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By Grapthar’s Hammer, These Writers Would Be Perfect for the Galaxy Quest TV Show
We’re probably not going to see new Star Trek on TV anytime soon, but in a way, we’re getting the next best thing. The 1999 sci-fi spoof film Galaxy Quest is set to become a television show, and an announcement that has most of the internet making those happy Tim Allen grunting noises. But how to ensure Galaxy Quest stays true to the near-perfect movie version? Well, the original creative team is in place, which is a great start, but we’ve also got a few suggestions for rounding out the writing staff.
(If you’ve somehow Galaxy Quest, well, you’ve made a terrible mistake, but here’s the elevator pitch: the washed-up stars of a Star Trek-like TV series called “Galaxy Quest” are abducted by a group of naive aliens who assumed the show was real to defend their race against a malevolent invading force. Using the “historical documents” as a guide, they even built an exact model of the NSEA Protector (think the USS Enterprise), complete with all the parts that don’t really make sense. The hapless actors must become the heroes they were only pretending to be if they hope to get out of the situation alive—and save their clueless hosts along the way.
A few years back, a poll taken at a Star Trek convention asked fans to rank their favorite films in the franchise, and Galaxy Quest beat out Star Trek Into Darkness. Filled with inside jokes—from rocky planets, to torn shirts, to uselessly dangerous parts of the ship—the film is a loving Trek sendup that doesn’t actually make fun of its “source” material. For that reason, it would be really interesting to see the new TV spinoff consult with writers who know a thing or two about Trek and geek culture. (It should be noted that these are all wild pipe dreams on my part.)
Jane Espenson
Remember Jane Espenson? She’s written for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Battlestar Galactica, and the Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood. She’s a beloved geeky screenwriter who deserves a hilarious comeback. Humor and sci-fi are essential to the success of any Galaxy Quest TV show, and no one quite has those chops like Jane. Plus, she worked closely on BSG with Ron Moore, who wrote for The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. A lot. So she knows who to call if she needs help crafting the perfect homage.
Morgan Gendel
He wrote the most famous episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, “The Inner Light,” plus the Picard-Dies-Hard action episode “Starship Mine.” Notably, Gendel was not part of the writers’ room on TNG, but a freelancer. He knows all about being an outsider and being awesome, traits core to the DNA of Galaxy Quest.
John Scalzi
If you’ve read the novel Redshirts, you already understand why Scalzi must be consulted for Galaxy Quest. I mean, come on: the title of his novel references the original Star Trek phenomenon of red-shirted officers biting the dust while the named characters look on in horror, a trope played for laughs in the movie through Sam Rockwell’s character “Guy,” who dreads dying needlessly due to his glorified extra status. Sure, Scalzi’s own novel is being developed for television, but he can do both. Right?
Kelly Link
So, they’re never going to go this route. But how awesome would it be? Link’s science fiction stories are amazing. I’ll never shut up about “Two Houses,” about realistic relationships and conversations occurring on a “sleeper ship” in deep space. Link’s stories are the perfect blend of weirdness, pathos, and underlying humor (particularly the new one Get In Trouble) that would be perfect for Galaxy Quest.
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Charles Yu
I mean, his debut novel is called How to Lively Safely in a Science Fictional Universe. Guy needs to be at least reading this book, and maybe Yu can be brought in to write some of the dialogue.
Who do you want to see writing the Galaxy Quest TV show?