FX is dipping into the limited series game again, with the announcement via Deadline today that they are developing John Scalzi's 2012 Hugo-winning novel Redshirts into a miniseries. Its first limited series, Fargo, based on the Coens' movie, premieres in April.
A satirical take on the genre, Redshirts follows a spaceship crew in the 25th Century who begin to notice a disturbing pattern: every Away Mission takes them into deadly confrontations with alien forces; the most famous, senior officials always survive such battles, and low-ranking or newer members of the staff always die. Ultimately, they discover their reality has crossed wires with a TV show from the 21st Century, and are being controlled by planned out storylines they have no control over.
Sounds like a cross between Star Trek and Galaxy Quest, maybe even purposefully so, and like it could be a lot of fun. Jon Shestack and Ken Kwapis are producing, and Kwapis has plans to direct the first episode, but first they need to hire a writer to adapt it.