No it is not the old show, nor the old movies. It has warped into a new dimension. Due to an event in the future, the past is changed and so are the lives of this universe. It takes a turn not expected but gets through the journey just fine, in real Star Trek form. No the characters are not identical models of the originals. There is no way they could be, but take them out of the original universe and set them moving in a slightly new universe and you have a multitude of new stories to follow. Chris Pine is great as Kirk. Zackary Quinto could have been a dupe for the young Spock, he looks so much like him. He was awesome. I loved Bones too, always reminding us that 'I'm a doctor, not a...'