Retro Sci Fi TV: A look at shows from the past that may not have stood the test of time and/or that are relegated to their era, but many of us still have fond memories of them.
What Is It? In the far future, the System Commonwealth links many alien races together across multiple galaxies under a constitutional monarchy, but it is threatened by the super humans known as the Nietzscheans and the alien race called the Magogs. Amidst the conflict, the starship Andromeda Ascendant it caught at the edge of a black hole with only its captain Dylan Hunt onboard and frozen in time. Over three hundred years later, the ship is discovered by a salvage crew and the captain is revived. He learns that the Commonwealth has fallen and that the era of “The Long Night” has begun. He then recruits the crew of the salvage ship to restore the Commonwealth and “rekindle the light of civilization” in the galaxy.
Aired: Syndicated/Sci Fi Channel, 2000-05, 5 Seasons Totaling 110 Episodes
Starring: Kevin Sorbo, Lisa Ryder, Keith Hamilton Cobb, Lexa Doig, Laura Bertram, Gordon Michael Woolvett, Brent Stait
Created By: Gene Roddenberry
Is it Must-Watch Sci Fi TV? No. This show never quite lived up to its promise. Its first two seasons were its best, but even those did not count as top-notch sci fi.
The Skinny: Throughout the ’90s, epic sci fi TV thrived in syndication and off the main broadcast networks with shows like the Star Trek sequels, Babylon 5, Stargate: SG-1, and Earth: Final Conflict. Andromeda came in at the tale end of that with a Gene Roddenberry connection as it was based on an idea he had previously come up with for a TV series, but it was never picked up while he was alive. His widow (and former Star Trek actress) Majel Barret began developing this after having success with Earth: Final Conflict, and veteran Trek writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe was brought on to assist and act as showrunner.
The show proved successful in syndication, but despite its five-year run it has not gone on to be counted as a sci fi TV classic. It suffered from a lower budget than the other space shows it was competing against (looking particularly cheap compared to the cinematic Farscape that debuted the prior year), and it did not make up for that with strong stories or characters. While the cast did what they could with the scripts, their characters were too close to genre archtypes and they were often burdened with copy-and-paste dialogue. The first two seasons were the show’s best, but even those never came close to counting as great sci fi TV. Robert Hewitt Wolfe left during the second season when the decision was made to move to a more episodic format and focus mainly on Kevin Sorbo’s Dylan Hunt character.
More behind-the-scenes changes would follow throughout the show’s run which would give it an overall uneven feel. The show put out some good episodes from time to time, and Sorbo definitely did well in the lead role (and he had some good support from the other cast members). But it was hampered by budget constraints that often resulted in a rather cheesy final product that (unintentionally) verged into camp at times. Despite its initial promise, Andromeda ended up counting as a show that could have been great but never quite lived up to its potential.
Cancelled Too Soon? No. This show performed quite well in syndication over its first four seasons, often landing in the Top 5 syndicated scripted series. The Sci Fi Channel picked it up for its fifth season which got it past the 100 episode mark to guarantee that it would have an extended life in encore runs.
Should It Be Rebooted? Possibly. As mentioned above, the show had a good premise and a reboot could spin an epic space-based series from that which could turn into a sci fi classic. But Andromeda has mostly faded from memory and probably would not bring much name-recognition (unless emphasizing the Gene Roddenberry connection) or nostalgia. There are many other ideas that could be turned into great sci fi TV (such as Roddenberry’s similarly themed Genesis II, see below), so Andromeda would probably find itself pretty low on the reboot list.
Interesting Fact: The name Dylan Hunt originated in Gene Roddenberry’s 1973 pilot Genesis II. That had a similar theme of a man waking from suspended animation to a world that has collapsed and needs to be rebuilt. But it was a more grounded show that took place on a post-apocalyptic Earth (and you can read more about that one at this link). Andromeda is considered by some to be a reboot of Genesis II, and while it did borrow some of the same concepts along with the main character’s name, it was very much its own show.
Where Can You Watch It? The entire series has been released on DVD and Blu-ray (though the latter appears to be out of print and fetching pretty high prices). It is available to stream for free with ads on several services such as Tubi TV, The Roku Channel, and IMDb TV
Read More About the Show: Wikipedia | IMDb.com
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