Last night the Paramount lot was buzzing with excitement as the cast and crew of Enterprise, along with invited guests, watched the premiere of the upcoming series on the big screen in the Paramount Theater. "Broken Bow" — the 2-hour pilot which launches on UPN next Wednesday, September 26 — played to a packed house, with the crowd overflowing into the nearby Studio Theater (the original, historic screening room on the lot).

Executive Producer Rick Berman, with co-creator Brannon Braga at his side, prefaced the screening by thanking the studio executives, producers Peter Lauritson and Merri Howard, and the "extraordinary cast and crew."

"This project has been two years in the making," Berman said. "I hope you'll be as proud of it as we are ... but either way, there'll be coffee and cake afterwards."

Attending the gala event were the entire cast of the new show, plus a number of other Star Trek luminaries, including upcoming Enterprise episode directors and Star Trek alums LeVar Burton (Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation), Roxann Dawson (B'Elanna Torres on Star Trek: Voyager) and Robert Duncan McNeill (Voyager's Tom Paris), as well as Brent Spiner ("Data"), Jeri Ryan ("Seven of Nine"), and Garrett Wang ("Harry Kim").

Behind-the-scenes dignitaries in the audience included visual effects producer Dan Curry, visual effects supervisor Ronald B. Moore, staff writer and science consultant Andre Bormanis, scenic art supervisor Michael Okuda, scenic artist and video playback coordinator Denise Okuda, and many others.

Working the red carpet before and after the screening were the stars of the show: Scott Bakula ("Jonathan Archer"), John Billingsley ("Phlox"), Jolene Blalock ("T'Pol"), Dominic Keating ("Malcolm Reed"), Anthony Montgomery ("Travis Mayweather"), Linda Park ("Hoshi Sato") and Connor Trinneer ("Charles 'Trip' Tucker"). Also in attendance were a number of "Broken Bow" guest stars, including Vaughn Armstrong ("Admiral Forrest") and twins Diane Klimaszewski and Elaine Klimaszewski (the "Butterfly Dancers of Rigel X").

The episode was projected upon the big screen in a 16:9 aspect ratio using high-definition digital format, making it practically indistinguishable from a movie. "I wish everyone could see it this way," said one guest at the screening. "But I have no doubt people will be very impressed when it shows on TV. It's arguably the best pilot episode of any of the Star Trek series."