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They say imitation is the highest form of flattery - Star Trek must have been VERY flattered here.
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00:00If imitation is the highest form of flattery then you can bet your backside that Star Trek
00:04must have been very flattered when these series made it to air. I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture
00:10and here are 10 TV series that wanted to be Star Trek. Number 10, Space Precinct. Space Precinct was
00:18a Gerry Anderson production from the early 90s. Anderson had made previous series like Space 1999,
00:23Captain Scarlet, Stingray and Thunderbirds. This however was a live-action sci-fi mixed with a
00:28police procedural. Anderson had created shows in the past that were primarily targeted at a younger
00:32audience which is where the problems began for Space Precinct. Despite the outlandish makeup and
00:37prosthetics which were nothing short of impressive, the show aimed at dealing with adult oriented
00:41storylines. Taking its cue from Star Trek it tried to paint a fantastical future with as much realism
00:47as it could, thoroughly confusing the networks. It then suffered the fate of Star Trek the original
00:51series third season. Unsure how to market the show, the networks scheduled it to air either late at
00:57night or early in the morning. This led to low viewership which in turn led to the show's
01:01cancellation after just one season. Number 9, Buck Rogers in the 25th century.
01:07Glen A Larson in his first appearance on this list created Buck Rogers in the 25th century which
01:12revolved around the central character of Buck dealing with being both out of time and fighting
01:17extraterrestrial threats to earth. Originally it was a standalone film though this was re-edited as a
01:22backdoor pilot once the studio decided to push ahead with the series. It received two seasons worth of
01:27stories with the second of these being the more heavily Star Trek influenced one. The first season
01:32had Buck located primarily on earth working as an unofficial agent for the Federation's security.
01:37The show also featured space travel via Stargates though it was also referred to as warp travel.
01:42In the second season Buck was now leading a crew aboard the Searcher. The ship's mission was to seek out
01:47the lost colonies of mankind, an idea that Larson had already used in Battlestar Galactica. It was
01:52this year that the Star Trek ideas really sunk in. Buck was modeled closely on James T Kirk with his
01:57crewmate Hawk serving as Mr. Spock. The show was cancelled due to lower ratings, difficulties with
02:02the main actor and rising costs. Number 8, Sliders. Sliders debuted in 1995, ran for five years and was
02:11mostly successful for its lifetime. Several Trek stars would appear including John Rhys Davies and Gerry O'Connell.
02:17Two of the leads from the very beginning. The show explored the nature of parallel worlds,
02:21moving from week to week attempting to get to a home they feel is lost. There were very obvious
02:25shades of Star Trek Voyager in the premise. Voyager 2 was lost in a far-flung part of the galaxy,
02:30trying each week to get home. Though Sliders has probably more in common with Scott Bakula and Dean
02:35Stockwell's Quantum Leap than anything else, the Trek connections are present. In addition to this,
02:39the show was in part developed by Tracy Torme, who had worked on Star Trek The Next Generation as a
02:44scriptwriter. According to Rhys Davies, the show began as an exceptional premise that explored the
02:48nature of reality not unlike the human condition that was so frequently explored in Star Trek.
02:53However, the show's cancellation by Fox after its third season and subsequent acquisition by the
02:58sci-fi network resulted in a more action-oriented show which he felt ruined the potential that it had.
03:03The show was finally cancelled for a second time at the end of the fifth season with an unresolved cliffhanger.
03:08Number 7. SeaQuest DSV. SeaQuest DSV arrived in 1993 airing on NBC. It focused on the submersible
03:17vehicle SeaQuest which had been designed and built by its captain Nathan Bridger who was played by movie
03:22star Roy Scheider. The first season, though set in the near future, was almost as educational as it
03:27was entertaining, opting to deal with real-world scientific issues. When the second season returned,
03:32Scheider was deeply frustrated to find that the network opted to move the show into a more science-fiction
03:37direction. Aliens were introduced to the storylines, including the finale which saw the vessel abducted
03:42and brought into the future. Scheider was publicly vocal about his displeasure which prompted the
03:46showrunners to release scathing responses. Though the show attempted to skew toward a straight darker
03:51tone, much like the then airing Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Scheider asked to be released from his
03:56contract due to, as he called it, the show's attempt at becoming a fourth generation Star Trek,
04:01leaving the show as a sort of 21 Jump Street meets Star Trek. He was replaced with Michael Ironside
04:07for the third season, but failing ratings resulted in the show's cancellation.
04:12Number 6 Stargate SG-1
04:14I love Stargate SG-1, it was brilliant and everyone should love it. Go and re-watch it now.
04:20Stargate SG-1, the first spin-off from the 1994 film, is at times one of the most loving tributes
04:25to Star Trek that that series has ever received. SG-1 famously lampoons itself on occasion, being
04:31self-aware enough to make reference to that other franchise that it takes so much inspiration from.
04:36This is evident in the number of references that Jack O'Neill makes to Trek through the years.
04:41One of the funnier references was his request to name the New Earth Starship the Enterprise,
04:45only to be slapped back by Samantha Carter. This however is nothing compared to the tribute shown
04:50in the 200th episode, aptly named 200. An episode that deals with a series of vignettes, one part is
04:55Mitchell, Carter, Teal'c and Jackson on board the Odyssey, portraying over the top caricatures of
05:00William Shatner, James Doohan and the rest of the original series cast. For a show that made so many
05:04knowing nods through its runtime, this was one of the funniest scenes in the franchise,
05:08offering that chance for long term Trekkies to laugh at themselves as well. The two further
05:13spin-off series were less Star Trek related, but still managed to throw in the odd transporter jokes
05:17from time to time. Number 5, Battlestar Galactica. Battlestar Galactica owes more than a passing
05:23debt to both Star Trek and Star Wars. Coming in the 70s it borrows heavily from both, though the
05:28apocalyptic setting was its own individual contribution to the drama. The series, opening
05:33with the destruction of most of mankind, is a parable about the dangers of over-reliance on
05:37technology. This is seemingly at odds with Roddenberry's vision. However, it stars Lauren Green
05:41as Commander Adama, a no-nonsense leader from whom all the crew draw their strength. There are clear
05:46hints of James T Kirk in the character, coming on the heels of both the original series and the
05:50animated series. The series is deeply rooted in the 70s aesthetic, so in a way it also served as
05:55something as an inspiration for Star Trek the Motion Picture, though the effects available for
05:59a TV budget were, to put it mildly, lacking. The ambition was greater than the execution,
06:03having said that Battlestar Galactica is far from a failed copy of Star Trek. The idea behind the show,
06:09drawn from Glen A. Larson's own religious upbringing, would go on to inspire Trek writer Ronald D. Moore
06:14to reboot the franchise in 2003. The result was one of the greatest television series of recent years,
06:20offering a grim look at humanity from the inside out.
06:23Number 4. Earth Final Conflict
06:27Earth Final Conflict is in fact a Gene Roddenberry original, though the creator died years before the
06:32show would ever see the light of day. He had, however, been approached years previously to
06:36develop the project which was then known as Battleground Earth. The success of the Star Trek
06:40films and the then upcoming Next Generation made Roddenberry too busy to work on it. Majel Barrett
06:45retained the notes to the show and it was from these that Earth Final Conflict was born. The show opens
06:50three years after the arrival of the Talon to Earth. This seemingly benevolent race has brought
06:55technological advancements to humanity, though a sinister plot lies behind their kindness.
07:00The Talon are the dark side of the Vulcans. The Vulcans arrived on Earth bringing technological
07:04advancements, though they were far less sinister than the Talon. They were simply prickly, but the
07:08Talon were pricks. The series then morphed into an alternate version of the Cardassian occupation of
07:13Bajor, with frequently appearing resistance cells attempting to take the Talon down. Various other alien races
07:19appeared throughout the show, with many aiding and others collaborating with the Talon themselves.
07:23The show was well received and its success led to the creation of the next entry on this list.
07:29Number 3. Andromeda
07:31Andromeda was another idea from Roddenberry's vault that was given life in the 90s. Majel Barrett produced
07:36the show with former Deep Space Nine writer Robert Hewitt-Wolf serving as showrunner. It centred around
07:40Captain Dylan Hunt and his ship, the Andromeda Ascendant. The premise for the show saw a huge
07:45commonwealth of worlds spread across three galaxies. The parallels to the Federation are obvious here,
07:50though Andromeda took a darker turn. In the pilot Hunt winds up on the edge of a black hole where he
07:55and his ship are frozen in time, when he is saved by the crew of the Eureka Maru 300 years have passed.
08:00The crew agrees to serve under him, much like the Maquis in Star Trek Voyager. The show then becomes a mix
08:06of episodes of the week, like the original series and the next generation, with overarching plot lines that
08:10ran throughout the show, like Deep Space Nine. In the second season, Hewitt-Wolf was released from his
08:15contract, later explaining that his refusal to make the show more Hunt-centric led to his firing.
08:21The show was an obvious inspiration for Firefly that followed, while itself being inspired by the
08:25trek that had come before. Number 2. Babylon 5
08:30Don't. Come at me. This entry may ruffle some feathers, and for good reason. There has been a
08:36long-standing rivalry between the Babylon 5 and Star Trek fandoms. Each side accuses the other of
08:42plagiarism, though there is in fact little evidence to support it. However, the similarities between
08:47Babylon 5 and Star Trek Deep Space Nine cannot be overlooked. In many ways, Babylon 5 is both classic
08:53Trek, new aliens every week, an overarching threat of interstellar war, silly hairstyles, and something
08:58quite bold and different. The setting of the station, like Deep Space Nine, allowed the series to tell
09:04serialised stories, dealing with the consequences of character actions while still moving the story
09:08forward. Though the beginning of the show was fraught with issues and accusations, the two franchises
09:13eventually warmed to each other. Actors were shared between them, serving as olive branches,
09:17not just to the showrunners, but to the two fandoms who were at times ready to go to war with each other.
09:22An excuse to see Walter Koenig in that interesting hairpiece is a treat. Let's be honest.
09:28Number 1. The Orville
09:30You knew this one was coming. The Orville is creator Seth MacFarlane's long gestating love
09:35letter to Star Trek. To say that it's inspired by the franchise is the understatement of the century.
09:40MacFarlane time and again has been vocal about his love for Gene Roddenberry's long running saga.
09:44The Orville came at a time when Star Trek was continuing to get darker. In many ways,
09:48it's the antithesis of Star Trek Discovery and a more slapstick comedy version of the next generation,
09:53from which it took many markers and directions. While the comedy aspect is quite different from what one
09:57might see on the Enterprise, the show is meticulous in how it presents this brighter future.
10:01It relies heavily on its ensemble cast, something that Star Trek is at its best when it manages.
10:05The interpersonal relationships offer feature strife, which was against Roddenberry's hope for
10:09the future, though in line with just about every writer on Trek. The visuals are a callback to the
10:14actual models of the 80s and 90s without relying too heavily on CGI. Its episodic nature is straight
10:20off the classic Star Trek playbook. The series is considered by many, like Galaxy Quest in the movie universe,
10:26to be an unofficial entry in Trek canon. Quite a feat coming from a self-confessed fanboy who just wanted
10:32to see a brighter future. That's everything now for this list. If you disagree with any of the entries,
10:37let me know. And if you have any suggestions for any entries, let me know as well. I'm genuinely
10:42really interested to know. You can catch us over on Twitter at TrekCulture. You can catch myself
10:47at SeanFerrick on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Now until I'm talking to you again, please look after
10:52yourself. Please be kind to yourself. Look after your friends and family and to my friends in the
10:56Ukraine especially. Please stay safe, stay warm and know that we're thinking of you. Live long and
11:03prosper everyone.
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