Not sure how I feel about this
Aug. 31st, 2006 08:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
charliesmumJust 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 ‘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 — to be shown out of order and one per week — will kick off with "Balance of Terror," a big fan favorite "that gives us a chance to really show off the ‘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?
Star Trek purists, take a deep breath! On Sept. 16, the iconic ‘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 — to be shown out of order and one per week — will kick off with "Balance of Terror," a big fan favorite "that gives us a chance to really show off the ‘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?
