Netflix may have saved Star Trek: Prodigy but its release schedule is problematic

Star Trek: Prodigy was a true delight and we'd be a lucky fandom to see the show get a third season. The show already survived cancelation once with the near-miss that was their second season. A cost-cutting measure by Paramount+ to try and get profitable, Prodigy was sacrificed due to the toy deal with Playmates ending. The bigwigs were hoping the merchandising efforts would make the show a very profitable property.

They may have been a trending show and likely did solid numbers, but likely without the extra revenue they had hoped it would bring in, it was canceled. Canceled in the middle of production on season two. The show was already animating the show, and recording lines. Half of the season was reportedly done when they got the axe.

So Netflix swooped in at the 11th hour and picked up Prodigy, finishing the show's production and later airing the second season on their service. The first new season of a Star Trek show to be aired brand new on Netflix.

There is hope that the fandom followed and that they found new fans on the vastly more popular streaming service, but Netflix is fickle with its viewership numbers. They've canceled popular and well-performing shows before simply because they weren't performing well enough, or they got popular too late in the cycle.

If you aren't immediately into a Netflix series early, you run the risk of it being canceled.

That works against Prodigy, as Star Trek fans are conditioned to follow along weekly with a show. You drop a new episode once a week and keep us around for 12 to 22 weeks and we'll watch every episode. Assuming the show is decent. Yet, Netflix drops all of their episodes at once, just like they did with Prodigy.

Since the fandom is so accustomed to watching the episode and having a week-long discourse with others in their life and on the internet, the Netflix schedule took away a major aspect of their viewing habits. The sense of community. That's the kind of thing that can put a show over the top.

It may start slow but if enough people are talking about the show as weeks go by, new and new viewers will start picking it up and watching along. The hype builds, the anticipation mounts and soon you have a feverish fandom looking forward to the end of the season.

The Netflix model is great for binge-watching, but much like other things you can do with "binge" in front, it's not healthy or a good idea to watch 10 hours of content in one day. Netflix's model is outdated and non-conducive to creating and encouraging fandoms around their more beloved series and films.

If you have a show that can hold the attention of fandom for 20 weeks, as opposed to two weeks (where all 20 episodes are dropped at once), then you cannot only keep viewers on your subscription, but you can also see the ratings on the show build and build.

It's just smart business, and Netflix's release schedule folly may doom Prodigy, as Prodigy was not given the weeks if not months of build-up to attract fans.