New Trek Voyages Online - With Sulu

Think you’ve seen all the Star Trek there is to see? Think again. Star Trek: New Voyages has unveiled a new “lost” episode of Star Trek. The website creates new episodes of the original Star Trek series as a “what might have been” fourth season, with fan James Cawley playing James T. Kirk and his friends playing other characters from the classic series. The latest episode is the third for the fan-run group.

The new episode is titled “The World Enough and Time” and has a little something special in store for fans of Trek, especially for a fan-created series. George Takei plays his ages-old character Hikaru Sulu in the episode. Not only that, but the episode is co-written and directed by Marc Scott Zicree, who wrote for Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. The second episode (“To Serve All My Days”) also featured Walter Koenig as Pavel Checkov and was written by D.C. Fontana. Additionally, the New Voyages website already has several additional episodes planned, including an appearance by Trek actor J.G. Hertzler as Harry Mudd.

The episode should be available via streaming video at Magic Time Online.com, but currently the site is down. No, it’s not issues from Paramount attempting to cease the continuation of their franchise. The episode has gotten so popular the site can’t keep up with the demand. An apology appears on the main page with a statement that they hope to resolve their technical difficulties next week.

This is an interesting step in the evolution of Star Trek. Fan-fiction has been around for years, as have home video fan-made episodes. But to actually get professional actors, writers, and directors with ties to Trek? That’s a heck of a move. Clearly Paramount is allowing this to happen, or really turning a blind eye to the series. Considering the next movie is building on early Kirk history, it’ll be interesting to see if that continues, since this series adds to later history.