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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
01:23backdoor pilot once the studio decided to push ahead with the series. It received two seasons
01:27worth of stories, with the second of these being the more heavily Star Trek influenced one. The
01:31first season had Buck located primarily on Earth working as an unofficial agent for the Federation's
01:36security. The show also featured space travel via Stargates though it was also referred to as warp
01:42travel. In the second season Buck was now leading a crew aboard the Searcher. The ship's mission was to
01:47seek out the lost colonies of mankind, an idea that Larson had already used in Battlestar Galactica.
01:52It was this year that the Star Trek ideas really sunk in. Buck was modeled closely on James T Kirk
01:57with his crewmate 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 Jerry 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 as 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
02:49nature 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.
03:09Number 7 Sequest DSV Sequest DSV arrived in 1993 airing on NBC. It focused on the submersible vehicle
03:17Sequest which had been designed and built by its captain Nathan Bridger who was played by movie star
03:22Roy Scheider. The first season, though set in the near future, was almost as educational as it was
03:27entertaining, 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
03:47showrunners 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,
04:02leaving 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
04:26Star Trek that that series has ever received. SG-1 famously lampoons itself on occasion, being self-aware
04:32enough to make reference to that other franchise that it takes so much inspiration from. This is evident
04:37in the number of references that Jack O'Neill makes to Trek through the years. One of the
04:41funnier references was his request to name the New Earth Starship the Enterprise only to be slapped
04:46back by Samantha Carter. This however is nothing compared to the tribute shown in the 200th episode,
04:51aptly named 200. An episode that deals with a series of vignettes, one part is Mitchell, Carter,
04:56Teal'kin Jackson on board the Odyssey, portraying over the top caricatures of William Shatner,
05:01James Doohan and the rest of the original series cast. For a show that made so many knowing nods
05:05through its runtime, this was one of the funniest scenes in the franchise, offering that chance for
05:09long term Trekkies to laugh at themselves as well. The two further spin-off series were less Star Trek
05:14related but still managed to throw in the odd transporter jokes from time to time.
05:18Number 5 Battlestar Galactica Battlestar Galactica owes more than a passing debt to both
05:24Star Trek and Star Wars. Coming in the 70s it borrows heavily from both, though the apocalyptic
05:29setting was its own individual contribution to the drama. The series, opening with the destruction of
05:33most of mankind, is a parable about the dangers of over-reliance on technology. This is seemingly
05:38at odds with Roddenberry's vision. However, it stars Lorne Green as Commander Adama, a no-nonsense
05:43leader from whom all the crew draw their strength. There are clear hints of James T Kirk in the character,
05:48coming on the heels of both the original series and the animated series. The series is deeply rooted in
05:53the 70s aesthetic, so in a way it also served as something as an inspiration for Star Trek the
05:57Motion Picture, though the effects available for a TV budget were, to put it mildly, lacking.
06:01The ambition was greater than the execution, having said that, Battlestar Galactica is far
06:06from a failed copy of Star Trek. The idea behind the show, drawn from Glen A. Larson's own religious
06:11upbringing, would go on to inspire Trek writer Ronald D. Moore to reboot the franchise in 2003. The result was
06:18one of the greatest television series of recent years, offering a grim look at humanity from the
06:22inside out. Number 4, Final Conflict. Final Conflict is in fact a Gene Roddenberry original,
06:30though the creator died years before the show would ever see the light of day. He had however
06:34been approached years previously to develop the project which was then known as Battleground Earth.
06:39The success of the Star Trek films and the then upcoming Next Generation made Roddenberry too busy to
06:44work on it. Majel Barrett retained the notes to the show and it was from these that Earth's final
06:49conflict was born. The show opens three years after the arrival of the Talon to Earth. This
06:54seemingly benevolent race has brought technological advancements to humanity, though a sinister plot
06:58lies behind their kindness. The Talon are the dark side of the Vulcans. The Vulcans arrived on Earth
07:03bringing technological advancements, though they were far less sinister than the Talon. They were simply prickly,
07:08but the Talon were pricks. The series then morphed into an alternate version of the Cardassian
07:12occupation of Bajor, with frequently appearing resistance cells attempting to take the Talon
07:17down. Various other alien races appeared throughout the show, with many aiding and others collaborating
07:22with the Talon themselves. The show was well received, and its success led to the creation of
07:26the next entry on this list. Number 3. Andromeda. Andromeda was another idea from Roddenberry's
07:33vault that was given life in the 90s. Majel Barrett produced the show with former Deep Space Nine
07:37writer Robert Hewitt-Wolf serving as showrunner. It centred around Captain Dylan Hunt and his ship,
07:42the Andromeda Ascendant. The premise for the show saw a huge commonwealth of worlds spread
07:47across three galaxies. The parallels to the Federation are obvious here, though Andromeda
07:51took a darker turn. In the pilot Hunt winds up on the edge of a black hole where he and
07:55his ship
07:56are frozen in time, when he is saved by the crew of the Eureka Maru 300 years have passed. The
08:00crew
08:01agrees to serve under him, much like the Maquis in Star Trek Voyager. The show then becomes a mix of
08:06episodes of the week, like the original series and the next generation, with overarching plot lines that ran
08:11throughout 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. Don't. Come at me. This entry may ruffle some feathers,
08:34and for good reason. There has been a long-standing rivalry between the Babylon 5 and Star Trek fandoms.
08:40Each side accuses the other of plagiarism, though there is in fact little evidence to support it.
08:45However, the similarities between Babylon 5 and Star Trek Deep Space Nine cannot be overlooked.
08:51In many ways, Babylon 5 is both classic Trek, new aliens every week, an overarching threat of
08:56interstellar war, silly hairstyles, and something quite bold and different. The setting of the station,
09:01like Deep Space Nine, allowed the series to tell serialised stories, dealing with the consequences
09:06of character actions while still moving the story forward. Though the beginning of the show was
09:10fraught with issues and accusations, the two franchises eventually warmed to each other.
09:15Actors were shared between them, serving as olive branches, not just to the showrunners,
09:19but to the two fandoms who were at times ready to go to war with each other. An excuse to
09:23see Walter
09:23Koenig in that interesting hairpiece is a treat, let's be honest. Number 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 it's the
09:49antithesis 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. It relies
10:02heavily on its ensemble cast, something that Star Trek is at its best when it manages. The
10:06interpersonal relationships offer feature strife, which was against Roddenberry's hope for the
10:09future, though in line with just about every writer on Trek. The visuals are a callback to the actual
10:14models of the 80s and 90s without relying too heavily on CGI. Its episodic nature is straight off the
10:21classic 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 trekkulture, you can catch myself
10:47at Sean Ferrick 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 Ukraine
10:57especially. Please stay safe, stay warm and know that we're thinking of you. Live long and prosper everyone.
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