Steven Spielberg's '90s NBC Sci-Fi Series Featured Jaws Star Roy Scheider

He might be one of the most influential voices in science fiction, but when so many creatives boldly went where no one had gone before, Steven Spielberg never ventured near the "Star Trek" universe. The closest he came was a show set in the not-too-distant future that followed a dedicated, science-focused crew protecting the ocean's depths in NBC's "SeaQuest DSV." Airing between 1993 and 1996, the series was backed by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and was initially led by Roy Scheider, the star of Spielberg's classic shark-and-survival movie "Jaws."

Much like the crews that had already been saving alien planets and fighting angry space invaders, "SeaQuest DSV" had a team of talented heroes who were all for making the future a better place. Scheider played Captain Nathan Bridger, the commander of the vessel that looked like a futuristic squid, and was joined by some pretty big names on the show. The late Jonathan Brandis played a teenage tech genius, Lucas Wolenczak, and Don Franklin played Commander Jonathan Ford, essentially the Riker to Bridger's Picard. Given that shows like "The Orville" have proven they can give Gene Roddenberry's universe a run for its money, what was it that stopped "SeaQuest DSV" from lasting longer than three seasons? Well, for that, you can thank questionable storylines that were so damaging they led the show's lead to jump ship after the second season.

By the second season, "Seaquest DSV" had changed trajectory and was leaning even closer to the "Star Trek" formula by including monsters of the week, while also being a more action-oriented show. It was a creative choice that Scheider wasn't on board with and was very vocal about as it developed. Speaking to the Orlando Sentinel, Scheider declared, "It's total, total childish trash. I'm ashamed of it." The star did his best to stick it out so as not to tarnish Amblin, Spielberg, and the show that he was initially all for being a part of. He added, "I feel betrayed. I feel I've not been told the truth."

By season 3, Scheider did indeed abandon ship, only to be replaced by a screen legend in his own right, Michael Ironside. The star of "Total Recall" and terrifying '80s horror, "Scanners" had made demands in his contract that he wouldn't be fighting fire-breathing worms or giant crocodiles, as Scheider did in the previous season. Unfortunately, even with that gear and name change by the third season (it had been retitled "seaQuest 2032"), it wasn't enough, and the show was canned in 1996. Ultimately, "seaQuest" in all its forms remains something of a cult television series that tried its best. Perhaps in another time and with someone else at the helm, the water-based sci-fi series could've reached the heights of "Babylon 5" or "The Orville," but sadly sank under the pressure of what it was aiming for.