Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: dan hageman, kevin hageman, paramount, star trek, star trek: prodigy

Star Trek: Prodigy Creators on Balancing Younger, Older Audiences

While we're approaching a golden era of Star Trek thanks to the streaming era of Paramount+, Prodigy creators Dan and Kevin Hageman wanted to dedicate a series more suitable for younger audiences. The previous shows in The Original Series up through Strange New Worlds leaned more toward the general. The duo opened up about their unique approach to the franchise that doesn't focus on a specific crew but on aliens that come together to fly the Protostar. The only Starfleet-specific addition was Voyager star Kate Mulgrew, who reprises her role as Kathryn Janeway separately as a hologram and Vice-Admiral.

When asked about their personal mandate about making Prodigy more kid-friendly, "There's ['Star Trek: The Next Generation' episode] 'The Naked Now.' There was a lot of sexualized nature in the history of 'Star Trek,' I think starting from the [Gene] Roddenberry days," Kevin Hageman told Slashfilm. "It's not so much of kid-friendly as in terms of safe, but it's more about … Trek is massive. The canon is so thick. And it's intimidating, not just for a younger person, but for someone who is interested in 'Star Trek' and feels like, 'Do I want to jump into a 'Star Trek' convention and feel lost?' This is a show that simplifies things, but it doesn't dumb things down. It's a show that allows viewers to dip their toe to 'Star Trek.'"

"No, we hold their hand. We're holding their hand, and we're bringing them in gently," Dan Hageman added. "Whether they want to go to 'TOS,' which we love, or if they want to go to 'Voyager,' because they love Janeway," Kevin said. As far as inspiration for central characters, they went with a certain 19th-century author. "Yeah. Again, we wanted to start outside Federation space. And to us, felt like this is a lawless … this is Charles Dickens in space. I think we had that on our pilot script page," he continued. "These are mines where they're working children. Why are they working children? Little, tiny mysteries, where we love this idea of the first piece of "Star Trek" that these kids receive is the Protostar. And on the Protostar, Hologram Janeway. What better way to teach these children the hard knocks of life and how to improve themselves?"

For more on other "mentor" figures the Hageman's considered, Star Wars and Flash Gordon comparisons, the advantages of animation, David Mack, and more, you can check out the complete interview here.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!