Paramount Resurrects Star Trek

[Ryan Ruck]

Paramount Resurrects Star Trek

“Space the final frontier……” will once again be explored by the Star Ship Enterprise.

Yes, Star Trek fans. Variety is reporting that Paramount will resurrect its ‘Star Trek’ movie franchise.

And not only will we get to see the early days of James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock. Scotty and Dr. “Bones” McCoy but we will see how (some of them) they first met at the Starfleet Academy. The plot also calls for fans to experience the crew’s first outer space mission.

This will be the 11th Trek feature. "Star Trek" has been Hollywood's most resilient performer other than James Bond, spawning 10 features that have grossed more than $1 billion and 726 TV episodes from six series.

Banking on the success of the upcoming ‘Mission: Impossible III’ (‘MI3’), Paramount has tapped J.J. Abrams to helm and produce the 11th installment. Assisting on the production side will be the extremely successful producing team from the ‘Lost’ TV series, Damon Lindel and Bryan Burk.

Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci co-writers from ‘MI3’ will work with Abrams on the screenplay.

The original TV series was created by Gene Roddenberry in 1966 and ended in 1969.

No start date for production was announced however Paramount said the movie will be in your local multiplex sometime in 2008.

[Sean Osborne]

Thank You Paramount. I was greatly dismayed that the Enterprise series went off the air. I really liked that show.

Welcome back and see ya in 2008.

[catfish]

This is exciting news, especially since JJ Abrams is involved with this. The guy is extremely hot right now, two popular tv shows and a possible huge movie this summer.

I also hope this means the end of the Brannon Braga and Rick Berman's involvement with everything Star Trek. They took a great thing and ruined it, at least in my opinion.

Sean, I too was a fan of Enteprise, sometimes begrudgingly. At times it was recycled writing at its best. Same old stuff we had seen before in the other Trek series, just different characters.

Keep an eye on StarTrek.com for updates to this movie. Im looking forward to seeing who the actors will be.

[Sean Osborne]

Keep an eye on StarTrek.com for updates to this movie. Im looking forward to seeing who the actors will be.

Roger, StarTrek.com it is.

I am also keenly interested in this. I pity the man chosen to recreate the role of William Shatner's "Captain James Tiberius Kirk" as it seems an impossible task at this point in time. Shatner is Kirk and Kirk is StarTrek, as much as Patrick Stewart is Picard, Kate Mulgrew is Janeway, Avery brooks is Sisko and Scott Bakula is Archer. This dude, whoever he turns out to be, will have a monumental if not impossible task.

Ever notice that no Star Trek character has ever been played by another actor? There's a reason for this and that is Gene Roddenberry's legacy upon the series for all time. No time to change that now.

[Ryan Ruck]

Catfish,
I agree wholeheartedly about kicking Braga and Berman to the curb.

With Enterprise, truth be told, I started out liking it (although the entire shows concept messed with ST Universe canon [i.e. Capt. Christopher Pike being the first captain of Enterprise]) but it did indeed seem to get flat. It wasn't long into season two that I started losing interest and ended up not watching it anymore (largely because I started working 2nd shift and didn't feel it was worth recording). But, from what I heard, it started to improve and that was right when they pulled the plug.

Sean,
Personally, of all the modern series, I think I liked DS9 the most. Especially when they started the Dominion Wars! TNG was pretty good but, they were a bit on the preachy side in a number of episodes and I didn't like that. Voyager wasn't too bad either but, it just didn't hit like some of the other series.

Ever notice that no Star Trek character has ever been played by another actor? There's a reason for this and that is Gene Roddenberry's legacy upon the series for all time. No time to change that now.

I hope you meant major characters…

Remember Lt. Saavik?

ST:II – Kirstie Alley:


ST:III – Robin Curtis:

[catfish]

Ryan, Im glad to hear that you were a DS9 fan. I never really got into it until the Dominion War, then it got really interesting to me.

Maybe you can answer a question for me. I never understood how the shapeshifter Odo(?) stopped the war. I knew that he had the cure for the disease that was killing all shapeshifters. When he finally merged with the rest, passing the cure to them, the head lady shapeshifter basically said ok, the war is over. What happened during the merge that caused her to change her mind like that?

I figured I had missed an episode that would have explained this prior to that episode, but was never able to figure it out. This has bugged me for a long time. Any answers?

[Ryan Ruck]

catfish,
When you mentioned it, I had remembered that there was a shapeshifter disease, Odo had the cure, and that played a part in the end of the war. Unfortunately, since it had been a few years since I had seen any of DS9, I was a bit fuzzy on the rest and had to go do a little reading.

From what I gathered, what essentially resulted in the end of the war was the Federation saying that they would allow Odo to visit the Founders' homeworld and spread the cure if the Dominion agreed to a truce. So, after the Dominion began standing down, Odo went back to the Founders' homeworld and spread not only the cure but knowledge about all the various races in the Alpha Quadrant (the Founders had intended to impose their will and homogeneity on the entire galaxy).

You can find more detailed information on it here – Wikipedia: Dominion War.

[Aplomb]

I liked The Next Generation series the best of all. Just in case anybody ever wants to know.

And I raised at least a couple trekkers. My eldest son says that Odo merged with a founder woman and transmitted his liberalism to the evil conservative founders. (sarc). So the moral of the DS9 Dominion War and what ended it was the founders learning toleration of the differences of all the Solids. (sarc). Hmmm. Makes ya wonder some.

[Sean Osborne]

I hope you meant major characters…

Yes, you're right, I meant to specifiy the major characters. The character of Saavik is unique in this regard.

[MTStringer]

By the time the Star Trek series was born I was knee deep in sci-fi novels, so I didn't really watch it for the "science" but for the characters. I enjoyed Scott Bakula about as much as a Star Fleet capitain as any previous, and was saddened the show didn't catch on as I felt his heart was in Star Trek. That being said, anyone here checked these out yet?
http://www.startreknewvoyages.com/1024/home.php
http://www.hiddenfrontier.org/

[catfish]

just found this little tidbit over at SciFi.com

Nimoy, Shatner In Trek 11?

Leonard Nimoy, who played Mr. Spock in the original Star Trek series, told Jam Movies that he has been contacted by Paramount about his possible involvement in the upcoming 11th Star Trek film, being directed by J.J. Abrams.

Nimoy told the site: "The head of production at Paramount called my agency to tell them about this project, and they are aware of [William Shanter]'s and my contribution to the franchise, and they'd like us to know they might want some involvement. It was all very, very general. They might possibly want Bill and I to set up the story as a flashback. But that's just conjecture on my part."

It has been rumored that the film would deal with the first meeting of a young Spock and James T. Kirk at Starfleet Academy, but neither Abrams nor screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orc have confirmed speculation about the premise or storyline of the sequel film.

[Brian Baldwin]

The flashback idea might be what makes the whole thing work. It's more believable then with the younger actors playing the older ones. Like the young Spock in STIII. Otherwise I think Sean is right about the actor for Kirk.

[samizdat]

I preferred "Time Tunnel", if anyone remembers that; Star Wars, I reckon will be as quality a classic as Gone with the wind, Sound of Music or Dirty Harry, for those who like that venue. I even read one of the star wars novels years ago. There are still 3 episodes missing, so I hope tech and time give me a break to see em. Not much of a movie fan, but was dragged to the 1st star wars movie and found it soundly disappointing. The clingon one was ok- but the tv series was better than the movies and a bit propogandized- yes, liberal, feminist, frankly shocking for my generation.

A good parody by decent biographers of people like atomic a, assad, putin, bush, wen, wu, blair- other major leaders- throwing water baloons, having tantrums as children- It would go off like dynamite. Dollar discos in 3rd world- dvd city. Good box office in western countries and maybe a good laugh and respite for the whole globe. Humour is good spiritual medicine. Or perhaps just diversion in the hard times that lay ahead.

[American Patriot]

kirsty allie pant pant....

[Malsua]

In case ya'll missed it, Trek is re-entering syndication. It will be digitally remastered and begins airing Sept 16.

--------
http://www.startrek.com/startrek/vie...cle/23775.html

08.31.2006
Remastering Star Trek: TOS FX, Music Enhanced

Star Trek journeys to the 21st century as the Original Series returns to broadcast syndication for the first time in 16 years with brand-new digitally remastered episodes to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

CBS Paramount Domestic Television has officially announced that they are releasing digitally remastered episodes of Star Trek, with all new special effects and music, to celebrate the groundbreaking series' 40th anniversary, according to John Nogawski, president of CBS Paramount Domestic Television.


The Star Trek episodes will begin airing on the more than 200 stations that own the rights to the weekend broadcast syndication window starting September 16. (As always, please check your local listings for station and dates.) The plan is for all 79 episodes of the Original Series to be remastered, with the first batch of episodes chosen from a list of Star Trek fans' favorite shows.


With the complete running order to be determined, the syndication schedule won't follow the classic air-date order or production order format familiar to fans. The first episode to air will be the Season One classic "Balance of Terror." "That gives us a chance to really show off the 'new' Enterprise," says Mike Okuda, 18-year veteran of the Star Trek art department and one of the supervisors on this project. His comments and more can be found in next week's TV Guide and online here. For a "first look" at the CGI Enterprise, the magazine's website has this image.


"Star Trek redefined science-fiction and constantly pushed the envelope with concepts that were ahead of their time," Nogawski said. "By giving the series a digital upgrade using the best technology available today, it will continue to be a leader in cutting-edge television programming as we introduce the series to a new generation of viewers."


The most noticeable change will be redoing many of the special effects, created with 1960s technology, with 21st century computer-generated imagery (CGI). Upgrades include:

• Space ship exteriors – The Enterprise, as well as other starships, will be replaced with state of the art CGI-created ships. The new computer-generated Enterprise is based on the exact measurements of the original model, which now rests in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.
• Show opening – The Enterprise and planets seen in the main title sequence will be redone, giving them depth and dimension for the first time.
• Galaxy shots – All the graphics of the galaxy, so frequently seen through the viewscreen on the Enterprise's bridge, will be redone.
• Exteriors – The battle scenes, planets and ships from other cultures (notably the Romulan Bird of Prey and Klingon Battle Cruisers) will be updated.
• Background scenes – Some of the iconic, yet flat, matte paintings used as backdrops for the strange, new worlds explored by the Enterprise crew will get a CGI face-lift, adding atmosphere and lighting.

The refurbished episodes also feature higher quality sound for the famous opening theme. The original score by Emmy Award-winning composer Alexander Courage, has been re-recorded in state-of-the-art digital stereo audio with an orchestra and a female singer belting out the famous vocals. A digitally remastered version of William Shatner's classic original recording of the 38-word "Space, the final frontier..." monologue continues to open each episode.


The remastered episodes have been converted from the original film into a High-Definition format, which gives viewers a clearer, crisper, more vibrant picture than before, even when viewed in standard definition. Once stations upgrade and start broadcasting HD signals, the episodes will be all ready for viewers to enjoy in HD.


We plan to have more information, including Q & A's on this project next week. Be sure to check back then! If you have a question that we can present to the people working on this project, please send us an e-mail to: editor@startrek.com with TOS CGI in the subject line.
The first question we can already answer for you: There is no confirmation as yet if, or when, these episodes will eventually appear on DVD, HD-DVD or Blu-Ray. This is likely to change at some point.

[Ryan Ruck]

kirsty allie pant pant....

Yeah, she was a looker before she turned into the Michelin Man...

Last I heard she was working on that problem though, which is good.

In case ya'll missed it, Trek is re-entering syndication. It will be digitally remastered and begins airing Sept 16.

I've seen some pictures of some of these remastered scenes.

I will say, while they visually look great and very modern, they do not have the same "character" as the originals.

But, I will try to watch these remastered ones when possible nonetheless!

[wallis]

Dad-gum-it! I cheered when James T. Kirk was finally killed! And, now they want to bring him back??? (goes off into a corner, mumbling incoherently to himself.)

[Joey Bagadonuts]

For you Star Trek fans....check this out.

"Star Trek" concept home theatres. Some of these are just amazing!

http://www.reighn.com/theatermain.html



Oh, BTW...did any of you see the Comedy Central "Roast of William Shatner" recently? Holy cow....NOT for kids!
I saw Lisa Lampanelli at a comedy club in Tampa (Sidesplitters) in May and compared to that...she was on her best behavior for the roast.

William Shatner must be one helluva good sport to go through that.


***

[Ryan Ruck]

Speaking of Star Trek, I just saw this…

Captain Kirk Scared Of Space

Star Trek legend William Shatner has been offered a real-life space flight — but he won’t go boldly.

Shatner — who plays fearless Kirk — says he is terrified of taking up Sir Richard Branson’s offer of joining Virgin Galactic’s first passenger flight in 2008.

The actor fears he will throw up in space or the craft will crash. Shatner, 75, said yesterday: “I’m interested in man’s march into the unknown but to vomit in space is not my idea of a good time.

“Neither is a fiery crash with the vomit hovering over me.”

Ironically, the original TV series launched 40 years ago, opens with Shatner saying:

“Space, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilisations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Shatner has been offered his £114,000 ticket free. But he insists Virgin boss Branson also pays him.

He added: “I do want to go up but I need guarantees I’ll definitely come back.”

Celebs like Alien’s Sigourney Weaver have booked the 2½-hour flight. The craft is called the VSS Enterprise — in tribute to Star Trek.

[Joey Bagadonuts]

OK......just because it's Sean's birthday...a present for you all.
Ladies and gentleman..."THE BABES OF STAR TREK!
(it's safe for work).


http://allyourtrekarebelongto.us/toswomen.htm

May you all live long and prosper.


ps...remember the green chick?.............I'd do her.


***