Interesting that you brought this up -- are you referring to the U.S. three-season set that was released one season at a time? If so, I have the first season from that release (and the complete three-season box containing all the episodes on DVD), and most of the discs won't load on my first generation Panasonic DMP-BD10A, either. Granted, this unit is dying and has been for some time (it resides in our bedroom because it's so old and creaky now), but the Trek discs seem to cause it the most headaches.
I believe so; I bought them at the same time probably about 8-10 years ago. Season 1 is yellow (no slipcase), Season 2 is blue and Season 3 is red (both 2 and 3 have slipcases). All three have the year of 2009 on the back.
Yes, that's what my copy of Season 1 looks like, although for some reason, it doesn't have a slipcase..
I see -- that's weird...must have been stock that just ran out of slipcases. You're not missing anything, though -- the slipcase on mine is ratty and worn, and makes it difficult to pull the inner box out (or to slip the case back on) when you need to.
I started watching TOS from the very beginning about 2 months ago....I had a (UK) S1 DVD boxset which my Dad didn't want/need anymore and I just put it away on my bookcase quite a few years back. Those were the yellow/blue/red "transmitter" shaped plastic case versions. For some reason I thought, yeah why not give them a go? The show used to be on a lot here in the 80s, but I didn't take too much notice. I did see the first 5 or 6 films (probably the first 2 or 3 at the actual cinema, again with my Dad who was a fan). 60s Sci-Fi and "cult" TV really appeals to me. I'll go from TOS to Mission Impossible to The Avengers or whatever. I enjoy them for what they are. Cheaply-made Sci-Fi from almost 60 years ago, but with interesting scripts that - however clumsily - ponder some interesting questions. I also think Shatner at this point looked incredible, so much presence and - as a straight man saying this - a fantastic-looking guy. The aura around his character is impossible to ignore. The rest of (what became the regular) cast are all key for me as well. One of things I'm looking forward to as I work through all the episodes (I've only watched maybe 8 so far) is seeing the show really come together - at first, it's a bit patchy with a revolving-door of cast members and the show doesn't quite feel established yet. Very sad to hear about Nichelle's passing, as she was such a groundbreaking actor and the role was too. EG.
I still get a huge kick out of the original series. Reminds me of something, though, that vexed the hell out of me as a child. When Star Trek originally aired, we only had two regular network TV stations and PBS. There was a CBS, and the other one, if I'm remembering this right, switched between ABC and NBC. It just killed me -- I'd sometimes see ads for Star Trek then never was able to watch it because it aired at a time the station switched to ABC. Fortunately by the end of the sixties it was in reruns on an independent station we were finally able to get when cable became available. I used to have this on a big wall poster:
I just watched "Devil in the Dark" - about the silicon-based life form protecting its eggs. I was very proud of our heroes at the end of that one. Re "Space Seed", not quite so sure about Kirk's decision to allow Khan and his super race to have their own planet. That's being a little too merciful. Some people have mentioned problems with the discs - I have what I think are the most recent editions - the 3 seasons in ordinary separate blue cases. Blu-ray. They're playing fine on my region free Blu-ray player. The only slight problem is Kirk's voice when we get the "Captain's log" updates - it sounds buried in the mix of music and sound effects.
My town was the same. We had an NBC station and a CBS station and they would pick which ABC shows to air and switch to them. During the third season the NBC station would switch to ABC's Judd, For the Defense every Friday at 10PM. The NBC station didn't yet have the expensive equipment to timeshift ABC shows like they would in coming years. All local shows on the station were either live or shot on 16mm film. Did we grow up the same town? We finally got to see season three episodes in the early 70s when our tiny cable system began carrying an independent station from three hundred miles away (very mind boggling at the time!) via microwave relay stations. The station aired Star Trek every Sunday at 4PM.
These are the sets I have (yellow was inherited, the others I bought recently on the 2nd hand market...they *had* to match exactly! I like the shonky original effects. And the obviously painted backdrops to the alien planets (often re-used!). EG.
The only Star Trek sets I paid full price on were the Next Gen ones. The rest I bought off eBay for no more than 50 dollars. One I didn't even pay for. I won ENT season 1 from a local newspaper. They were having a trivia contest with two levels, one easy, the other hard with the set being the prize for the hard level. So, I figured why not, I'll try. I got all ten questions right, which surprised me because one was on the animated series, and I hadn't seen that in years at the time. So I had guessed at that one. Either I was the only one that entered, or I was the only one that aced the quiz, can't remember.
Probably the latter...after all the years of collecting ST on home video I stopped with the complete Blu-ray box...the lowest priced one that was for sale. The problem with that case it had Jaw of death BD holders..I cracked a few discs trying to remove them from that case! wrote to Paramount and they replaced them...that case is incredibly bad For BD...
I had these. I enjoy both versions with the original effects and revised. Some of them revised ones they did a terrific job of adding to rather than subtracting from the original series.
It was a great episode -- I still like (if we're going with Klingon appearances) Day of the Dove a bit better (I mean, Kang was just bad ass in that). But -- and we had this conversation in another Trek-oriented thread some time back here -- what I always found hysterical about the way the Klingons looked in Errand of Mercy is the haphazard makeup work and the way in which some of the Klingons are just walking around with what appears to be unfinished gold paint on their faces, as well as the "out of shape" members of the race just lumbering around, looking like they're just about out of breath (which was always funny to me). Of course, we saw this in episodes like the aforementioned Day of the Dove, as well...
“city on the edge of forever” has been mentioned... written by the great Harlan Ellison, who also wrote the best Outer Limits episode, “The demon with the glass hand”. The other Star Trek episode that stayed with me was the alternate universe one, which inspired the name of the band Spock’s Beard,
Always a joy.. Had not seen the old time travel one where they go back to the 30’s, etc.. in years. Just caught finally saw it again last week, so great. It won the sci-fi award that year too.