Star Trek spoof "Galaxy Quest" would've failed with Harold Ramis as the director

Harold Ramis is a comedy legend. The man starred as Egon Spangler in the Ghostbusters franchise, before moving on to become a very heralded writer and director. He directed movies like Groundhog Day, Caddyshack, Stripes, Analyze This and Analyze That, and a few other top-tier comedies. He was even in line once to direct the famous Star Trek spoof "Galaxy Quest".

The film saw a fictional cast of a 1980s show called "Galaxy Quest" be abducted by aliens, who assumed the television show was broadcasting their real-life adventures. Now, stuck in space fighting real aliens, the cast has to become more than just actors to survive. It's a wonderful and exciting film, with laughs, heart, and deep character development. All solidified by a brilliant cast that even 25 years still holds a lot of heft, name-value-wise.

Yet, had Ramis stuck on as director, as he was once set to be, the film would've been radically different. The tone of the film would've changed some, with a recent write-up from Cracked, describing Ramis' tone as being closer to Space Balls. Not to mention, he didn't want comedians doing action, but action stars doing comedy. So he was out on the idea of Tim Allen starring in the film.

Instead, Ramis was stuck on Alec Baldwin, who was actually offered the role at one point. He also didn't want anyone who had been too attached to science fiction before, which would've meant Sigourney Weaver, one of the best actresses in the film, not starring. Weaver played Gwen DeMarco, who was quite honestly a scene-stealer whenever she showed up. Imagine not having Weaver play the role because of the silly condition of not having sci-fi actors in a sci-fi movie.

With every piece of that write-up, you can feel that Ramis didn't know what Star Trek fans were like, or what they wanted. how the fandom would truly embrace the film.

Director Dean Parisot and writers Robert Gordon and David Howard did. They made a film that embraced the whimsy of Star Trek's earlier days, while not mocking or making light of it. It was a perfectly done tribute to a franchise that would later embrace the film as one of its own. All things Ramis didn't seem to understand when he was looking to make the film.

Sometimes, being a comedy legend doesn't mean you see or understand all forms of comedy. Galaxy Quest was perfect, and it's hard to imagine it still being as beloved today had they changed so much of the film to cater to Ramis.