JUNE 25, 2023 - Nickelodeon and Paramount+’s highly-acclaimed animated show Star Trek: Prodigy is seeking a new home. Although the show, which premiered in October of 2021, had initially been renewed for a second season, Paramount has now reversed that decision, leaving season 2 of the beloved series in limbo. According to the press release,

On behalf of everyone at Paramount+, Nickelodeon and CBS Studios, we want to thank Kevin and Dan Hageman, Ben Hibon, Alex Kurtzman and the Secret Hideout team, along with the fantastic cast and crew for all their hard work and dedication bringing the series to life.

Paramount+ and Paramount Global continue to be invested in growing the Star Trek franchise with recently announced new titles “Star Trek: Starfleet Academy,” geared towards young adult audience, and the special movie event “Star Trek: Section 31,” in addition to its current slate: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, which returned for its second season June 15 and has been confirmed for a third season, animated series “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” which will return for its fourth season later this year and has also been renewed for a fifth season, and the upcoming final season of “Star Trek: Discovery” as well as “Star Trek: Picard.” The franchise is consistently one of the most watched on Paramount+. 

The reactions were immediate, with fans and PRO staff alike taking to Twitter with #SaveStarTrekProdigy, which is currently trending on the site.

The show’s second season is currently in the midst of post-production and the Hageman Brothers are committed to shopping around for a new home. The fact that they canceled the show when it was this far into the production process is a little puzzling, although not unprecedented. For instance, Warner Brothers recently pulled the plug on their film Batgirl, even though it was nearly ready for release.

It’s worth noting that Paramount+ was not originally intended to be PRO’s home. It was originally intended to be a standalone Nickelodeon show before Paramount Global acquired the channel.

In hindsight, there have been hints that this might happen. Only half of PRO’s first season has made it to Blu-ray, with physical media fans eagerly awaiting the second half. In addition, while most of the PRO characters have been released as action figures, Hologram Janeway, which was slated to be one of the last in the line released, was mysteriously canceled, forcing retailers to disappoint preorder customers. Plus, there was some planned merchandise, like a replica of the USS Protostar which the show’s creators the Hageman Brothers told me they were excited for, which never materialized.

While these facts. may mean nothing, the reality that Paramount’s merchandising arm hasn’t been pushing too hard on PRO goodies (with the exception of a smattering of books, one of which is due to hit booksellers in August, and a videogame) would seem to indicate the company’s lukewarm feelings for the show.

Not surprisingly, fans created a “Save Star Trek Prodigy!” petition at Change.org which has already been signed by 8,751 people. Famously, the original Star Trek series came back for a third season due to a letter-writing campaign that ended when the studio announced the show had been renewed and begged the fans to stop writing in. If anybody can change the studio’s mind, it’s the fans. As co-Executive Producer Aaron J. Waltke posted on Twitter,