At a Television Critics Association event today, the FX cable channel announced they had ordered a pilot for a comedy series that sounds like a parody of Star Trek. The new show called "Alabama" will be set on a starship in the future and comes from the team behind Reno 911. More details below.
Laughs in space
News of the new comedy pilot Alabama comes from the Hollywood Reporter Live Feed blog which calls the show an "unofficial Star Trek parody". The show is described thusly by THR & FX:
Set a thousand years in the future, "Alabama" follows the crew of the space ship USS Alabama as they continue a seven-year mission to maintain interplanetary peace.
The show will follow the heart-pounding action as our crew visits hostile planets, meets alien life-forms, and tries to have sex with each other in their tiny, metal bunk beds
Alabama was created by Reno 911 actors Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant. Like that cop show parody, Alabama would be part-scripted and part-improvised.
Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon from "Reno 911" movie — now working on "Alabama" a sci-fi comedy that sounds like a Star Trek parody
This is actually not the first time that the Fox Corp has tried to make a Star Trek parody. In 2008 Fox began development the pilot Boldly Going Nowhere from the team behind the FX series Always Sunny in Philadelphia. That show was targeted for the main Fox broadcasting channel but was never picked up. Hopefully this time they get it right, and it may be easier to get a pick up on the FX cable channel which requires less ratings and gives more flexibility for the humor.
Trek meets Hooker??
Fascinating…
Heck yeah. Best wishes to the creative team; BRING THE AWESOME!
Anybody remember the short-lived “Quark”?
@4 I do!
I think that description o’ tha’ proposed new show be tha’ same description fur’ TOS on IMDb.
What daft bugger would wanna’ make fun o’ Starry Trek anyways?
OK, a Gorn, a Trill, and Cap’n Quantum Leap walks inta’ a bar…
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…
Anyone saw the pilot from “Galaxy Beat”?
Shown great promise… And Tracy Scoggins was in it :)
Galaxy Quest re imagined. It’s about time.
Wasn’t there already a Trek parody was called STV The Final Frontier?
Too bad the Reno 911 people are about as funny as Comedy Central movie.
Pah, I’d far rather a straight-up ‘Galaxy Quest’ show if anyone *has* to do a ‘Trek’ parody…even if was re-cast.
If George Lucas is working on a Star Wars sitcom, why can’t there be a Star Trek comedy show? Rather than a parody, put the comedy into the regular timeline. After all, there were some wonderfully funny TOS and TNG characters, why not do a show for laughs?
While I wouldn’t be interested in a traditional :30 sitcom format, I do think a improv/documentary-style comedy (in the style of Arrested Development) could be hilarious and stay within cannon. Imagine a Federation embassy staff trying to “manage” relationships between the Klingons, Orions and a half-dozen other semi-hostile races and not offending anyone in the process.
It could be an interstellar mash-up of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “Yes Minister” …
… okay, maybe not.
@#4 — Richard Benjamin….”Ficus”… and— THE TWINS!!!!
Oh yeah!
@12 Great idea! But would be more of a Fawlty Towers thing, imagine having a super clumsy Ferengi yeoman a la Manuel lol
If it has a life of its own, like Futurama, then it’ll fly. I’ll certainly watch the first few eps.
I loved “Quark,” it was a great Trek/SF parody, only the budget was non-existent. Here’s an entry on my SF blog:
http://fantasticflashbacks.blogspot.com/2009/06/1978-quark-tv-show-articles_19.html
I hate to throw cold water on this idea, but I don’t want to see another Trek parody. Why? It makes people respect the Star Trek less. “Galaxy Quest” almost spoiled Trek for J.J. Abrams. On “Galaxy Quest”, Abrams said, “It’s so ridiculous, so accurate, so sophisticated, it spoils the Star Trek Universe.” Entertainment Weekly, 10-24-08, pg. 28. All this parody makes people laugh at Trek ’09’s forced catchphrases and conventions. “I’m giving her all she’s got.” A red shirt has to die. Kirk is a horny co-ed to show he’s a ladies man. On and on.
And don’t accuse me of being a killjoy. I loved “Galaxy Quest.” I liked Trek “09. I even laugh at my geekiness. But Trek humor comes from the situation not laughing at Trek. See Star Trek IV’s fish out of water story. If people new to Trek laugh at it, they won’t take it seriously.
But to show you that I can take a joke, I again post the link to the hilarious Onion piece about hardcore Trekkers criticizing Star Trek ’09. And don’t make fun of my mother in the Klingon costume.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=02LgdXVkXgM
Never was a big fan of Galaxy Quest. I always thought it looked cheap.
@ #17: Considering Abrams and pals have turned Star Trek into a Star Wars parody, anything is fair game at this point.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yd0j97RhZUQ&feature=related
OMG to quote Entertainment Weekly is to follow what J-Low’s diet is doing… null and void to anyone that thinks.
This could be cool to fallow given 911 has some the same creative peeps behind it… they come up with some great stuff given it’s situational.
#18: ‘Never was a big fan of Galaxy Quest. I always thought it looked cheap.”
A lot of “Casablanca” looked cheap and studio-bound. So what?
it all depends on how the humor will be handled–i may be wrong but it sounds like the reno 911 people are less making fun of things n more as others akready said situational improvised comedy–in that case wouldnt really be making fun of trek per se but using the basic setup for humor–for instance tiny metal beds n relationships sounds more like the galactica redo to me–at least galaxy quest paid homage to trek as much as it parodied it–that kinda spoof of trek is limited n gq already did it–so i doubt this will be similar–
Red Dwarf is a good example of a trek like comedy– very original humor going its own direction—hope trek911 does too
I’d watch it! XD
how about Star Trek V: The Full Frontal Frontier
“Galaxy Quest” almost ruined JJ Abrams’ Trek??? LOL! That’s hilarious. Galaxy Quest was more Trek than JJ’s Authorized Trek ever will be… It was more fun and satisfying too. Good luck to “Alabama”, I never was a die hard fan of RENO 911, but I caught the occasional show, and it was pretty funny now and then.
Wasn’t Galaxy Quest supposed to be funny? I never laughed once.
Also, Casablanca was good.
27 — then you have no soul.
Funny how “Galaxy Quest” always manages to come up in the heat of the moment. GQ is one of my favorite movies, and whenever I watch it, I can’t help but superimpose the TOS cast into the roles. If they had been in the film it would have been a real hoot. But GQ is a terrific film, and Tim Allen did a great Shatner. This is a movie I wish there was a sequel to.
As for the Trek parody, I’m all for it. I don’t think Star Trek needs to be taken all that seriously, and this may, in fact, draw in even more new fans. Love it or hate it, I think someone would have to live in a cave to not know what Star Trek is, and what it’s about. The idea of a sitcom — especially if it is smartly written — can only expand on what people think Star Trek is about, or supposed to be about. I hope it works out for Garant and Lennon.
@23. Jim Nightshade – “Red Dwarf is a good example of a trek like comedy…”
Huh? Let’s see – Star Trek was set in Space. Red Dwarf was set in Space.
Other elements that were “Trek like”…?
Uhhh… Nope. I Got nuthin’..
@18
I’m thinking that was — given the studio-bound nature of TOS — the point.
Galaxy Quest 2! Now with 100% more lens flares!
Quark was so awful, I know that now that it’s on DVD, when I was a kid I couldnt understand why it was canned. But I do now.
Red Dwarf proved comedy and sci-fi can work, and work well, as did the Hitch hikers guide to the galaxy (Books, Radio and original BBC series, not the motion picture, of course) and Futurama.
Qalaxy Quest was a hoot, and a real treat for trekkies.
Reno is a pisser, my remote always stops when it’s on… until the commercial, that is.
I hope they avoid the awful “Homeboyz in outer space” fate….
Trek parody can be so cliche at this point…the, at this point, unfunny references to red shirt deaths, McCoy’s “im a doctor not a (you fill in the blank), Kirk smooching it up with anything that moves…and setting a new record for getting “old” in record time, gay Sulu references. It’s all so very tired. Now if this new FOX parody can truly go where no Trek satire has gone before, the material is ripe for comedy and it really could be funny. But if they dig up the same old unfunny Trek references, it will die on the vine before it ever gets planted.
” I had to get special permission from Starfleet to wear this miniskirt. So I can be quick, like a Denebian Slime Cheetah.”
“Brilliant!”
~~ The Guinness guys
A Star Trek parody? How original!
Can we please just get a new Trek series already?!
…sounds like it could be good ;-)
BTW: Quark rules!
Sounds like it could be funny. I wonder if they will have an Alternate realty as well.
Sounds a lot like a live version of “Tripping the Rift”!
Ugh. Please let this die before it sees the light of day.
Ritsu, I agree! This is worthy of a facepalm!
Galaxy Quest was pure gold-pressed latinum.
the Reno 911 team?
no no no no no no no *Repeats forever*
now, Seth green and the “Robot Chicken” people MAYBE. I dunno.
Some of you people need to get over yourselves.
I’ve never been a fan of funny science fiction… but I will admit that some of the classic TREK light-hearted, humorous episodes were fun.
DS9 and Voyager did humor okay too… but overall, I found TNG humorless (when it really tried to be funny… ‘The Outrageous Okuda,’ for example). ‘Star Trek Enterprise,’ with its sole attempt at humor (the final episode), failed to be funny.
My scorecard for funny science fiction
‘Quark’ — fail
‘Lost in Space’ – fail
‘Galaxy Quest’ – rare success
‘Men in Black’ – utter yuck!
‘Sleeper’ – fail
‘Flash Gordon’ – another rare success
So, if we ware to see an attempt at a sci-fi spoof, I remain ambivalent… but that’s just me.
A true Trek comedy series, ala “Fawlty Towers”, set on Space Station K-7. I think it could work. And, every episode could have a tribble just randomly walking along in the background, or falling out of a cupboard..
#47:
oops… ware=are
Hey, YuBinit, #20, first I quote from Entertainment Weekly (EW) because it is a source of information. If I can put evidence behind an idea, I will. I quoted J.J. Abrams views on Galaxy Quest and Star Trek. They were NOT the editorial comment of EW. I do this so that way you won’t be saying I am arguing off the top of my head. Second, this website also quotes or uses Entertainment Weekly. For example, they posted photos of the new Green Lantern movie from the magazine. I guess that makes the guys behind this website as non-thinking people. Third, you should read the magazine before reducing everyone that reads it to vegetables. EW critics Lisa Schwarzbaum and Owen Gleiberman are intelligent film reviewers. Their writing is excellent and they will review almost every movie that comes out. And I mean virtually every one including indie and art films. Time Magazine doesn’t get to that many films, neither does Newsweek. So if you love movies, check out the movie section of the magazine.