Is it common for adult fans to watch Star Trek Prodigy?

[evilchumlee]

Are you interested in spending an entire season exclusively following up on a TNG episode that left little room for any further mystery?

Maybe? There's a few things going on there. It is a TNG episode that I really like. I don't trust DSC to stick the landing on it. The secret to the origin of life is somehow Michael Burnham, can almost guarantee it.

Not being super into Prodigy doesn't mean I think Discovery is good.

 

[Wouter]

A hypothesis. And it's fascinating to see the swing from "This is a good show, but cancelled" to "This is the best show!"

I doubt there is such a swing. The show probably did gain a number of Star Trek fans, as a few of those who had ignored it before or didn't get (much) past the first episode (where the surface similarities to a classic Star Wars setting are derided, unlike the Star Wars elements in the Picard S3 finale) did end up watching it after the all the fuss.
However, it has been called "the best show" (with or without an added "since TNG/DS9/VOY") or "the best first season" on this forum or on Reddit before cancellation. I would also say this is the best first season of any Star Trek series, with the possible exception of the difficult-to-compare TOS (SNW S1 being hit or miss for me - S2 a marked improvement in my view). Most Star Trek fans still care only about the live action, and some only about pre-Kurtzman Trek with the probable exception of Picard S3.

Thanks for answering! I'd thought that it was unlikely anyone would have picked up my question there. I was also thinking the Constructs might have been used in their civil war. Something I caught on a rewatch was how the Diviner said the Federation was responsible for the war not only because the people became divided between anti- and pro-Federation, but ALSO because the Federation "refused to take sides" in the conflict. He's essentially saying that if one side had won quickly (i.e., the side the Federation supported), that might have been less bad for the Vau N'Akat people and Solum than the (presumably) decades-long civil war that did occur. Interesting implication of the Prime Directive, as seen by the Diviner.

Yes, I assume that the Prime Directive - and the way it was implemented in the case of the Vau N'akat - will be explored in S2. Lower Decks did something similar, exploring (in a Lower Decks manner, of course) the implications of Picard cutting off a drugs-addicted planet from its supplier, and then leaving without any follow-up. DS9 also touched on this, with the Federation/Starfleet abandoning some colonies and colonists to the Cardassians, and those colonists not being pleased about it.

Since the Diviner apparently was part of the faction that wanted to align with the Federation (at least initially), he would have extra reason to feel betrayed. The Federation came, must have affected his worldview and gotten him (and others) ideas, and then they seem to have just left them to their own devices after other Vau N'akat demonstratingly opposed them (with violence getting involved at some point). He did not want Gwyn to learn about the Federation (other than in a manner and time of his choosing, I suppose), exactly because he knew she would be as prone to be tempted by the lure of the Federation as he was.

 

[fireproof78]

However, it has been called "the best show" (with or without an added "since TNG/DS9/VOY") or "the best first season" on this forum or on Reddit before cancellation.

Yes, but the support and verbal statements increased in frequency after the cancellation.

I see people call things "the best show ever" all the time and I roll my eyes because that's absurd to me. More absurd is the idea that this was great and cancelled by Paramount for failing to recognize its greatness at times, when likely viewership or money was the principal reason.

 

[BK613]

Yes, but the support and verbal statements increased in frequency after the cancellation.

True but who ever expected it to be pulled and sold off like it was? I got the sense that a lot of the people who supported it at the end fully expected to have it always available on P+ and had just put it off to watch whenever.

 

[fireproof78]

True but who ever expected it to be pulled and sold off like it was? I got the sense that a lot of the people who supported it at the end fully expected to have it always available on P+ and had just put it off to watch whenever.

Since I don't trust streaming platforms, I guess I did.

Call me cynical.

 

[Commander Troi]

I'm 56 and love the show. I think it's smart and well written. I'm really looking forward to seeing season 2.

 

[Wouter]

Since I don't trust streaming platforms, I guess I did.

Call me cynical.

I did, too. The writing had been on the wall for some time already. The most obvious sign was P+ failing to renew the show for S3 at the same time they renewed Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds. Since they did announce they would stream S2 though (which they reneged on a few months later), many didn't notice that this was actually bad news as S2 had been ordered long ago, and the long lead times meant that not ordering S3 would leave a gap in production. In some of the interviews of the Hagemans at the time, they tended to stress just how difficult the conditions were in the streaming business. They didn't exactly ooze confidence in a renewal, for good reason.

 

[BK613]

I did, too. The writing had been on the wall for some time already. The most obvious sign was P+ failing to renew the show for S3 at the same time they renewed Lower Decks and Strange New Worlds. Since they did announce they would stream S2 though (which they reneged on a few months later), many didn't notice that this was actually bad news as S2 had been ordered long ago, and the long lead times meant that not ordering S3 would leave a gap in production. In some of the interviews of the Hagemans at the time, they tended to stress just how difficult the conditions were in the streaming business. They didn't exactly ooze confidence in a renewal, for good reason.

My post said nothing about renewal/cancellation. It was about where people expected to find a Star Trek streaming show, even if it had been canceled.
And why people binged and supported it at the end when P+ announced they were pulling it.

 

[Soleta]

Yes! I love it. It's got a bunch of fan service but in a way that doesn't make kids watching Star Trek for the first time feel confused and left behind. My favourite New Trek show tbqh!

 

[bookworm8571]

Yes, it’s Trek. I bought it when it disappeared from Paramount Plus so I could watch it when I wanted to.

 

[spinagogue]

Yes! I love it. It's got a bunch of fan service but in a way that doesn't make kids watching Star Trek for the first time feel confused and left behind. My favourite New Trek show tbqh!

I know what you mean by "fan service," but I saw it as necessary exposition, because more than the other shows it aims to appeal to people unfamiliar with Star Trek.

 

[Christopher]

I know what you mean by "fan service," but I saw it as necessary exposition, because more than the other shows it aims to appeal to people unfamiliar with Star Trek.

I think they were probably talking more about things like all the familiar characters and dialogue clips used in Dal's Kobayashi Maru, or the ensign that saved the Endaprizians being Garrovick. That's fanservice because it's only meaningful to the fans, and because it would've made no difference to the stories if they'd used original characters instead.

Really, I think it's inherent in the term "fanservice" that it isn't necessary but exists purely for pandering. The term was originally used in manga and anime to refer to the gratuitous sexualization of female characters.

 

[spinagogue]

I think you're right that those examples could justly be considered "fan service," and I agree with your definition of it. I did think it was cool in the ep with the Kobayashi Maru how they constructed the lines for Scotty, Odo, Uhura and Spock from legacy clips. Nothing special but enjoyable and humorous to me.

 

[Charles Phipps]

I think it's no weirder than watching Clone Wars.

 

[Orac]

In my culture adults who watch childrens television are an absolute bloody disgrace.

It's my favourite television programme.

 

[BK613]

My older brother thinks ALL cartoons are for kids. I've been tempted over the years to show him some of the more risque Japanese stuff but I've been good so far...

 

[Commander Troi]

When a friend of mine died, her mother was about to give all the anime to the grandkids. Thankfully, we were able to go through it and take the hentai.

 

[I am not Spock]

I'm 41 and love Pro. Prodigy and Lower Decks are my favourite of the new trek shows. The animated shows give me that same excitement that I had growing up watching trek in the 90s

 

[Soleta]

I think they were probably talking more about things like all the familiar characters and dialogue clips used in Dal's Kobayashi Maru, or the ensign that saved the Endaprizians being Garrovick. That's fanservice because it's only meaningful to the fans, and because it would've made no difference to the stories if they'd used original characters instead.

Really, I think it's inherent in the term "fanservice" that it isn't necessary but exists purely for pandering. The term was originally used in manga and anime to refer to the gratuitous sexualization of female characters.

Yes that is what I meant! But also subtle things like a Medusan and Brikar main character, that's stuff that is easy to explain to newcomers but people who know about them will appreciate it a lot as well. I think Prodigy really shows how you can put in little references for fans and it will be appreciated and you don't have to, for example, put Spock in everything so people will bother to watch it. I think they balance it very well which is one of the reasons I love the show so much

 

[Cr0sis21]

My wife refuses to watch it because it's aimed at kids. I think that hurts it a bit in some regards.

But it's a good show. It's had some great episodes, good drama, and genuine surprises.

I truly believe the main reason for its cancellation is the lack of merchandising. They expected kids to be all over the toys. And they just weren't.

I know from talking to Nanjin at Exo6 that we won't see any 1/6 scale PRO figs. You never see the voice actors at conventions or on the cruise. Whatever the case may be, they clearly don't expect adults to be big fans and are NOT trying to appeal to them from a merchandising perspective.