What is this story about 20 y.o. inexperienced "kids" fighting against a stronger foe in space?

Question

Years ago (mid 90's) I saw a show on network TV, and I'm trying to figure out what the name of it was. The parts of the plot I remember are:

1. The crew consisted of 20-year-olds (half were women). They were on some mission when they lose their commander. They must then try to get back home, while being tracked down by a foe in a faster, more powerful ship.

2. One of the main characters turns traitor. He's locked up in the brig pending a decision on his fate. He hangs himself, and his body is incinerated by the crew.

3. One of the main characters plays a video game that basically looks like a visor over his face. While playing the game, he's given an idea on how to outwit their foe by using the laser cannon on their ship to create a holographic projection of a larger ship.

4. In the end, they are about to be destroyed by a torpedo launched from the enemy ship. The torpedo is destroyed by a laser beam from a friendly capital ship that arrives at the last moment.

5. I remember there being some sort of romance sub-plot to the show as well between two crew members.

Other non-plot details:

• This was live action, not animated.
• I remember the special effects being quite high-end.
• The guns on the ships were manipulated by a person sitting in a gunnery chair. This chair projected a holographic view of the fight in front of him/her. From there the gunner used a joystick and a keypad to control the weapons on the ship.
• All the crew wore simple Star-Trek style uniforms throughout the entire program, so no jumpsuits or helmets.

I don't know if this was a movie or a TV show, because I never actually saw the beginning of it. I think I saw at least 45 minutes worth, so it could be either as far as I know.

That's all I remember, other than I think the name of the show was fairly generic (something like "Star Command"). I loved the show as a kid even though I only saw it once. I would like to watch it again and see how lame it really was.

Answer 1

I tried to find this movie for quite some time. I saw it ages ago on TV. It turned out you were right, it is called Star Command, however it seems that it was later renamed to In the Fold.

From imdb page:

A crew of freshly graduated space academy students find themselves in combat with opponents from breakaway Earth colonies after their training officers are killed in an attack.

and

A bunch of young and impulsive space cadets make their first real flight in space and realize that the attack they suffered wasn't a training mission. They face the Enemy alone and have the chance to save the world, and maybe to prevent the war? Can the cadets conquer the more experienced, stronger and much more evil enemy?

Answer 2

Certain elements of that sound like Space: Above and Beyond, though I can't say for sure if there's any specific episode with all those plot points. There is a "more powerful enemy ship" in the episodes "Never No More, Part 1" and "The Angriest Angel, Part 2". There were also plenty of episodes where bad stuff happened to the main characters. The series aired on FOX in 1995-1996 for one season. Without more details (was it animated? life action? a movie, part of a show, details on what the spaceships were like, character traits?) I can only guess at an answer.

Answer 3

Sounds a lot more like Earth Star Voyager than Space Command. In Space Command the crew wore fairly modern looking navy uniforms. Earth Star Voyager was a two part pilot sometimes aired as one movie but obviously looked like a tv show budget.