Our friends over at TrekToday.com have some great news for Trek fans regarding the upcoming Blu-ray release of Star Trek: The Original Series Season Three.

For years, fans have heard about an unaired version of the pilot to Star Trek. Most know the story of how Gene Rodenberry did the original pilot, The Cage, with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike. That pilot wasn’t picked up by the network, but they did ask Rodenberry to reshoot it with some changes. The new pilot was the episode Where No Man Has Gone Before. However, the version that aired on television was not the first version of that episode that was filmed. That’s right…there are actually three pilots for the Original Series!

Now, after over forty years, that unaired version will finally see the light of day when Star Trek: The Original Series Season Three comes out on Blu-ray on December 15th of this year.

Press Release

A New Beginning Forty Years In The Making

WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE

Unaired Alternate STAR TREK Pilot Found
And Digitally Restored For Blu-ray Release

“But now a new task. A probe out into where no man has gone before.”
- Original opening monologue from Captain James T. Kirk

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (November 12, 2009) – “When we first discovered the original film print existed, we jumped at the chance to give STAR TREK fans the opportunity to add this never aired pilot to their collections,” said Ken Ross, executive vice president and general manager of CBS Home Entertainment. “It will be a real treat for fans to see and hear how it all could have begun.”

Origins
A film collector in Germany acquired the unique print several years ago and recently brought it to the attention of CBS Home Entertainment and its distributor Paramount Home Entertainment. The physical 35mm film print was transferred to HD video by Magic Picture Home Entertainment GmbH before it was transported to the United States this past September.

Restoration
As the next step, the Digital Restoration Department at CBS spent hours carefully color-correcting the video and carrying out a frame-by-frame dirt removal process in an effort to provide fans with the best picture quality possible.

The Pilot
Presented in three parts with 1970s-style act breaks, the alternative pilot offers an entirely different version of Captain James T. Kirk’s opening monologue, music that contrasts from the famous opening theme and an extended action sequence.

After the first pilot, “The Cage,” was turned down by NBC for being “too cerebral,”
NBC commissioned an unprecedented second pilot and selected “Where No Man Has Gone Before” as it captured the sense of adventure and action that the network visualized for the series. Significantly, it was also the first episode featuring Captain James T. Kirk, a move that would set the precedent for the series and its counterparts. This version of “Where No Man Has Gone Before” was completed in 1965 and features archived footage that was not included in the pilot episode ultimately broadcasted. Never-before-aired, this newly recovered version is believed to be what was originally screened for NBC, and the basis for their decision to broadcast STAR TREK®.

This original version of the seminal series’ pilot episode is the centerpiece of the
STAR TREK®: THE ORIGINAL SERIES SEASON THREE Blu-ray release, available December 15 from CBS Home Entertainment and Paramount Home Entertainment for the suggested retail price of $118.99 US and $136.99 CAN.

Star Trek: The Original Series Season Three is chock full of special features including episode trailers, interviews with the cast and crew and behind-the-scenes features. As a huge Trek geek, this is the set I know that I’ve been waiting for. Digitally remastered original series…plus the long awaited unaired pilot. Alll I can say is, Christmas is coming about 10-days early in the Geek Speaker household!