“Star Trek” revamp already up and running before movie release

By Michael Knox, mknox@modernfilmzine.com

Come to find out “Star Trek” fans have already had a chance to watch a retooling of the classic TV series way before J.J. Abrams  movie was made, which comes out on May 7.

James Cawley is the senior executive producer of “Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II,” according to the Dragon Con Web site. Cawley is one of the guests at this year’s festival, which occurs from Sept. 4 to Sept. 7 in Atlanta, Ga. I discovered this bit of news when I was looking up the guests for Dragon Con, an event I plan to report on later this year.

Cawley constructs and designs sets, props and costumes; spearheads the FX makeup; and portrays Captain James T. Kirk, according to the Dragon Con site.

“Star Trek New Voyages” began as a childhood dream to film the 4th and 5th years of the original series and became a passion fueled by Cawley’s work as a costumer under William Ware Theiss on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” according to the Web site.

For 10 years Cawley gathered original props, costumes, patterns, blueprints, set construction notes, and a growing legion of friends who loved the original series as much as he did. After constructing sets that Star Trek alumni call “indistinguishable from the originals,” the independent Web series “Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II” episodes was launched.

Cawley has attracted hundreds of fans and industry professionals to contribute their talents to the non-profit production, including “Star Trek” alumni Walter Koenig, George Takei, Denise Crosby, and Majel Barrett Roddenberry.

The pilot and seven episodes filmed now incorporate many of the changes planned for the aborted Paramount 1970’s Phase II series in order to track the transition from the original series  to “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.”

“Star Trek New Voyages/Phase II” has earned numerous awards, according to the Dragon Con Web site, including the 2007 On-Line TV Guide Award for Best SciFi Webseries, two Icon Awards, and both a Hugo and Nebula nomination. Cawley’s success has already shown a return of original actors, with the second episode of his series, featuring Walter Koenig in a story called, “To Serve All My Days.”

In the story Klingons threaten the Enterprise, and Captain Kirk needs his best weapons officer on the bridge. But Lt. Chekov is incapacitated with a debilitating disease that is causing him to age rapidly… a disease for which Dr. McCoy can find no cure, according to the show’s Web site. In the story by veteran “Star Trek” writer D. C. Fontana, Koenig reprised his role as Pavel Chekov. The episode guest stars Mary Linda Rapelye, from the original series episode “The Way to Eden.”

Paramount/CBS, who own the licenses to “Star Trek,” have borrowed costumes, props and set pieces for the production of the Scott Bakula series,“Enterprise.”

Cawley also appears in the new “Star Trek” movie directed by J.J. Abrams.

The Web site for Cawley’s “Star Trek” series states that the characters from the original “Trek” series are perfect for telling new stories, which is why they chose to continue with those characters, rather than another series from the “Trek” franchise.

“ Star Trek: Phase II’s producers/crew feel that Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest should be treated as ‘classic characters like Willy Loman from ‘Death of a Salesman,’ Gandalf from ‘Lord of the Rings’ or even Hamlet, Othello or Romeo,” The Web site states. “Many actors have and can play the roles, each offering a different interpretation of said character. Though the character is the same, the interpretation of the actor is what’s in question. We feel that the crew of the Enterprise has more to teach us about life and each other than has been explored to date. We also feel the new actors can add to the legend in a believable and contemporary way. The timelessness of the classic characters was recognized by J.J. Abrams The members of the Phase II production team prefer the classic look and feel of the original series and present our episodes as if it were the continuation of the original 5-year mission.”