Star Trek: Prodigy is conspicuously missing from Star Trek Day 2024 plans, but true Star Trek fans will still celebrate the heroic crew of the USS Protostar. Star Trek Day is annually commemorated on September 8th to mark the 1966 premiere of Star Trek: The Original Series. Star Trek Day has become a Paramount+ tradition to honor and promote the Star Trek franchise. Although Paramount+ hasn’t held an in-person gala event since 2022, Star Trek Day 2024 will be a charitable affair spanning the whole franchise on Paramount+ – which doesn’t include Star Trek: Prodigy.
Paramount+’s Star Trek Day 2024 plan centers on “Take The Chair, Make An Impact,” a global social initiative where Star Trek asks fans to live by Star Trek’s values, with activations in three cities, Vancouver, Berlin, and Chicago, where fans can sit in the iconic USS Enterprise Captain’s chair. In addition to charitable donations to nonprofits DoSomething.org, Code.org, and Outright International, Paramount+ is making the premiere episodes of multiple Star Trek series free to watch. However, fans are upset that Star Trek: Prodigy isn’t on Star Trek Day’s list, although there is a reason why.
Why Star Trek: Prodigy Is Missing From Star Trek Day
Prodigy belongs to Netflix
Star Trek: Prodigy isn’t part of Star Trek Day because it’s on Netflix, not Paramount+. Star Trek Day is a Paramount+ initiative designed to promote Star Trek on its streaming service. In 2023, Paramount+ abruptly canceled Star Trek: Prodigy and removed all 20 season 1 episodes. However, a dedicated fan campaign helped bring Star Trek: Prodigy seasons 1 and 2 to Netflix. But since Star Trek: Prodigy is now part of a competing streaming service, it will not be part of Paramount+’s Star Trek Day for the second year in a row.
All 20 episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 premiered on Netflix on Christmas Day 2023. Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 then premiered on July 1st, 2024, with Netflix dropping the next 20 episodes on the same day. Although Netflix hasn’t released Star Trek: Prodigy’s streaming numbers, the series landed in Netflix’s Top 10 charts in multiple countries (although not in the United States). Still, the Star Trek I.P. is incredibly valuable, and Netflix has the only Star Trek series not found on Paramount+. Unfortunately, this means Star Trek: Prodigy is excluded from Star Trek Day.
Fans Should Also Celebrate Star Trek: Prodigy On Star Trek: Day
Star Trek: Prodigy is as pure as Star Trek gets
Just because Star Trek: Prodigy isn’t officially part of Star Trek Day shouldn’t stop fans from celebrating the CGI all-ages animated series. As countless fans have found out since its jump to Netflix, Star Trek: Prodigy is genuine Star Trek, and season 2 is widely considered one of the best Star Trek seasons ever produced. Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 even boasts a 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Star Trek: Prodigy is also officially part of Star Trek’s Prime timeline canon shared by every Star Trek TV series and movie on Paramount+ except for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek trilogy.
Star Trek: Prodigy ties into the events of Star Trek: Picard.
Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 told a sweeping story about time, space, family, sacrifice, and pure heroism. The young Starfleet hopefuls of the USS Protostar were aided by Admiral Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), Captain Chakotay (Robert Beltran), The Doctor (Robert Picardo), and Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) as they faced a threat to the entire multiverse as well as their old Vau N’Akat enemy, Asencia (Jameela Jamil). Along with setting up further adventures, Star Trek: Prodigy ties into the events of Star Trek: Picard, cementing its place in canon. These are all prime reasons to include Star Trek: Prodigy in fans’ personal Star Trek Day celebrations.
Will Star Trek: Prodigy Get Renewed By Netflix?
Fans remain hopeful for Prodigy’s future
Star Trek Day would be an ideal occasion for Netflix to announce Star Trek: Prodigy has been renewed, either for season 3 or perhaps for an animated movie continuing the story of the USS Prodigy. However, there is no sign yet that Star Trek: Prodigy will be renewed by Netflix. It’s been over 2 months since Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 premiered, and while fans have been vocal online about the series – and even sending a second airplane over Netflix with a banner urging the streamer to renew Prodigy, no green light has been announced.
Star Trek: Prodigy’s writers’ room and production offices closed in December 2023 after all episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy season 2 were completed, but executive producers Kevin and Dan Hageman are confident key personnel like co-executive producer Aaron Waltke would gladly return if Star Trek: Prodigy is renewed. The reality of a CGI animated series like Star Trek: Prodigy, however, is that it would take about 2 years for a full season to be produced, so no new Star Trek: Prodigy will hit Netflix any time soon, even if Netflix does renew it.
Fans shouldn’t let Star Trek: Prodigy’s exclusion from Paramount+’s Star Trek Day prevent them from including the animated series in their personal watch parties or celebrations. Star Trek: Prodigy has enriched the franchise with heroic new characters and brought back beloved Star Trek legacy icons. No one who makes Star Trek: Prodigy, or appreciates the show, believes it’s not part of Star Trek canon. If Star Trek Day truly recognizes every Star Trek, then Star Trek: Prodigy is an absolute necessity.