Star Trek: The Original Series (remastered)
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| A shot from the revamped intro | 
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On 31 August 2006, CBS Paramount Television announced that, in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series would return to broadcast syndication for the first time in sixteen years. Beginning with “Balance of Terror”, each of the series' 79 episodes were digitally remastered to 1080p HD video, and DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 Surround audio standards, [1] with all newly (re-)created visual effects and music. The refurbished episodes were converted from the original film to a high-definition format similar to that used on Star Trek: Enterprise. The opening theme was re-recorded in digital stereo with new vocals by Elin Carlson, and William Shatner's opening monologue was remastered from the original elements. Most notably, though, many of the visual effects were recreated using CGI by CBS Digital. The opening credits sequence was revamped, several matte paintings received a CGI face-lift, and spaceship exteriors including the Romulan Bird-of-Prey and the Klingon battle cruiser were recreated using state-of-the-art digital effects. However, for some reason, the credits at the end of the episode were not remastered and digitally enhanced. The new CGI Enterprise was based on the exact measurements, originally taken by Gary Kerr, of the original model, which is on display in the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC.
In creating the newly-conceived visual effects, CBS Digital made use of the Autodesk Maya CGI software. (Sci-fi & fantasy modeller, Vol. 26, p. 49)
| Comparison of effect shots. Top: original, bottom: remastered | 
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In an interview with TVGuide.com, project supervisor Michael Okuda said, "We're taking great pains to respect the integrity and style of the original...Our goal is to always ask ourselves: What would Roddenberry have done with today's technology?" Denise Okuda and Dave Rossi were also involved with this relaunch of the original series; Niel Wray is the visual effects supervisor. A Q & A with the production staff was posted by the official Star Trek website on 6 September 2006. A video preview and interviews with people involved in the project can be viewed by clicking the link to the left of the page.
Planned to coincide with Star Trek's 40th anniversary, the "new" Star Trek debuted 16 September 2006. See side-by-side comparisons of the new visual effects from the first episode broadcast, “Balance of Terror”.
The first few episodes were rushed, as CBS only gave its team "one month to deliver the first two episodes with over 120 new effects shots." Starting with “The Trouble with Tribbles”, a new, improved Enterprise model was used. Members of the effects team have commented that they may go back to the earlier episodes and re-render the ship scenes with the new model, [2] [3] though that did not come to fruition.
When TOS cast member Leonard Nimoy heard about these changes in special effects, Nimoy simply responded "Shame on them" for changing the effects, saying that it was "out-of-bounds" for them to do that. However, after viewing a remastered episode, reportedly he was quoted saying, "I'm amazed." [4]
The seasons were to be released in an HD DVD/DVD combination set, with season one released in November 2007. The release of seasons two and three were canceled in February 2008 due to the decline of HD DVDs in comparison to rival format Blu-ray. However, the second season was released on regular DVD on 5 August 2008. [5] all three seasons are available on Blu-ray Disc, as well as through Apple's iTunes Store (along with a "best of" collection for budget-minded fans), with select episodes available on Microsoft's Xbox 360 Video Marketplace. Unlike the HD DVD releases, the Blu-ray editions also include the original versions of each episode, allowing the original special effects and images to be seen in high-definition for the first time and providing viewers who did not wish to view the remastered versions an option.
CBS Digital wrapped up their visual effects work on TOS Remastered just before midnight on 21 April 2008. The last episode they worked on was the show's first pilot, "The Cage". The last shot rendered was of the Enterprise "sailing off into the unknown at the end of the episode." [6]
At the time CBS Consumer Products had few to no official lines of communications with the Star Trek fan community left (see main article for particulars), and in an effort to remedy the situation sought out cooperation with Anthony Pascale's TrekMovie.com news website, in order to keep the community appraised of every aspect of the project, among others by publishing sneak previews and the like, and allowing the blog editors exclusive access to CBS Digital to report on the progress.
External links[edit | edit source]
- Remaser at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.