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

[doubleohfive]

I enjoyed parts of seaQuest... but having rewatched some of it on Netflix recently, I think the ship has sailed on it. So much of what made it enjoyable for me was tied to Roy Scheider (especially in season 2, which was otherwise just awful) that I don't know that it'd be as entertaining.

That said, Ron Moore's reimagining of Battlestar Galactica is one of my absolute favorite television series of all time, so I guess my answer to the thread's original question would depend entirely on who is running the show.

 

[Enterprise is Great]

I never watched enough of Seaquest DSV to say if a reboot would work today. I just never could get into the show. As usual it depends on who's doing it and how they go about doing it.

 

[shivkala]

I'm not sure what made season 1 special in terms of the writing would be popular today. The show had a heavy pro-environment, pro-science focus and now it seems en vogue to be anti-environment and anti-science. I can see people getting upset that the show is "indoctrinating" the youth into the "global warming propaganda." While not directly aimed at kids, as say, Happy Feet was, you'd still hear those cries.

On the other hand, while not to diminish Roy Scheider and the other actors from the original and their acting, I don't buy the "Without x, it won't work" argument. With so many remakes, you can't just use that argument without judging the acting of the new person on its own. Yes, Scheider's Captain Bridger was amazing, but that doesn't mean someone couldn't come in with a different take on the role and be equally amazing.

Personally though, I say, let it be. The original was, overall a mixed bag, but ultimately a product of its time.

 

[DWF]

I don't see why a reboot wouldn't work if done properly, but the series should either be on cable on in syndication rather than on a network.

 

[Gothowitz]

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.

Well if you're bringing Verne into it... how about some twist on another of his works: The Floating Island?
Or something more modern like Project Utopia?

http://www.gizmag.com/project-utopia-floating-island-yacht/19898/

 

[Gotham Central]

To be honest, the best way to do seaQuest would be jettison the science/exploration aspect that was a hallmark of season 1 and focus on the peacekeeping and politics that was the focus of 2032 (season 3).

Season one, wile having good characters, was really boring and repetitive. How many reclusive scientists could the focus on? Focusing on science fact is VERY limiting especially when confined to Earth. There is only so much that you can really do to keep it interesting. Thats why some of the best eps that season dealt with the politics of the future.

Actually Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea had the same problem. Its best episodes were in the first season which focused more on espionage and adventure.

 

[Galileo7]

To be honest, the best way to do seaQuest would be jettison the science/exploration aspect that was a hallmark of season 1 and focus on the peacekeeping and politics that was the focus of 2032 (season 3).

Season one, wile having good characters, was really boring and repetitive. How many reclusive scientists could the focus on? Focusing on science fact is VERY limiting especially when confined to Earth. There is only so much that you can really do to keep it interesting. Thats why some of the best eps that season dealt with the politics of the future.

Actually Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea had the same problem. Its best episodes were in the first season which focused more on espionage and adventure.

Agree, I thought that the producers finally found the right formula in SeaQuest 2032 the third season('95-'96) as it was the best exactly for the reasons that you stated. If the series was allowed to continue I think it would have been on for several more seasons too. Some television series sometimes need several seasons to find there way.

 

[FalTorPan]

A reboot would work fine, except that in today's television market, it would probably be a reality show about everyday people stuck in a submarine.

 

[lennier1]

To be honest, the best way to do seaQuest would be jettison the science/exploration aspect that was a hallmark of season 1 and focus on the peacekeeping and politics that was the focus of 2032 (season 3).

Season one, wile having good characters, was really boring and repetitive. How many reclusive scientists could the focus on? Focusing on science fact is VERY limiting especially when confined to Earth. There is only so much that you can really do to keep it interesting. Thats why some of the best eps that season dealt with the politics of the future.

Actually Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea had the same problem. Its best episodes were in the first season which focused more on espionage and adventure.

Agree, I thought that the producers finally found the right formula in SeaQuest 2032 the third season('95-'96) as it was the best exactly for the reasons that you stated. If the series was allowed to continue I think it would have been on for several more seasons too. Some television series sometimes need several seasons to find there way.

Actually, part of the appeal of another chance for the concept would be exactly that. See how the first season's oceanic gold rush turns into the conflicts seen in the third season.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Actually I'd like to see a reboot in novel or comic form first to test and see if there is actually a large enough market for a television revival.

 

[Captaindemotion]

Actually I'd like to see a reboot in novel or comic form first to test and see if there is actually a large enough market for a television revival.

I can't see how one would prove the other, I don't see a link at all. They're two (or three) different media with entirely different audiences, markets, objectives and targets.

For example, the Star Trek DS9 and VOY relaunch and the TNG post-Nemesis novels are selling reasonably well, but no-one has opted to commission a tv series on the back of them. On the other hand, the BSG revival succeeded on the strength of that tv show and that tv show alone. It didn't need a toe in the water in the form of comics or novels (indeed, the Richard Hatch novels were hardly bestsellers). Nor did it succeed by appealing to fans of the original show - it just did its own thing and did it very well.

 

[lennier1]

On the other hand, the BSG revival succeeded on the strength of that tv show and that tv show alone.

That's open for debate, since the TV series' momentum was based on the success of the miniseries.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Call it what you want. It's the same story, actors, characters, writers, directors, producers, premise, medium, channel. There was no comic or novelisation pre-dating it is what I mean, nor was it reliant on the strength of the 1970s show.