Posted in: Netflix, Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: kate mulgrew, star trek: prodigy

Star Trek: Prodigy Star Kate Mulgrew "Furious" at Series Cancellation

Kate Mulgrew expressed frustration at the lackluster studio support following Netflix's cancellation of Star Trek: Prodigy after two seasons.

When Star Trek: Prodigy was abruptly cancelled at Paramount+ in 2021, despite giving creators Dan and Kevin Hageman their blessing to work on season two, there was hope that it could perhaps find another home for more animated adventures. Featuring a Voyager reunion with stars Kate Mulgrew (Kathryn Janeway), who reunited with co-stars Robert Beltran (Chakotay), and Robert Picardo (The Doctor), who was a Prodigy season two addition, the series featured young group of aliens with discover an abandoned ship, the USS Protostar, an experimental Federation vessel that can explore the stars and guiding them, is the holographic version of the legendary captain of the USS Voyager. With Netflix offering to host season two in 2024 and its previous season, Prodigy's future looked bright until the streamer decided to cancel the series, and this time, there is no third season cleared in the docket to sell. Mulgrew spoke at Creation's Star Trek: Trek to New Jersey convention (via TrekMovie.com) to reflect her time on the animated series and to vent her frustration about how critical acclaim from the Trek community didn't translate to a third season.

Star Trek: Prodigy Star Kate Mulgrew on Embracing Voiceover Roles and the Animated Series' Bad Luck

When a fan asked Mulgrew about narrating audiobooks by Joe Hill (son of Stephen King), she told the crowd, "I love the privacy of the booth, which is why I love doing 'Prodigy.' I love 'Prodigy'. Sitting on somebody's desk in Netflix on the bubble, on the bubble, on what bubble, on your bubble? Because this is genius stuff, 'Prodigy.' Kevin and Dan Hageman created something that's never been seen before, and for an audience made for Star Trek: children."

While the Nickelodeon series has been fortunate enough to get a physical release with both seasons available on Blu-ray, the licensing on Netflix for season one expired in June, with season two set to depart the streamer in December. As it offered not only a diverse cast of aliens, played led by Brett Gray, Rylee Alazraqui, Angus Imrie, Ella Purnell, Jason Mantzoukas, John Noble, Bonnie Gordon, Dee Bradley Baker, and Jimmi Simpson, it also became a pseudo-sequel to the UPN series following up the popular characters with Janeway now promoted to Vice Admiral of the Federation, Chakotay revealed to be captain of the Protostar, and The Doctor expanding his responsibilities outside of Voyager.

"What do they do? They pulled it. I'm really furious about that. … When you pour your heart and soul into something, and they call it like that in this industry, I don't like it. Because it doesn't make any sense," Mulgrew continued. "The whole world loved 'Prodigy.' Why do they have it in stasis, to what end, when thousands, millions of young minds could be learning what we know and sharing it with their mothers, and their mothers with their mothers, the whole thing is just, I suppose, too elegant. The universe is just too elegant that way. I suppose. Mad."

While we don't know if the franchise will revisit Janeway and Chakotay again, we had a few other alumni return in other shows. In the live-action front, Jeri Ryan became part of Star Trek: Picard, reprising her role as Seven of Nine in the main cast. Tim Russ reprised his role as Tuvok not only in the final season of Picard but also returned to voice the character for the audio drama, Star Trek: Khan. Garrett Wang and Robert Duncan McNeill, who played Harry Kim and Tom Paris, respectively, as well as host the franchise-themed podcast The Delta Flyers, reprised their roles on Star Trek: Lower Decks. We also had a Next Generation mini-reunion with Crusher, mother and son, Beverly (Gates McFadden), and Wesley (Wil Wheaton), in season two. At the very least, we'll get another return with Picardo's The Doctor as his much older 900+year self in the 32nd century in the upcoming Starfleet Academy. Nickelodeon has also moved on with their next entry in the franchise as the animated Star Trek: Scouts for YouTube, targeting the same youth demographic as Prodigy.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

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