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 - TOS III - Kirk kisses all the ladiesThe Star Trek Collection is a worthy hobby and certainly the largest of the television series DVD Collections (The Original Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise). At around 1400 minutes per box, you are looking at approx 30 boxes with 700 hours of viewing. That is 1 month of non-stop Star Trek. No DVD series comes remotely close to that. The TOS series ends with series III. The total number of TOS episodes from season I to season III is 80. Running time for TOS is approx 60 hours. Get going collecting right now and build up on each succession over the years. By the end you will have a very serious anthology that defines the word awe. This is the kind of item that requires 1 hour a day of your time for the next few years. It is a cherished memory that served your fathers and will serve your children also. Our very planet, Earth, has advanced because of Gene Roddenberry's admirable concept. Roddenberry nailed the premise of the series when he said that he wanted to create a show with characters that we could look up too. `The Bridge' members are like our family. Watch what they do. Then go and spend your life striving for the same on Earth. What engineer, medic, scientist, teacher, worker can not say that Star Trek has not influenced them? The show is this significant in the development of our species. Even Christians respect and quote its authority and it is not hard to see why. The DVD case is beautiful. Make sure to retain the cardboard holder that it sits into as this helps stability on the shelf (although the box can still stand alone the bottom is a little narrow). The shell cracks open down the centre to reveal a box. Sliding out of the box is a small booklet insert with discs in a well designed plastic holder that flip from disc to disc. There are 4 episodes per disc, and 8 discs in total. However the last disc, disc 8, only has two episodes, for a grand total of 30 episodes. The rest of disc 8 is devoted to Star Trek interviews and trailers with the usual expected extras...and then some more. Several of the shows come with a commentary. All the episodes have been remastered to the point that scratches and artefacts are hardly visible. The special effects have been touched up slightly (no strings), however they still retain an overall early look and feel, especially the initial episodes that have budget restrictions. The episodes are ordered not in the sequence they where filmed, but in the sequence that they aired, however each episode has been numbered according to the order they where filmed in. This means on one disc you have shows 4, 2, 12 and 1, in that order. The sound has also been remastered to 5:1 Dolby Digital! Since the show was shot in full frame, these dimensions are retained. Star Trek, The Original Series (TOS), Season Three, continues to improve on visual effects and camera work, based on the big budget of Season Two's success. Although the bridge and the Enterprise model have not undergone much of a revamp since Season II the characters are beefed up and the acting is more refined. Kirk looses his green sweater that attracted some debate in Season Two. The credits are now in blue and the music no longer has the irritating *ding* sound every few seconds. There are themes of body organ theft, genetic manipulation, memory loss, alien possession, insanity, time travel, apocalypses, dimensions, psychic powers, empathy, love potions, discrimination, alien abduction, over population, immortality and the sixties. Scotty undergoes several different hairdos. This series is also the one where Kirk kisses Uhura, in "Plato's Stepchildren", the first interracial kiss on American television. In fact Kirk goes on to kiss all the women in Season Three! It is worth it for the episodes "The Cloud Minders", "The Tholian Web", "Spectre of the Gun", "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" along with being an important instalment for any collector's series. The final disc contains the pilot episodes "The Cage" in two different versions. The `original version' is in fact a copy of a black and white broadcast even though it was shot in color. The color edition can be found in the "restored version". Anyway both pilot versions are here in Season III. "The Cage" was eventually remade into an episode and aired. This aired version can be found in TOS Season One. The main thing you will like about Season Three is how it genuinely makes attempts to expand on science-fiction concepts. Additionally there are quite a few story twists that will surprise. At the same time this was to be the final season for TOS, cancelled in the middle of the height of the 60s (summer of 1969) due to low ratings. It is sad when you come to the end of Series III knowing that you have spent the last few months enjoying being beside Kirk, Spock, Bones and Scotty but this did not stop Gene Roddenberry from pitching the idea to turn Star Trek into motion picture films. Thanks to that we have these box office successes to keep us going. Now boldly onto Star Trek: The Next Generation (TNG) Series I!!!!!!! Rating:  - The Third and last season of the series.Like all TV series Star trek has its good and bad episodes.But if you like Star Trek and you have the first two seasons then this is a must buy. Rating: - I Might Be Crazy, But This Is My Favorite SeasonYes, the often-reviled third season of Star Trek is in fact my favorite season. Why, you may ask? In the third season Roddenberry basically left the show for all intents and purposes, with Fred Friedberger pinch-hitting as the new producer, and the already tight budget getting cut further by the powers that be. I suppose that I feel that some of the best art comes from tribulations and limitations. I will readily admit that episodes like "Spock's Brain" and "The Way to Eden" are pretty terrible (although thry are a lot of fun with a drink or five in hand). But some of the more wild ideas worked in a way that never appeared in the relatively more stable first two seasons. "The Enterprise Incident," "The Tholian Web," "All Our Yesterdays" and "Day of the Dove" are classic well-constructed episode that would have stood out at any time of the show's run. But I have a soft spot for some of the stranger stuff. "The Paradise Syndrome" take a strange Frontierland approach that stands out and explores an emotional dimension of Kirk that rarely appeared in the series. Budget constraints actually turned what would have been the already good "Spectre of the Gun" into a surreal masterpiece. Unable to afford full western sets, the producers simply made it a plot point and managed to provide the episode with an unsettling tone that it would not have had otherwise. Although "Wink of the Eye" and "The Mark of Gideon" both have initially interesting concepts that do not hold up to intellectual scruitiny, they remain so much fun that I really don't care. "The World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" has a really cool concept that can withstand a little bit of thinking; plus the oracle is super cool. And strange as it may seem, I really love the floating blob of the week that is a hallmark of the season and appears in episodes like "The Lights of Zetar" and "Spectre of the Gun." Yes, this season is a little on the campy side, but the whole original series is to a certain degree. It's one of the reasons I still love watching this show and for me the Third Season does not disappoint. Rating:  - 3 and a half actually, and that's generous!This season never should have been made! It was the worst season of any Trek, with the possible exception of TNG Season 1. The only reason it was saved from oblivion was its loyal fans, who wrote in to stop it being canceled after it's second season. Stardate 5431.4 "Spock's Brain" Very creepy. Aliens steal Spock's brain and Kirk and McCoy have to save him. Kind of dumb. 1 star Stardate 5027.3 "The Enerprise Incident" One of the better episodes of this season. Kirk and Spock infiltrate a Romulan ship. Watch out for the Vulcan Death Grip! 3 stars Stardate 4842.6 "The Paradise Syndrome" Also a better episode from this season. Kirk loses his memory and begins to live in a native village. Heartfelt, and features the only woman Kirk ever married. 3 stars Stardate 5029.5 "And the Children Shall Lead" I don't even remember this one, which means I probably didn't watch it. Oh well didn't seem like that much of a loss. Stardate 5630.7 "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" Supposedly one of the better episodes. I never understood that. Ambassador comes onto Enterprise that can make everyone go insane. 2 stars Stardate 4385.3 "Spectre of the Gun" interesting theory of reality vs. illusion, but could have been done in a better situation. 2 stars Stardate Unknown "Day of the Dove" Klingons and Enterprise fight, then make small peace treaty. A shodow of what is to come with the Klingon empire in later shows. 2 stars Stardate 5476.3 "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky" The best episode of the 3rd season. Race of people who o=are on a ship but don't realize it. 3 stars Stardate 5693.2 "The Tholian Web" Alien race tries to capture Enterprise and Captain Kirk disappears. Good scenes with Spock and McCoy. 3 stars Stardate 5784.2 "Plato's Stepchildren" Weak plot- how would aliens have heard of Plato? 1st interracial kiss though. 1 star Stardate 5710.5 "Wink of an Eye" Superfast aliens take over Enterpise...interesting theory and cool the way Spock and McCoy figured it out. 3 stars Stardate 5121.5 "The Empath" Never saw this one because we couldn't find the tape it was on. No loss apparently. Stardate 4372.5 'Elaan of Troyius" I remember liking this one because Kirk was pretty good here. 2 stars Stardate 5718.3 "Whom Gods Destroy" also one of the better episodes of the 3rd season. Deals with insanity and is one of the episodes where it;s easy to see how close the crew was, especially Kirk and Spock. 3 stars Stardate 5730.2 "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" Terrify look at how hate can destroy a society. I think it's lost some of it's appeal since ENT copied it. 3 stars Stardate 5423.4 "The Mark of Gideon" Planet tries to use Kirk's latent illness to solve population problem. interesting theory. 3 stars Stardate Unknown "That Which Survives" I don't remember this one. It must not have been that good. Stardate 5725.3 "The Lights of Zetar" Scotty falls in love with girl who gets attacked by aliens. Predictible 2 stars Stardate 5843.7 "Requiem for Methuselah" Interesting look at immortality. 3 stars Stardate 5832.3 "The Way to Eden" STAR TREK HIPPIES!!!!!! 3 stars Stardate 5818.4 "The Cloud Minders" Really weird episode featuring class struggles and one of Spock's infrequent love interests. 2 stars Stardate 5906.4 "The Savage Curtain" One of the more ridiculous plots, but good battles. 2 stars Stardate 5943.7 "All Our Yesterdays" A good episode with some interesting looks into Spock's character and of course time travel. 3 stars Stardate 5928.5 "Turnabout Intruder" One of Kirk's former love interests switches bodies with him. One of the more laughable plots and easy to see why it was canceled based on this episode. 1 star And so TOS ended, but there were good things to come in 4 spin-off series and 10 movies so it's ok. Rating: - Star Trek the Orginal Series: The Final SeasonOwning the entire three season set of the original Star Trek is obviously a must for serious Star Trek fans. The third season is the most uneven season of the three in terms of quality episodes in both writing and special affects. The show's budget was cut in the third season so they truly were working on a shoestring budget. Season three does have some of the best episodes but it also has some of the worst. My favorite episodes in Season Three are: -The Enterprise Incident, an excellently written and acted spy/mystery thriller involving the Romulans. -The Paradise Syndrome where Kirk loses his memory on a planet threatened by an asteroid and winds up living with the indigenous population with a culture similar to Native Americans. -Specter of the Gun where we see a replay of the OK Corral gunfight was a lot of fun, if a bit of a stretch. -Elaan of Troyius where Kirk ends up taking over the tutoring of a spoiled princess is also quite fun. Season three also contains one of the most poorly written episodes - Requiem for Methuselah - one where Kirk is completely out of character. It's an abomination that it ever aired. The specials features on the Season Three set are excellent. It includes the original Star Trek pilot The Cage featuring captain Christopher Pike. It also has some well done interviews and profiles of George Takei (Sulu), Walter Koenig (Chekhov), and John Doohan (Scotty).
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