World Famous Comics: Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete Seasons 1-3
Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete Seasons 1-3
Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols Average Rating: Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Binding: DVD Format: Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Full Screen, NTSC Label: CBS Paramount International Television Number of Items: 22 Region Code: 1 Release Date: December 14, 2004 Running Time: 4117 minutes Theatrical Release Date: September 08, 1966
Amazon.com: The facts have become legend. Star Trek, the NBC series that premiered on September 8, 1966, has become a touchstone of international popular culture. It struggled through three seasons that included cancellation and last-minute revival, and turned its creator, Gene Roddenberry, into the progenitor of an intergalactic phenomenon. Eventually expanding to encompass five separate TV series, an ongoing slate of feature films, and a fan base larger than the population of many third-world countries, the Star Trek universe began not with a Big Bang but with a cautious experiment in network TV programming. Even before its premiere episode ("The Man Trap") was aired, Star Trek had struggled to attain warp-drive velocity, barely making it into the fall '66 NBC lineup.
The series' original pilot, "The Cage," featured Jeffrey Hunter as U.S.S. Enterprise captain Christopher Pike--a variation of the role that would eventually catapult William Shatner to TV stardom. Filmed in 1964, the pilot was rejected by NBC the following year, but the network made a rare decision to order a second pilot. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was filmed in 1965, and only one character from the previous pilot remained--a pointy-eared alien named Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy), whom Roddenberry had retained despite network disapproval. The second pilot was accepted, and production on Star Trek began in earnest with the filming of its first regular episode, "The Corbomite Maneuver."
Never a ratings success despite a growing population of devoted fans, Star Trek was canceled after its second season, prompting a letter-writing campaign that resulted in the series' third-season renewal. It was a mixed blessing, since Roddenberry had departed as producer to protest the network's neglect, and Star Trek's third season contained most of the series' weakest episodes. And yet, the show continued to "to explore strange new worlds…to seek out new life and new civilizations…to boldly go where no man [a phrase later amended to "no one"] has gone before."
There were milestones along the way. The first interracial kiss on network primetime TV (between Shatner and series co-star Nichelle Nichols) furthered a richly positive and expansive view of a better, nobler future for humankind. The series offered a timelessly appealing balance of humor, imagination, and character depth. And at least one episode (Harlan Ellison's "The City on the Edge of Forever") ranks among the finest science fiction stories in any popular medium. Beloved by long-time fans in spite of its cheesy sets and costumes, and the now-dated trappings of late-1960s American culture, "classic Trek" has aged remarkably well, and its sense of adventure and idealism continues to live long and prosper. --Jeff Shannon
The three 2004 DVD sets collect all 79 episodes of the show, including "The Cage" in both a restored color version and the original, never-aired version that alternates between color and black and white. Each set is supplemented by over an hour of featurettes incorporating new and old interviews with Shatner, Nimoy, other cast members, and producers, and there's also some vintage footage of Gene Roddenberry. Accompanying the 20-minute seasonal recaps ("To Boldly Go...") are a number of interesting featurettes: "The Birth of a Timeless Legacy" examines the two pilot episodes and the development of the crew; "Sci-Fi Visionaries" discusses the series' great science fiction writers; Nimoy debunks various rumors in "Reflections of Spock"; "Kirk, Spock & Bones: The Great Trio" focuses on the interplay among Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley); and, in what is probably his last Star Trek appearance, James Doohan (Scotty), slowed by Alzheimer's but still with a twinkle in his eye, recalls his voiceover roles and his favorite episodes. As they've done for many of the feature-film special editions, Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda provide a pop-up text commentary on four of the episodes filled with history, trivia, and dry wit. It's the first commentary of any kind for a Star Trek TV show, but an audio commentary is still overdue. The technical specs are mostly the same as other Trek TV series--Dolby 5.1, English subtitles--but with the welcome addition of the episode trailers. The plastic cases are an attempt to replicate some of the fun packaging of the series' European DVD releases, but it's a bit clunky, and the paper sleeve around the disc case seems awkward and crude. Still, the sets are a vast improvement both in terms of shelf space and bonus features compared to the old two-episode discs, which were released before full-season boxed sets became the model for television DVDs. --David Horiuchi
Product Description: Space. The Final Frontier. The U.S.S. Enterprise embarks on a five year mission to explore the galaxy. The Enterprise is under the command of Captain James T. Kirk. The First Officer is Mr. Spock from the planet Vulcan. The Chief Medical Officer is Dr. Leonard 'Bones' McCoy. With a determined crew the Enterprise encounters Klingons Romulans time paradoxes tribbles and genetic supermen lead by Khan Noonian Singh. Their mission is to explore strange new worlds to seek new life and new civilizations to boldly go where no man has gone before.System Requirements: Running Time 4117 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: G UPC: 097360553871 Manufacturer No: 055387
No "Play All" Feature! I'm going to make this short because we all know what the product is and we love it (Star Trek I mean and not this offering by Paramount). I used to LOVE to put on a video tape of Star Trek episodes and watch them to my hearts content into the night until I'd fall to sleep as they dutifully played on, one after the other.
THERE IS NO OPTION TO " PLAY ALL " EPISODES ON A DISK!!
You have to babysit this disk and start each and every episode by hand or it will default to it's main menu and wait!
What was Paramount thinking? This "Play All" feature is a given on virtually all episodic DVD sets!
I wish I could get my money back and wait until they redo this set right.
You won't be disapointed I was impressed how good the quality was on the dvd's. I wasn't expecting the compression ratio to be quiet as good as it was. If you're a Star Trek fan you won't be dissapointed.
Star Trek Original Series (Seasons 1-3) Must have for Trekkies. It's where it all began. The beginning of the frontier, so to speak. I'm not a Star Trek fan and I purchased the item for my husband, for Father's Day. I must admit that I have developed an affinity for Mr. Spock's stoic, rational, Vulcanism.
Changing The Face Of Television When "Star Trek: The Original Series" debuted on September 8, 1966, it changed the landscape of television forever. During the pre-Star Trek era, shows such as "I Love Lucy", "The Ed Sullivan Show", "Gunsmoke", and "Father Knows Best" dominated the airwaves. Not to take anything away from those types of shows, but they were quite "vanilla" in nature, containing no content that might make the the viewer think or be challenged by new ideas. However, Star Trek changed everything.
Instead of relying on traditional themes (such as Westerns or Variety Shows), Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry created a show in which interesting social and scientific issues could be examined. Of course, the show was set in the backdrop of the future, thus allowing it to remain distant enough from the "present" to deflect controversy. Throw in some action/adventure plotlines that routinely boggled the mind, and Star Trek challenged the entire format of televised drama.
Though each episode of the show's three-season run has its supporters and its critics, here are some of my personal highlights:
Season One: After a bit of a slow start, in which the main characters (Kirk, Spock, and McCoy) are settled upon and fleshed out, the show really starts to hit its stride. "The Menagerie" (starring Jeffrey Hunter) is a fascinating look at the human condition, "Shore Leave" spotlights the humor of the U.S.S. Enterprise crew, "Arena" is as action-packed as the show gets, and "The City On The Edge of Forever" takes viewers on a trip to the past in order to save the future as we know it.
Season Two: The show really hits its stride this season. It opens with "Amok Time" (featuring a tense battle between Kirk and Spock), then includes such classics as "Mirror, Mirror" (a parallel universe), "The Trouble With Tribbles" (another stroke of comedic genius), and "The Ultimate Computer" (Kirk faces off against modern technology).
Season Three: Although severe budget difficulties hampered most scripts of this final season of the show ("Spock's Brain" is a very forgettable episode), some great drama was still produced. "Day of the Dove" sheds light on the human-Klingon relationship, "All Our Yesterdays" is another time-travel romp, while the series finale "Turnabout Intruder" is a mind-bending look at body-switching.
To conclude, "Star Trek: The Original Series" is a landmark show in the history of television. Though the seasoned science-fiction fan may find the plots of the show to be "old hat" (such as the "Good Kirk" vs. "Evil Kirk" episode), it is only because so many shows since Star Trek have copied its formula! The acting is great, the ensemble cast is wonderful (and very under-utilized at that!), and the scripts are some of the best stories ever written for television drama. If you are looking for a great place to begin your "science fiction career", or are already a sci-fi buff who has never made time for this classic, this is a series that you must purchase.
have not reviewed it .it was a gift I have not reviewed this set, although I have seen most of the star trek series. It was bought as a gift
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