David Farnor | On 26, Apr 2023

The Galaxy Quest TV series is getting ready to fire up its warp engines once more, this time at Paramount+.

The TV remake of the hugely underrated feature film from 1999 was first announced back in 2015, with Paramount TV looking to take the movie’s concept and rework it for the small screen. For the new crew members among you, the sci-fi comedy was a Star Trek spoof, which saw the ageing cast of an old TV show abducted by aliens at a fan convention, only to be asked to pilot a real starship and save the day for real.

Robert Gordon and David Howard, the original writers, were initially on board for the show, with director Dean Parisot and executive producers Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein – now known for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul – also in the crew. Amazon then stepped in to hire Paul Scheer to pen the show, but things never got past the development stage.

Now, the project has moved from Amazon to the more natural home of Paramount+, the counterpart to Paramount TV, and the home of Paramount’s growing universe of Star Trek series. Mark Johnson is returning to pen the script, with no one else currently attached – but THR reports that a search is under way for a writer to pair with him.

 

Paul Scheer to pen Amazon’s Galaxy Quest series

19th August 2017

Amazon’s Galaxy Quest just got a boost to its warp drive, with Paul Scheer set to pen the series.

The TV remake of the hugely underrated feature film from 1999 was first announced back in 2015, with Paramount TV looking to take the movie’s concept and rework it for the small screen. For the new crew members among you, the sci-fi comedy was a Star Trek spoof, which saw the ageing cast of an old TV show abducted by aliens at a fan convention, only to be asked to pilot a real starship and save the day for real.

Now, as Star Trek: Discovery heads towards our screens, and Fox’s own sci-fi spoof, starring Seth MacFarlane, also prepares to take off, Amazon has beamed back on board its long-gestating project.

Robert Gordon and David Howard, the original writers, were initially on board for the show, with director Dean Parisot and executive producers Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein – now known for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul – also in the crew. Now, Amazon has hired Paul Scheer for scripting duties, picking up from Gordon to bring the programme to life.

Scheer is best known for starring in The League, and can currently be seen in ABC’s Fresh Off the Boat and HBO’s Veep, with writing credits including both The League and Comedy Central’s Childrens Hospital, plus Adult Swim’s NTSF:SD:SUV.

There is no word yet whether the original cast of the movie will be back for the show, but Deadline reports that Sheer has a new take on the material.

“Without giving much away, I don’t think there has ever been a better time to continue the Galaxy Quest story with the explosion and popularity of sci-fi films in recent years,” Scheer told the blog. “To be able to create and be a part of this world is just mind-blowing, and I’m approaching this truly as what I’d like to see as a fan.”

 

Galaxy Quest TV series lands on Amazon

28th August 2015

By Grabthar’s hammer, a Galaxy Quest TV series is landing on Amazon Prime Instant Video.

The TV remake of the hugely under-rated feature film from 1999 was first announced earlier this year, as word spread that Paramount TV was looking to take the movie’s concept and rework it for the small screen. For the new crew members among you, the sci-fi comedy was a Star Trek spoof, which saw the ageing cast of an old TV show abducted by aliens at a fan convention, only to be asked to pilot a real starship and save the day for real.

The film starred Tim Allen (as the William Shatner-style captain), Sigourney Weaver (as the token female scientist) and Alan Rickman as the Spock-like number two. There is no word on whether any of the original cast (which also included Sam Rockwell, Tony Shalhoub, Missi Pyle and Justin Long) is hoped to return, but the names behind the screen are familiar: Robert Gordon and David Howard, the original writers, are on board for the show, with director Dean Parisot and executive producers Mark Johnson and Melissa Bernstein – now known for Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul – also set for life off.

Now, though, the show’s warp drive has been given an extra boost, with the news from Entertainment Weekly that Amazon Studios has beamed up to the bridge to develop the project. With Amazon Studios increasingly buying up and commissioning new shows, you can expect this to appear as a pilot sometime in the future – or, in the style of Amazon’s new Billy Bob Thornton legal drama, set its phasers straight to a full series.

The Galaxy Quest TV series marks a continuing trend in the industry to turn films into shows, with School of Rock set for a Nickelodeon spin-off, Fox preparing a small-screen take on Minority Report, and CBS soon to premiere its new take on Bradley Cooper thriller Limitless.

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