John Scalzi’s Trek inspired Redshirts is coming to TV

According to Deadline Hollywood, John Salzi’s not-quite-Trek, Trek inspired novel Redshirts has been picked up by cable network FX as a mini-series:

fx-logo-tight-crop

John Scalzi’s 2012 comedic sci-fi novel Redshirts is headed to the small screen. FX has teamed with veteran feature producer Jon Shestack (Dan In Real Life) and producer-director Ken Kwapis (Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants) and his partner Alexandra Beattie to develop a limited series based on the book, which won the 2013 Hugo Award. Search is underway for writers to pen the adaption, with Kwapis set to direct the opening episode.

About Redshirts:

scalzi_redshirts-t

 Set in the 25th century, Redshirts follows the adventures of five new recruits on the Starship Intrepid who come to realize that the ship’s crewmembers are dying at an alarming rate. Their investigation leads to the mind-bending discovery that a science fiction television show, produced in the early 21st century, has somehow “intruded” upon their reality and “warped” it. In other words, the lives of the crew are following the course of a television narrative over which they have no control. “Redshirts is a madcap, hyper-meta tale,” Shestack said. Added Kwapis, “If Jorge Luis Borges had been a staff writer on the original Star Trek, he would no doubt have concocted a story like Redshirts.”

– Source: Deadline.com

31 Comments
oldest
newest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

How fun! I need to find that novel :-) …

… FIRST?

Does anyone remember “How Much for Just the Planet?” – novel from years ago. Laugh-out-loud funny. Might be fun to see STC do a comedic episode … I would love to see the character of Mudd again. Alas Roger C. Carmel has gone on to the stars, but the character is so fun.

:-D first!

Great, more “making fun of Star Trek” stuff.

:-(

So Trek is sort of coming back to TV.

Yay.

If you’re bothered that this book is being made into a TV show because it “makes fun of Star Trek,” I’m sorry, but that’s just sad. It’s a great novel, quite funny, and an interesting take on the red shirt joke.

That’s an interesting premise. I’ll try and lay my hands on the book – I’ve never read it. And I’d certainly give the show a go if it airs here.

#3

I know! As if the last couple of movies weren’t enough…

;-)

I wonder if CBS will watch the ratings on this to see if a real Trek TV series would be viable for a comeback?

I love how people who have not read this book think it is “mocking” Trek. This book no more “mocks” Trek than Galaxy Quest, with a similar nod and tone. Can’t wait!

3. MJ, It’s okay, really. Variety is the spice of Star Trek life, and for the most part, Trek and its fans have a good sense of humor about its place in our culture. It’s not a sacred cow. It’s something we love — and we can have fun with it — while at other times we absorb its deeper lessons and morality and philosophize as we critically review.

Do you remember the “MAD” magazine parody called “Star Dreck,” circa 1968? That issue of MAD was one of the of the most popular prozines I remember at conventions in the 80s!

Even the people who aren’t fans of the Altverse movies are still Trek fans. Some humor won’t harm Trek, my friend. Think of “Galaxy Quest”!

Well, let’s see what FX does with it. Do all of you who like this novel really think that the lowbrow FX network will do it justice. I hope I am wrong, but looked for it to be sexed up, etc, for the masses.

And actually, I have this book, and will read it soon. I kind of liked Old Man’s War by this author — wasn’t a great book, but it wasn’t bad either. Kind of like a Fred Pohl book, but by a more average writer. That’s why I have been delaying on starting Red Shirts. Now, I will give it a shot.

Great, but it’s incredible we get stuff like that instead of any real new Star Trek on TV. In a way – and I love to live on similariities like that – it sounds like Star Wars – Detours! I used to be very pissed at that concept in early 2012 but only six months later we learned that Star Wars would return in all its glory… So why not Star Trek?

The joke that is nine-year hiatus of a hit franchise surrounded by huge genre success may soon be over… or not…

I still hope CBS has got their master plan up their sleeves…

This is awesome, Scalzi is one of if not my favorite writer. I wonder what’s going on with the plans to bring Old Man’s War to the big screen. last I heard, Wolfgang Petersen was directing and it was in the screenwriting stage.

@13

Old Man’s War = great sf concept, but only a mediocre story delivery and characters. Like Ringwold by Niven.

That’s not to say that a great script writing team couldn’t make a great movie out of it, because, like I said, it was a great sf concept.

Congrats Marja! (they say you always remember your “first”) ;-)

but seriously… ;-) this does look like it will be fun! =D

…too bad i just cancelled my cable, oh well! =(

I might watch this. Sci-fi parodies are always fun, and now that Futurama has been cancelled and Red Dwarf seems to be taking another break, it will be nice to have something to fill the void. I’d rather get a new Trek series though. I’m so desperate for Trek episodes that I don’t already know by heart that I’ve resorted to watching the Animated Series.

Very excited about this, I read the book last year & it was a blast. A very funny & well written book. Star Trek fans should read the book & enjoy it.

@ 11. MJ – February 8, 2014

“Well, let’s see what FX does with it. Do all of you who like this novel really think that the lowbrow FX network will do it justice. I hope I am wrong, but looked for it to be sexed up, etc, for the masses.”

One of the best new TV series in 2013 was “The Americans”, a FX original show. The Shield, Damages & Justified are all FX shows.

Now if only we could get a movie adaptation of Night of the Living Trekkers. That was a fun book. And yes,I know it’s not the correct title,but it is to ME. lol!

J-R!

Actually, it was a funny book, but that funny.

I’ve always found Scalzi to not be as great as the hype surrounding him.
A lot of his stories feel like rehashes of–his other stories.

While I do enjoy Scalzi, I wouldn’t say he’s the best or most original writer I’ve read.

“I’ve always found Scalzi to not be as great as the hype surrounding him.
A lot of his stories feel like rehashes of–his other stories. While I do enjoy Scalzi, I wouldn’t say he’s the best or most original writer I’ve read.”

Exactly. He is a competent writer, but certain not a great one. He’s no Heinlein or Hamilton.

This was AWESOME on Audible! If you have not tried it yet go download your one free trial book with membership. You can always cancel membership if you don’t want another $15 a month bill. But I bet you will love the book, I recommend Enders Game and Unbroken as the other two books to get with a membership. Sorry for the sales pitch but these books are really fun!

@21

Unbroken is outstanding!

Didn’t they already film an adaptation? I seem to recall it having the title “Galaxy Quest.”

I kid, I kid. I read “Redshirts” on a long flight s few months ago and LOVED it. Not just a great homage, but also a thought-provoking novel with interesting ideas about identity and the nature of reality.

There’s “making fun of” in a way that shows those making the parody truly truly love the source material but see there are tropes that can be played for comedy; then there’s “making fun of” like Big Bang Theory that is clearly mocking the subject of the humor. “Redshirts” is the former, and really any of Scalzi’s work is worth a look.

I’ll take Galaxy Quest for 500 Alex.

I’ve just finished reading ‘Redshirts’ and found it to be both very funny and also with an interesting premise. I look forward to see what sort of a TV series is made out of it.

Reminds me a bit of one of those fan-written short stories from the late ’70s called “Visit to a Weird Planet Revisited.” I think the author was Ruth Berman (no relation, I don’t think, to Rick Berman). This was the one where Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley are transported accidentally to the “real” Starship Enterprise (while Kirk, Spock, and McCoy were transported to the set of “Star Trek” – the title of that one was “Visit to a Weird Planet” by Jean Lorrah). Interesting story where Shatner really had to “be” Kirk, and Scotty recognized right off that the three were “imposters” due to the makeup job on Nimoy’s ears. Cute story.

Oh get overyourself MJ, always have to Grumpily complain about anything light hearted and fun.

Parody is the sincerest form of flattery,

And FX is hardly low brow, SOA, AHS, Justified are some of the best produced shows on television today and those are……..
wait for it ………

FX shows.

IN the imortal words of William Shatner “GET A LIFE!!”

#28

What’s an “Iam” ?

DiscoSpock,

“Iam” (as in Iam’s) is a pet food brand for cats and dogs. :-)

Couple of my Trek buddies were just discussing about this book last weekend. Plus FX has been my favourite network since they started producing Justified…definitely convinced to read the book now. I very much enjoyed the recent ongoing comic book series with Sulu’s sister but more Trek goodies are sincerely appreciated anytime!