Sci Fi TV Week in Review: Johnny Jay’s irreverent, snarky, and caffeine-fueled look back at the past week in sci fi TV in five minutes or less.
Star Trek: Prodigy has been cancelled by Paramount+ and will be removed from streaming as the dreaded write-downs rear their ugly head again. We saw a similar thing happen at Max with Westworld and The Nevers and at AMC with Pantheon and Moonhaven, and now it has made its way to Paramount’s streaming service (three other non-genre shows were among the cancellations and write-downs by Paramount+). Prodigy had already been renewed for a second season which was in the works, and word is that will be completed and the show will be shopped around to other venues. The younger-skewing series previously aired on Nickelodeon after streaming and it is possible that it could land there.
This news comes as Paramount+ is in the process of merging with Showtime, but some analysts believe that the streaming service should be shut down. The high spending for originals is catching up to the company (as well as many other streaming services), and Paramount+ may not be viable much longer which puts the future of the Star Trek franchise on television in doubt. Netflix was one of the companies that has showed an interest in acquiring Paramount and/or its streaming service (the thought of Netflix in charge of the Trek franchise is chilling, though), but has not made any official move in that direction. At this point, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is still on track for a third season, Star Trek: Lower Decks will be returning for a fourth season and has been renewed for a fifth, Star Trek: Discovery has a fifth and final season on the way, and new series Starfleet Academy is in the works. Beyond that, the future of the Trek franchise is unclear with Paramount going through its current struggles.
Falling victim to the writers’ strike, the Metropolis series that was in the works at Apple TV+ will not be going forward. Mr. Robot‘s Sam Esmail was helming that project, but production has been shut down with a studio rep blaming “uncertainty related to the ongoing strike”. Whether it will still happen once the strike ends or possibly get shopped around to other venues is unclear. It was a high-dollar production, so it is possible that the streaming service shied away from it due to the costs. But Esmail had already written the eight-episode first season and has been working the series for years, so he will likely try to find it a new home.
In renewal news, Genndy Tartakovsky’s animated series Primal has received a third season nod from Adult Swim. That show wrapped up its second season in Fall 2022 and there had been no word on its fate. But the show has now officially been renewed and will move in a new direction based on the way the second season wrapped up. You can keep up with the renewal/cancellation status of all the current sci fi TV shows at CancelledSciFi.com.
The fourth season of the animated Harley Quinn series has received a premiere date of July 27th on Max. Next week brings the Season 3 premiere of The Witcher on Netflix. The first half of the season will drop on Thursday with the second half held until late July. You can see all of the premieres for June and beyond at this link and you can keep up with the current schedule at this link.
Be sure to keep up with the news during the week at r/SciFiTV.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates on all the airing, returning, and upcoming sci fi and fantasy shows for the current season with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
