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"But this isn't nostalgia," says Mark Altman, who penned the indie comedy "Free Enterprise," which stars Shatner and comes out on DVD Tuesday, after writing nearly a dozen "Trek"-related books. "They got all the ingredients right with the original. It was impeccably cast. Look at how brilliant Shatner and Nimoy were; look at the caliber of the scripts. This was a show written by people who fought in World War II, who had been cops, who were among the top science-fiction writers -- these were people who lived life. The new shows are written by people whose only experience is writing television."

If anything, Paramount Pictures is nostalgic for the days when "Star Trek" was, quite simply, a sure bet. Money in the bank.

According to a Dec. 11, 1998, story in the Los Angeles Times, the franchise -- as "Trek" is referred to by Paramount execs -- remains a billion-dollar industry. The films have taken in more than $1 billion worldwide; the same goes for the videotape sales. The four series are said to have made $2.3 billion, while, according to the Times, "Trek" merchandise has raked in nearly $4 billion, a small percentage of which goes back into Paramount's pockets. (In his 1999 book "Get a Life!" -- which dealt with "Star Trek" and its rabid fans -- William Shatner claims "Trek" merchandise has raked in $50 billion "throughout the lifespan of the franchise," which prompts him to wonder, "What the hell are all of you people buying, anyway?")

But there are signs that the cash cow is on feeble legs. As Shatner pointed out, box office for the movies is undeniably dropping, ratings are down and convention attendance is on the decline. Some of the licensees are even dropping off. One source says that Playmates, the company that has manufactured "Star Trek" dolls since 1992, will let its licensing agreement with Paramount expire in December. (A publicist at Playmates won't confirm or deny this.)

Perhaps the answer to "Star Trek's" decline in popularity is a simple one: It's simply too ubiquitous to remain special. There have been three TV series since 1987, nine films, hundreds of novels, several awful comic-book series and dozens of computer games (many featuring the voices of "Trek" regulars); and it's the subject of its own Paramount-distributed, monthly glossy magazine, Star Trek: The Magazine. Too much of a mediocre thing will kill off any franchise, even one as golden as "Trek."

"When 'Deep Space Nine' and 'Next Generation' were on the air simultaneously, that was the beginning of what some would say was the overkill -- beating it into submission, exploiting the crown jewel," says Altman. "Plus, 'Star Trek' was being merchandised to death -- from coffee mugs to condoms, anything they could put the insignia on."

The death, or at least the slowing, of the franchise was perhaps inevitable all these years later -- especially since "Next Generation" and "DS9" still appear in daily syndication alongside now-daily "Voyager" reruns. (It's hard to tell the old episodes from the new, since they all look so much alike.) And the Sci-Fi Network, home to several Trek-alikes that have begun to diminish the franchise's impact, reruns "The Original Series" every afternoon.

"Star Trek," quite simply, breeds like Tribbles.

"When 'Star Trek' was like an island unto itself, during those years when it was in reruns, there was a specialness to it," says Tracy Torme, a writer on "Next Generation" during its first two seasons and a friend of Roddenberry's during the "Star Trek" creator's final days. "It ran a couple of years, there had been a couple of movies, but there was still a uniqueness to it. The danger you run into when you have as many spinoffs and so many episodes to come down the pike, it loses its special quality. You can't help it. There's so much more to watch. That could be part of the problem -- it's the over-saturation."

Even Captain Kirk says the end is near. In "Get a Life!" Shatner writes that "Star Trek" is no longer special. "Star Trek," he notes, has become just another television show among so many other choices. "'Star Trek,' it would seem has become the worn-out stuffed animal in the bottom of the toy box," he writes. "Still beloved, but old, fraying around the edges, and often neglected in favor of this year's brand new distractions."

And Paramount has squeezed everything out of the franchise, licensing "Star Trek" to anyone with two nickels to rub together. The studio has allowed "Trek's" name to be put on everything from coffee to Beanie Babies to denim shirts to baby clothes; there was even an "X-Men"/"Star Trek" crossover comic book and paperback novel in 1996. And tourists to Las Vegas can visit Star Trek: Experience -- which is either proof that "Trek" is more mainstream than oxygen or evidence of the studio's desperation to wring every cent it can from "Star Trek" before it vanishes into the desert air.

In August, a company called Starbase-1.com sent out a press release announcing something called Altair Water -- "the 'Star Trek' thirst quencher" named after "Dr. Bones McCoy's drink of choice." Even the buoyant press release couldn't ignore the obvious, noting that the franchise has been "beset of late by death ... box-office doldrums ... and an all-but-empty TV nest." Still, the company insists, "the advent of Altair H20 is a sure sign that the fandom is not lost."

Sure. Drink up.

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