US FX Network Commissions New Sci-Fi Sit-Com UPDATED

It sounds like it could be a Trek parody and comes from the makers of US sit-com that’s big over there (but we haven’t heard of it… sorry)

Are you ready for the new Red Dwarf or living in fear of the next Hyperdrive ? The US FX Network has commissioned a part-improvised comedy pilot that sounds suspiciously like a Star Trek parody, according to The Hollywood Reporter ’s Live Feed blog.

Although the series as yet appears to have no name*, the show is set a thousand years in the future, the follows the crew of the space ship USS Alabama as they embark on 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," says the FX press release.

The show is created by and stars Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant, famous in the States for a comedy called Reno 911 , a spoof show that ran from 2003 to 2009, taking the mick out of those fly-on-the-wall police documentaries. Like the new sci-fi show, it was part improvised.

But can it be anywhere near as good as Galaxy Quest ? Now, there's a film that deserves a TV spin-off.

* Update: It will be called Alabama , apparently. If it’s a Trek spoof, surely it should be called Iowa ?

Dave Golder
Freelance Writer

Dave is a TV and film journalist who specializes in the science fiction and fantasy genres. He's written books about film posters and post-apocalypses, alongside writing for SFX Magazine for many years.