The Only Star Trek Show to be Canceled Twice Made 1 Trek Legend “Furious”

Star Trek has a long and celebrated history as a franchise, with several truly beloved TV series and films on its roster. That doesn’t mean the franchise always gets it right; however, there have been Star Trek projects that have been cut short too early, and some that should never have been made in the first place. The former example seems to be particularly upsetting to one veteran Star Trek actor, and they aren’t afraid to let their feelings be known about it!

Kate Mulgrew played Captain Kathryn Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001), and then reprised the role for Star Trek’s animated series Star Trek: Prodigy. However, Prodigy only got one season on Paramount+, which was released in a very fractured way: Season 1 took over a year to complete its two-part run (20 episodes) between 2021 – 2022, only to be canceled when it couldn’t build enough of an audience. Netflix stepped in to rescue the series, and Season 2 released all 20 episodes in binge format last summer, before Netflix ultimately canceled it a second time, for good.

During a recent appearance at a convention in New Jersey (via Trek Movie), Kate Mulgrew directly addressed her disappointment and frustration with how Netflix ended things with Star Trek: Prodigy:

“I love Prodigy… Because this is genius stuff, Prodigy,” Mulgrew told the crowd at the panel. It was then that her feelings about the show’s cancellation came out: “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. 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.”

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A lot of Star Trek fans weren’t happy about the cancelation, either; Prodigy had arguably begun to catch on with a wider audience, via Netflix, and it was assumed that the streaming service would at least invest in one more season (as it is wont to do), to complete a three-season block and give Prodigy Season 3 a chance to be properly marketed and released in closer proximity to Season 2, so that a more stable fanbase could be cultivated.

Of course, all of the Star Trek franchise has been affected by the recent acquisition merger between Paramount and Skydance Media. The Star Trek universe that was launched on Paramount+ during the streaming wars has been all but condensed back down. Star Trek shows like Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, and Prodigy were all canceled in the last year or so; Strange New Worlds only has one season left, and the upcoming new series, Starfleet Academy, has yet to prove it will last beyond a single season. Star Trek is ostensibly set for a major reboot in the next few years, on both the big and small screens. But Prodigy won’t be part of that bold new era.

You can no longer stream Star Trek: Prodigy on Netflix due to licensing issues. Want to stay up to date on the biggest geek entertainment news? Add us as a preferred source in Google – HERE, and join our community over on the ComicBook Forum for deeper takes and discussions!