So earlier this week, I was watching the original He-Man with a friend the other day, and now I have another confession to make. I’m not really a fan of the original He-Man. Oh it’s fine as background noise, but if I try to pay attention, there are too many questions that don’t have answers, and my brain just can’t let go. However, there was a reboot done in 2002 that was primarily to promote a new line of toys, and that version is fantastic! If you haven’t watched it, I’d recommend giving it a try. Anyway, the He-Man Postulation, as we shall forever call it, got me thinking about some older shows that might benefit from the reboot treatment today. Sadly, Earth 2 was one of the first shows that I thought of, but I already reviewed that show, and I don’t want to get too redundant on this blog. My next thought was, “Why hasn’t anyone rebooted seaQuest DSV?” I think this is a valid question so let’s take a look at the show as it was originally aired, and then discuss how a reboot might benefit the franchise.
SeaQuest originally aired 1993-1996. It ran for three seasons, and went through few changes during its run that we’ll get to in a minute. The show’s primary star power came in the form of Roy Scheider of Jaws fame, and Jonathan Brandis, who had been on One Life to Live previously.
The premise of the show was that the United Earth Oceans Organization footed the bill to build a ginormous submarine that they named the seaQuest. Following a tried and true formula for life, the seaQuest’s primary mission was to protect ocean bound colonies from non-aligned entities that would seek to usurp the colonies for their own gain. If it sounds a bit like what the US has been doing since World War II, I have a hunch that everything was engineered that way. The show also put a lot of effort into raising awareness about environmental friendliness. Seasons one and two were mostly what people call ‘monster of the week’ episodes wherein the gallant crew of the seaQuest battled against whatever entity happened to be a threat for that week. It was a pretty good set up having minimal metaplot, but the ratings always left the show in the lurch come renewal time. This was such a big deal that the season one finale ends with the ship seemingly getting destroyed so that in case the show got cancelled, the audiences wouldn’t be left on as bad a cliffhanger. However, the show was renewed, and some casting changes were made, and life went on.
Season two maintained more of the same. The studio tried to appeal to a younger audience by bringing on younger cast members. The metaplot was expanded a bit, but for the most part, the show remained mostly the same as it had been, even down to the ocean themed fun facts at the end of each episode. Those were so gosh darn cool! Seriously guys, I learned a lot from those little snippets. The studio was pretty smart to leave Darwin, the ‘talking’ dolphin in the show. He was pretty darn cool. However, where I think the show went way awry was in the second season finale when the entire crew are abducted by aliens! I’m pretty sure that I couldn’t make that up even if I had been taking all the LSD. But I promise you, it happened. What’s really sad, is it happened due to the show imploding behind the scenes. Several actors were unhappy with the show and the directions that it had been taken, and wanted out of their contracts, and it just led to chaos on the show.
The greatest tragedy is that NBC really stepped up to the plate as everything was falling apart and did a serious revamp of the show that although controversial among fans, was a step in a great direction. Roy Scheider kindly asked to be removed from his contract, a request that was partially granted by NBC, and one of the other actors left as well.
To replace Scheider, Michael “BAMF” Ironside was brought in to helm the remaining cast members. Another actress, Rosalind Allen was let go because her character was a psychic, and the studio wanted to take the show in a much more serious direction, and psychics are silly y’all. The show was partially rebranded as seaQuest DSV 2032, and the tone changed drastically. Gone were the monster of the week episodes, and the ocean themed fun facts at the end of each episode. All of that was replaced by characters in actual peril, more pointed commentary on the inefficiencies of bureaucracies, especially in peacekeeping scenarios, and a darker, more serious tone all around. It was great! Ironside injected the show with his patented brand of action-oriented theatricality. A more prevalent metaplot was introduced as the ‘non-aligned entities’ were given a face, and became more organized, and more dangerous.
The show was admittedly darker going through season 3, but the studio had taken the best of season one’s elements, as well as the best of season two’s elements, and blended them together quite well while grounding them a lot more in reality. The show really had a lot going for it. NBC was willing to dump tons of money into this project, primarily because Amblin Entertainment was producing it. So it had great special effects for the time. The writing was hit or miss, but when it was on, it was really on. The ideas and themes behind the show made you think, but also managed to remain fun and entertaining. The acting was well done. The music was pretty good, and all around, it was a really well put together show.
This leads us into what a reboot would accomplish for the show as well as any segue could hope to. So what could a reboot accomplish for a show such as seaQuest. First and foremost, the environmental issues that we were concerned about back in the 90s haven’t magically gone away. I’m not some global warming conspiracy nut, but I do believe that we should treat our planet well, and seaQuest can provide an entertaining reminder that we should all strive to that end. Second, we already saw a preview of what a seaQuest with a more grounded, and serious tone that had a tight metaplot to drive it could do. It was a joy to watch! So a reboot could give us more of that, and provide some interesting grittiness on top of everything else! We’ve got some great stuff going on with sci-fi these days, but the exploration of our own oceans seems to be something that no one has really had much luck using as a basis for storytelling. seaQuest did it well, and so there’s a market that could be tapped into that’s just sitting dormant and waiting for something a bit different. Lastly, we could get a potentially great sci-fi show that takes place on Earth, and that doesn’t include zombies. I’m sure that a lot of you enjoy your zombie shows, but I’m getting pretty worn out y’all. A fresh and exciting setting to explore coupled with great narrative, deep, and well-developed characters that can tell thought-provoking stories, and familiar settings is just what my brain needs! It’s a long shot that probably won’t happen because of some corporate BS, but until then, give this gem a look. I’m pretty confident that you won’t be disappointed! And stay tuned for next week! I think we’ll be going foreign!
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