On paper, a show about a starship crew traveling through space sounds similar to “Star Trek.” It’s also the general premise of “Lexx,” an underrated sci-fi series co-created by Paul Donovan, Lex Gigeroff, and Jeffrey Hirschfield that’s really nothing like Gene Roddenberry’s beloved franchise. In fact, Donovan believes that his show is like “Star Trek” with a dark side.
“In the past, I’ve referred to ‘Lexx’ as ‘Star Trek”s evil twin. People immediately understand that,” Donovan told Cinefantastique. “But if I had to find any real inspiration, I’d say ‘Alien,’ [Kon Ichikawa’s] ‘Fires on the Plane,’ and especially ‘Dark Star,’ which has a real twisted sense of humor.”
“Lexx” tells the story of a group of fugitives who commandeer a talking spaceship designed by a supervillain to destroy planets — a far cry from the USS Enterprise. What’s more, the crew consists of misfits, rogues, and criminals who aren’t heroes in the traditional sense. “Lexx” couldn’t be further removed from the “Star Trek” franchise — a saga that promotes egalitarian values and is mostly family-friendly. With that in mind, what makes the cult series so evil?
Lexx is a violent and raunchy sci-fi series
“Star Trek” follows a crew that wants to bring peace to the galaxy. Meanwhile, the main characters on “Lexx” are selfish, amoral miscreants who are only interested in their own gain. For example, the ship’s de facto captain, Stanley Tweedle (Brian Downey), is determined to find a planet that’s full of female inhabitants who’ll hook up with him. Elsewhere, 790/791/769 (Jeffrey Hirschfield) is an antagonistic robot with obsessive romantic tendencies.
Unlike “Star Trek,” “Lexx” is also full of sex and over-the-top violence. The forgotten ’90s series is very raunchy, which was one of Paul Donovan’s goals when he conceived it. “This is the type of TV show that people talk about when they protest violence and sex on TV,” he told Cinefantastique. “There’s definitely a lot of gruesome and twisted stuff that happens.”
For the most part, “Lexx” is pretty tongue-in-cheek, but the series occasionally adopts a more serious tone. Season 3 is the darkest of the bunch, with a serialized story about two planets at war with each other. It’s a stark contrast from Season 2, which is full of monster-of-the-week episodes. Season 4 is a satirical affair that moves the action to Earth. Every installment of “Lexx” is different from the others — but the show’s absurd, raunchy, and over-the-top qualities are always there.
