FX Developing Comedic Sci Fi Novel Redshirts As Limited Series

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.

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