# Star Trek Prodigy the latest to be canceled and erased **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** star-trek-paramount\ **Created:** [June 23, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004 "2023-06-23T18:56:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/1 "2023-06-23T18:56:34Z")
As has been the trend, beyond just cancelling shows , streaming services have been completely removing them from their catalog (presumably for tax purposes). Star Trek Prodigy is the latest victim which is a shame. The show started off slow but became basically a sequel to Star Trek Voyager. I was looking forward to seeing where season two went. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/2 "2023-06-23T19:10:09Z")
Apparently they plan to finish making Season two and shop it somewhere else, so that’s something. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/3 "2023-06-23T19:17:31Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > (presumably for tax purposes) Seems unlikely. The Batgirl show was cancelled before its release, most outsiders believe this was so WB could claim it as a complete short-term loss. For a show like Prodigy which was actually completed and delivered, you can’t really call it a loss in the same way. I don’t know precisely how they recognize revenue for individual shows on streaming services, but this show had a return. Keeping it on the service to get a few streams later is not going to materially affect the profit/loss of the service and will not impact their tax statements. Prodigy was more likely pulled due to some royalty or licensing agreement. It might also allow them to massage the earnings report numbers by shuffling these shows into a separate bucket. It’s definitely about cutting costs and looking better for investors, but not as a tax write off. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/4 "2023-06-23T19:28:08Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Prodigy was more likely pulled due to some royalty or licensing agreement. The explanation I’ve heard about pulling shows off quickly is that royalties are highest in the first year or two so you can save the most money if you remove the show from the streaming service immediately. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/5 "2023-06-23T19:30:10Z")
The lesson from this is if that there is a streaming-only show you like _always pirate it_. It is the only guarantee that you can watch it later. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/6 "2023-06-23T19:43:31Z")
Or buy your own copy. Prodigy’s been released on dvd and bluray. A streaming service can never take those copies away from you or re-edit them. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/7 "2023-06-23T19:51:33Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Or buy your own copy. Prodigy’s been released on dvd and bluray. You couldn’t even read the full sentence you replied to? I said “streaming-only”. Which means a show with no other source, including DVD. _Prodigy_ happens to not fit that definition (which I wasn’t aware of) but there are other disappeared shows that do. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/8 "2023-06-23T19:59:27Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > The explanation I’ve heard about pulling shows off quickly is that royalties are highest in the first year or two The better word here, I think, is “residuals,” ongoing payments to talent. Royalties are payments for the use of intellectual property, like a TV series paying the owner of a song played under the credits. Most of the “streaming service removes its own self-produced show from live library” thing that’s been happening lately is so the parent studio doesn’t have to keep writing these residuals checks to the actors etc. every time a subscriber clicks Play. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/9 "2023-06-23T20:12:28Z")
Yes, residuals is the right term. > [@Cervaise](#): > > so the parent studio doesn’t have to keep writing these residuals checks to the actors etc. every time a subscriber clicks Play. I had the vague idea that they had to pay residuals on streaming shows even if they don’t get any “clicks”, but I could be wrong on that. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/10 "2023-06-23T20:27:50Z")
FWIW how to account for residuals in a streaming world is among the issues that are major in the writers’ strike. This is modestly sad news. It was a very good show and I would definitely have watched a season two. But at least it didn’t end with too many major unanswered questions (just a few to hint at next plots) and it is not among the few shows that I’d consider watching again. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/11 "2023-06-23T20:48:37Z")
Out of curiosity, how often do you all rewatch shows? I can’t say I’ve ever bought a bunch of episodes of a show and just periodically rewatched them in order. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/12 "2023-06-23T20:50:05Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > You couldn’t even read the full sentence you replied to? I said “streaming-only”. Which means a show with no other source, including DVD. _Prodigy_ happens to not fit that definition (which I wasn’t aware of) but there are other disappeared shows that do. I did read the full sentence. And I assumed that when you referring to “streaming-only shows” in a thread about Prodigy, you had the mistaken belief that Prodigy was a streaming-only show. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/13 "2023-06-23T20:55:30Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > The Batgirl show was cancelled before its release, most outsiders believe this was so WB could claim it as a complete short-term loss. For a show like Prodigy which was actually completed and delivered, you can’t really call it a loss in the same way. I don’t know precisely how they recognize revenue for individual shows on streaming services, but this show had a return. Keeping it on the service to get a few streams later is not going to materially affect the profit/loss of the service and will not impact their tax statements. > > Prodigy was more likely pulled due to some royalty or licensing agreement. It might also allow them to massage the earnings report numbers by shuffling these shows into a separate bucket. It’s definitely about cutting costs and looking better for investors, but not as a tax write off. It’s all of the above: > **[Disney to Take $1.5 Billion Content Write-Off Charge in June Quarter After...](https://variety.com/2023/digital/news/disney-1-5-billion-content-write-off-charge-streaming-1235631877/)** > > Disney, after removing dozens of shows and movies from Disney+ and Hulu, said it will incur a $1.5 billion impairment charge for its June quarter. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/14 "2023-06-23T20:59:43Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Out of curiosity, how often do you all rewatch shows? Occasionally. There are a number of shows that I’ve rewatched as a whole more than once. The biggest rewatch being all of _Buffy_ + _Angel_ every few years (254 episodes). I recently finished a rewatch of _NewsRadio_ (only 97 episodes). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/15 "2023-06-23T21:04:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > And I assumed that when you referring to “streaming-only shows” in a thread about Prodigy, you had the mistaken belief that Prodigy was a streaming-only show. _Prodigy_ isn’t the only show cancelled in this round, and not the only round of cancelling. > **[‘Grease,’ ‘Star Trek: Prodigy,’ ‘Queen of the Universe,’ ‘The Game’ Canceled...](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/paramount-plus-removes-grease-star-trek-prodigy-queen-of-the-universe-the-game-1235522633/)** > > The streamer becomes the latest to take advantage of tax write-offs as it prepares to incorporate Showtime content onto the platform. The point I was making is that if you don’t have an undeletable local copy of _x_, then you do not have _x_. _ **Never** _ trust streaming/cloud storage as your only source. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/16 "2023-06-23T21:38:38Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > you had the mistaken belief that Prodigy was a streaming-only show. Turns out we were both half right. Only the first 10 episodes of season 1 are on DVD, so half of it is streaming-only. > **[Be mindful of buying the Star Trek: Prodigy DVD if you’re a completionist](https://redshirtsalwaysdie.com/2023/03/09/be-mindful-of-buying-the-star-trek-prodigy-dvd-if-youre-a-completionist/)** > > Star Trek: Prodigy fans, keep an eye out for this DVD if you're looking to expand your collection. Star Trek: Prodigy debuted at the end of 2021 to pr... ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/17 "2023-06-23T21:42:38Z")
For current shows when I had more free time I would often rewatch a season when a new season was about to start. These days I will often watch the previous finale before the new season. But for shows I enjoy or just want to see again, I always have a series “in rotation” to just play while eating or relax before going to sleep. In the last year or so Scrubs led into New Girl which led into Frasier which led into Modern Family. We also rewatch dramas as well and recently rewatched Battlestar Galactica and are currently on The Americans (both were rewatches for me but new to my wife). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/18 "2023-06-23T21:54:12Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Turns out we were both half right. Only the first 10 episodes of season 1 are on DVD, so half of it is streaming-only. Fair enough. I haven’t watched _Prodigy_. The only recent Star Trek series I’ve watched is _Lower Decks_, the other current animated series, and that has ten episode seasons. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/19 "2023-06-23T22:55:56Z")
I’ve rewatched a small amount of shows, but not as many as I had expected, judging from the DVD sets I have that I’ve never looked at a second time. But right now, TV is in a fallow period (which will be extended while the writer’s strike continues) so I am revisiting some older shows, from five or ten years or more back, that I have largely forgotten, but remember as being particular highlights at release time. I can see _Star Trek Prodigy_ (and _Lower Decks_) fitting in to that someday, but not until 2027 or so. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2023, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004/20 "2023-06-23T23:08:39Z")
Moderating: > [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The lesson from this is if that there is a streaming-only show you like _always pirate it_. It is the only guarantee that you can watch it later. I’d like to remind you, and all the other posters, that the SDMB supports copyrights and forbids recommendations to break the law, especially copyright law. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-prodigy-the-latest-to-be-canceled-and-erased/986004.md?page=2)