nickelodeon – Trekking with Dennis

Star Trek: Scouts

It’s not every day that a brand-new Star Trek series premieres… let alone two! But to mark Star Trek Day yesterday (the 8th of September), Skydance/Paramount dropped the first episode of the Khan audio drama… and still had one more surprise in store.

Star Trek: Scouts is a series aimed at preschoolers. The first two episodes were released on YouTube yesterday, and I’m actually pleased to see Paramount doing something like this. As we’ll get into, I’m not sure the way Scouts has been launched is perfect, but as a concept, as a principle… this is the kind of move I think we need to see more of if Skydance and Paramount are serious about establishing Star Trek as a brand with longevity, and that can continue to exist well into the future.

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing Roo, with Sprocket and JR in the background. — A Star Trek series for kids is a good idea.

This is categorically not a “review” of Star Trek: Scouts, by the way. I’m not in the two-to-five demographic (believe it or not), so my thoughts about the actual content of this kind of show really wouldn’t be worth much! That’s not to say I don’t find joy in some cartoons or films aimed at a younger audience… but there’s young and then there’s young, if you take my point. These sub-four-minute episodes, with very basic storylines, are cut from the same cloth as something like Cocomelon, and for their intended audience, I’m sure they’ll be perfectly enjoyable.

What I’m interested in, as a Star Trek fan, is the potential for the franchise to belatedly break out of its demographic prison cell and finally attract a new audience. The tl;dr is that Star Trek is ageing… and if that continues unchecked, the fan community will die out. Shows like Prodigy and films like Section 31 were supposed to change that, attracting a younger audience and an audience raised on Marvel movies, respectively. I don’t think either project really met the moment and achieved those objectives… but there’s a chance, at least, for Scouts to appeal to a very young crowd, some of whom will go on to explore the Star Trek universe in more depth as they grow up. That can only be a good thing.

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing the main character trio. — The three main characters.

I am disappointed, though, that Scouts is currently hosted on the YouTube channel of a different Nickelodeon series. That confused branding and mixed messaging won’t help. And, as I said several years ago when discussing Prodigy: where are the toys and tie-in products? None have been created in time for the show’s launch… and that’s still not good enough from Paramount. Kids – especially younger kids in the age range Scouts is pitched at – engage with their favourite worlds through play. Toys, dolls, dress-up costumes… all of these things should have been ready for eager kids and parents to coincide with the launch. It’s pretty stupid that they weren’t – and it’s going to hold back Scouts’ potential unless and until these kinds of toys are ready to go.

Some cartoons only exist to serve as glorified toy commercials. But despite owning the Nickelodeon brand – and knowing what it takes to market to kids successfully – Paramount is, for the second time, refusing to make kid-friendly Star Trek merchandise for its kid-friendly Star Trek series. I can’t be the only one to think that’s a mistake, can I? Or that it’s undermining the very idea behind creating a series like this?

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing Roo and a tricorder. — Roo using a tricorder.

It’s not my intention to be overly negative, and this criticism is intended to be constructive. I’d love to think a show like Star Trek: Scouts will succeed, and will bring in younger fans to the Star Trek community at just the right moment. Star Trek needs that. And with Prodigy and Starfleey Academy, too, there’ll be no shortage of shows for younger viewers to sink their teeth into when they graduate from this kind of preschool cartoon and want something a bit more grown-up. Those are all great things, and Star Trek could – with the right management and leadership – really synergise these younger-focused series to give kids, tweens, and teens a route into the Star Trek fandom.

But so far, I don’t see a lot of effort on that side. I didn’t see it from the old Paramount at all, and I don’t see it from the new Skydance-owned Paramount, either. The launch of Scouts – with no fanfare, no tie-in products, and on a YouTube channel branded after a different show (not even the main Nickelodeon channel) – just smacks of a lack of care, a lack of attention, and a lack of effort or interest. And if that’s the case… why bother? Why commit money to a project like this only to not follow through and give it the best chance of success? It’s just… wasteful.

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing HQ. — The kids’ HQ… complete with giant phaser beam.

I’m also a little disappointed with some – thankfully a minority, as far as I can tell – of the reactions to Scouts online. Some folks are completely unable to grasp the idea that not every single media project or piece of content is made specifically for them, and I’ve seen people saying Scouts is “childish,” “basic,” and “a joke,” as if it was somehow meant to be something a grown adult would enjoy. So let’s say it loud and clear for the people getting upset about Scouts not being as deep and complex as episodes like The Drumhead:

It’s a show for two-year-olds.

We all get it now, yeah? It’s gonna have basic plots, child characters, and not a lot of world-building or complexity. That’s by design! Not every show – and not every Star Trek show – is made for everyone. Scouts, more so even than Prodigy before it, is targeting a very specific audience, and a very young audience. It’s not for me – but it’s not supposed to be. I’m glad that there’s some effort being made to make some of the basic trappings and aesthetic elements of Star Trek appeal to a new, younger audience – even though I wish some of the execution was being handled a bit more professionally.

Still frame from Star Trek: Scouts showing the three main characters jumping. — To boldly go…

This is probably gonna be the last time I touch base with Scouts… though with my niece being born earlier this year, maybe if it’s still around in a couple of years’ time, I’ll recommend it for her! I think the idea of creating a project like this – a potential easy way into Star Trek for even the youngest viewers – is no bad thing, and I will be rooting for its success, even though Skydance and Paramount don’t seem to be all that bothered one way or another.

So that’s all for today, I guess. Star Trek: Scouts exists. If you have young kids (or you’re a child at heart; no judgment), you can find the first two episodes on YouTube, with a promise of some eighteen more to come. I think there are plans to broadcast episodes on Nickelodeon or Nick Jr., too, in regions where those channels are available, so keep an eye out for that, too.

And if Scouts isn’t for you… that’s okay. There are almost 950 episodes and films in the Star Trek franchise that you might like instead.

Star Trek: Scouts is out now and can be streamed via the Blaze and the Monster Machines YouTube channel at time of writing. The Star Trek franchise – including Scouts – is the copyright of Skydance/Paramount and Nickelodeon. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

More details about Star Trek: Prodigy revealed

Mon 14.06.21Sun 13.11.22Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Prodigy.

A few weeks ago we got to see a first glimpse of upcoming kids show Star Trek: Prodigy, showing off the main cast of characters. Today, ViacomCBS revealed a little more information about who these folks are – as well as the voice actors who will bring them to life! In addition, we got four brand-new teaser images. I thought it would be fun to take a look at what’s been revealed as we start to get excited for Prodigy.

It’s worth saying at this stage that no broadcast date was revealed. In fact, we weren’t given so much as a hint as to when Prodigy might hit our screens. I’d definitely seen 2021 talked about as being likely, but given we’re going to get Lower Decks in less than two months, with Discovery following hot on its heels before the end of the year, I’m beginning to think that Prodigy will arrive next year instead. Stay tuned, because if and when we get a proper release date – or a trailer – I’ll try to cover it here on the website!

We’d learned during Star Trek’s First Contact Day digital event a couple of months ago that Prodigy is set in the Delta Quadrant, and that the characters mostly belong to races we haven’t met before. Despite that, however, there are two characters who actually are from familiar races – presumably we’ll learn more about how they came to be in the Delta Quadrant when the show airs!

First up we have a Tellarite named Jankom Pog. The Tellarites were founding members of the Federation – so perhaps we’ll get a different perspective from this character, who may know a little more about Starfleet and the Federation than the others. And secondly we have a Medusan character named Zero. The Medusans were seen in The Original Series Season 3 episode Is There In Truth No Beauty? These aliens are noncorporeal and unable to be looked upon by humans (and presumably others) as the sight of their appearance can drive people insane!

Modern Star Trek has enjoyed bringing back characters and races from The Original Series era, and this feels like a continuation of that trend in some ways. Both Tellarites and Medusans are known but have never been explored in depth, and making main characters out of each feels like it has the potential to expand our understanding of both races.

I don’t want to pre-empt some of the storylines that Prodigy could explore, but in the Medusan character in particular I wonder if we’re going to see stories about things like overcoming insecurities about one’s physical appearance. There’s also the potential for an analogy about having to hide one’s true self and never feeling able to be truly “seen.” The Medusan character was very pointedly described as “genderless” in the press release, and I wonder if that means we’ll get storylines considering gender identity in a comparable way to how Discovery’s third season introduced the non-binary character Adira.

Dal again – perhaps on the Starfleet vessel the kids encounter?

Let’s look at the remaining characters and see if there’s anything else we can gleam!

The character I felt bore superficial similarities to Jaylah from Star Trek Beyond is called Gwyn, described as a Vau N’Akat – a new race that we haven’t met before – who grew up on a bleak mining world. Sounds interesting, and there’s potential for Gwyn to perhaps be a point-of-view character, allowing for things to be explained to us as the audience because she’s less familiar with the wider galaxy and its inhabitants.

Dal is next, the same age as Gwyn but from an unknown race. A couple of the characters have this description; I don’t know if it means their races will be revealed during the series or if the characters themselves don’t know their own origin and identity. If it’s the latter, perhaps there’s scope for Dal to learn more about his people and his home as the series progresses. Otherwise, this character was described as a “maverick,” but also full of hope.

The very large alien that I thought might’ve been a Horta is actually the youngest member of the group. Rok-Tahk is described as shy and an animal-lover. Aside from the unconventional size, this kind of feels like Rok-Tahk has been given generic “little girl” attributes by the creators… but maybe she’ll surprise me and bring something more to the table.

Finally we have Murf, the adorable blob-alien who immediately became a fan-favourite. Murf is the second character whose species is described as being “unknown,” so we’ll have to see what happens there. Otherwise Murf was described as “indestructible,” which certainly seems like an attribute that could come in handy.

There were a couple of known names among the voice cast. Jason Mantzoukas will voice Jankom Pog (the Tellarite character) and is an actor and comedian who’s been in films like The Dictator and The Lego Batman Movie, as well as television shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Big Mouth. Dee Bradley Baker will voice Murf, and you might know his name from his prolific voice acting in television shows like Star Wars Rebels, SpongeBob SquarePants, and as the “voice” of Perry the Platypus in Phineas and Ferb.

So now we have names to go with the faces we first saw a few months ago! Prodigy is definitely taking shape, and the more we learn about the series, the more interesting it seems to get. I know it’s a show primarily aimed at kids, but the best children’s shows have something to offer adults as well. Not to mention that Star Trek has long been a child-friendly franchise.

It was great to get another glimpse at the new series. Prodigy will be the fourth brand-new Star Trek project to premiere since ViacomCBS brought the franchise back to the small screen less than four years ago. It’s an absolutely amazing time to be a fan of Star Trek – as I keep saying! – and I can only hope that the new show is as entertaining and enjoyable as the others. It’s a departure for the franchise to make a deliberately child-oriented show, and to have a cast of characters which primarily consists of teens and kids, but as Lower Decks proved last year – albeit in a very different way – Star Trek is adaptable. The franchise is capable of branching out and going in different directions. For a lot of kids, Prodigy is about to become their first contact with Star Trek, and I hope many of them will explore the franchise, watch its other iterations, and become lifelong fans.

You can find more information about the cast and characters of Star Trek: Prodigy by following this link to the official Star Trek website. Star Trek: Prodigy will premiere on Paramount+ in the United States soon. International distribution has not yet been announced. The Star Trek franchise – including Prodigy and all other properties mentioned above – is the copyright of ViacomCBS. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Captain Janeway is back!

Thu 08.10.20Sun 20.11.22Dennis

Just a short one this evening. I was surprised – no, positively shocked – to learn that Kate Mulgrew is going to reprise her role as Captain Kathryn Janeway! That actually isn’t the shocking part, as Captain Janeway was one of many characters who could’ve potentially appeared in Star Trek: Picard or future productions set in or around the dawn of the 25th Century. The real surprise was that she’s going to be reprising the role for the upcoming animated series Star Trek: Prodigy!

Prodigy, if you didn’t know, is a joint venture between ViacomCBS (owners of Star Trek) and children’s broadcaster Nickelodeon. The show was announced a while ago, and will be the first Star Trek production to be aimed primarily at kids. The pitch for the series says its target audience is the 5-15 demographic, but Alex Kurtzman and other producers promise that there will be plenty for older fans to enjoy as well.

*Star Trek: Prodigy* had been announced earlier, but with no details of its cast.

Kate Mulgrew spoke during a digital panel for Comic-Con, and expressed her happiness to return to the franchise. Playing Captain Janeway in voiceover, she said, has allowed her to give the character more nuance within the privacy of a recording studio. She had apparently been reluctant at first, but after hearing the pitch of the series and speaking to Alex Kurtzman she was convinced.

Captain Janeway was groundbreaking, not just for Star Trek but for science fiction and the wider world of entertainment. She was Star Trek’s first woman captain, and now, as she says, she will be Star Trek’s first children’s captain too. Even twenty-five years after Voyager premiered, the character – and actress – are still breaking new ground.

Captain Janeway is returning to Star Trek!

So far we haven’t seen what Captain Janeway’s animated form will look like. Prodigy hasn’t released any teaser images as of yet; all we have is the show’s logo. But as we edge closer to the release of the series I’m sure we’ll get to see more!

Prodigy is going to be something different in the Star Trek universe. As we’ve seen with Lower Decks, different doesn’t mean “bad.” While Prodigy and Lower Decks are completely different productions, both have tried to push the boat out and expand Star Trek, bringing in new fans. If Prodigy succeeds, we’re likely to see a whole new generation of Trekkies, many of whom will jump over to watch the likes of Discovery and Strange New Worlds, and will hopefully go back to watch Voyager and other Star Trek shows too.

With Kathryn Janeway back in the captain’s chair, Star Trek: Prodigy is lining up to be a winner. I was looking forward the show before. But now I cannot wait!

Star Trek: Prodigy is due for release in 2021. The Star Trek franchise – including Star Trek: Prodigy – is the copyright of ViacomCBS. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.