Star Trek (New World)

Star Trek is the name of a science fiction franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, originally developed in 1963, and finally released on television in 1966. It ran for 4 seasons before being cancelled, but spawned five spin-off series and eleven movies.

The Original Series
Originally cast with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike, the original pilot, "The Cage" was shot, as was one additional test episode, "The Orion Trader," also having been shot, but no special effects produced until the remastering of the original series in 2007.

NBC ordered the series to be recast, and William Shatner was brought in as Captain James T Kirk, with the pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before." This pilot was more successful, and the studio ordered production of the series. It was unique in that Yeoman Rand was given a promotion to officer, to return in the third season as a communications officer, and featured the first interracial kiss on television between Kirk and Uhura. The series began slipping in ratings in the third season, though it featured many of its best episodes in this season. The fourth season was the last for the show, which produced several memorable episodes, including "First Captain," with Captain Robert April having a cameo, having been the first captain of the Enterprise in 2245.

The series ended in 1970, and was followed three years later by an animated series featured most of the original cast, which lasted for two years, mostly filling in stories during the original four years, and providing a 'fifth year' to the series' mission. The studio planned to open a fourth network, with Star Trek II as its flagship series, but plans fell through for the network. When Star Wars was released in theaters, the studio brought Star Trek out for a studio released movie. Star Trek: The Motion Picture was a financial success, mixing both action and an intellectual tale. The studio wanted a more action-packed second film, viewing this again as "too cerebral."

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan brought back a popular character from the first series, and was also a financial success. Star Trek 3 and 4 continued the story with the Search for Spock and Voyage Home. Star Trek 5 was directed by William Shatner, though with heavy re-writes, and was another successful story with tight editing and scripting. Star Trek 6 was the final movie with the entire original cast, titled 'The Undiscovered Country.'

Beginning in 2006, with the advent of HD television and HD-DVD technology, Paramount wanted to bring back Star Trek to TV, but realized the original series would not transfer well to HD resolution, and brought Michael Okuda and a team of artists to re-do the special FX on the series. The first test, Balance of Terror, was broadcast on UPN in November 2006, and encouraged Paramount to continue the project, to complete the entire original series. Over the next two years, the team expanded to a total of 60 CG artists who would replace the original FX and correct any fx errors they found. They even took the time to complete the special FX on "The Orion Trader" - the only unreleased episode of the series. The first season was released on HD-DVD in November 2007, with the second, third, and fourth following in 2008 and 2009.