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SeaQuest DSV

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This article is about the television series. For the fictional submarine, see seaQuest DSV 4600.
Warning: Display title "<i>SeaQuest DSV</i>" overrides earlier display title "seaQuest DSV" (help).

seaQuest DSV was an American science fiction television series created by Rockne S. O'Bannon. It originally aired on NBC between 1993 and 1996. In its final season, it was renamed seaQuest 2032. Set in "The Near Future", seaQuest originally mixed high drama with realistic scientific fact. It starred Roy Scheider as Nathan Bridger, captain of the eponymous high-tech submarine seaQuest DSV 4600, Jonathan Brandis as Lucas Wolenczak, a teenaged computer genius, and Stephanie Beacham as Kristin Westphalen, the chief medical officer and head of the seaQuest science department.

SeaQuest DSV
File:Wallpapersharpgamma.jpg
The seaQuest DSV logo.
Created byRockne S. O'Bannon
StarringRoy Scheider
Jonathan Brandis
Stephanie Beacham
Michael Ironside
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes59 (including two, two-hour movie episodes)
(list of episodes)
Production
Running time45 minutes per episode
Original release
NetworkNBC
Release12 September, 1993 –
9 June, 1996

The series had a troubled beginning: without the interest of Steven Spielberg, who acted as an executive producer, it might never have made it to the screen at all. Filming of the first season was marked by producer disputes, changes at the helm (off-screen), and even an earthquake. The show was criticised throughout its run ranging from the characterisation of the show's female characters to Darwin, the show's dolphin. However, despite the criticism, the show was nonetheless sufficiently popular to last two and a half seasons, being abruptly cancelled in the middle of the third.

Roy Scheider narrated the voiceover during each first season's episodes' opening credits:

The 21st century: mankind has colonized the last unexplored region on Earth; the ocean. As captain of the seaQuest and its crew, we are its guardians. For beneath the surface lies the future.

Plot overview

 
First season cast.

Template:Spoilers The series follows the adventures of the high-tech submarine seaQuest operated by the United Earth Oceans Organization (UEO), a global federation of nations, similar to the United Nations, which was created following a major global conflict that occurred circa 2010. The seaQuest was built by NORPAC (a military organization mentioned in the pilot) and given to the UEO after its creation. The storyline begins in the year 2018, after mankind has exhausted almost all natural resources, except for the ones on the ocean floor. Many new colonies have been established there and it's the job of the seaQuest and its crew to protect them from hostile nonaligned nations and to aid in mediating disputes.

Changes after season 1

 
Second season cast.

In the first season finale, Bridger sacrifices the seaQuest to prevent an ecological disaster, and for a short time it was not known if the show would be renewed for another season. When it was decided the show would return, NBC and Universal used this opportunity to tinker with the show's format. Both Royce D. Applegate and John D'Aquino were fired by NBC as the network wanted a younger cast for the show's second year (D'Aquino subsequently returned for a guest appearance in the third season). Stacy Haiduk, who was not happy with her character's development, informed producers she did not wish to return if the show went on to a second season. Stephanie Beacham, who as Dr. Kristin Westphalen was one of the first season's strongest characters, had been asked back for the second year, contrary to popular rumour; however, she quit when it was decided the show would move production from Los Angeles to Florida. (The move also changed the show's ___location from Pearl Harbor to New Cape Quest). Beacham also blamed continued fighting between the network and the show's producers as a major reason why she did not return. The series had suffered in the ratings, pitted as it was against Lois and Clark.

The studio wanted more sci-fi oriented episodes, a direction moved toward at the end of season one, when seaQuest encounters a million-year-old alien ship buried in the ocean floor. The marine trivia presentations during the credits by oceanographer Bob Ballard were now presented by the principal cast of the show. These changes attracted a new audience, but many of the original fans of the first season were unhappy at the show's change from "sci-fact" to "sci-fi" and abandoned the show.

By the end of season two, seaQuest DSV was again suffering, partly attributed to a decrease in the quality of the writing. The threat of cancellation loomed large but Universal gave it one more chance.

Changes after season 2

File:SeaQuest2032.jpg
Third season title.

Another revamp resulted in the third season, the series now called seaQuest 2032. Roy Scheider had been vocal in his anger of the show's new direction and wanted out. However, Scheider had a contract with the network so it was decided that Bridger would make several appearances throughout the season. Rosalind Allen was fired as her character, Dr. Wendy Smith, proved to be unpopular among fans (Dr. Smith, introduced in season two, was essentially seen as a weak mixture of two female characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation: the attractive doctor, who is the captain's unrequited love interest, and the Empath, who can sense emotions). Her relationship with Bridger also appeared to audiences as a retread of the same kind of relationship the captain had with Dr. Westphalen in the first season. Marco Sanchez was also fired after NBC decided it wanted the principal cast number dropped from ten to nine. The marine trivia presentations at the end of the show were cut.

 
Third season cast.

The seaQuest reappears, its crew intact, ten years after their abduction at the end of season two. Captain Bridger steps down to raise his grandson (although Scheider appears in two further episodes of the season), and Michael Ironside enters the fray as the more militaristic Captain Oliver Hudson and brings along his "best student", Lieutenant J.J. Fredericks who serves as seaQuest's ace sub-fighter pilot as the UEO faces the threat of the Macronesian Alliance. Other recurring characters were also added. While the series is perceived as becoming much darker than it was in the previous seasons, some fans felt that seaQuest had finally found its feet. However, Universal and NBC disagreed, and cancelled the series after 13 episodes.

Airings

The show's time slot was shuffled around during its original run. During the first and second seasons, NBC aired the show on Sundays at 8:00 PM. NBC had originally planned to cancel seaQuest DSV part-way through the second season in favor of another show about a "high-tech truck", however, NBC executives were unimpressed with the new show's development and kept seaQuest DSV in production. During the third season, NBC moved the show to Wednesdays at the same time; however, NBC would frequently preempt the show in favour of sports coverage and other television specials. Several of the show's producers, including Carleton Eastlake believe these preemptions led to the show's cancellation.

Currently, Space: The Imagination Station in Canada airs the episodes every day at 12:00 PM. The Sci-Fi Channel in the United States had previously aired the episodes for a number of years.

DVD release

File:Seaquestdvd.jpg
First season DVD release (region 1).

Fans of "seaQuest DSV" have campaigned for the release of the series on DVD. Universal Studios, which owns the distribution rights to the series, had at one time stated that it had no plans to release the show on DVD. Over the past few years, illegal bootleg recordings of the series have been sold on eBay and other online auction sites in VCD and DVD format.

In 2005, Universal announced that the first season of "seaQuest DSV" would be released on DVD on December 26 2005 along with a week long marathon of the show on the Sci Fi Channel. Universal credited the fans with changing their minds about a DVD release. However, some also credit the successful sales of bootleg copies of the series. The DVD release included numerous deleted scenes as well as alternate versions of broadcast scenes.

Merchandise

 
SNES game.
  • A short series of novels based on the characters and concepts depicted on "seaQuest DSV" were available during the first season of the show. They were:
    • A novelization of the pilot episode by Diane Duane and Peter Norwood.
    • "Fire Below" by Matthew J. Costello. Published January 1994. ISBN 0-441-00039-8
    • "The Ancient" by David Bischoff. Published March 1994. ISBN 0-441-00042-8
  • One issue of a "seaQuest DSV" comic book was published by Nemesis Comics.
  • A video game was released for the Super Nintendo, Game Boy, and Sega Genesis consoles in 1994.
  • A series of action figures designed by Playmates Toys were released in 1993. Captain Bridger, Commander Ford, Lucas Wolenczak, Lt. Commander Hitchcock, Chief Crocker, Lieutenant O'Neill, Darwin, Dr. Rubin Zellar, and The Regulator were released as part of wave one. Additional characters such as Dr. Westphalen, Ortiz, and Lieutenant Krieg were planned as part of wave two, but, they were never released.
  • A series of trading cards produced by SkyBox were released, depicting characters, scenes, and episodes from the first season.
  • Various models were produced by Monogram, including the seaQuest, a sea launch truck, The Stinger, and Darwin (actually a remolded Flipper) were released.
  • Various pieces of clothing, including T-shirts, baseball caps, and embroidered patches of the seaQuest and UEO logos (replicas of the ones used on the show) were released.

Trivia

Cast Trivia

  • Edward Kerr's character, Lieutenant James Brody, was named after Police Chief Martin Brody, played by castmate Roy Scheider, in Jaws.
  • John D'Aquino (Benjamin Krieg) was the only first season castmember that ever returned for a guest appearance ("In the Company of Ice and Profit").
  • The image of Captain Bridger's wife, Carol, was played by Roy Scheider's real-life wife, Brenda King.
  • Jonathan Brandis (Lucas Wolenczak) and Ted Raimi (Lieutenant Tim O'Neill) both wrote episodes for the series. (Brandis wrote "The Siamese Dream" and Raimi, "Lostland.")
  • Don Franklin, Ted Raimi, and Jonathan Brandis are the only three castmembers to remain with the show for all three seasons.
  • Jonathan Brandis is the only castmember to appear in every episode. Don Franklin appears in every episode except "And Everything Nice."
  • Ralph Willcox and Karen Fraction, who both become recurring guest stars in the third season, had previously appeared as different characters in the second year.
  • Robert Engels, who played Malcolm Lansdowne in the first season, was also an executive producer on the series and wrote two episodes: "Greed For a Pirate's Dream" and "Hide and Seek".

Episode Trivia

  • The scene from The Hunt for Red October where the Dallas and Red October are rising to periscope depth alongside each other was used in the pilot episode.
  • Stock footage of the Airwolf helicopter from the television series of the same name is used in the episode "Hide and Seek."
  • Many scenes in the episode "Playtime" were filmed in Lakeland, Florida, (specifically, the campus at Florida Southern College) to take advantage of the buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
  • Despite the numerous changes to the show in the second season, the episode "The Sincerest Form of Flattery" contains many "throwbacks" to the first season, such as the reappearance of Admiral Noyce and Professor Martenson, as well as the "Internex" from the episode "Photon Bullet."
  • The episode "By Any Other Name" uses stock footage from season one episodes. As a result, John D'Aquino as Lieutenant Krieg can be seen (briefly) running onto the bridge as the clam-doors close.

Show Trivia

  • The show's first season theme music was nominated for an Emmy Award, and in 2000 was named the 48th best theme tune of all time by TV Guide.
  • Special effects were done with NewTek Video Toasters on Commodore Amiga computers.
  • Captain Bridger never refers to Dagwood by name. The closest he ever got was calling him "Dag" in the episodes "Special Delivery" and "The Siamese Dream."
  • The Regulator and his orangutan Verne from the first season episode “The Regulator” can be seen in the opening credits of every third season episode.
  • During the filming of the final scene in the final episode, Michael Ironside gave a small speech thanking the cast and crew for the time they spent working on the show. Following his words, Ironside tossed Jonathan Brandis into the moon pool.

seaQuest DSV on Other Series

Ties to Star Trek

Cast Ties

Set Homages

  • In "Hide and Seek", when Milos Tezlov appears on a seaQuest vidlink, the I.D. code at the bottom of the screen reads "JTK NCC1701", referring to "James T. Kirk" and the registry number of the USS Enterprise on the classic Star Trek. Later, when Tezlov's enemies demand the seaQuest turn him over, the I.D. code on the vid-link reads "NCC1701A", referring to the newer Enterprise from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
  • The bridge on the seaQuest II was designed to resemble the bridge of the USS Enterprise-D from The Next Generation. (Specifically, the command column where Captain Bridger, Commander Ford, and Lieutenant O'Neill usually sat resembles the command center where Captain Picard, Commander Riker and Counselor Troi usually sat.)
  • The chair in the holographic-projection room aboard the seaQuest II (as seen in such episodes as "Vapors" and "The Sincerest Form of Flattery") is the same kind of chair as the captain's chair from the Enterprise from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The chair was also used in the "execution tape" in "Splashdown."
  • The sign of "The Dagger's Sheath", a club featured in the episode "Smoke on the Water", is written in the title typeface of The Next Generation.

Dialogue References

Cast

Recurring Guest Cast

Additionally, seaQuest DSV employed a significant amount of guest stars familiar with the sci-fi genre, many of whom would go on to star in other shows. In addition to the aforementioned Star Trek players, notable guest stars included Charlton Heston (star of The Ten Commandments, Planet of the Apes and other classic 1960s-70s SF films), Seth Green (later Scott Evil in the Austin Powers films, Oz on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Chris Griffin on Family Guy), Kent McCord (Officer Jim Reed of Adam-12, Captain Troy of Galactica 1980 and Unger in Airplane II: The Sequel, and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) among others.

Episodes

Main article: List of seaQuest DSV episodes

Official

Unofficial

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