Jaws references revealed in SeaQuest DSV ahead of it surfacing on Bluray
Nearly two decades after the release of Jaws, Roy Scheider and Steven Spielberg headed out to the ocean once more, this time below the sea in the science-fiction action TV series, SeaQuest DSV. And now, it is headed to Bluray this July.
Scheider played Captain Nathan Bridger who had switched his need of a bigger boat to a faster, bigger state-of-the-art submarine, the titular SeaQuest DSV. Bridger wasn’t just the captain of his ship, but in true Captain Nemo style he designed it as well.
Two-time Oscar nominee Roy Scheider was still best recognised and known for his role as Chief Brody in Jaws. Since then, he’d got to grips with a high-tech helicopter in Blue Thunder (1983) and been into space in 2010 (1984), so you could say this was a drop in the ocean.
The other major Jaws link was also the involvement of Steven Spielberg as one of the executive producers, no doubt he was a large reason for Scheider stepping onboard as helming the series from a lead actor point of view.
But there were other links to Jaws, in fact all of them are links to the crew of the Orca.
Quint
In an episode of SeaQuest DSV Captain Bridger is sat outside at a café or restaurant, behind him is a sign for a shop which reads Quint’s Nautical Treasures, this scene was shot at Universal Studios Florida, home of Jaws the Ride.
Brody
Cast changes were a regular occurrence between each series of SeaQuest, and season 2 saw the introduction of a Lieutenant Brody. Coincidence? Surely not, hopefully Lt James Brody actor Edward Kerr shared a “I’m Brody, I’m Brody” moment with Brody actor, Roy Scheider.
There was also a guest appearance by wannabe Chief Brody, Charlton Heston in one episode.
Hooper
During the end credits of the first season, Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Institute, would speak briefly about an aspect of current undersea research, related to that week’s episode. The Woods Hole Institute is of course where Matt Hooper is based as part of the oceanographic institute.
And Ballard, the man who discovered the wrecks of the Titanic and Bismarck was also the technical advisor for the show. You could say he knew a think or two about finding bigger boats.
The first two series of SeaQuest show were set in the then futuristic 2018, when man has colonised the oceans, and Bridger and his sub have been enlisted by the United Earth Oceans Organization to keep the peace and explore the far reaches of the sea.
Think of it as NBC’s watery answer to Star Trek: The Next Generation, but in a less far-flung future, and came with a strong environmental message, from the aforementioned Ballard.
With its strong environmental message and being about protecting the oceans, it would have been great for them to get Jaws author Peter Benchley involved in one episode, whether that be as a writer or even for a small cameo.
Talking of cameos, the image of Captain Bridger's wife, Carol, is the actual wife of Roy Scheider. played by Brenda Siemer Scheider.
Like many, I was genuinely so excited for this TV series when it was announced, just for the pairing of Scheider and Spielberg again alone, but unfortunately the reality was that it was often slow, tried to be more science fact than fiction and kind of didn’t know what it wanted to be.
And then neither did the show’s makers. Brody…I mean Nathan Bridger grew a beard for series 2, scripts became more sci-fi and action-orientated.
Spielberg disembarked after series 2 and series 3 was retitled to SeaQuest 2032 – flinging it to that year – with Scheider jumping ship as captain and from the series after the season opener and a couple of episode appearances, due to his contract.
It now had Michael Ironside taking over lead duties. Sadly, the submarine series continued to sink in the ratings, and it never recovered. All viewers were lost were lost after 13 episodes of the third season.
After making his feelings known about the director of Jaws 2, and his vocal and very public comments on not wanting to touch Jaws 3D or Jaws the Revenge with a bargepole, when NBC started meddling with SeaQuest season 2, Scheider was just as vocal. I guess you could say it was a Bridger too far for the Jaws icon.
He even called it “childish trash” in media interviews, blasting the network for its interference with the change of creative direction of the show. Put simply, it was no longer the original show that he had signed up for.
It’s a shame that the show’s makers didn’t stick to their guns as we all know that early The Next Generation took time to find its stride, and some of their dialogue was just as clunky.
Roy Scheider appearing in the show gave it a real sense of grandeur, film stars flitting between the small and big screen is more commonplace today than it was in 1993, so this was a big deal.
And with him Scheider did bring a real sense of gravitas - just with his voice alone – and looking back he shared some great moments and scenes with the young Jonathan Brandis (who sadly died very young) and Darwin the talking dolphin (voiced by Frank Welker who voices Fred and Scooby-Doo). Take that, Cindy and Sandy!
And, like Bruce the shark, that dolphin was an animatronic, which still looks pretty great to this day.
The show also had several interesting guest stars from Star Trek and Star Wars, including both Captain Kirk actor William Shatner and Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill. And, hey, we also got a cool hammerhead shark in the show’s title sequence.
It is unknown if the ten-disk Bluray release will feature any extras, but the troubled three seasons would certainly give it plenty of material, and no doubt there are significant making ofs and behind the scenes from the time of production for a series that aspired to do great things.
Words by Dean Newman
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