Back in the day, when Star Trek was really rolling in real time, Gene Roddenberry had another idea for a show that he thought was going to be even bigger than the mighty Trek. A pilot was made for the show but a series obviously never got off the ground. The story revolves around an android that goes in search of it’s lost creator to get him to help fill in some gaps in the androids memory, perhaps the parts where Questor hunted and killed humans for fun or simply to make room for the coming Age Of Android.

So Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Television is getting together with Tim Minear and Gene’s old company to reboot the Questor Tapes for a hungry modern audience. It’s a cool idea. Just what exactly did the Android do during those missing periods? Fascinating. Here’s a portion of the press release. Thanks Scifiwire.

Roddenberry Productions in Development with Imagine Entertainment on Classic Gene Roddenberry Pilot “The Questor Tapes”

Roddenberry Believed Questor could have been Bigger than Star Trek

(Los Angeles, CA: January 20, 2010) – CEO of Roddenberry Productions Rod Roddenberry announced today that Roddenberry Productions has entered into a deal with Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Television to develop the Gene Roddenberry pilot “The Questor Tapes.” The announcement was made at the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame induction ceremony where Rod Roddenberry accepted the posthumous honor, presented by Seth MacFarlane, on his father’s behalf.

“The Questor Tapes” was originally conceived as a television series pilot about an android with incomplete memory tapes who searches for his creator and his purpose. The pilot ultimately aired as a 1974 television movie.

“My father always felt that Questor was the one that got away,” said Rod Roddenberry. “He believed that the show had the potential to be bigger than Star Trek.”

Rod Roddenberry will develop the project along with Roddenberry Productions COO Trevor Roth and Imagine Television’s President David Nevins and EVP of Development Robin Gurney. The team is currently in negotiations with writer, producer and show runner Tim Minear (Lois & Clark, The X-Files, Angel, Dollhouse) to produce.

More information regarding Questor, including a photo of Gene and Majel Roddenberry on the original set as well as an excerpt from Gene’s initial description of the Questor character, can be found at www.roddenberry.com. For upcoming news, follow Roddenberry Productions on Twitter at http://twitter.com/RoddenberryProd and friend “Roddenberry Prod” on Facebook.