter: @ParamountPlus, @StarTrekOnPPlus
Instagram: @ParamountPlus, @StarTrekOnPPlus
Facebook: @ParamountPlus​

Paramount+ Press Contact:

Nikki Kozel

646-472-3948

[email protected]

CBS Studios Press Contacts:

Lauri Metrose	818-655-7223	[email protected]
Jennifer Verti	818-655-7218	[email protected]

Nickelodeon Press Contacts:

Katelyn Balach

646-357-6544

[email protected]

 

[Josh Steinberg]

This is fantastic news. I no longer have cable and thus would have had no way to watch this during its first run. It also seemed strange to me that they were building CBS AA/P+ into one stop shopping for Trek but were actively excluding this show.

Bring it on! My boys are too young for it now but I’ll just have to be a good parent and preview it ahead of time so that I know it’s appropriate for them when they start watching TV

 

[The Obsolete Man]

So, the entire point of this thing was to get "younger eyes" on Star Trek (or at least the generic crap they brand as Star Trek these days) through Nickelodeon, and now it's being shuffled to the CBS streaming ghetto?

Then why even do it?

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Because streaming isn’t the ghetto. Streaming growth is outpacing the decline in both physical media and linear transmission. And according to the press release, it will run on Nickelodeon after premiering on P+, so it sounds like they’re going for the best of both worlds.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Also a way to get families to subscribe to Paramount+. Viacom has a deep bench of youth programming, and Paramount+ would be foolish not to take advantage of it.

I like that none of the main characters are human; while I understand the production realities behind it, it's always bugged me that Starfleet crews are 98 percent human with only a handful of token aliens. I can buy that humans would be overrepresented, given that Starfleet is headquartered on Earth, but it shouldn't be such an overwhelming percentage.

Have we seen any of those species before? If not, the Starfleet vessel may be discovered by them outside of Federation space.

Kate Mulgrew, reprising her role as Kathryn Janeway, is the only confirmed casting so far.

 

[Nelson Au]

Cool news, I also would not have had the option to see this series. I agree that it was odd that it was intended for Nickelodeon while everything Star Trek was on All Access. Good that all the Star Trek programming is in one place.

 

[joshEH]

And according to the press release, it will run on Nickelodeon after premiering on P+, so it sounds like they’re going for the best of both worlds.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I only realized after I typed it and I decided to fully commit to making it so

 

[Rick Thompson]

I like that none of the main characters are human; while I understand the production realities behind it, it's always bugged me that Starfleet crews are 98 percent human with only a handful of token aliens. I can buy that humans would be overrepresented, given that Starfleet is headquartered on Earth, but it shouldn't be such an overwhelming percentage.

Hey, there's only so much latex in the world! Star Trek can't have it all. What would Star Wars do?

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Character design for CG Janeway (click to enlarge):


Not sure what to make of them; they're spot on for Janeway circa the early seasons of "Voyager", right down to the uniform circa the late 2360s. Apparently it's an Emergency Training Hologram of Janeway found on the ship that the youngsters commandeer.

The show takes place in the year 2383, five years after Voyager made it back to Earth and three years after the first season of "Lower Decks" but still well before "Picard" S1. And it takes place in the Delta Quadrant, which helps explain why none of the species are immediately familiar (except maybe a very obese Talaxian with a bad underbite?).

No word on whether Kate Mulgrew will also be playing the real Vice Admiral Janeway at some point as well.

 

[Nelson Au]

I was buried with work yesterday so I didn’t see the big First Contact Day announcements and trailers yet. I’ll try to do that today!

Yeah, I figured that Janeway had to be something like this. I was thinking perhaps a series of recordings in the ship’s computer, but I must confess, not a hologram in the same mold as the EMH Doctor. I guess this is sort of poetic.

I agree this rendering of Janeway is very much in the era of early season Voyager. I’m right in the third season now re-watching Voyager so she resembles this period more. I’m not sure I understand why they’d choose to place the deserted starship in the Delta Quadrant. Just because Voyager was cast there might be the only the reason. Perhaps the Caretaker took other Federation ships besides the Equinox.

I hope to find time to watch the trailers today. I plan to indulge in all the teasers and trailers! I see Paramount + has them all though I haven’t found Prodigy yet.

 

[joshEH]

Voice-cast officially announced:

Jason Mantzoukas playing a Tellarite? Talk about a perfect match. Here's hoping they occasionally let him go full dickhead-"Dennis Feinstein" with the role.

 

[Sam Favate]

Voice-cast officially announced:

View attachment 100401

Jason Mantzoukas playing a Tellarite? Talk about a perfect match. Here's hoping they occasionally let him go full dickhead-"Dennis Feinstein" with the role.

That’s a Tellerite? Thought it was unknown alien like the others.

 

[joshEH]

That’s a Tellerite? Thought it was unknown alien like the others.

Yup, he's playing a Tellarite named "Jankom Pog" -- they've redesigned the species just slightly for this particular show, but that's pretty much par for the course for Star Trek in new incarnations over the many decades.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Interesting that there's a Tellarite, given that the Tellarites are one of the Big Four founding members of the Federation and therefore Tellar is presumably fairly close to Earth, Vulcan, and Andor. Somehow, he got a long way from home.

On the other hand, given that the Medusans are noncorporeal and highly skilled navigators, it makes sense that they'd be a bit more widely dispersed throughout the galaxy compared to other races.

Also interesting that the little kid of the group is also the gigantic, superstrong one of the group. IIRC, the Brikar species were created by Peter David for some of the tie-in novels. Since this is their first canon appearance, the show has a lot of leeway to do what it wants with the species.

The characters voiced by Ella Purnell, Brett Gray, and Dee Bradley Baker all appear to be species native to the Delta Quadrant that weren't encountered by Voyager during its trip home.

 

[joshEH]

Also interesting that the little kid of the group is also the gigantic, superstrong one of the group. IIRC, the Brikar species were created by Peter David for some of the tie-in novels. Since this is their first canon appearance, the show has a lot of leeway to do what it wants with the species.

Peter David doesn't seem to have been aware of the new show's use of the Brikar, and seems to think Prodigy is ripping off Space Cases: "Okay, I've read up on it now. A show about a group of alien kids who discover a ship in space and use it to go on adventures. Wow. I wish I'd come up with a program like that. Oh wait: I did." (Link)

 

[Nelson Au]

Trekmovie yesterday reported and showed four new “environmental images” of Delta Quadrant alien worlds from Prodigy that was released.

The new images from Prodigy are very cool. These are of a higher more serious level then what I thought they were going after. I sort of prejudged the show as being aimed at the kids, so the level of animation I figured was going to be maybe like the animated Star Wars shows from a decade ago. I wasn’t super excited about this new show, but I wasn’t down on it either. I’m open minded about it and I’m going to watch it when it premieres. The new images are definitely very cool and gets some buzz going.

I can’t tell if these are CGI or higher level photoshop concept paintings, though they tend to look more like CGi. They look great. And the third one appears to be an homage to Ceti Alpha seen in Star Trek 2.

 

[Josh Dial]

Damn. Those images are beautiful.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

First teaser:


Interesting that the registry number on the hull is NX-76884. That would point to it being an experimental prototype.

But if the hologram was made after Voyager made it back to Earth, shouldn't the uniform be, at minimum, the First Contact era uniforms?

Perhaps she participated in the development of the training between her service as the XO of the USS Billings and taking command of Voyager. But that raises its own questions: Presumably the training hologram wouldn't have the benefit of any of Janeway's knowledge or experiences from Voyager's long journey home, nor any local familiarity with the Delta Quadrant. It would also seem strange for Janeway to take so long to fully accept the Doctor's personhood if she was intimately involved in the development of this hologram.

 

[Nelson Au]

Just saw the teaser trailer. Sounded kind of like Mulgrew‘s voice at the end.