Paul Jacobson

This post on John C. Dvorak's blog (dvorak.org/blog) caught my attention this morning.  A group of Star Trek fans have bankrolled and produced three new Star Trek 50 minute episodes in a new series titled "New Voyages" which are available for free on the series' website.  This series has been sanctioned by CBS which holds the rights to Star Trek on the condition that no attempt is made to profit from the series.

The premise of the show is as follows:

The new show will be the continuing voyages of Captain Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, NCC-1701 as seen in the 1966-69 television series, Star Trek. The series was cancelled after its third season. We are restarting the series as if it were in its fourth year.

In addition, you can expect to see more of the original characters you saw back in the day:

The cast will feature Captain Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Lieutenant Uhura, Lieutenant Cmdr. “Scotty?? Scott, Lieutenant Cmdr. DeSalle, Nurse Chapel, and Lieutenant Rand. Sulu and Chekov will make their first appearance in episode 3. Additionally, Transporter Chief Kyle marks his return to the Enterprise as well!

Check out the FAQ for more information on the show and where it is going.

Of course different actors now play Captain Kirk (James Cawley), Spock (Jeff Quinn) and Dr McCoy (John Kelley) but because the show apparently has such high production values, cast members from the original series are prepared to don their uniforms again and appear.  In fact, Walter Koenig has suited up for episode two which is titled "To serve all my days".

I am downloading an episode now and although it is a 348MB .avi download, I am looking forward to viewing it.  Are you watching the series?  What are your thoughts?

Tags: new star trek episodes, star trek, new voyages, fans, walter koenig, original star trek series