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Episode
Disc One: “Spock’s Brain”, “The Enterprise Incident”, “The Paradise
Syndrome”, “And The Children Shall Lead”
Episode
Disc Two: “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”
Episode
Disc Three: “The Tholian Web”, “Plato’s Stepchildren”, “Wink Of An
Eye”, “The Empath”
Episode
Disc Four: “Elaan Of Troyius”, “Whom Gods Destroy”, “Let That Be Your
Last Battlefield”, “The Mark Of Gideon”
Episode
Disc Five: “That Which Survives”, “The Lights Of Zetar”, “Requiem For
Methuselah”, “The Way To Eden”
Episode
Disc Six: “The Cloud Minders”, “The Savage Curtain”, “All Our
Yesterdays”, “Turnabout Intruder”
Episode Disc Seven: “The Cage – Restored Version”, “The Cage – Original Version”
Stars:
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig,
Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, and Majel Barrett Roddenberry
Guest Stars: France Nuyen, Joanne Linville, Melvin Belli, Michael Ansara, Marj Dusay, Kathryn Hays, Ian Wolfe, Michael Dunn, Liam Sullivan, Katherine Browne, Harry Landers, Frank Gorshin, Jeff Corey, Skip Homeier, Victor Brandt, Barry Atwater, James Daly, Sandra Smith, Lee Bergere, Jeffrey Hunter, John Hoyt, Peter Duryer, Laurel Goodwin, and Susan Oliver
Writers:
Lee Cronin, John Meredyth Lucas, Margaret Armen, D.C. Fontana, Edward J. Lasko,
Jean Lisette Aroeste, Joyce Muskat, Judy Burns, Chet Richards, Rik Vollaerts,
Jerome Bixby, Meyer Dolinsky, Arthur Heinemann, Oliver Crawford, Lee Erwin,
Jerry Sohl, George F, Slavin, Stanley Adams, Jeremy Tarcher, Shari Lewis, David
Gerrold, and Gene Roddenberry,
Created
By: Gene Roddenberry
Executive
Producer: Gene Roddenberry
Feature
length: 22 hours and 29 minutes
Extras:
To Boldly Go… Season Three, Life Beyond Trek: Walter Koenig, Chief
Engineer’s Log, Memoir Of Mr. Sulu, Star Trek’s Impact, A Star Trek
Collector’s Dream Come True, Production Art, Preview Trailers
Languages:
English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging:
Seven-Disc Mini Digipack Within A Plastic Case
Sound:
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound and Dolby Surround Sound
Year
of Television Broadcast: 1968-1969/DVD Release: 2004
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: Not Rated
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
After
the second season of “Star Trek” NBC cancelled the show, but due to a then
unheard of fan letter writing campaign, the original series was given a reprieve
and a third season of episodes were produced. Unfortunately Gene Roddenberry had
already left the Paramount lot to develop new programming elsewhere and the
show’s regular time slot of Monday nights at 8pm was changed to Friday nights
at 10pm, causing a loss in much the show’s core audience. Without
Roddenberry’s presence some of the episodes seemed to veer off the course the
series was taking too. However there are still some great episodes in the third
season. Not all of them can be discussed here, but I did review the original 40
DVD volumes Paramount Home Entertainment released between 1999 and 2001 and
these reviews go into greater detail about each third season episode. You can
find these reviews if you wish additional information on a specific episode by
visiting the original website location archives, which are accessible by going
to the main website archives page by clicking
here. Generally some of the more
memorable episodes include “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”, : “Elaan Of Troyius”,
“The Way To Eden”, “The Cloud Minders”, “The Savage Curtain”, “All
Our Yesterdays”, and “Turnabout Intruder.
“Spock’s
Brain” is memorable if only for it might be one of the worst episodes of the
entire original series, but even in that installment there are a few moments
like Spock’s brain giving Bones direction on how to reconnect the various
nerve endings and so on that are humorous. Also included on the third season set
are both the original and restored versions of the series’ first pilot “The
Cage” starring Jeffrey Hunter. Both versions of “The Cage” contain many
elements that would be incorporated into “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
The original black and white and color reconstructed version runs over 70
minutes and includes an introduction and closing comments with “Star Trek”
creator Gene Roddenberry. Actor Jeffrey Hunter, who portrays Captain Pike is
best known for feature film roles in “King Of Kings” and “Hell To
Eternity”, which also featured George Takei in a supporting role before
appearing on “Star Trek.” Footage from the episode was used for the two-part
“Original Series” episode, “The Menagerie”, which is available on DVD
now in the season one 8-disc set. This episode effectively establishes Spock as
the crewmember with the most time aboard the Enterprise. The jackets worn by the
crew when they first beam down are similar to the ones worn by Kirk, Spock,
McCoy, and Decker when they arrive at the heart of V’Ger in “Star Trek: The
Motion Picture.” “The Cage” is presented with a two-channel English
Monaural Soundtrack with a picture and sound quality that varies in quality
because of the nature of the reconstruction, which was first released on VHS in
the later half of the 1980s. The full color version of “The Cage” is
completely digitally remastered with full English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Sound like the other episodes on DVD of “Star Trek: The Original Series.”
The running time for the restored version of “The Cage” is approximately 63
minutes and 30 seconds.
As
with the previous season sets in the DVD series, “Star Trek: The Original
Series: The Complete Third Season On DVD” presents each installment in
digitally enhanced and remastered (1.33:1) aspect ratios with English Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, making these episodes look and sound better than
they ever have before. The limitations of the effects in certain scenes seem to
be virtually swept away and the colors are vibrant with no bleeding, high
detail, and minimal grain. It is also important to note that these episodes from
the latter part of “The Original Series” are among the best looking shows on
DVD perhaps because of the improvements in the technology of authoring DVD-Video
that has occurred in years since “Star Trek: The Original Series” first
appeared on DVD courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment back in 1999. An
English Dolby Surround Soundtrack and English Captions and Closed Captions for
the hearing impaired are encoded on to the discs as options. The TV spots for
all of the third season episodes are also included on the first six discs.
Michael and Denise Okuda provide more anecdote filled optional text commentary for “The Savage Curtain,” which makes frequent references to the recent trilogy of episodes related to the Vulcans that aired before the holidays on “Star Trek: Enterprise” and they also provide comments for the third season finale “Turnabout Intruder,” where they pay the original series’ final episode the proper respect it deserves. The rest of the bonus features include “To Boldly Go… Season Three” (22:36), which touches upon the series cancellation and renewal, the timeslot shift and the history making first interracial kiss to ever appear on television as depicted in the episode “Plato’s Stepchildren.” “Life Beyond Trek: Walter Koenig” (10:58) focuses on the impact “Star Trek” has had on his career and he even pays respect in turn to “Babylon 5,” which gave sci-fi fans the opportunity to see Koenig in a totally different character light than what he had previously appeared in “Star Trek” as Chekov. Koenig also reveals himself to be an avid collector of various genre materials. “Memoir Of Mr. Sulu” (8:42) emphasizes George Takei’s involvement in the Japanese American Museum for which he is among the Board members. His story is actually quite moving. “Chief Engineer’s Log” (6:11) is also somewhat poignant with James Doohan discussing his multiple roles on the series. Featurettes with Gene Roddenberry’s son discussing “Star Trek’s Impact” (9:03) and a look at John Long’s development of “Trek” prop memorabilia in “A Star Trek Collector’s Dream Come True” (7:06), which has led to a professional career for him in Hollywood, concludes the retrospective featurettes included within this DVD set along with six more easy to find “Red Shirt Logs” that run between 2 and five minutes each. A gallery of season three-production art is also included and the interactive menus are all well rendered and easy to navigate.
An insert with notes on Engineering as well as the changing face of the Klingons on “Star Trek” and short episode blurbs is included within the packaging. “Star Trek: The Original Series: The Complete Third Season On DVD: 7-Disc Set” is available now at retailers on and offline courtesy of Paramount Home Entertainment.
© Copyright 2005 By Mark A.
Rivera
All Rights Reserved.
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