Looks to me like Paramount and Skydance are merging.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/08/media/pa … index.html
There were recent reports of a competing bid, but that was a hoax.
https://deadline.com/2024/07/new-paramo … 236027995/
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I am really sad that PRODIGY is being so undervalued. Setting aside the oh-so-vital valuation of the show made by someone who has never seriously looked at PRODIGY as a brand and as a show: PRODIGY should have been the crown jewel of modern STAR TREK in the way the 2009 STAR TREK movie was made front and center of the franchise for a time. PRODIGY has something that most STAR TREK shows don't have: mainstream appeal to a general audience.
DISCOVERY was a somewhat confused attempt at modernizing STAR TREK in a prequel setting, muddled due to Bryan Fuller creating and then leaving it. PICARD has a niche audience of TNG fans; STRANGE NEW WORLDS has a niche audience of TOS fans; LOWER DECKS has a niche audience of continuity mavens amused by poking fun at the absurdities of the franchise.
In contrast, the 2009 movie, while not filled with philosophical richness, was a family movie: it was a comedic, action-packed adventure that people of all ages could enjoy and it pitched itself as an entry-level, accessible story.
PRODIGY aims to be similar to the 2009 movie... but it does an even better job. PRODIGY captures not only the adventurous spirit of STAR TREK with the same excitement of the 2009 film, but also the spirit of STAR TREK: teamwork, problem solving, diversity, differences in thinking combined to save the day, strategic cleverness, and the willingness to throw down as a last resort.
PRODIGY makes an interesting decision: its cast are all teenaged slaves in a prison planet who have never heard of the Federation, who have no idea what Starfleet is, who stumble into an abandoned Starfleet starship with an experimental power source, who use the ship to escape their captivity -- and then these troubled, traumatized children who are focused on basic self-preservation who have never known kindness or any real support are mistaken for Starfleet cadets by the ship's computer.
A holographic Captain Kathryn Janeway, representing the computer, takes on the role of guide and teacher, and expects them to live up to values and ideals that the kids find completely antithetical to how the world has treated them to date. PRODIGY presents its cast as defiant and dismissive of Starfleet values... only to inadvertently fall into them when desperation and danger forces them to work together to protect the ship and survive.
PRODIGY's distillation of the STAR TREK concept is brilliant on every level. It creates a cast of characters who aren't familiar with the Federation and Starfleet, so the show is accessible to viewers who aren't familiar with STAR TREK because the cast is learning as well; meanwhile, longtime fans see the tenets and pillars of STAR TREK re-evaluated and rediscovered through new eyes.
In addition, the characters being a ragtag group of escapees from a prison where they were kidnapped and held positions them outside TREK's usual institutions. These kids have only known the worst of the universe, and their suspicion and questioning of TREK's utopian ideals adds a sincere and critical edge to how PRODIGY approaches STAR TREK, instead of taking it for granted that the Federation and Starfleet are always good and perfect.
The visual and narrative pacing of PRODIGY is incredible. The CG animation and character designs all create a sense of hyperkinetic motion as the USS Protostar zips through space and the characters race across planets and hallways. There is an immediacy, a visceral intensity to PRODIGY's visual direction that even modern STAR TREK shows struggle to capture. Space looks vast, colourful, vibrant and wonderful.
Overall, PRODIGY is a show that should really have a much wider audience than being marketed as a children's series. It's very clear to me that Paramount Studios, Paramount+ and Nickelodeon did not market PRODIGY correctly. It has the content and appeal to be sold as effectively as STAR TREK (2009). Unfortunately, the PRODIGY brand has been marketed as a children's show with limited appeal outside a young age group. But the actual PRODIGY show has a wide, mainstream appeal and has been well-calibrated and calculated for audiences both in and out of STAR TREK fandom.
I'll look into why PRODIGY was mismarketed and try to understand how this happened, but based on content alone: PRODIGY could and should have been the flagship STAR TREK show because it is entertaining to both devoted STAR TREK fans and casual fans of science fiction television. Instead, it was shuttered off Paramount+ for a tax writeoff and sold/dumped onto Netflix. It's deeply unfortunate.
When I watch PRODIGY, it looks like the future. When I look at search engine results for PRODIGY, it looks like an abandoned dead end. That's the distinction between the show that was made by the creators and the brand identity that was made by the marketing department.
