Those fans at it again.

A few years ago I blogged here about fan-made films. I believe that I was referring to a Star Wars film which was a huge hit on the web and even reported on some major news services.

Now I'm writing about a Star Trek fan series.

Star Trek: New Voyages has become a sensation, apparently, even spawning their own fan clubs. This series is set in the Original Series' universe and time, with amateur actors playing the roles of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, etc. It's amusing to watch as some of the acting is even worse than Shatner's '60's performances. The attention to detail and the special effects have proven to be pretty incredible.

What has made this group of fans a bit more prominent, however, is their ability to draw interest from seasoned professionals! Bear in mind that to be a true fan film you can't be paying anyone for their work.

In their most recently released episode, George Takei (the actor who played Sulu in the original series) recreates his role of Sulu who has gone through a dimensional time warp and suddenly aged 30 years. And making a cameo is Grace lee Whitney, the woman who played Yeoman Janice Rand on the orginal series. The episode was written my Marc Scott Zicree, a professional author (I'm not sure he ever wrote for any Star Trek episodes, but I believe he was the lead writer for the new Twilight Zone series).

In the previously released episode, Walter Koenig (the original Chekov) recreated his role. Various original series guest stars have appeared, and an up-coming, two-part film was written by David Gerrold, who wrote the original series episodes with the "tribbles."

How do they do it? Talk about geeks with no life!

Still, it's been fun to watch. And based on their popularity, it shows that the fans out there really are more interested in the characters ... that they don't have to be played by Shatner, Nimoy, etc.

You can watch these on-line by clicking here.