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Just saw this article on TVGuide online. Apparently they are digitally remastering Star Trek the original series.

Star Trek purists, take a deep breath! On Sept. 16, the iconic β€˜60s series will return to syndication for the first time since 1990, but with a startling difference: All 79 episodes are being digitally remastered with computer-generated effects not possible when Gene Roddenberry created the show 40 years ago. The news could cause Roddenberry loyalists to have a collective cow, but the longtime Trek staffers in charge of the makeover say they're honoring the late maestro's vision, not changing it.
"We're taking great pains to respect the integrity and style of the original," says Michael Okuda, who spent 18 years as a scenic-art supervisor on Star Trek films and spin-offs. "Our goal is to always ask ourselves: What would Roddenberry have done with today's technology?" Okuda's teammates on the two-year project are his wife, Denise Okuda, with whom he's authored several Trek reference books, and 14-year Trek production vet David Rossi.

The upgraded episodes β€” to be shown out of order and one per week β€” will kick off with "Balance of Terror," a big fan favorite "that gives us a chance to really show off the β€˜new' Enterprise," says Okuda. "The exterior of the ship now has depth and detail, and it will fly more dynamically." (Click here for a larger version of the image at left.) Painted backdrops will also be brought to life: Once-empty star bases will have CGI people milling about, while static alien landscapes have been given slow-moving clouds and shimmering water. Okuda notes that a view of Earth in the 1966 episode "Miri" has been "replaced with a more accurate image, now that we've gone into deep space and looked back at ourselves."


Trek's opening theme is also getting an overhaul: The music has been re-recorded in stereo with a bigger orchestra, and a new singer has been hired to wail those famous but wordless vocals. And goofs will be corrected: In "The Naked Time," there was no beam coming out of Scotty's phaser when he tried to cut through the bulkhead outside Engineering. Now there is.

I can't really see the point of doing this. I mean, half the fun is the cheesiness of the thing. They really did a good job considering the technology of the day and, frankly I think that, because they didn't have the special effects we have to day, they really had to focus on the story lines. It is the rich and complex (mostly) plots that kept Star Trek alive all these years, not the quality of the set or the special effects.

Coincidentally I just finished reading William Shatner's 1993 "Star Trek Memories", which was an interesting look at the show. They really had to struggle every step of the way just to do the show. NBC kept cutting the budget and was never fully behind the show. The third season the network was going to give Star Trek a really good timeslot and then switched it to Friday at 10, which was basically the kiss of death, ratings-wise, and Gene R. stepped down from producing because of it. Which explains "Spock's Brain".

I have fond memories of watching the show every night at midnight in a friend's dorm room my sophmore year in college. We would have such fun, laughing every time Bones said 'he's dead, Jim' and the like.

So what do you think? Good idea to redo the show or not?

on 2006-08-31 12:18 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] lietya.livejournal.com
Ack, what a terrible idea! The fun of it NOW is especially to see the crappy special effects and the ship swinging by on its string. I hope this doesn't replace the original undamaged versions. :(

on 2006-08-31 12:20 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] archaica.livejournal.com
Bah, bah I say! Leave it alone!

on 2006-08-31 03:48 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] archaica.livejournal.com
My favorite comment I read somewhere was, "In this version, Edith Keeler doesn't shoot first."

on 2006-08-31 03:49 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] charliesmum.livejournal.com
Ha! That's brilliant!

on 2006-08-31 03:54 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] chavvah.livejournal.com
Awesome.

on 2006-08-31 01:14 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] king-duncan.livejournal.com
Unecessary.

on 2006-08-31 03:56 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] chavvah.livejournal.com
OMFG I LOVE YOUR ICON. I especially like how confident Spock is in his red seventies-style briefs. :)

on 2006-08-31 04:31 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] king-duncan.livejournal.com
Yeah, modesty is illogical.

on 2006-08-31 04:31 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] king-duncan.livejournal.com
Thanks!

on 2006-08-31 01:17 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] mabfan.livejournal.com
I can see one reason to do this, which would be to attract a younger audience that has grown up with better SFX. Even though some of the stories are excellent, it's difficult sometimes for a person who grew up after the effects in Terminator 2 and Matrix to accept the reality of an older-looking SF show.

That said, they'd better not completely replace the originals. Those should always be available in some format or other.

on 2006-08-31 02:01 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] gehayi.livejournal.com
And yet people continue to rent Doctor Who and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy DvDs--two shows that were not (and in the case of DW, still isn't) known for spectacular special effects. The old Twilight Zone wasn't noted for special effects, either, and yet it's still more popular than the new, flashier show was.

Everything doesn't have to be redone to pander to an audience's desire for glitz and glitter. LEAVE THE OLD STAR TREK ALONE.

That said, they'd better not completely replace the originals. Those should always be available in some format or other.

Damned straight.

on 2006-08-31 02:18 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] mabfan.livejournal.com
And yet people continue to rent Doctor Who and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy DvDs--two shows that were not (and in the case of DW, still isn't) known for spectacular special effects.

Yes, but who's doing it? Is it the people who used to watch it, or new viewers? Just because they're being rented doesn't mean they're reaching a new audience.

At http://trekenhanced.com/ a special effects guy posted his attempt to redo the SFX for one particular episode of Star Trek, "The Doomsday Machine." It's set up that you can watch a side-by-side comparison, and frankly, his version is an improvement over the original in many ways.

I don't think an attempt to enhance old SFX is a bad thing on its own. It can also generate new excitement about old episodes. But I do feel, as I said before, that the originals should always remain available.

on 2006-08-31 03:16 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] nam-jai.livejournal.com
*raises hand* Well, I'm a new audience for old Doctor Who, thanks to the new series, so I'm interested in those DVDs, in spite of the special effects that were far worse than anything the original Trek did. As long as the stories are good, I don't mind that sort of thing. But I don't know if this is a widespread reaction from new series fans.

However, that got me thinking: Doctor Who has been revived by a fresh and new take on it being made right now. The Star Trek powers that be -- in my humble-but-bitter opinion ;) -- kind of ran the franchise into the ground in the past five years. And so my bitter, cynical side sees this as another attempt by TPTB to get more golden eggs from a dying goose without actually trying to be genuinely creative about it.

But that's only if I dredge up my usually dormant disillusioned-Trekkie mode. My initial reaction to this was pretty much to roll my eyes and say, "Meh. As long as it's only cosmetic changes and as long as the originals stay available, whatever."

on 2006-08-31 02:36 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] chavvah.livejournal.com
I'm really interested to see it, but, as you say, the memories for me are in the original episodes, in all their craptacular glory.

Also, WTF, "Spock's Brain"? I saw that episode again the other day and, in addition to the crazy plot-hole-o-rama, there's a lot of misogyny going on in that episode. And big hair. The sixties, you're fired.

on 2006-08-31 02:51 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] archaica.livejournal.com
Nothing can "enhance" "Spock's Brain". Worst, episode, ever.

on 2006-08-31 03:53 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] chavvah.livejournal.com
Although I think "The Corbomite Maneuver" gave it a run for its money. Even shirtless Bill Shatner and the surprise addition of a little person couldn't save that episode from The Lame.

on 2006-08-31 03:54 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] archaica.livejournal.com
Ahhhh, Balok. Clint Howard was born ugly, and he *stayed* ugly.

on 2006-08-31 04:21 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] crossbow1.livejournal.com
Gah. Did you have to remind me of that travesty?

on 2006-08-31 03:20 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] crossbow1.livejournal.com
Decided to write my own rant instead of clogging up your LJ with it:
http://crossbow1.livejournal.com/533030.html

No!

on 2006-08-31 05:37 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] ailurophiledj.livejournal.com
They OUGHT to leave old films alone!!!
I'm all for "cleaning up" the films, making it more crisp or sharper, but not to digitally alter it. It's not the same.
I never have seen Star Trek orginal series, but I've watch TNG, Voyager (my favorite), DS9.

This brings back the time they "digitally altered" Star Wars. ACK! I like how they made it brighter and stuff, but not added crap. The old stuff is what makes it CLASSIC!

I hate growing old. :-(
Posted by [identity profile] darkthirty.livejournal.com
I could care less either way.

The spin offs Next Generation, Deep Space Nine (my personal favourite, as it has a nice story arc in the last 5 seasons, like babylon 5, which is my favourite sci-fi series of all) and Voyager are more interesting to me, even though I watched the Original series on its TV debut. Many of the episodes are so bad I don't think a bit of touching up is going to ruin them, honestly.

I didn't see Star Wars until it came out on DVD last year. I like the movies. I have a feeling all the squawking was just another manifestation of some people's deep and abiding fear of losing something with each passing day...

on 2006-08-31 07:04 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] zakkati.livejournal.com
Leave well alone! As you say, it's the cheese that makes it so wonderful. My brother and I used to sit there guessing which of the red-shirts would be first to die. Such innocent fun!

Worst episode, imo? The Trouble with Tribbles.

on 2006-08-31 09:30 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] hihankara.livejournal.com
More cheese! Love it! :)

on 2006-08-31 10:56 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] rayvyn2k.livejournal.com
They should leave it alone. But I'll probably watch.

on 2006-09-01 12:48 am (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] anngwish42.livejournal.com
No. No. BAD.

Actually, I don't give all that much of a rat's ass; I'm just not that into original Trek - sad but true! And by "not that into it", I mean that I have only seen every single episode once or twice. But yeah, I don't like the idea of "glossing it up" - it should be appreciated (or, in the case of episodes like "Spock's Brain", cringed at) as a product of its era.

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