The adventures of the original crew of Galaxy Quest will continue as the Star Trek parody film makes its transition to television.
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In August, Amazon hired Paul Scheer to write the Galaxy Quest television series. In an interview with Slash Film, Scheer reveals that he’s turned in the first episode’s script and that the series will continue the story of the original Galaxy Quest.
“Right now, I just handed in my first script to Amazon, so I’m in that zone,” Scheer says. “I’m excited about it. It’s a bigger idea that’s kind of morphed and changed a little bit. Not much. The thing I keep on saying about it, without giving too much away – because it’s going to be so long before people get to see it, I don’t want people to get too burnt out on me telling you what it’s about before it gets to that point – but for me, it was really important to do service to a Galaxy Quest story that gives you everything that you want and indoctrinates people who have never seen Galaxy Quest into what the fun of that world is. That Tropic Thunder, Galaxy Quest world. And also to continue the story of our original characters and have consequences from the first film.
However, Scheer also revealed that the series will also introduce an additional cast, and the two casts’ adventures will eventually intertwine.
“So it is mixing two casts. It’s separate kind of adventures that kind of merge, and I’m looking at this first season not as episodic, but as a serialized story,” Scheer said. “So, the only way I’ve been looking at it is, using everything from the first movie and making the reasons for everything not just – I want to avoid anything that could be viewed as a reboot for reboot’s sake. There are real reasons behind these choices – maybe too much so.”
As far as themes go, Scheer hinted that the Galaxy Quest television series will address the ways that popular culture and fandom have changed since Galaxy Quest was first released in 1999.
“And then the other jumping off point was, I love that in 1999, as a fan of Star Trek and going to these conventions since I was a kid: sci-fi, fantasy, those worlds have changed so drastically,” he said. “I really wanted to capture the difference between the original cast of Star Trek and the J.J. Abrams cast of Star Trek. I think that, to me, is my entry point. Sci-fi heroes are rock stars now. If you look at Thor, in 1999 if that movie came out, it would not be received the way it is. People would not want to see a cosmic, galactic thing on that level. But now we’re accepting it. I think just by virtue of that switch in our environment, it’ll make the story feel a little bit more fresh.”
Fans have been waiting for a sequel to Galaxy Quest practically since the original movie was released. While not in the movie form they originally expected, it sounds like they may finally get their wish.
