10 TV Series That Wanted To Be Star Trek
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery - Star Trek must have been VERY flattered here.
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00:00 If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then you can bet your backside that Star Trek
00:04 must have been very flattered when these series made it to air.
00:08 I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture, and here are 10 TV series that wanted to be Star Trek.
00:15 Number 10.
00:16 Space Precinct.
00:17 Space Precinct was a Gerry Anderson production from the early 90s.
00:21 Anderson had made previous series like Space 1999, Captain Scarlet, Stingray and Thunderbirds.
00:25 This however was a live action sci-fi mixed with a police procedural.
00:29 Anderson had created shows in the past that were primarily targeted at a younger audience,
00:33 which is where the problems began for Space Precinct.
00:36 Despite the outlandish makeup and prosthetics, which were nothing short of impressive, the
00:39 show aimed at dealing with adult-oriented storylines.
00:42 Taking its cue from Star Trek, it tried to paint a fantastical future with as much realism
00:46 as it could, thoroughly confusing the networks.
00:49 It then suffered the fate of Star Trek The Original Series' third season.
00:53 Unsure how to market the show, the networks scheduled it to air either late at night or
00:57 early in the morning.
00:58 This led to low viewership, which in turn led to the show's cancellation after just
01:02 one season.
01:04 Number 9.
01:05 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
01:07 Glenn A. Larson, in his first appearance on this list, created Buck Rogers in the 25th
01:12 Century, which revolved around the central character of Buck dealing with being both
01:16 out of time and fighting extraterrestrial threats to Earth.
01:19 Originally it was a standalone film, though this was re-edited as a backdoor pilot once
01:24 the studio decided to push ahead with the series.
01:26 It received two seasons worth of stories, with the second of these being the more heavily
01:29 Star Trek-influenced one.
01:31 The first season had Buck located primarily on Earth, working as an unofficial agent for
01:35 the Federation's security.
01:37 The show also featured space travel via Stargates, though it was also referred to as warp travel.
01:42 In the second season, Buck was now leading a crew aboard the Searcher.
01:46 The ship's mission was to seek out the lost colonies of mankind, an idea that Larson had
01:50 already used in Battlestar Galactica.
01:52 It was this year that the Star Trek ideas really sunk in.
01:55 Buck was modelled closely on James T. Kirk, with his crewmate Hawk serving as Mr. Spock.
02:00 The show was cancelled due to lower ratings, difficulties with the main actor and rising
02:04 costs.
02:05 8.
02:06 Sliders
02:07 Sliders debuted in 1995, ran for five years and was mostly successful for its lifetime.
02:13 Several Trek stars would appear, including John Rhys Davies and Jerry O'Connell, two
02:17 of the leads from the very beginning.
02:19 The show explored the nature of parallel worlds, moving from week to week attempting to get
02:23 to a home they feel is lost.
02:24 There are very obvious shades of Star Trek Voyager in the premise; Voyager 2 was lost
02:28 in a far-flung part of the galaxy, trying each week to get home.
02:32 Though Sliders has probably more in common with Scott Bacula and Dean Stockwell's Quantum
02:36 Leap than anything else, the Trek connections are present.
02:38 In addition to this, the show was in part developed by Tracy Torme, who had worked on
02:42 Star Trek The Next Generation as a scriptwriter.
02:45 According to Rhys Davies, the show began as an exceptional premise that explored the nature
02:49 of reality not unlike the human condition that was so frequently explored in Star Trek.
02:53 However, the show's cancellation by Fox after its third season and subsequent acquisition
02:57 by the Syfy network resulted in a more action-oriented show which he felt ruined the potential it
03:03 had.
03:04 The show was finally cancelled for a second time at the end of the fifth season with an
03:07 unresolved cliffhanger.
03:09 Number 7 – SeaQuest DSV
03:12 SeaQuest DSV arrived in 1993 airing on NBC.
03:16 It focused on the submersible vehicle SeaQuest, which had been designed and built by its captain,
03:20 Nathan Bridger, who was played by movie star Roy Scheider.
03:23 The first season, though set in the near future, was almost as educational as it was entertaining,
03:28 opting to deal with real-world scientific issues.
03:30 When the second season returned, Scheider was deeply frustrated to find that the network
03:34 opted to move the show into a more science-fiction direction.
03:38 Aliens were introduced to the storylines, including the finale which saw the vessel
03:42 abducted and brought into the future.
03:43 Scheider was publicly vocal about his displeasure, which prompted the showrunners to release
03:47 scathing responses.
03:49 Though the show attempted to skew toward a straight darker tone, much like the then-airing
03:53 Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Scheider asked to be released from his contract due to, as
03:57 he called it, the show's attempt at becoming a fourth-generation Star Trek, leaving the
04:02 show as a sort of 21 Jump Street meets Star Trek.
04:05 He was replaced with Michael Ironside for the third season, but failing ratings resulted
04:09 in the show's cancellation.
04:12 Number 6 – Stargate SG-1
04:14 I love Stargate SG-1.
04:16 It was brilliant and everyone should love it.
04:19 Go and rewatch it now.
04:20 Stargate SG-1, the first spin-off from the 1994 film, is at times one of the most loving
04:25 tributes to Star Trek that that series has ever received.
04:28 SG-1 famously lampoons itself on occasion, being self-aware enough to make reference
04:33 to that other franchise that it takes so much inspiration from.
04:36 This is evident in the number of references that Jack O'Neill makes to Trek through
04:40 the years.
04:41 One of the funnier references was his request to name the New Earth starship the Enterprise,
04:45 only to be slapped back by Samantha Carter.
04:47 This however is nothing compared to the tribute shown in the 200th episode, aptly named 200.
04:53 An episode that deals with a series of vignettes, one part is Mitchell, Carter, Teal'c and
04:56 Jackson on board the Odyssey, portraying over-the-top caricatures of William Shatner, James Dooan
05:01 and the rest of the original series cast.
05:03 For a show that made so many knowing nods through its runtime, this was one of the funniest
05:07 scenes in the franchise, offering that chance for long-term Trekkies to laugh at themselves
05:11 as well.
05:12 The two further spin-off series were less Star Trek related, but still managed to throw
05:15 in the odd transporter jokes from time to time.
05:19 Number 5, Battlestar Galactica.
05:21 Battlestar Galactica owes more than a passing debt to both Star Trek and Star Wars.
05:25 Coming in the 70s, it borrows heavily from both, though the apocalyptic setting was its
05:29 own individual contribution to the drama.
05:32 The series, opening with the destruction of most of mankind, is a parable about the dangers
05:36 of over-reliance on technology.
05:37 This is seemingly at odds with Roddenberry's vision.
05:40 However, it stars Lorne Green as Commander Adama, a no-nonsense leader from whom all
05:44 the crew draw their strength.
05:45 There are clear hints of James T. Kirk in the character, coming on the heels of both
05:49 the original series and the animated series.
05:51 The series is deeply rooted in the 70s aesthetic, so in a way it also served as something of
05:55 an inspiration for Star Trek the Motion Picture, though the effects available for a TV budget
05:59 were, to put it mildly, lacking.
06:01 The ambition was greater than the execution.
06:03 Having said that, Battlestar Galactica is far from a failed copy of Star Trek.
06:07 The idea behind the show, drawn from Glen A. Larson's own religious upbringing, would
06:11 go on to inspire Trek writer Ronald D. Moore to reboot the franchise in 2003.
06:17 The result was one of the greatest television series of recent years, offering a grim look
06:21 at humanity from the inside out.
06:24 4.
06:25 EARTH - FINAL CONFLICT
06:27 Earth - Final Conflict is, in fact, a Gene Roddenberry original, though the creator died
06:31 years before the show would ever see the light of day.
06:33 He had, however, been approached years previously to develop the project which was then known
06:38 as Battleground Earth.
06:39 The success of the Star Trek films and the then-upcoming Next Generation made Roddenberry
06:43 too busy to work on it.
06:45 Majel Barrett retained the notes to the show and it was from these that Earth - Final Conflict
06:49 was born.
06:50 The show opens three years after the arrival of the Talon to Earth.
06:53 This seemingly benevolent race has brought technological advancements to humanity, though
06:57 a sinister plot lies behind their kindness.
07:00 The Talon are the dark side of the Vulcans.
07:02 The Vulcans arrived on Earth bringing technological advancements, though they were far less sinister
07:06 than the Talon.
07:07 They were simply prickly, while the Talon were pricks.
07:10 The series then morphed into an alternate version of the Cardassian occupation of Bajor,
07:14 with frequently appearing resistance cells attempting to take the Talon down.
07:18 Various other alien races appeared throughout the show, with many aiding and others collaborating
07:22 with the Talon themselves.
07:23 The show was well-received and its success led to the creation of the next entry on this
07:27 list.
07:29 NUMBER THREE - ANDROMEDA
07:31 Andromeda was another idea from Roddenberry's vault that was given life in the 90s.
07:35 Majel Barrett produced the show with former Deep Space Nine writer Robert Hewitt-Wolfe
07:38 serving as showrunner.
07:40 It centred around Captain Dylan Hunt and his ship, the Andromeda Ascendant.
07:43 The premise for the show saw a huge commonwealth of worlds spread across three galaxies.
07:48 The parallels to the Federation are obvious here, though Andromeda took a darker turn.
07:52 In the pilot, Hunt winds up on the edge of a black hole where he and his ship are frozen
07:56 in time when he is saved by the crew of the Eureka Maru 300 years have passed.
08:00 The crew agrees to serve under him, much like the Maquis in Star Trek Voyager.
08:04 The show then becomes a mix of episodes of the week, like the original series and The
08:08 Next Generation, with overarching plotlines that ran throughout the show, like Deep Space
08:12 Nine.
08:13 In the second season, Hewitt-Wolfe was released from his contract, later explaining that his
08:17 refusal to make the show more Hunt-centric led to his firing.
08:21 The show was an obvious inspiration for Firefly that followed, while itself being inspired
08:25 by the Trek that had come before.
08:27 NUMBER TWO - BABYLON 5
08:29 Don't.
08:30 Come at me.
08:32 This entry may ruffle some feathers, and for good reason.
08:35 There has been a long-standing rivalry between the Babylon 5 and Star Trek fandoms.
08:40 Each side accuses the other of plagiarism, though there is in fact little evidence to
08:44 support it.
08:45 However, the similarities between Babylon 5 and Star Trek Deep Space Nine cannot be overlooked.
08:51 In many ways, Babylon 5 is both classic Trek, new aliens every week, an overarching threat
08:56 of interstellar war, silly hairstyles, and something quite bold and different.
09:00 The setting of the station, like Deep Space Nine, allowed the series to tell serialised
09:04 stories, dealing with the consequences of character actions while still moving the story
09:08 forward.
09:09 Though the beginning of the show was fraught with issues and accusations, the two franchises
09:13 eventually warmed to each other.
09:15 Actors were shared between them, serving as olive branches not just to the showrunners,
09:18 but to the two fandoms who were at times ready to go to war with each other.
09:22 An excuse to see Walter Koenig in that… interesting hairpiece is a treat, let's
09:27 be honest.
09:28 1.
09:29 The Orville
09:30 You knew this one was coming.
09:32 The Orville is creator Seth MacFarlane's long-gestating love letter to Star Trek.
09:36 To say that it's inspired by the franchise is the understatement of the century.
09:40 MacFarlane time and again has been vocal about his love for Gene Roddenberry's long-running
09:44 saga.
09:45 The Orville came at a time when Star Trek was continuing to get darker.
09:48 In many ways, it's the antithesis of Star Trek Discovery, and a more slapstick comedy
09:51 version of The Next Generation, from which it took many markers and directions.
09:55 While the comedy aspect is quite different from what one might see on the Enterprise,
09:58 the show is meticulous in how it presents this brighter future.
10:01 It relies heavily on its ensemble cast, something that Star Trek is at its best when it manages.
10:05 The interpersonal relationships offer future strife, which was against Roddenberry's
10:09 hope for the future, though in line with just about every writer on Trek.
10:12 The visuals are a callback to the actual models of the 80s and 90s, without relying too heavily
10:17 on CGI.
10:18 Its episodic nature is straight off the classic Star Trek playbook.
10:22 The series is considered by many, like Galaxy Quest and the Movie Universe, to be an unofficial
10:27 entry in Trek canon, quite a feat coming from a self-confessed fanboy who just wanted to
10:32 see a brighter future.
10:33 That's everything now for this list.
10:35 If you disagree with any of the entries, let me know.
10:38 And if you have any suggestions for any entries, let me know as well.
10:41 I'm genuinely really interested to know.
10:43 You can catch us over on Twitter @TrekCulture, you can catch myself @SeanFerric on Twitter,
10:48 Instagram and TikTok.
10:50 So until I'm talking to you again, please look after yourself, please be kind to yourself,
10:54 look after your friends and family, and to my friends in the Ukraine especially, please
10:58 stay safe, stay warm, and know that we're thinking of you.
11:02 Live long and prosper, everyone.
11:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]