Star Trek Prodigy

Star Trek: Prodigy is an American animated television series created by Kevin and Dan Hageman for the streaming service Paramount+ and the cable channel Nickelodeon. It is the tenth Star Trek series and was launched in 2021 as part of executive producer Alex Kurtzman’s expanded Star Trek Universe. Prodigy is the first Star Trek series to target younger audiences and is also the franchise’s first animated series to solely use 3D animation. It follows a group of young aliens who find the USS Protostar, an abandoned starship.

Brett Gray, Ella Purnell, Jason Mantzoukas, Angus Imrie, Rylee Alazraqui, and Dee Bradley Baker voice the young crew of the USS Protostar, with Jimmi Simpson, John Noble, and Kate Mulgrew also providing voices for the series, the latter reprising her role as Kathryn Janeway from Star Trek: Voyager. Kurtzman first mentioned the series in January 2019, and it was confirmed a month later. The Hageman brothers were set as creators and showrunners, and Nickelodeon ordered two seasons of Prodigy that April. Ben Hibon was announced as director and creative lead in August 2020, and it was revealed in February 2021 that the series would debut on Paramount+ before airing on Nickelodeon. It is produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions and Nickelodeon Animation Studio in association with Secret Hideout, Roddenberry Entertainment, and Brothers Hageman Productions.

Star Trek: Prodigy premiered on Paramount+ on October 28, 2021, and began airing on Nickelodeon on December 17. The first season of 20 episodes will run into 2022, and a second season is in production.

Star Trek Lower Decks

Star Trek: Lower Decks is an American adult animated television series created by Mike McMahan for the streaming service CBS All Access (later rebranded as Paramount+). It is the ninth Star Trek series and was launched in 2020 as part of executive producer Alex Kurtzman’s expanded Star Trek Universe. Lower Decks is the franchise’s first animated series since the 1970s series Star Trek: The Animated Series, and its first comedic series. It follows the low-ranking support crew of the starship Cerritos beginning in the year 2380.

Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Noël Wells, and Eugene Cordero voice “lower decks” crew members of the Cerritos, with Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O’Connell, Fred Tatasciore, and Gillian Vigman providing voices for the ship’s senior officers. Work on an animated Star Trek series began in June 2018. McMahan joined as creator and showrunner by that October, when Lower Decks was ordered for two seasons by All Access. The series is produced by CBS Eye Animation Productions in association with Secret Hideout, Important Science, Roddenberry Entertainment, and animation studio Titmouse who began work by February 2019. The main cast was announced that July. Production on the first two seasons take place in March 2020. The series features many connections and references to past Star Trek series.

Star Trek: Lower Decks premiered on CBS All Access on August 6, 2020, and its 10-episode first season ran until October 2020. A second season was released on Paramount+ from August to October 2021, and a third season is scheduled for August 2022. A fourth season was ordered in January 2022 and is expected to be released in 2023. The series has received mixed reviews from critics, as well as several accolades including a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

Star Trek The Animated Series

Star Trek: The Animated Series (TAS), is an American animated science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry. It originally aired as The Animated Adventures of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek at Saturday mornings from September 8, 1973, to October 12, 1974, on NBC, spanning 22 episodes over two seasons. The second series in the Star Trek franchise, it features mostly the same characters as Star Trek: The Original Series. Set in the 23rd century, when Earth is part of a United Federation of Planets, it follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Enterprise as it explores the Milky Way galaxy.

After the cancellation of The Original Series (TOS) in 1969, the live action show proved popular in syndication and generated significant fan enthusiasm. This resulted in Roddenberry’s decision to continue the series in animated form. Much of the original cast returned to provide voice-overs for their characters. Show writers David Gerrold and D. C. Fontana characterized The Animated Series as effectively a fourth season of The Original Series. After the conclusion of The Animated Series, the adventures of the characters continued in live-action theatrical films, the first being the 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

The Animated Series was critically acclaimed and was the first Star Trek series to win an Emmy Award when its second season won the 1975 Emmy for Outstanding Entertainment – Children’s Series.