SeaQuest

It's always the same thing. No matter how good or bad a show is, the ratings alone decide it's faith. With good ratings a show is renewed every season and nobody will make changes to it's format. With bad ratings a show is canceled after (or during) it's first season.

But what if the ratings are not good enough to have the show renewed for another season, but not bad enough to have the show canceled either. Then they always make a second season that is so different from the first one that the few fans it had will stop watching and no new viewers will tune in. Will they ever learn it's better to cancel a show than to dramatically change it? Changing it will only make you lose the audience it has. It will not bring in new viewers! And that is what happened to SeaQuest DSV. It was a great show in the beginning. But the changes they made to the format didn't just scare the few fans it had away, it even scared it's lead (Roy Scheider) away!

Should be a phrase ingrained in the minds of every would-be hollywood director/producer, especially after what Harrisburg and Co. did to SeaQuest DSV; which was (in my opinion) one of the best tv shows ever due to its original concept of exploring the oceans, rescue missions, and minor international conflict displayed in the first season.

But why oh why did the producers feel the need to change the set up from science fact to silly science fiction upon season two? Did it have something to do with the end of Star Trek: TNG and the producers wanting to fill its shoes? Perhaps... but I'm sorry, the sci-fi concept did not work for Seaquest and the ratings (or lack there of) proved that!

I did have to commend the producers for trying to make a come back in the third season with science "fact" and continuity, but the stories weren't all that good and the casting of Cap. Hudson was one of the series ultimate down-falls. On the other hand, had Bridger remained at the helm the series would've at least survived the whole third season (my speculation). Thankfully SeaQuest has home on the Sci-Fi channel.. as long as they stop rescheduling it back an hour!

Seaquest DSV was a show that could have stood above all the mediocre offerings out in TV Land today. At a time when Television Sci Fi is being bombarded with Aliens, Eco Terrorists, Mythical beasties Seaquest was an attempt to give the world an accurate depiction of what our future 'could' have been. Now I am a HUGE Sci Fi nut and will always love the genre, but I was thrilled when I saw the first episode come on TV in 1993. Here was a future mankind could actually look forward to. No Spaceships zipping across galaxies in half an hour, No ray guns that would vaporize an enemy. Here was Science, without the fiction. Deep sea colonization, deep sea mining, exploring underwater volcano's, All of this was within the realm of what Man could achieve. Seaquest presented an atmosphere where ALL nationalities came together with a goal of bettering ourselves, not just snatch and grab. Alas, it was not meant to be. The evil Ratings gods looked at the 1st season's ratings and said.."Let's make it more Science FICTION" And the fans died off one by one. They, like me, stayed faithfully with the show thru it's second season. But by season 3 the interest was gone and what could have been a Shining example of the Future, became just another entry in the book of "What might wave been"

I had to chime in here. I had the greatest expectation for this show when it came out. While the first season needed a bit of help in the writing department... most do. But, while the principal reviewer credited the show with improved writing over the prevailing seasons... I most certainly do not. They forced too much change each season and the writing just continually got worse. I would love to go back to the end of the first season and redirect it on the same path it was on. I would push for better writing, but keep it on the same path. This series could have been a new "Star Trek," but instead it became a joke.

I was 12 when SeaQuest premiered on a Sunday night in 1993. I was so excited because Steven Spielberg was one of the producers, Roy Scheider (Jaws!!) was the captain and Jonathan Brandis was so cool thanks to Ladybugs and the Neverending Story 2.

I absolutely loved the first season. Recently rewatching it has filled me with warm feelings of nostalgia. It was such a great show.

Like so many others have said, everything went downhill with season 2. I completely understand why Scheider left. The stories were horrendous and the writing laughable and cringe-inducing. The worst part is that I had invested a year with the first crew and was very fond of them. For a 12 year old with not a lot of friends, I enjoyed seeing and depending on these characters to be there every Sunday night.