Why Roy Scheider Trashed SeaQuest DSV During Its Second Season
Amelia Brooks Oscar-nominee Roy Scheider is best known for Jaws but in the 1990s he starred in TV series SeaQuest DSV, only for this time on the show to go sour.
The late Roy Scheider left behind a long resume of great work, but he ended up highly displeased by his time on SeaQuest DSV. A two-time Oscar-nominee, Scheider is best known for playing Chief Martin Brody in Steven Spielberg's 1975 classic Jaws, and its sequel Jaws 2. Scheider also starred in several other classics, including The French Connection, Marathon Man, and All That Jazz. He also took the lead for 2010: The Year We Make Contact, a somewhat contested sequel to Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Roy Scheider was also known as a man who didn't mince words, once admitting that not even The Devil himself could've talked him into returning to play Chief Brody in Jaws 3, after having a terrible time working with director Jeannot Swarzc on Jaws 2. Scheider wasn't a man who suffered fools either, and those who he found to be foolish often weren't spared getting on his bad side. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing in some cases, as Scheider also wouldn't let himself be pushed around by studio executives.
By 1993, Scheider was in his early 60s but still actively working as an actor, and ready for a new project. He signed on to play lead character Captain Nathan Bridger on SeaQuest DSV, a sci-fi show that counted his old Jaws director Steven Spielberg as an executive producer. Unfortunately, by the middle of season 2, the star had grown to hate SeaQuest DSV, feeling that it had become "childish trash." The star of a major TV show being so blunt about his opinion of it in public is nearly unheard of, but it turns out Scheider had good reasons behind his comments.
When SeaQuest DSV began, its mission statement was to be smart sci-fi, setting itself not too far into the then future, and focusing on scientific advances that could actually be possible. SeaQuest DSV, fitting the name of its titular ship, was a show more about thoughtful stories that incorporated lots of exploration and even environmentalist messaging. Scheider was happy with how season 1 turned out and ratings were good enough to earn a second season. Unfortunately, that's where things quickly started to go sideways for the Chief Brody star.
Production was moved to Florida for season 2, leading several cast members to quit, including female lead Stephanie Beacham. On top of that, NBC abruptly fired other cast and replaced them with younger actors. It wasn't just the cast of SeaQuest DSV that changed, as it moved away from a thoughtful portrayal of a scientifically advanced future into an action-heavy program that featured elements like aliens and monsters. That led to Scheider's fateful interview with the Orlando Sentinel, in which he lambasted what SeaQuest DSV had become and expressed his shame over being part of it.
In essence, Scheider felt he had been sold a bill of goods, then abruptly had the rug yanked out from under him. He tried to quit before season 3, but NBC forced him to appear in the first few episodes to hand the reigns to new lead - and serial cinematic limb loser - Michael Ironside. In hindsight, Scheider seems to have been proven right as SeaQuest DSV's ratings went steadily downward, and the show was canceled after season 3.
