The Roddenberry Vault Coming to Blu-ray

Star Trek: The Roddenberry Vault, a panel presented on Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con, found Rod Roddenberry, Michael Okuda, Denise Okuda, Trevor Roth and CBS's Phil Bishop sharing with moderator Roger Lay Jr. and the many fans in attendance details about the upcoming, long in the works Blu-ray, Star Trek: The Original Series -- The Roddenberry Vault, arriving later this year. One amusing revelation: the code name for the effort was "Sargon."

So, what's in the Vault? Denise Okuda summed it up best when she noted, "maybe a line of dialogue, an alternate take, things on the cutting room floor. This is a time capsule into when this show was made."

Mike Okuda added, "You get a sense of who the actors really are, like Nimoy before a take, directors giving direction, and behind the scenes moments."

Gathering the footage was no easy task. Roth explained that "this footage had been dormant for 50 years. You'd try to uncoil it and it would wrap around you like a mummy. It's a process."

Roddenberry recalled that, "You name the problem with old film, we had it. It was even in my mom's basement that flooded several times."

Fans were treated to clips from The Roddenberry Vault that included comments from William Shatner and Adam Nimoy, the latter of whom was in the audience for the panel. The clips included flubs and unguarded private moments as the actors prepared for scenes, reacted to their own performances, danced for a moment and/or cracked each other up.

The new Blu-ray will include all-new interviews with such cast and production figures as William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), writers Dorothy "D.C." Fontana, David Gerrold, & John D.F. Black, director Ralph Senensky, casting director Joseph D'Agosta, visual effects artist Richard Edlund, and more. Also featured is an exploration into the series’ long-lasting appeal via interviews with some of Star Trek’s biggest fans, among them The Big Bang Theory co-creator Bill Prady, The Simpsons writer/producer David Mirkin, Family Guy writer/producer David A. Goodman, NASA's Bobak Ferdowsi, Bill Nye (The Science Guy), and many more.

Special feature documentaries include Inside The Roddenberry Vault – A multi-part glimpse at classic episodes from new angles and perspectives; Star Trek: Revisiting A Classic – A look at life on the set during production; and Strange New Worlds: Visualizing The Fantastic – an inside look at the groundbreaking work of the series’ designers and visual effects artists.

And, lastly, The Roddenberry Vault will feature 12 Original Series episodes, rendered in high-definition Blu-ray and selected based on their relevance to the Vault's lost/unseen material, including "The Corbomite Maneuver, "Space Seed," "The Devil in the Dark," "The City on the Edge of Forever," "Mirror, Mirror" and "The Trouble With Tribbles."