''Strange New World'' is an American made-for-television

science fiction film Science fiction (or sci-fi) is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, interstellar ...

which first aired on July 13, 1975 on ABC. It stars John Saxon as Captain Anthony Vico (PAX team leader), Kathleen Miller as Dr. Allison Crowley (team navigator and communications expert), and Keene Curtis as Dr. William Scott (team physician/medical doctor). ''Strange New World'' was originally a

TV pilot A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television network or other distri ...

and the third attempt to create a series around a post-apocalyptic future created by

Gene Roddenberry Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series ''Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and ''Sta ...

. The first two, '' Genesis II'' and '' Planet Earth'' (the latter also starring Saxon in the lead role), explored Earth after a

nuclear war Nuclear warfare, also known as atomic warfare, is a theoretical military conflict or prepared political strategy that deploys nuclear weaponry. Nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction; in contrast to conventional warfare, nuclear w ...

and focused on an organization called PAX that was working to bring peace and order to the world. Roddenberry was closely involved with the previous two incarnations, but not with ''Strange New World'' and he is not credited. Character names, as well as some of the main points of the concept were changed to avoid any potential litigation. The title of the film was borrowed from the famous opening monologue of Roddenberry's ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

''. ''Strange New World'' is considered by many observers to have been the weakest of the three productions which envisaged the world of PAX. Like the previous attempts, it was not developed into a weekly series. Unlike the previous versions, which focused on a single cryogenically frozen survivor working for an established organisation called PAX, ''Strange New World'' had three astronauts return to Earth after being cryogenically frozen and looking to re-establish the organisation (PAX) that had sent them into space. The opening of the movie introduced the PAX team members and described the disaster which befell the Earth (a swarm of giant

asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

s). PAX headquarters changed the orbit of their space station so that it would orbit the sun and return to Earth in 180 years, during which time its crew and hundreds of volunteer personnel located below PAX headquarters, would remain in suspended animation. Upon returning to Earth, the astronauts' primary mission was to make their way back to PAX headquarters and revive their colleagues.

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* {{Gene Roddenberry 1975 American television episodes Films about astronauts American science fiction television films Television films as pilots Television pilots not picked up as a series American post-apocalyptic films Films directed by Robert Butler 1970s American films 1970s English-language films