Jonathan Frakes to direct new Nickelodeon kids’ live-action series The Astronauts
Nickelodeon has announced a new kids’ show that sounds a bit familiar, but isn’t. If you, like me, are anxiously awaiting new information about the new Nickelodeon Star Trek series, you might easily mistake the announcement for The Astronauts, for the show that is due out “after 2021” from The Hageman Brothers. Why? Let’s have a look.
A press release yesterday said, “Nickelodeon is setting off into new territory with the greenlight of The Astronauts (working title), a brand-new, live-action series following a group of kids who embark on the adventure of a lifetime when they are mistakenly launched into space.” The most recent blurb (almost a year ago, now) for the Hageman Brothers’ Star Trek series reads, “The untitled, CG-animated series will follow a group of teenagers who discover a derelict Starfleet ship and use it to search for adventure, meaning and salvation.” When you factor in that Star Trek: Picard director Jonathan Frakes has also been announced as a series director for The Astronauts, it’s easy to get the two confused.
The Astronauts is, however, its own show (even if it hasn’t got a real title yet). According to the press release, the series is being produced with Brian Glazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Kids+Family, and is due to premiere this summer. On the other hand, the last we heard, The Hageman Brothers’ Trek series (rumored to be called Star Trek: Prodigy) is likely to be a year (or more) away.