Two of the ones that I’ve had in mind for years are Explorers and Flight of the Navigator.
Both have similar story possibilities. For Explorers, the entire first season would be building up to going to the alien ship as they build their own spaceship, test the force field, make adjustments, etc. meanwhile forming their relationships… could easily check a few boxes with the casting as well by not having it all be 3 12-14 year old white boys.
As the seasons continue, grow their circle and who gets to know… even have a question on if the aliens are manipulating them in an effort to corrupt them or if they really are trying to form intergalactic peace.
Flight of the Navigator would have an EASY 9 year story arc. Could be done one of 2 ways… either set it in current day and the kid travels 8 years into the future. The first season is all getting back to “current day” which would then be a year behind… As each season progresses (1 year behind our “current”) it shows what happened…
OR… set it back to the original movie and have it be a period piece. I believe it started out in 1978 and he traveled to 1986… So, the kid does the same thing, but this time, travels back to 1978 and lives out the next 8 years, noting all the things they had learned when they traveled to 1986 the first time and maybe slight differences now that they are there. “Max” can show up from time to time to check on them and explain why their presence affects certain things now that they are present instead of skipping over those 8 years.
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