Star Trek: Prodigy and The Streaming Frontier


As someone who grew up before streaming services took over popular entertainment, I'm still reeling from the recent cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy. Not only will the second season episodes not be aired, but the entire first season of the show has been removed from Paramount's streaming service.

I was initially astonished at how much Paramount had embraced Star Trek as a source of content for its streaming service. (I've been very satisfied with all of the new Trek series, and my personal favorites are the animated ones: Prodigy and Lower Decks.) Even if fans weren't completely satisfied with all the new Trek content that was being offered, at least Paramount appeared to have a vested interest in building upon the franchise through a selection of new entries produced by talented casts and crews. This new expansion also looked more coherent and organized than when Paramount previously used Trek to provide "flagship" shows for the United Paramount Network (UPN) back in the '90s.  

Then again, Star Trek always had a troubled relationship with Paramount. There was even a time when the corporate masters at CBS and Viacom decided to split the Star Trek franchise in half, with the TV half going to CBS and the movie half going to Paramount. But to have a show like Prodigy renewed for a second season and then cancelled while the second season episodes are in post-production comes as a bit of a shock. Why spend the money to make the episodes in the first place when they are never going to air?

To boldly go ... and disappear? The cast of Star Trek: Prodigy.

I've heard some chatter among media critics that the sudden cancellation of Prodigy is just one sign of how deeply flawed the streaming model of TV production and distribution actually is. The streaming model started with Netflix, but that company has been very secretive about its viewership numbers and what qualifies as a hit within this system. Further complicating matters are the lack of physical distribution channels (i.e., DVD and Blu-ray) and how proprietary the streaming services are about their content. Essentially, when a show that’s created for streaming is taken off of a service, it can disappear permanently.

What the sudden disappearance of Prodigy means is that even popular franchises are not safe from the instabilities within the streaming service model. It also calls into question what the terms "renewal" and "cancellation" even mean at this point, and if series that have been approved for continuation will actually be continued at all.    

I'm hoping that the Trek fan base will find a way to bring Prodigy back, or at least persuade Paramount to release both seasons on Blu-ray. Yet even if Prodigy returns, we're still stuck with the ongoing mess that is streaming. The only advice I can think of right now is that if you REALLY love a movie or TV show, find a way to get a hard copy of it. That’s the only way to guarantee your access to it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Tron: Uprising (Part 1 of 4): Characters

Image
This month marks the one year anniversary of the cancellation of Tron: Uprising , which aired on Disney XD for 19 episodes. Set between the events of Tron and Tron: Legacy , Uprising chronicled the events shortly after Clu’s rise to power within the stand-alone Grid created by Kevin Flynn. Personally, I think that Tron: Uprising got a raw deal from Disney. It’s a fantastic addition to the Tron saga that went on to win both Emmy and Annie Awards , yet Disney clearly had other priorities and was willing to toss Uprising aside without so much as an official cancellation notice. Even to this day, Uprising has yet to be released on DVD or Blu-ray and I’m wondering if it ever will. In honor of this amazing animated series that was cut down in its prime, I have decided to do something that Disney won’t. Since there will never be an official Tron: Uprising art book, I have searched across the Internet to find a selection of art from Uprising that I can share here on my blog with ...
Read more

FOUND: Mechanical Shark from Universal Jaws Theme Park Ride

Image
When the Universal Studios Theme Park in Florida shut down its Jaws ride back in January 2012, Jaws fans everywhere were devastated. Yet even though this part of the Jaws franchise is no longer operational, some of its sharks are swimming around out there … including places such as Frederick, Maryland. A few days ago, I was contacted by a fellow Jaws fan named John Ryan, asking me if I knew anything specific regarding the sharks from the Universal Jaws ride. He was asking because he thought he found one and is trying to verify its authenticity. We spoke on the phone and exchanged a few emails, and here’s what he told me about his find: “I've been collecting Jaws memorabilia for decades and when I found this incredibly rare gem sitting in a backyard in Frederick, Maryland, I wondered about its connection to the state. The current homeowners said the shark was already there when they purchased the property. They also told me it had been the subject of neighborhood rumor for y...
Read more

Machine Robo's Magnificent Robot Combiners

Image
I don't collect Transformers merchandise, but I see articles and advertisements about it when I browse through Japanese robot toy sites. From what I can gather, one of the latest product lines for Transformers is called "Combiner Wars" , a line that consists of five or six transforming robot toys that combine into one bigger robot. Combiner robot toys have been around for a long time, and Transformers had quite a few of them even back in the '80s. Yet of the many combiner robot toys I've seen over the years, the ones that have consistently impressed me were the ones released by Bandai under the Machine Robo line. Whereas other robot toy lines are stuck in the novelty of combining smaller toys into a bigger toy, Machine Robo has used the concept of combination to promote creative play. Read on for a review of how Machine Robo has built upon its combiner toys throughout the years.
Read more