Before Prodigy, Nickelodeon Already Created Its Own Star Trek
Star Trek is one of the most influential sci-fi franchises. However, as a new generation gazed toward the future, Nickelodeon already created their own alternative almost three decades before they launched Star Trek: Prodigy. Although not directly connected to Gene Roddenberry’s series, it surprisingly held a lot of similarities and may have even set the course for Star Trek’s future on the channel.
Space Cases aired in 1996 as a live-action sci-fi series on Nickelodeon. Focused on themes of diversity, exploration, and character-driven drama, the show centered on a group of misfit alien teenagers from across the universe attending a military school known as the Starcademy and their four-year voyage home onboard a mysterious alien spaceship. Created by Bill Mumy of Lost in Space fame and comic book writer Peter David, the show lasted for two seasons without reaching a proper conclusion.
Related: What Does Nickelodeon Mean? The Name's Origin Explained
Star Trek: Prodigy is considered the first in the series developed for Nickelodeon, and yet it feels like a spiritual sequel, especially considering Space Cases had almost the same premise. As a sci-fi serial, it at least seemed like a loving tribute to Star Trek and at most a spinoff that never received Roddenberry’s blessing. Regardless, Nickelodeon’s attempt at a space opera had all the hallmarks, tropes, and even some of the people who worked on Star Trek to recreate that magic of the mythos while establishing its own identity every Saturday night.
For those who watched Star Trek: Prodigy, the premise of Space Cases should be familiar. It’s a story about a group of alien teenagers who had to put their differences aside after they stumbled across an abandoned spaceship,
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