From Area: 1999 to Buck Rogers within the twenty fifth Century, some actually nice sci-fi reveals exist within the shadow of Star Trek. Star Trek wasn’t an immediate success when it premiered in 1966 — in reality, it was canceled after simply three seasons — however it will definitely discovered a fan base in syndication.
The Star Trek franchise stays a permanent staple of popular culture to at the present time, and it’s impressed technology after technology of sci-fi writers. A variety of great sci-fi TV shows, like Firefly and The Orville, owe a debt to Star Trek.
Farscape
In lots of science fiction, humanity offers with its first contact with aliens. However Farscape flips the script and makes its human protagonist the alien. When modern-day American astronaut John Crichton unintentionally travels by a wormhole close to Earth, he finds himself an extraterrestrial fugitive in an unknown nook of the universe, determined to get house.
Farscape arrived at a time when the Star Trek franchise was in decline, and it made efforts to subvert the Star Trek formula and inform its personal sort of spacefaring story — for one, it’s a lot weirder and way more self-aware. The sequence’ otherworldly alien characters regarded completely distinctive, due to the make-up, prosthetics, and animatronics designed by the incomparable Jim Henson Firm.
Area: 1999
Area: 1999 was basically the Brits’ reply to Star Trek. Its premise is a contact more odd than Star Trek — it turns the Moon into an uncontrollable spacecraft — however the primary format is identical. It facilities on the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, which is hurtling by house following a nuclear explosion on the Moon’s far aspect.
As ridiculous as that sounds, the sequence itself is a controversial basic. It’s been criticized for its wood appearing and scientific inaccuracy, however it’s been praised for its gorgeous visuals, excessive manufacturing values, and the ambition of its storytelling. Area: 1999 is a morality play in house, however it’s additionally Star Trek on acid.
Earth: Remaining Battle
When Star Trek was initially canceled in 1969, creator Gene Roddenberry started engaged on a handful of different tasks that by no means got here to fruition. Certainly one of these scripts was Battleground: Earth, one other sci-fi present that wouldn’t spark any curiosity in Hollywood till the Star Trek franchise was revived with the film sequence and The Subsequent Technology, and it was too late.
After Roddenberry handed away, his widow, Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, retooled the present as Earth: Remaining Battle and eventually obtained it produced. The sequence sees an alien race known as the Taelons coming to Earth. Because the Taelons share their superior expertise and wipe out Earth’s wars and illnesses, a resistance motion varieties amongst folks questioning the aliens’ motives.
Buck Rogers In The twenty fifth Century
After its pilot episode was launched to some field workplace success within the sci-fi increase of the late ‘70s, Buck Rogers within the twenty fifth Century was shortly commissioned as a weekly sequence. It’s decidedly pulpier than Star Trek, however it was tapping into the cultural second that Star Trek’s big-screen comeback had helped to instigate (though Star Wars technically kickstarted it).
Because it arrived on this post-Star Trek, post-Star Wars sci-fi increase, Buck Rogers within the twenty fifth Century was criticized as a cynical try and money in on one of many best icons in American popular culture, however it’s an pleasurable present. It’s a enjoyable little bit of throwaway comic-strip sci-fi leisure, however not way more.
Babylon 5
J. Michael Straczynski made an admirable effort to match the ambition and imaginative and prescient and well timed social commentary of Roddenberry’s Star Trek along with his personal spacebound sci-fi epic, Babylon 5. Babylon 5 takes place aboard the eponymous five-mile-long house station and chronicles the interpersonal drama between all its passengers over the course of 5 years.
Very similar to in Star Trek, the characters who’re drifting by house within the distant future are rounded out as relatable human beings. It’s basically a small-town cleaning soap opera, besides that small city exists on an enormous construction floating throughout the cosmos, and it’s set towards the political stress of a looming warfare.
Andromeda
After the success of Earth: Remaining Battle, one other one in all Roddenberry’s unrealized projects was posthumously developed right into a sequence. Style-wise, Andromeda is extra of an area opera than the laborious sci-fi present that Star Trek was, however the advanced political worldbuilding is in the identical vein as Roddenberry’s groundbreaking work on Star Trek.
The sequence revolves round an interstellar authorities known as the Techniques Commonwealth, which loved a interval of peace and prosperity earlier than it was introduced down in a ruthless riot led by the trigger-happy Nietzcheans and the parasitic Magog. With out Roddenberry himself on the helm, Andromeda’s fascinating underlying concepts have been executed with goofy dialogue, underdeveloped characters, and a half-baked imaginative and prescient.
Firefly
Roddenberry’s original concept for Star Trek was basically Wagon Practice to the celebs. It could be a basic frontier western, besides the frontier the solid can be crossing was outer house. Joss Whedon tailored that premise extra actually along with his good however sadly short-lived sequence Firefly. Firefly adheres to the western style way more overtly, recontextualizing all the same old tropes in a futuristic setting.
Firefly takes place within the aftermath of a devastating civil warfare, as society struggles to rebuild, and follows a crew of gunslingers as they get into shootouts and practice robberies. Nathan Fillion’s Mal Reynolds is extra Han Solo than Captain Kirk, however Firefly faucets into Star Trek’s timeless story of a tightknit crew occurring wild intergalactic adventures.
Battlestar Galactica
The 2000s reimagining of Battlestar Galactica is without doubt one of the best TV reveals ever made. It’s a quintessential piece of navy science fiction that captured the zeitgeist through the Conflict on Terror with its allegorical battle between the people and the Cylons. However the unique 1978 sequence it was based mostly on was a lot much less unique.
Glen A. Larson’s unique Battlestar Galactica basically got down to merge the futuristic profundity of Star Trek with the action-packed spectacle of Star Wars, with a purpose to money in on the blockbuster returns of the latter and the resurgence in reputation for the previous. It wasn’t 100% profitable, however the unique Battlestar Galactica greater than earned its title as a cult basic.
SeaQuest DSV
After Star Trek had imagined a navy crew stationed in outer house, SeaQuest DSV went within the different route and imagined a navy crew stationed deep beneath the floor of the ocean. Roy Scheider’s Captain Nathan Bridger is the designer and commander of the titular “deep-submergence automobile,” a high-tech naval submarine scouring the ocean flooring for the final remaining pure sources on Earth.
Very similar to Star Trek, SeaQuest DSV contrasts the sci-fi spectacle of its plot with the relatable human drama of its characters. And, very like Star Trek, it wasn’t simply escapist leisure; it carried an essential message. SeaQuest warned viewers that humanity was depleting the Earth’s pure sources (and, as common, humanity didn’t hear).
The Orville
When it was first introduced that Seth MacFarlane was growing a Star Trek-inspired sci-fi sequence, the expectation was that, within the vein of Household Man, it could be a self-aware satire with vulgar humor and random cutaway gags. However when The Orville arrived, it turned out to be an uncharacteristically earnest effort from MacFarlane.
It has some humor, in fact, however above all, it’s a heartfelt love letter to Star Trek. MacFarlane clearly has lots of affection for Roddenberry’s iconic franchise, and he completely recreated its lighthearted tone, old-school results, and honest optimism in regards to the future. Out of all of the reveals on this checklist, The Orville comes the closest to recapturing the spirit of Star Trek.
