Draft:Space Lightning

Space Lightning is a made for kids family TV show about May Starshine, a teenage intergalactic influencer aboard the Star Ship Intellectus, and it’s zany crew of Space Fleet officers. Space Lightning originally aired on Yippee! TV streaming network debuting in December 2022 and then went on to be distributed through Amazon Prime video as well. The show was marketed as a "Star Trek meets Lazy Town on a spaceship made of cardboard and duck tape.” Written and created by Michael Bauer, and developed by Adam Mellema.

The series later received notoriety when it was selected to screen at the Chinese Theater in Hollywood as part of Dances With Films premier kids festival in 2024, receiving mentions in Movie Maker Magazine, Awards Radar, and Divine Magazine.

May Starshine (played by Kay Sibal)
May Starshine, Intergalactic Influencer and intern on the ship, her main job is to document life in outer space for her social media channel. Her videos have a positive message, laced with her own signature style of song and music. She is the empathetic beating heart of the crew and means well but sometimes falls into the every-day pitfalls of teenage life.

Her social media channel does so well that the upper ranks of Space Fleet take notice and even the Admiral assigns May events to cover for her channel. As the series progresses we soon learn that the Space Fleet Admiralty may be up to some environmentally nefarious things which they pressure May to use her influencer skills to cover up. It’s up to May to stand up for herself and her friends and do the right thing. Her instrument of choice is the keytar synthesizer and her own awesome singing voice.

LT Honeydew (Played by Pablo E. Martinez)
LT Honeydew is the chief engineer of the Star Ship Intellectus. He works closely with his partner Binx, a robotic computer systems expert. Honeydew is best friends with May since they are close in age, and when he is not taking care of the ship’s engines he can be seen practicing his favorite hobby, hover boarding around the ship’s hallways.

He is fun loving, laid back, but also has a tendency to play pranks and practical jokes that sometimes get him into trouble. His instrument of choice is the drums.

The Captain (Played by Michael Bauer)
The Captain holds the highest rank on the ship despite his foolhardy, brash and ofttimes arrogant nature. Though he is in charge, he probably knows the least about what is going on at any given time. His main interests are savoring every edible delicacy the galaxy has to offer as well as adorning himself in the latest and most manly space fashion.

He is especially obsessed with capes, belt buckles, and his captain boots, which he is constantly polishing. The Captain's instrument of choice is the electric guitar.

Amy Neutrino (played by Kathryn Schott)
Amy Neutrino is the highly intelligent Science Officer of the Star Ship Intellectus. Her job is to deal with all things scientific, provide explanations for obscure anomalies, and invent gadgets to solve any problem the crew comes up against. However, Amy is is sometimes too intelligent for her own good and can become paralyzed by the multitude of options for solutions.

In her spare time, she invents her own gadgets that help with her particular issues of losing track of things, being on time, and remembering to put her shoes on the right feet. Despite her tendency to get flabbergasted, she is brilliant and specializes in the study of dark matter and black holes. Her instrument of choice is the electric violin, and the tambourine.

Jolio Quark (played by Rogelio Douglas III)
Jolio Quark is the First Mate of the Star Ship Intellectus and the Captain’s second in command. He is the highly organized schedule keeper and documentarian of the crews progress or lack thereof. In his spare time, Jolio is extremely passionate about art, poetry, and music.

When he is not performing his duties, Jolio can be found listening to classical music and painting, or composing sonnets about the vastness of space. He loves to read both classical plays as well as expertly formatted instruction manuals. His instrument of choice is the bass guitar.

Binx (voiced by Michael Bauer)
Binx is the robotic computer specialist of the crew. He is programmed to come up with solutions to each and every problem in the blink of an eye, however no one tends to ask him for them. His speech is limited and he talks about himself in the 3rd person, and the Captain has no idea Binx can even talk.

Since he normally functions as a computer processing bot, he takes every chance he can to go out on adventures with May, and he is even learning how to hoverboard with LT Honeydew.

Admiral Centuri
Admiral Centuri is one of the seven people to hold the rank of Admiral in Space Fleet. She answers to the board of directors, a dark machiavellian trio of anonymous behind the scenes officers. She is no nonsense, fierce and forceful but also possesses the unquestioning loyalty of a soldier. Her dedication is to the fleet first and foremost.

Later in the series it’s revealed that she is ordering Space Fleet equipment and trash to be illegally dumped on outer rim planets and asteroids and it is up to May to confront her and set her right. Admiral Centuri’s main source of aggravation is managing The Captain, who’s constant bungling is a stain on her reputation.

Series History
Space Lightning was created and written by Michael Bauer who also plays the Captain. He pitched it to Adam Mellema the director of content for Yippee TV, a family content streaming service and subsidiary of TBN network in 2021. The original concept for the show was that is was going to be geared to younger audiences of 2-4, and May and Honeydew were going to be puppets while the adult characters would be played by live actors. The original idea was that May was going to be an orphan from another planet with special powers that no one knew about which made her different. She would then need to hide her powers even if she used them for good so no one would know. However the idea evolved further after concept meetings. Yippee TV agreed to shoot a pilot at TBN studios in Tustin, CA and after shooting network executives wanted to age it up to appeal to the tween demographic. After reading in a study that the dream job of most kids ages 7-14 was in fact “influencer,” May’s character became the social media influencer of the ship and was given the same issues to deal with as any normal teen with a social media following.

The series originally had a ten episode arc for season one that revolved around the mystery of who was responsible for illegally dumping hazardous trash and dangerous tech on off-world locations, while highlight a specific character’s challenge per episode. However when C5 Productions LLC began shooting more sketch-style promos for Yippee, it became clear that a sketch comedy approach with short physical comedy style arcs worked better for the series so the plot took on this direction. Creators detail the process in a 2023 Canvas Rebel Magazine and Podcast interview.

Design
The entire set and artwork for the show is made from cardboard and duck tape. Set designer Kathryn Schott, who also plays Amy Neutrino, was able to keep costs down by using only recycled cardboard and painting it to look like a space ship. They do not shy away from this in the series, rather they lean into the weirdness. They show the strings of the space ship as is floats through the air, and the awkward puppet wires and duck taped knobs and buttons as part of the shows charming aesthetic. This design choice to use recycled materials goes hand in hand with the show’s environmentally conscious theme.

Music
Music for the pilot episode was written by Eric Shouse. Theme music and underscoring composed by Michael Bauer. Music is intended to have a retro 80’s feel, and uses keyboard and synth wave sounds.

Costumes
Costumes were designed and created by Michael Bauer who took inspiration from the original Star Trek uniforms.

Themes
The five main characters have all been written to embody one of the five qualities the creators felt a good leader should have: courage, intelligence, passion, humor, and empathy. The Captain embodies courage, Amy is intelligence, Jolio is passion, Honeydew is humor, and May is empathy. However, taken to their extreme, each of these qualities turns into a vice: courage turns to arrogance, intelligence turns to paralysis of action due to an excess of thought, passion turns to distraction, humor can turn to cruelty, and empathy can turn to anxiety.

In each of these episodes, at least one of these character’s qualities have been pushed to excess, turning from virtue to vice and it is up to the other characters to bring them back to a place of balance. In this way, the five character crew of the Star Ship Intellectus act as the psychological make up of a good leader, teaching kids how to become leaders themselves and what to do when faced with similar challenges. Michael Bauer began creation of the series in 2020 in reaction to political events in the United States and after asking himself what he could do to ensure future generations don’t fall prey to poor leadership choices. His depiction of the Captain is meant to push other characters into positions that show audiences how to deal with difficult bosses/leadership/authority figures that we many not always agree with. The name of the space ship, “Intellectus” is latin for “understanding.”

The show originally was meant to have an environmentally conscious theme as the crew discovered it was actually their ranking superiors who were spreading trash thought out the galaxy. However the series moved away from that and focused on questions of: -How to navigate social media responsibly.

-What to do if you disagree with authority figures.

-Importance of telling the truth.

-How to behave in different relationships.

-The importance of scientific facts over beliefs.

-Leading with empathy and understanding.

Fun Facts
-The entire cast is made up of UCLA Theater Film and TV school graduates, where Bauer teaches undergraduate acting.

-The Star Ship Intellectus is modeled after the original Romulan Bird of Prey 2380

-Before filming, the actors rehearsed in the style of Commedia dell'arte in order to find their character's mannerisms and physicalities.

-Cast members took turns puppetting the character of Binx in different scenes, including the executive producer, Adam Mellema.