How Hollywood Destroyed Gene Roddenberry’s Other Sci-Fi Series, Better Than Star Trek
Author: Jonathan Klotz | Published
The science fiction drama series exploded in the late 1990s and early 2000s thanks to the continued success of Star Trek, and it is best remembered for Vision, babylon 5and Stargate SG-1this time period also gives us Lex, Earth: Final Conflictand Andromeda.
Created by Star Trek’s Gene Roddenberry, Andromeda Could have surpassed them all. The series was the last show developed based on the late sci-fi icon’s notes. Over the past two seasons, Andromeda Featuring profound world-building, character development, and an incredible military science fiction story about “restoring the light of civilization.” Unfortunately, it ran for five seasons.
Complex sci-fi world building at its best
Andromeda The story begins with a surprising premise: The Federation is engaged in a protracted war with the Magogs, barbarians from beyond the edges of known space. So, as part of the peace negotiations, they gave up a key world, the home of the Nietzscheans (genetically engineered humans who took the works of Friedrich Nietzsche as their religion).
Naturally, this led to an uprising against the Confederacy, kicking off a period known as the “Long Night.” This period is a science fiction retelling of the fall of the Roman Empire, but with one key difference.
Captain Dylan Hunt (played by Hercules himself, Kevin Sorbo) has been trapped on the edge of a black hole on his Andromeda ship for 300 years. Eventually, Hunter is freed by a group of scavengers to begin rebuilding the Federation and ending the Long Night. It’s a setup full of story potential, and over the first two seasons it’s been a fascinating attempt at long-term storytelling within the context of a fallen galactic empire.
The scavenger ship’s crew are easily convinced to become the Andromeda’s new crew, including “Becca” Valentine (Lisa Ryder) as the new first mate, thanks to the promise of free room and board, and the Nietzschean assassin Till (Keith Hamilton Cobb) as the new weapons officer. Science officer Reverend Bem (Brent Stelter), formerly known as Red Plague, is a kind and understanding Magog who follows the path, while Seamus Harper (Gordon Michael Woolvert) is a brilliant engineer who can hack into computers with a cybernetic data port, and whose frosted prompts remind viewers that this was filmed in 2000. The AI is played by Lexa Doig, who remains fiercely loyal to her crew, especially Captain Hunter.
Andromeda The setting, the well-designed main cast, and the first season’s long-running plot involving the restoration of the Federation blend perfectly with the ridiculous dialogue, campy special effects, and tone that walks a tightrope between being too serious and a Saturday morning cartoon. Showrunner Robert Hewitt Wolfe worked closely with Roddenberry’s widow, Majel Barrett, and had a clear vision for the show’s universe.
By the end of Season 2, the fascinating day-to-day work of nation-building and establishing a galactic government has begun. That’s when disaster strikes and Wolfe, the architect of this unique television science fiction novel, loses a power struggle. Andromeda producer and was fired.
Andromeda’s behind-the-scenes power struggle
Just treat it as Andromeda After finding a loyal fan base and ready to break out, Wolfe was replaced by Robert Engels, David Lynch’s long-time creative partner. Or that’s what happened on paper.
In fact, the show went from being a sci-fi show with long-term storytelling and charming alien characters to “Hercules in space. Sexy, explosive and episodic storytelling replaced the nation-building plot, and Sorbo’s Dylan Hunter became the perfect hero, Gary Stu, with even more of the spotlight falling on him. Keith Hamilton-Cobb, frustrated with Till’s treatment, left in season three, taking with him the show’s best character.
In pursuit of mass market appeal, Andromeda Everything that made it great in the first place is lost. By the time season five began airing, the cast remained the same, but the characters looked similar to those in season one. However, everything around them changed. The grand story of Gene Roddenberry’s restoration of the Union is no longer Captain Hunter’s guiding light but an annoyance.
when you watch Andromeda Free to watch today on Tubi, Pluto TV or Amazon Prime Video, it’s impossible to miss the moment when the backstage power struggle transcends the sci-fi narrative. Instead of developing a lasting fan base like this Visionthe series alienated hardcore sci-fi fans, and Kevin Sorbo couldn’t bring even a small part of his Hercules The audience makes up the difference.
Science fiction is a niche genre that will always attract a smaller audience than broad four-quadrant shows, but if you treat your fans right and don’t insult their intelligence, you’ll gain lifelong relevance. If you disrespect sci-fi audiences, you will be remembered Andromedastands as one of the biggest missed opportunities in science fiction history.
