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Strange New World was a made-for-TV science fiction movie/pilot that debuted on ABC on July 13, 1975.

Synopsis: On board the PAX Space Laboratory in earth orbit are test pilot Captain Anthony Vico (John Saxon), Dr. Alison Crowley (navigator/communications expert), and physician Dr. William Scott. They are undergoing a PAX experiment in suspended animation.

While all three are in their deep sleep, Mission Control that is on earth and monitoring the experiment discovers a great mass of asteroids is swarming towards the space station.

Mission Control is able to recompute the space stations orbit in order to save the trio on board. The station's new orbit sends it in a loop around the sun where the station will return back to earth in 180 years.

Mission Control can save the station but not themselves or the rest of the planet. The asteroids rain down onto the earth for days resulting in tremendous destruction and the worst disaster the planet has ever seen.

Once back in orbit, Captain Vico & the others leave the space station via the shuttle craft and head for earth. Once there they retrieve a Vesta Explorer Vehicle in which to journey.

Mission: Locate the PAX underground facility where members, including their loved ones, have been placed into suspended animation and await being awoken.

This was the third iteration of Gene Roddenberry's idea for a post-apocalyptic SF TV series. Genesis II was the original pilot and Planet Earth was the second version.

Neither pilot managed to sell so Strange New World was the third and final attempt at the concept. By now, Gene Roddenberry was no longer associated with the project as he had been with G II & PE.

Some find this pilot the weakest of the three. Not me. I felt that the weakest was Planet Earth even though they had an exciting opening to it before it descended into a mediocre story.

SNW had some intriguing plot ideas to it dealing with cloning.

On the production front the PAX Space Lab is a sharp looking design and I regret we probably would not see it again had this pilot gone to series.

Having the suspended animation experiment take place on board the space station was more intriguing than conducting it in a cavern on earth as was done in the very first pilot G II & only referred to in PE.
It was visually exciting.

I was less enthused about having the three leads looking for this underground PAX facility each week. Couldn't PAX have sent them the location of the facility so that it would be awaiting them when they came out of suspended animation?

Couldn't PAX have set up an automatic beacon at the facility itself so that the trio could drive to it immediately?

I prefer the idea of a thriving subterranean PAX society as seen in G II. And the idea of TEAM PAX 21 in PE where we have a uniformed group embark on missions via their subterranean shuttle to assist a fragmented world.

It's a concept that should be revived.