Like Star Trek but what to dip your toy in some other sci-fi? Well, we have three shows that might be up your ally if you’re new to the genre!
Since 2017, there have been five Star Trek shows either in production, currently airing, or are set to air. Yet, if that’s not enough Star Trek for you, we may have some exciting alternatives for you to enjoy. All of these shows embrace Star Trek to some degree. Either in style, tone or it’s general flavor. These three shows can be a nice appetizer or palet cleanser should you need it as you await more Trek.
These aren’t a perfect one-to-one comparison, however. This isn’t like the ’70s where there a hundred-odd Star Wars clones that took the film’s ideas nearly beat-for-beat. These are more contemporary series that take a singular aspect of various Star Trek shows and make it their own.
There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of shows that could qualify as, shall we say, Star Trek-adjacent. There’s simply not enough time to go through all of them. So what would qualify a show as “adjacent”? Well, it has to be science fiction for starters. It needs to take place in space or on another planet. It has to be in a universe or setting that acknowledges the existence of Earth and has something that makes it unique to itself. An internal conflict between humans and aliens, conflicting morality, or simply a grouping of different agencies or planets with shifting ideas of morality; leaving for more ambiguity towards the heroes and villains.
The shows don’t need every one of these things. These are just some of what a show could have to be considered in the vein of Star Trek. So with that, let’s check out three sci-fi shows that could hold you over until new Star Trek is released.
The Orville
The selections may be a bit obvious but not everyone knows about everything so we’re going to handle the three most obvious. The first one, and the most obvious of the obvious is The Orville. A show shot, stylized, and designed to be just like Star Trek, even if it’s a parody of Star Trek. Unlike other comedies that try to poke fun at Trek, The Orville doesn’t. At all. While it’s humorous in tone, it arguably embraces the ideology of Gene Roddenberry’s vision of Star Trek better than the Alex Kurtzman/J.J. Abrams lead series do now.
Tackling things like gender, sexism, sexuality, addiction, and even cancel culture, The Orville has brought back the weekly serialized stories that made the Star Trek series of the ’80s and ’90s so popular. Each episode does have a nugget of continuation that’s leftover from the previous episode, but it’s not so important that a couple of lines can’t explain everything you need to know. You can jump in at any point and not feel like you’re completely lost.
The show stars Seth MacFarlane, the creator of Family Guy and American Dad, and centers on his character Ed Mercer as he pilots a starship called The Orville. Long time Macfarlane-collaborator Scott Grimes is also on the show as well. He’s starred opposite MacFarlane on American Dad as Macfarlane’s on-screen son, Steve Smith. They’re joined by Star Trek alum Penny Marshall Jerald is also on the show, as is Adrianne Palicki, Peter Macon, J. Lee, Mark Jackson, Jessica Szohr, and Charly Burke (new for the third season).
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica was originally a show from the late-1970s. It was rebooted in 2004, and it’s the reboot series we’re taking a look at. You’ll find that it strikes home with a lot of the same heavy notes that the ’80s and ’90s Star Trek shows a hit. The reason for that is simple, the man who wrote and took part in so many Star Trek scripting sessions, Ronald D. Moore, was the one that revived the cult classic show from the 1970s.
Moore revamped the late ’70s series and modernized it in 2004 for the SyFy network. The series followed a group of fleeing humans from the United Colonies of Kobol, twelve planets that made up the entire human race. After a group of robots gained sentience and revolted, a great war broke out that lasted for years. One day the robots, known as Cylons, just disappeared. Until they returned, disguised as humans, and destroyed the colonies. The humans were forced to flee into space where they began looking for a planet often told in prophecy’s, Earth, all while the Cylons tried to hunt them to extinction.
The series predominantly features Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, James Callis, and Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Michael Hogan, Aaron Douglas, Tahmoh Penikett, Michael Trucco, Kandyse McClure, and Alessandro Juliani, but they weren’t the only main actors. The cast would evolve, grow and shrink as episodes carried on. Character deaths were common but not to the point it was expected. Yet, it was a show where anyone could die at any time.
It wasn’t to the point of a Walking Dead where it becomes almost desensitizing, but it’s not so infrequent you stop worrying about the characters. The show was cutting edge at it’s time for special effects and music, while also embracing the moral ambiguity of life, much like Star Trek: The Next Generation and it’s sister series did. It’s not a perfect show, but it’s an all-time great.
The Expanse
This series may not have made the list had SyFy’s cancellation of the show been the last thing fans ever saw of the series. After three seasons, the length of the original contract with Alcon Entertainment, SyFy pulled the show and announced they would not fund production for a fourth season, ergo canceling the series. Amazon Prime Video picked up the series for a fourth season and has already announced a fifth season as well.
The series is critically acclaimed and beloved by just about all who’ve seen it, and some have referred to it as the space version of Game of Thrones. A once positive comparison. The series is set in the future after humanity has colonized the stars and three distinct factions have become the major players in the galaxy. The United Nations of Earth and Luna, the Martian Congressional Republic of Mars,and the Outer Planets Alliance.
The series features multiple perspectives, that all have to do to some degree with a pending war among the three factions. The show is powered by an incredible cast, featuring Thomas Jane, Steven Strait, Cas Anvar, Dominique Tipper, Wes Chatham Paulo Costanzo, Florence Faivre, Shawn Doyle, and others.
Based on a book series of the same name by James S.A. Corey, the television series is heralded for its excellent page to screen adaptation, it’s sterling and compelling acting as well as fantastic special effects.