You can watch all of Season 3 if you subscribe to Netflix
Any SEAQUEST fans?
- Thread starter bionicbob
- Start date
I don't think it was better than dsv, nor was it worst... it was just different.
As far as season 2 goes you're right. Season 1 was good.
Season 1 was great. Especially episodes like "Games", "Bad Water" and "Nothing But The Truth". Yeah there were some cheesier moments... but every franchise has it's crap episodes - it helps to make the good stuff look like gold in comparison. 
If only the displays they used weren't so low-res it maybe wouldn't have looked so dated now (well, that and the ridiculously bad 90s music selections, 90s clothing and the overly optimistic estimation of the state of the polar ice caps...
)
God I loved that show, despite some of it's questionable moments. (by That Show I mean season 1. S2 & S3 are apocryphal!)
If only the displays they used weren't so low-res it maybe wouldn't have looked so dated now (well, that and the ridiculously bad 90s music selections, 90s clothing and the overly optimistic estimation of the state of the polar ice caps...
) God I loved that show, despite some of it's questionable moments. (by That Show I mean season 1. S2 & S3 are apocryphal!)
Season 1 had promise, season 2 pissed it away and had no idea where it was going, and season 3 was a totally different show, but good on its own terms.
Those who have said the ocean is not space are mostly right. Let's face it, you aren't realistically going to find an alien civilization down there. Maybe you'll discover some new species of fish. Not exactly compelling television. The political situation really was the only long-term story arc they could have gone with.
I did enjoy the show and hope something similar is on the air again someday.
Those who have said the ocean is not space are mostly right. Let's face it, you aren't realistically going to find an alien civilization down there. Maybe you'll discover some new species of fish. Not exactly compelling television. The political situation really was the only long-term story arc they could have gone with.
I did enjoy the show and hope something similar is on the air again someday.
What's the point of having a show about politics set aboard a sub? There's no real drama there and I think DSV lost its originality when it started in that direction in s2 and s3. A good writing team can make anything interesting. You could have seaQuest helping to build a new habitat, finding lost ships, discovering lost cities from an ancient culture people thought were almost myth, and look at the lives of the crew in close quarters. Yes we can discover new species of animal life, and we can create new technology from it, or create new life of our own.
The possibilities, while not quite endless, are still there if one is willing to look. The biggest problem, IMO, is the suits who keep saying "not enough tension," "make them go to war with someone" "let's use this cliche storyline" and they refuse to provide further funding for episodes unless this is done. So many shows have been cancelled because the writers/producers/etc refused to kowtow to the stupidity of the suits. If anyone does reimagine seaQuest, then I say start at the beginning with the end of a war and go from there, plenty of backstory to get filled in and plenty of tension already.
I dont mean to be rude, but the above statement IMO is a contradiction. If your correct and a good writing team can make anything interesting, then by that same logic, good writers can have/create real drama on a show about politics set aboard a sub.
Once again i don't mean to offend, but that idea only seems to be putting Star Trek: The Next Generation in the water.
Season 1 of Seaquest worked so well, most specially the pilot episode in my opinion, because it was a compromise of the competing Idea's/opinions of Gotham Central and Xeris. Seaquest, was a Sub manned by military officers, and filled with scientists. Peace was its mission, and Science was its goal. And if there ever was to be a re imagining, I think it should be the same, only without the Science going the route of find sunken ghost ships, giant alligators, and man eating plants.
I'm sorry, you obviously never saw the pilot for the series. The very first scene of the pilot was all about the world being on the brink of a nuclear war. The entire reason the UEO was founded was because the confederations were terrified that another military conflict would plunge the world into war.
War and militarism were built into the premise of the show. The episode "The Last Lap at Luxury" was all about undermining the political/economic viability of the new peace. The pilot episode was itself about rebellion against the new order.
One of the interesting things about 2032 was that it really did build on some of the things mentioed ion season one. The faux western episode (Sea West) was set in the New Ausland Confederation (i.e. New Australia) and you see that the UEO and seaQuest's authority was severely limited there. The Montagnard Confederation (were some had deep suspicions about the US and the UEO), featured in "Better than Martians," becomes the Chaodai.
The biggest problem with season one was that at times they ignored the fact that there was peace that needed to be kept.
People who think seaQuest was ever supposed to be all about the science are fooling themselves. The ship itself was armed to the teeth, for God's sake! Gunboat diplomacy, on behalf of the UEO, was pretty much its raison d'être. Doesn't mean they shouldn't have done science-oriented episodes. Balance is always good. But the nature of the ship (and show) didn't lend itself to staying in one place for very long, and the series was always informed by its political surroundings.
Ironically, the ship's in-series background indicates it originally was built to wage war, and it was only the foundation of the UEO that caused it to undergo a retrofit for more benign "peacekeeping" services. So, without the UEO, the original show could have been more like 2032...
Ironically, the ship's in-series background indicates it originally was built to wage war, and it was only the foundation of the UEO that caused it to undergo a retrofit for more benign "peacekeeping" services. So, without the UEO, the original show could have been more like 2032...
Yep. Didn't her original CO (in the pilot) almost start WW3 with SeaQuest alone?
Umm... You sure? Season season 1 came out in 2006 but season 2 came out this year.
Whatever your opinion of the show as a whole, the one thing that I am always startled about is how a show with just 2.5 seasons could have such abysmal internal continunity.
I've watched alot of TV over the years, and with the exception of cartoons, I do not think that I've ever seen a show with such a poor grasp of its own storylines.
When was the UEO founded?
Where was UEO headquarters located?
Did he (capt. Bridger) or did he not know about the UEO before that helicopter lands on his Island
Who does Darwin belong to?
How old is Lt. Brody?
Can Tony Piccolo read?
Did it really only take a few months to build a second seaQuest?
This was a show that could not keep its own story straight. (most of the problems originated because the writers of season 2 totally ignored EVERYTHING that happened in season one...the writers of 2032 get credit for trying to put things right even though they made mistakes as well)
I've watched alot of TV over the years, and with the exception of cartoons, I do not think that I've ever seen a show with such a poor grasp of its own storylines.
When was the UEO founded?
Where was UEO headquarters located?
Did he (capt. Bridger) or did he not know about the UEO before that helicopter lands on his Island
Who does Darwin belong to?
How old is Lt. Brody?
Can Tony Piccolo read?
Did it really only take a few months to build a second seaQuest?
This was a show that could not keep its own story straight. (most of the problems originated because the writers of season 2 totally ignored EVERYTHING that happened in season one...the writers of 2032 get credit for trying to put things right even though they made mistakes as well)
^^^Well this should answer some of your questions about the UEO, it was written into the pilot by Rockne S O'Bannon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Earth_Oceans_Organization
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Earth_Oceans_Organization
I think each individual season on it's own could have worked if it had been time to be properly developed and not retooled after each season.
But honestly, Seaquest was a flawed series right from the beginning. I mean they cast Shelly Hack as the evil Captain. SHELLY HACK!?!!!!?!!!! I mean no disrespect, but COME ON!! That was the BEST ACTOR for the role???? Right from the beginning you had question what the producers were thinking...
Now most tv series take quite few episodes before the writers figure out what works and what doesn't. So I think it if forgiveable if the first 3 or 4 episodes are flawed or contradict later established continuity. Thus, things like the history of the UEO and who knew what or when is forgiveable.
But I think it is pretty clearly established from the pilot and onward, that the Seaquest was a military peace-keeping ship that also conducted scientific exploration. I think it was a nice balance. I don't think the show would have worked as well if it was only one or the other. But remember, Seaquest was never just about the crew and its adventures, it was also about world building, exploring this new future and how it works and the conflicts involved. As good writers will say, for good drama there must be conflict.
I think if Seaquest had more development time, or one set of writers/producers consectutively that stayed true to one storyline/vision Seaquest could have been a classic tv show instead of just another sci-fi show.
But honestly, Seaquest was a flawed series right from the beginning. I mean they cast Shelly Hack as the evil Captain. SHELLY HACK!?!!!!?!!!! I mean no disrespect, but COME ON!! That was the BEST ACTOR for the role???? Right from the beginning you had question what the producers were thinking...
Now most tv series take quite few episodes before the writers figure out what works and what doesn't. So I think it if forgiveable if the first 3 or 4 episodes are flawed or contradict later established continuity. Thus, things like the history of the UEO and who knew what or when is forgiveable.
But I think it is pretty clearly established from the pilot and onward, that the Seaquest was a military peace-keeping ship that also conducted scientific exploration. I think it was a nice balance. I don't think the show would have worked as well if it was only one or the other. But remember, Seaquest was never just about the crew and its adventures, it was also about world building, exploring this new future and how it works and the conflicts involved. As good writers will say, for good drama there must be conflict.
I think if Seaquest had more development time, or one set of writers/producers consectutively that stayed true to one storyline/vision Seaquest could have been a classic tv show instead of just another sci-fi show.
NBC messed with series and that was alittle hard to prevent but O'Bannon left the show after the pilot to make what would become Fascape, so I do think he gets some of the blame in that regard. It's really a shame how Universal has treated the since it aired, all three seasons should be out on DVD by now.
Even Roy Schneider was disillusioned with seaQuest's turning more military in season two, and worse still in season three which is why he left the show. There's a lot of blame to go around, but the fact of the matter is, it should have stayed truer to the core ideals of science fiction.
Roy Schieder should have been more disturbed by the fact that they went from realistic sci-fact to fighting Poseidon, rampaging plants and spirits from Atlantis.
It was the show's increasingly cartoonish stories in season 2 that killed the show.
It was the show's increasingly cartoonish stories in season 2 that killed the show.
