The "Star Trek" hype has gone into warp drive with only a couple of weeks to go before the new movie, which stars an all-new cast, is released in theaters on May 8.

Unfortunately, Hollywood is not exactly going to unknown regions of the galaxy here by taking a classic television series and transforming it to the big screen. It's been done scores of times, and may have even started with "Star Trek" itself when "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" debuted in 1979.

Sadly it's one of the biggest trends in movies right now. That's because the concept capitalizes on a couple of money-making notions.

First, it banks on the hope that a lot of moviegoers, particularly baby boomers, will remember the original show and want to see the remake. And second, there could be a huge opening-weekend box office because of a built-in audience that recognizes the series on which the movie is based. Those first few days are the most important for any studio movie.

But with that in mind, I'm going to ask one question: Name one movie made from a TV show that was really good.

Keep thinking.

Keep thinking.

Got an answer? I can think of maybe one off the top of my head -- "The Fugitive." (If you were thinking "Beverly Hillbillies," you lose).

Meanwhile, I can rattle off dozens of horrible ones: "Dukes of Hazzard," "Starsky and Hutch," "Mission Impossible," "Get Smart," "Dragnet," "S.W.A.T.," "Charlie's Angels," "The Brady Bunch Movie," "Lost in Space," "Bewitched." The flood of examples is making my head ache.

Even most of the "Trek" feature films, if you include the "Next Generation" movies, have been less than stellar efforts.

As a die-hard Trekkie of the original series (all subsequent "Trek" series, including "Next Generation," were weak attempts at reviving the franchise), I'm cautiously optimistic about the new movie, which tells the origins of the Kirk-Spock-McCoy trio.

The inherent challenge of remaking a classic television series for the big screen is taking what made the show great in the first place and widening its scope while retaining its original charm. You also have to update for modern audiences, whose tastes may have changed since the series first aired (The "Brady Bunch" movie was about a 1970s family trying to survive in a world with different values.)

Whether or not these movies succeed, the biggest disappointment with this trend is that Hollywood is so devoid of creative ideas, it continues to mine old TV shows for what it calls "inspiration."

As curious as I am to see the new "Star Trek" movie, I would be even more thrilled if it was a wholly new science fiction movie that boldly took audiences where no one has gone before.

Vince Horiuchi's column appears Mondays and Fridays. He can be reached at vince@sltrib.com or 801-257-8607.