Would a reboot for 'Seaquest DSV' work in 2012/13?

[jefferiestubes8]

In revisiting a thread I started a year ago
'SeaQuest DSV' the underwater competitor to TNG
I was thinking about the show itself and if it could be rebooted as a TV franchise for NBCUniversal?

First since it was on NBC as a competitor to Paramount's syndicated TNG in 1993 it used a very similar formula discussed in the above thread.

Just like in Future of Trek subforum there are many similar questions for a reboot of SeaQuest DSV:

1. What channel should a new SeaQuest series be on?
Does anyone know what kind of ratings SeaQuest DSV got at it's peak?
Amblin Entertainment & Universal TV produced the original series and probably own the rights to license.
SyFy aired a marathon of SeaQuest DSV in 2009.
Universal Home Entertainment put out the DVDs.
I would say SyFy, Universal HD, or USA Network would be the place for an series reboot.

2. A New Modern SeqQuest Animated Series?
Would animation add to anything about this if it were on Cartoon Network channel in primetime for adults aiming for TV14?

3.Could a pilot episode be a TV movie like they do on SyFy channel and a backdoor pilot?

4. Could this TV movie be good enough to be put in digital cinemas as an event for 2 weekends?

5. What would the tone and content be for the pilot and series?
like SeaQuest DSV focusing on science (season 1) and science fiction (season 2) and international politics (season 3).
I've only watched a half dozen episodes in season 1 of SeaQuest DSV but would prefer to keep it like season 1 from everything I've read.

6. I didn't get committed to any of the characters in particular. I'd like another underwater ship with similar stories. They could cast a similar type of crew in my opinion. I don't think they need a dolphin that communicates with a sound-to-speech computer.
and as long as they have better uniforms than glorified jumpsuits.

What do you guys think of my 6 questions for a possible reboot of this franchise.

 

[Tom]

Well seaquest to many was just an updated version of 'Voyage to the bottom of the sea' I say forget seaquest and just do a direct reboot of VTTBOTS.

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I say forget seaquest and just do a direct reboot of VTTBOTS.

I just watched a couple of minutes of VTTBOTS 1960s TV series
http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi336003865/
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea Full Episode (The Return Of The Phantom)
Hulu episode here.

The production values are...well 1960s TV. It's hard to get past it for me especially the music although

Star Trek: The Original Series composer Alexander Courage, and Leith Stevens, who wrote the music to seven episodes.

. Surely the kids will say the same thing about TNG from the 1980s & '1990s in 50 years which watching it in HD.
Here is the nutshell of the 1960s series as per imdb:

Voyage chronicled the adventures of the world's first privately owned nuclear submarine, the SSRN Seaview. Designed by Admiral Harriman Nelson, she was a tool of oceanographic research for the Nelson Institute of Marine Research. Though the show is known for its few "monster" episodes, many plots were veiled commentaries of what was happening in the news. Such plotlines as nuclear doomsday, pollution of natural resources, foreign threat, and theft of American technology are all still relevant today.

Yep sounds just like SeaQuest meets Star Trek.
or shall I say the other way around considering Gene Roddenberry wrote the TOS pilot in 1964.
Wikipedia mentions that VTTBOTS was

was the decade's longest-running American science fiction television series with continuing characters.

Trek didn't have this until TNG was very successful and in its final seasons.

I hadn't heard VTTBOTS was a TV series until now. I had heard of the movie.

Well either show I think would work as a sci-fi tv series today.

 

[Admiral_Young]

I would see a reboot of Seaquest. I don't know though if there would be enough interest. That's the trouble with cult type shows like these. Not to mention the fact that the show it's self tried to retcon and revamp it's self a couple of times during it's run.

 

[Captaindemotion]

The main problems I thought that Seaquest faced, leaving aside quality etc, were with the premise.

Firstly, it was set too closely into our future. Trek was set several centuries ahead and thus they could credibly have all sorts of fantastic technology that we don't yet have and won't for years or decades. By setting itself just a few decaded ahead of the time it aired, SQ didn't have that luxury.

Secondy, while I'm aware that mankind has explored comparatively little of our oceans, Earth's oceans are nonetheless a fairly finite source of stories, compared with the vastness of space. Trek and other shows could have all sorts of aliens, civilisations, natural phenonemena etc. How could a show set on Earth ever compete?

 

[davejames]

I'm not sure why anyone would want to reboot it, when so few people were interested the FIRST time around. It certainly wouldn't be for nostalgia reasons.

Even as a huge scifi geek back then, I found the idea of the show pretty silly-- in the future everyone lives underwater, and this submarine goes around solving disputes and fighting terrorists and aliens? And there's a pet talking dolphin? Lol

Not to mention the heavy-handed environmental messages, or the murky, slow-motion underwater action that is almost NEVER exciting to watch (unless we're talking Hunt for Red October or The Abyss).

 

[Tom]

I hadn't heard VTTBOTS was a TV series until now. I had heard of the movie.

Now I feel old! LOL

 

[jefferiestubes8]

I hadn't heard VTTBOTS was a TV series until now. I had heard of the movie.

Now I feel old! LOL

Heh heh. To be fair though it is a 47 year old series not some 1980s TV show.

 

[Beagleman]

Even as a huge scifi geek back then, I found the idea of the show pretty silly-- in the future everyone lives underwater, and this submarine goes around solving disputes and fighting terrorists and aliens? And there's a pet talking dolphin? Lol

Not to mention the heavy-handed environmental messages, or the murky, slow-motion underwater action that is almost NEVER exciting to watch (unless we're talking Hunt for Red October or The Abyss).

That are about all the reasons why I loved SeaQuest!
Loved the political and environmental storylines, the underwater-physics, and yes, Darwin too.
It's one of my favourite scifi shows of the 90s, well the first season anyway, after that it just became completely unwatchable drivel.

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

Well, a reboot could perhaps work.

First of all, focus again on the competition between various alliances and megacorporations as a main source of conflict (and action). seaQuest's mission would be to maintain the peace... through negotiation if possible, through force if necessary.

Second, to boost the science fiction element a bit you could populate the oceans of the future with all kinds of genetically engineered species, both human (like the Daggers or that gill man Tony Piccoli from the original show) and non-human (like "uplifted" dolphins).

 

[Mr. Adventure]

If they were to go down any such path I'd prefer they went with a "spiritual successor" rather than some reboot.

 

[Ian Keldon]

I'm not sure why anyone would want to reboot it, when so few people were interested the FIRST time around. It certainly wouldn't be for nostalgia reasons.

Even as a huge scifi geek back then, I found the idea of the show pretty silly-- in the future everyone lives underwater, and this submarine goes around solving disputes and fighting terrorists and aliens? And there's a pet talking dolphin? Lol

Why not? They were colonizing the last exploitable space available to them, since they'd maxed out the surface world's ability to support them (not everyone lived underwater, as we saw). The underwater communities supplied raw materials and food to the surface world, and gave the excess population room to live. The seaQuest served in multiple roles: research, law enforcement/peacekeeping, search and rescue, etc.

And Darwin was not a "pet dolphin", he was a trained service animal, and aptly demonstrated his capabilities in the pilot.

At any rate, seaQuest has all the problems Trek has as far as produce- ability goes: perception of failure, high production cost, limited audience. No network is gonna touch it in this environment.

 

[Caliburn24]

I liked SeaQuest a fair bit, and I would give a new SeaQuest show a chance.

But lets be serious for a moment. ABC's "Last Resort"(submarine show in development) is going to have to be the mega-hit of the year for other submarine shows to have a chance at life.

 

[The Green Mushroom]

I liked seaQuest. I wouldn't mind a remake, as long as it was, to be blunt, good and made sense.

1) I liked its orginal idea of of being more scientific, but when it realized that wasn't working they went so far over the top as to become pointless. Keep it grounded in plausible sci-fi and the stories might work.

2) Th politics were just weird considering it was set so close to the present. I found it unbelievable that it in 25 years or so not only would the US join some sort of funky EU like international government but that it would let the UN-analogue take the newest warship in the fleet and turn it into a research vessel.

3) Dolphins, I could never get the dolphin. Or the kid. If they have to keep one, keep the dolphin--they could play with the fact that it is being trained to as a weapon of war by the navy and is intentionally being made smarter to do that job.

4) On the other hand, if they set it far enough forward I think they could make the world under the sea be at least reasonable if still implausible.

5) On the gripping hand, this is fairly unrealistic. If someone wanted to do this and someone thought there was an audience it would be a lot easier to sell it as a space show, and those do seem to be real popular right now...

 

[lennier1]

Just make sure the people who were responsible for season two are shot on sight if they get within a mile of that production.

 

[davejames]

Why not? They were colonizing the last exploitable space available to them, since they'd maxed out the surface world's ability to support them (not everyone lived underwater, as we saw). The underwater communities supplied raw materials and food to the surface world, and gave the excess population room to live. The seaQuest served in multiple roles: research, law enforcement/peacekeeping, search and rescue, etc.

Well I suppose the idea could work if the writing and characters were strong enough-- and a lot less cheesy and generic than they were in the original.

 

[Galileo7]

Well seaquest to many was just an updated version of 'Voyage to the bottom of the sea' I say forget seaquest and just do a direct reboot of VTTBOTS.

Agree. I think the VTTBOTS S.S.R.N. Seaview and the Flying Sub for me surpassed the U.E.O. SeaQuest DSV 4600 and the (non-flying)SeaLaunch or (non-flying)SeaFighter stinger.

 

[Brikar99]

I'd watch it if we could avoid the aliens/time travel silliness from season two. And maybe a little less 'Wesley Crusher wannabe and his pet talking dolphin.'

 

[Ensign_Redshirt]

What about no Wesley Crusher and a non-cute dolphin.

 

[AviTrek]

I always liked Seaquest and would love to see a new version on the air. But if I were a producer I would take the public domain 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and create a modern version of that instead. There are no rights to pay, and it has better name recognition with the public at large.