With J.J. Abrams reviving the Star Trek franchise in his 2009 and 2013 films, fans have been all abuzz about the potential for a new Star Trek series on TV, especially since the last one, Enterprise, ended its run back in 2005. Yet while many will say TV is indeed where the franchise belongs (to give it room to expound on its philosophical questions in peace), rumors of Bryan Singer (X-Men), Bryan Fuller (Hannibal) and even Roberto Orci (Star Trek) being interested in creating a new series haven’t gone very far.
The problem seems to be that CBS currently holds the rights to Star Trek on TV, so any new series would either have to go through them or be a parody so as not to infringe on copyright. Well, it’s a good thing then that there’s a lot available to be mocked. Spanning 48 years, 12 films and 6 series, Star Trek has one of the oldest fandoms in existence, along with a complex mythology comprised of various characters, races, worlds, technologies and more.
But no Star Trek trope has perhaps permeated our culture as much as the joke about ‘redshirts’, which will now be the basis of a new Star Trek-inspired series heading to cable. Deadline reports that FX is adapting John Scalzi’s 2013 Hugo Award-winning satirical sci-fi novel Redshirts as a limited series. Film producer Jon Shestack (Dan In Real Life), producer-director Ken Kwapis (Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants) and his partner Alexandra Beattie will executive produce, with Kwapis set to direct the first episode should it go to series. In the meantime, a search is currently underway for writers.
Set in the 25th century, Redshirts follows five new recruits (or redshirts) on the Starship Intrepid who come to realize that every away mission ends with the death of at least one of their fellow low-ranking crewmembers. Seeking answers and a chance to save their own lives, they soon discover some very disturbing information: A 21st century television show has taken over their reality, turning it into a narrative they can’t hope to control.
The term ‘redshirt’ first originated on Star Trek: The Original Series in the 1960s, when the writers would often kill off disposable characters as an example to viewers that more important characters were in danger, except, of course, they really weren’t. The term has since been referenced on everything from South Park to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and even another Star Trek parody, Galaxy Quest. This will be the first time, however, that these characters are given a voice.
It’s hard to tell whether Redshirts becoming a success would actually entice CBS into finally creating a new Star Trek series, but at the very least, it could allow the show to garner another season and give fans a place to call home for a while. Because let’s face it, the only thing almost as good as an original work is a homage meant for the fans.
So does this news quench some of the aching in your heart for a new Star Trek series or do you still yearn for the franchise’s return to TV?