Taking sci-fi to the ocean's floor, SeaQuest DSV chronicled the adventures of a huge and high-tech research submarine, the DSV or "Deep Submergence Vehicle." Produced by Steven Spielberg's production company Amblin Entertainment and assigned with what's reportedly the highest budget ever handed to a television (two million dollars an episode), this show wielded some impressive hit-show-making weapons.

By the year 2019, according to the show's premise, the sea would represent a major component of global resources-and a vulnerable one, thanks to man's sometimes not-so-gentle use of the Earth. Underwater mining and farming were big business, and it was the job of the DSV sub to patrol the ocean depths, working to preserve peace and further scientific research. The SeaQuest operated under the auspices of the UEO-the United Earth Oceans-an international oceanographic governing organization. It all sounds very James T. Kirk" Shatner, and Charlton "you know who he is" Heston.

Fans still lament that this show's writers and producers shuffled around as much as they did, and that its run was only three years. It hooked people early on, especially those eager for another fictional odyssey into the unknown. Jumping into the swimming pool and looking for mining colonies that aren't there-well, it's just not the same.