STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL
SERIES
THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON
After
having been canceled at the end of its second season, a massive letter
writing campaign earned STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES a reprieve
that brought it back for a third year. Of course, the NBC network
must have been none to thrilled with the prospect of running the series
for a third season- because they relegated the show to a time slot that
should have been considered the kiss of death. Personally, I don’t know
if it was the time slot that did the show in, or it was the network’s
lack of vision (and financing), or maybe it was a series of lackluster
episodes. Anyway, the ultimate reason behind the cancellation has become a
moot point, because STAR TREK has since grown into the most
successful franchise in the history of television.
Getting
back to season three of STAR TREK, as a lifelong fan of the show,
even I have to admit that season three was definitely the weakest in the
show’s run. Certainly, season three produced more than its share
of memorable, entertaining and classic episodes, although there were more
than a few klunkers that got launched into subspace along the way.
Let’s face it, season three got off on the wrong foot, by premiering
with the infamously silly Spock's Brain. But, at least, the
show bounced back immediately with The Enterprise Incident,
one of the most intriguing episodes that came out of Trek’s all too
short, three year run.
For
the handful of you completely unfamiliar with STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL
SERIES the STAR TREK is set several centuries in the future,
and takes place on board the Starship Enterprise, whose five-year mission
was to explore strange, new worlds… seek out new life and new
civilizations… to boldly go where no man has gone before. The regular
cast for the second season of STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES
featured William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as the
ship’s Vulcan first officer Commander Spock, DeForest Kelley as ship’s
surgeon Dr. Leonard McCoy, James Doohan as ship’s engineer Lt. Cmdr.
Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott, George Takei as helmsman Lt. Hikaru Sulu,
Nichelle Nichols as communications officer Lt. Nyota Uhura, Walter Koenig
as navigator Ensign Pavel Chekov and Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine
Chapel.
STAR
TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES- THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON ($130) comes to
DVD in a seven-disc set that features all twenty-four episodes that were
aired during the show’s that sophomore year. The twenty-four featured
episodes are as follows: Spock's Brain, The
Enterprise Incident, The Paradise Syndrome, And
The Children Shall Lead, Is There In Truth No Beauty?,
Spectre Of The Gun, Day Of The Dove, For
The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky, The Tholian
Web, Plato's Stepchildren, Wink Of An Eye,
The Empath, Elaan Of Troyius, Whom Gods
Destroy, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, The
Mark Of Gideon, That Which Survives, The
Lights Of Zetar, Requiem For Methuselah, The
Way To Eden, The Cloudminders, The Savage
Curtain, All Our Yesterdays and Turnabout
Intruder.
Personal
favorites out of season three include: The Enterprise Incident,
in Captain Kirk shows signs of madness- taking the Enterprise across the
neutral zone and into the heart Romulan territory. Is There In Truth
No Beauty? features a story built around a race of aliens so
hideous, that their very sight is enough to drive a human to madness. Day
Of The Dove finds the crew of the Enterprise locked in a deadly
conflict with the Klingons, from which there appears to be no escape- not
even death. For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky
brings Dr. McCoy to the forefront of a story about a dying member of the
Enterprise crew. All Our Yesterdays finds Spock and McCoy
thrown into the distant past of an alien planet, and Spock becoming more
like his emotional and savage Vulcan forefathers. Finally, Turnabout
Intruder is something of a guilty pleasure, watching William
Shatner portray Captain Kirk as though he were possessed by the mind of a
woman is something that must be seen, to be believed.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made all twenty-four episodes from STAR TREK:
THE ORIGINAL SERIES- THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON available on DVD in the
proper full screen aspect ratios of their original television broadcasts.
Looking pretty much like the previous two seasons, the image quality on
this batch of episodes is pretty great for a show warping towards the
forty-year mark. Sharpness and image detail are always just fine. Close
ups usually look the best, with medium and long shots appearing a tad bit
softer. Colors are generally rendered with very good saturation and
complete stability. Blacks are deep, whites are crisp and the contrast is
generally smooth. The film elements from which the episodes are
transferred appear pretty clean for a vintage television series, with only
very minor blemishes being present. A noticeable grain structure crops up
from time to time in the episodes, but it never becomes bothersome. Even
with four episodes on a dual layer disc, digital compression artifacts are
nicely camouflaged.
As
with the preceding sets, all the episodes that comprise STAR TREK: THE
ORIGINAL SERIES- THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON come with upgraded Dolby
Digital 5.1 channel soundtracks. I remain impressed with the quality of
these sound mixes, especially since the elements are well over three
decades old and were originally intended for playback on something as
undemanding as a television speaker. Most instances of background hiss and
audible surface noise have been cleaned up in the mastering process, which
leaves each episode with a generally smooth sonic quality. There are some
limitations in fidelity, but these tracks produce a surprisingly solid
bottom end. The music usually sounds reasonable pleasant, and certainly
never coming across as either harsh or shrill. There are some nicely
implemented effects in the outlying channels, with a general ambience
coming from the rears and an occasional active surround sound effect.
Voices are always cleanly rendered, plus the dialogue is easy to
understand. English Dolby Surround soundtracks are also encoded onto the
DVDs, as are English subtitles.
3-D
animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s cool interactive menus- I
still love those CGI renderings of show’s plywood sets. Through the
menus, one has access to the standard set up and episode selection
features, as well as the supplemental materials. Throughout the set, one
will find a preview trailers for each of the episodes, while The
Savage Curtain and Turnabout Intruder feature popup
factoid text commentaries by Michael and Denise Okuda. On disc seven, one
will find the rest of the supplemental programs and features. Starting
things off are two separate versions of the original STAR TREK
pilot, The Cage, featuring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain
Christopher Pike. The Cage: The Original Version offers a
mixture of Gene Roddenberry’s original black and white work print, with
color footage taken from The Menagerie. The Cage: The
Restored Version is actually the entire program in color, taken
from film elements previously believed destroyed.
To
Boldly Go... Season Three runs twenty two minutes and looks at the
fan enthusiasm that brought Trek back for a third year, some of its
highlights, as well as the ultimate failure of the show to survive beyond
year three. Life Beyond Trek: Walter Koenig spends ten
minutes with actor Walter Koenig, who discusses Trek, plus his body
of work since the show and other interests. Chief Engineer’s Log
is six minutes with the frail, but still enthusiastic James Doohan, who
talks about his time on Trek. Memoir From Mr. Sulu
clocks in at eight minutes and features George Takei talking about how
Trek affected his career, as well as his experiences as a Japanese
American. Star Trek’s Impact is a nine-minute program
featuring the son of the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Eugene Roddenberry,
talking about his father’s work and the show he created. A Star
Trek Collector’s Dream Come True runs seven minutes and features
a Trek fan going from replica model maker to working in the film industry.
Production Art is a gallery of design drawings by Matt
Jefferies, while the Photo Gallery offers an assembly of
production and publicity photographs.
While
year three was the weakest in the show’s entire run, STAR TREK: THE
ORIGINAL SERIES- THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON featured more than its fair
share of episodes that are now considered classics. Not surprisingly,
Paramount has done their usual terrific job in the audio and video
department, not to mention providing some very nice supplements. If you
are a Trek fan and haven’t picked up the individual releases of
these episodes, you’ll want to add STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES-
THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON to your Starfleet library. Recommended.
After
having been canceled at the end of its second season, a massive letter
writing campaign earned STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES a reprieve
that brought it back for a third year. Of course, the NBC network
must have been none to thrilled with the prospect of running the series
for a third season- because they relegated the show to a time slot that
should have been considered the kiss of death. Personally, I don’t know
if it was the time slot that did the show in, or it was the network’s
lack of vision (and financing), or maybe it was a series of lackluster
episodes. Anyway, the ultimate reason behind the cancellation has become a
moot point, because STAR TREK has since grown into the most
successful franchise in the history of television.
Getting
back to season three of STAR TREK, as a lifelong fan of the show,
even I have to admit that season three was definitely the weakest in the
show’s run. Certainly, season three produced more than its share
of memorable, entertaining and classic episodes, although there were more
than a few klunkers that got launched into subspace along the way.
Let’s face it, season three got off on the wrong foot, by premiering
with the infamously silly Spock's Brain. But, at least, the
show bounced back immediately with The Enterprise Incident,
one of the most intriguing episodes that came out of Trek’s all too
short, three year run.
For
the handful of you completely unfamiliar with STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL
SERIES the STAR TREK is set several centuries in the future,
and takes place on board the Starship Enterprise, whose five-year mission
was to explore strange, new worlds… seek out new life and new
civilizations… to boldly go where no man has gone before. The regular
cast for the second season of STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES
featured William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk, Leonard Nimoy as the
ship’s Vulcan first officer Commander Spock, DeForest Kelley as ship’s
surgeon Dr. Leonard McCoy, James Doohan as ship’s engineer Lt. Cmdr.
Montgomery 'Scotty' Scott, George Takei as helmsman Lt. Hikaru Sulu,
Nichelle Nichols as communications officer Lt. Nyota Uhura, Walter Koenig
as navigator Ensign Pavel Chekov and Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine
Chapel.
STAR
TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES- THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON ($130) comes to
DVD in a seven-disc set that features all twenty-four episodes that were
aired during the show’s that sophomore year. The twenty-four featured
episodes are as follows: Spock's Brain, The
Enterprise Incident, The Paradise Syndrome, And
The Children Shall Lead, Is There In Truth No Beauty?,
Spectre Of The Gun, Day Of The Dove, For
The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky, The Tholian
Web, Plato's Stepchildren, Wink Of An Eye,
The Empath, Elaan Of Troyius, Whom Gods
Destroy, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, The
Mark Of Gideon, That Which Survives, The
Lights Of Zetar, Requiem For Methuselah, The
Way To Eden, The Cloudminders, The Savage
Curtain, All Our Yesterdays and Turnabout
Intruder.
Personal
favorites out of season three include: The Enterprise Incident,
in Captain Kirk shows signs of madness- taking the Enterprise across the
neutral zone and into the heart Romulan territory. Is There In Truth
No Beauty? features a story built around a race of aliens so
hideous, that their very sight is enough to drive a human to madness. Day
Of The Dove finds the crew of the Enterprise locked in a deadly
conflict with the Klingons, from which there appears to be no escape- not
even death. For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky
brings Dr. McCoy to the forefront of a story about a dying member of the
Enterprise crew. All Our Yesterdays finds Spock and McCoy
thrown into the distant past of an alien planet, and Spock becoming more
like his emotional and savage Vulcan forefathers. Finally, Turnabout
Intruder is something of a guilty pleasure, watching William
Shatner portray Captain Kirk as though he were possessed by the mind of a
woman is something that must be seen, to be believed.
Paramount
Home Entertainment has made all twenty-four episodes from STAR TREK:
THE ORIGINAL SERIES- THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON available on DVD in the
proper full screen aspect ratios of their original television broadcasts.
Looking pretty much like the previous two seasons, the image quality on
this batch of episodes is pretty great for a show warping towards the
forty-year mark. Sharpness and image detail are always just fine. Close
ups usually look the best, with medium and long shots appearing a tad bit
softer. Colors are generally rendered with very good saturation and
complete stability. Blacks are deep, whites are crisp and the contrast is
generally smooth. The film elements from which the episodes are
transferred appear pretty clean for a vintage television series, with only
very minor blemishes being present. A noticeable grain structure crops up
from time to time in the episodes, but it never becomes bothersome. Even
with four episodes on a dual layer disc, digital compression artifacts are
nicely camouflaged.
As
with the preceding sets, all the episodes that comprise STAR TREK: THE
ORIGINAL SERIES- THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON come with upgraded Dolby
Digital 5.1 channel soundtracks. I remain impressed with the quality of
these sound mixes, especially since the elements are well over three
decades old and were originally intended for playback on something as
undemanding as a television speaker. Most instances of background hiss and
audible surface noise have been cleaned up in the mastering process, which
leaves each episode with a generally smooth sonic quality. There are some
limitations in fidelity, but these tracks produce a surprisingly solid
bottom end. The music usually sounds reasonable pleasant, and certainly
never coming across as either harsh or shrill. There are some nicely
implemented effects in the outlying channels, with a general ambience
coming from the rears and an occasional active surround sound effect.
Voices are always cleanly rendered, plus the dialogue is easy to
understand. English Dolby Surround soundtracks are also encoded onto the
DVDs, as are English subtitles.
3-D
animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD’s cool interactive menus- I
still love those CGI renderings of show’s plywood sets. Through the
menus, one has access to the standard set up and episode selection
features, as well as the supplemental materials. Throughout the set, one
will find a preview trailers for each of the episodes, while The
Savage Curtain and Turnabout Intruder feature popup
factoid text commentaries by Michael and Denise Okuda. On disc seven, one
will find the rest of the supplemental programs and features. Starting
things off are two separate versions of the original STAR TREK
pilot, The Cage, featuring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain
Christopher Pike. The Cage: The Original Version offers a
mixture of Gene Roddenberry’s original black and white work print, with
color footage taken from The Menagerie. The Cage: The
Restored Version is actually the entire program in color, taken
from film elements previously believed destroyed.
To
Boldly Go... Season Three runs twenty two minutes and looks at the
fan enthusiasm that brought Trek back for a third year, some of its
highlights, as well as the ultimate failure of the show to survive beyond
year three. Life Beyond Trek: Walter Koenig spends ten
minutes with actor Walter Koenig, who discusses Trek, plus his body
of work since the show and other interests. Chief Engineer’s Log
is six minutes with the frail, but still enthusiastic James Doohan, who
talks about his time on Trek. Memoir From Mr. Sulu
clocks in at eight minutes and features George Takei talking about how
Trek affected his career, as well as his experiences as a Japanese
American. Star Trek’s Impact is a nine-minute program
featuring the son of the Great Bird of the Galaxy, Eugene Roddenberry,
talking about his father’s work and the show he created. A Star
Trek Collector’s Dream Come True runs seven minutes and features
a Trek fan going from replica model maker to working in the film industry.
Production Art is a gallery of design drawings by Matt
Jefferies, while the Photo Gallery offers an assembly of
production and publicity photographs.
While
year three was the weakest in the show’s entire run, STAR TREK: THE
ORIGINAL SERIES- THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON featured more than its fair
share of episodes that are now considered classics. Not surprisingly,
Paramount has done their usual terrific job in the audio and video
department, not to mention providing some very nice supplements. If you
are a Trek fan and haven’t picked up the individual releases of
these episodes, you’ll want to add STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES-
THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON to your Starfleet library. Recommended.