UPN has reportedly commissioned advertisements touting William Shatner's (James T. Kirk) return to Star Trek.

CBS Television City Research Center, located in Las Vegas's MGM grand hotel, is showing a commercial for Enterprise's fourth season announcing a guest appearance by Shatner, according to a post by 'Lt. Barclay' on the TrekWeb message boards.

Barclay said in his report that the center previewed an episode of CBS's new comedy series, Centre of the Universe, for visitors. "During the show, a few UPN commercials were shown, including one for Enterprise," he said in his report. The Enterprise ad reportedly contained scenes from season three, followed by a Star Trek logo and a voice over announcing that Shatner would be appearing in two episodes this season.

Rumours about Shatner making the trek to Enterprise have circulated since the series premiere in fall 2001, but have picked up steam in recent months. Back in May, executive producer Rick Berman said the writers were looking for a way to bring Shatner on board Enterprise. In June, it was reported the actor approached Berman with a "great story idea" for a guest stint (story). The only stumbling block at that time was that Shatner is signed as a regular on ABC's new drama series, Boston Legal, and would require time off to appear on Enterprise.

The CBS Television City Research Center is a joint initiative between Viacom, the parent company of CBS and UPN, and ACNielsen, which provides television ratings data. The complex includes screening rooms fitted with touch screens so visitors can give instant feedback on the programs as they are watching them.

Please note that this information has yet to be confirmed by UPN or Paramount Pictures and until such time you should treat it as you would any rumour from an unofficial source. The original post can be found here at the TrekWeb forums.

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