The starship Enterprise boldly goes into an alternate universe where its picture and audio have never gone before.

CRITIQUE

Gene Rodenberry's science fiction revolution was unceremoniously cancelled in 1968; a victim of high expenses and low ratings. It went out not with a big bang but a little whimper, as the last episode "Turnabout Intruder" saw Kirk's body overtaken by the mind of a jealous ex-lover who wants to take his ride out for a spin. It doesn't play any better on the tube than it reads on the page. Unfortunately it left a sour taste in the mouth for a wrongly-maligned season of TOS.

Widely recognized as the "disappointing" year of Star Trek TOS, the final voyage of the Starship Enterprise ultimately fell short of its five-year mission by two years. And it would've never made it to three years except for a remarkable story. For the first time in TV history a show was saved from the jaws of death by the people who watched it instead of the mysterious Neilson ratings box.

After being deluged by an overwhelming fan-inspired letter writing campaign, the suits at NBC decided to give it one more shot. They didn't understand Rodenberry's vision, nor did the advertisers -- but apparently 110,000 fans took the time to write, so it meant something, right? And for every letter, NBC guesstimated there were perhaps a hundred views who didn't bother to write... but still watched the show (and it's sponsors). Reluctantly conceding there might be an audience out there, NBC renewed Star Trek.

In a perfect example of executive thinking, they proceeded to consign their space freighter to the black hole of viewership: Friday nights at 10 pm. (For younger readers who don't remember what the pre-TiVo generation was like: we had to watch the shows when the aired -- in real time.) Trek's target audience (16 - 40) were out for the weekend by 10 pm.

Trapped in an obvious self-fulfilling prophecy, Star Trek sank to new ratings lows. Rodenberry got disgusted and walked, forcing a new producer to take over the wheel of a sinking ship. This man was Fred Frieberger. Many fans blame the third season cancellation on him, but the writing was on the wall long before he stepped on deck. All Frieberger did was remain at the mast. Budgets were slashed. The cast was depressed. But Trek still had some wind left in its sails.

Sure, the season was rife with stinkers. Witness the reviled "Spock's Brain," as the stoic Vulcan literally loses his mind and MCCoy has to glue it back in. "Spectre of the Gun" was simply a cheap excuse to haul out old western sets and costumes from mothballs.  As if "Spectre" wasn't sparse enough, "The Empath" saw our heroes literally walking around in circles!  (A darkened soundstage lacking both props and walls was supposed to be an alien planet or something.)

In "The Savage Curtain," Kirk fights for his life... alongside a living boulder and the ghost of Abraham Lincoln. (Remember, acid-dropping peaked in 1968.) "And the Children Shall Lead" found Kirk dealing with some highly annoying space orphans, while in "The Way to Eden" he dealt with highly annoying space hippies! Yes, there were quite a number of equally turgid episodes.

However, season three issued some compelling shows in its wake, as well. Among them are:

Requiem for Methuselah - Earth history is not what it seems. A lone soul occupying a distant planet turns out to be an immortal being who once dallied on Earth... as Alexander the Great, Da Vinci and Mozart (among others).

All Our Yesterdays - accidentally sends Kirk back to time of the Salem Witch Hunts, while Spock is transported to the Ice Age... where his Vulcan logic melts as savage prehistoric emotions take hold.

Elaan of Troyus tests Kirk's diplomacy while he plays chaperone to [female] alien royalty, whose stunning looks bely a cunning that might set off an interplanetary war.

Mark of Gideon features that much-parodyied allegory about race relations, as a half white/half black alien cop chases a half black/half white alien criminal across the galaxy. (And just in time for Obama-rama!)

Plato's Stepchildren - in which the crew are forced to become pawns in a deadly game run by telekinetic aliens. Also notable as the first interracial kiss to appear on national TV. (The episode was pre-empted in some areas of the Deep South.)

I could cite more examples, but you get the picture. Action, romance, allegory... The third season of Star Trek TOS is far from a bust! Sweetening the pot are two crucial factors:

THE VIDEO

What has been done with the remastered Trek is nothing short of phenomenal. Sure, a few minor scratches might've escaped the digitizer's attention (an oversight probably dictated by tight deadlines) but the care that's been taken here is staggering. Everything POPS. Skin tones, backgrounds, you name it.

New digital FX replace the cheesy originals. Paramount hired FX pros who are also devoted Trek fans. They didn't change the stories one bit. All the FX shots received a facelift that's even more naturalistic than Shatner's hair implants. Each shot per se basically remains the same... but the old wooden starship models are now replaced by photographically accurate digital representations; as are the matte paintings, phaser effects et al.

THE AUDIO

Whatever can be done to clean up 40 year-old tracks is employed here. I think I heard some new “whoooosh!” sounds replacing the Enterprise's flyby during the opening credits, and the female vocal also seems to be a compete replacement... but all nostalgia-inducing sound FX are all there, intact, and the immortal scores sound just as sharp as the CD versions I've worn out over the years.

THE EXTRAS

The Cage / The Cage (extended version). The original Trek pilot, sans Shatner. Less refined than the actual show, but a "fascinating" document of inspiration. Heavier on exploration and philosophy, The Cage failed to sell NBC on Rodenberry's concept.  He retooled... adding action, romance and Shatner. The rest is history. Frankly, I haven't seen the extended version yet but the original remains one of my favorite TV pilots.

Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies: Though not officially on payroll, Blackburn was a regular cast member -- a glorified extra -- playing anything from helmsman to alien to dead body. He was also a stand-in, he did wardrobe and makeup tests. The guy was on set every day... and he shot a LOT of 8mm movies! His recollections are sweet. Footage reveals that far from being an assh*le to Nichelle Nichols (as she now claims) she and Shatner constantly flirted. It's on film, folks!

A Star Trek Collector's Dream Come True: Guess what? One of the original fans who made highly accurate prop replicas grows up to be... a professional propmaker. Imagine that! Actually his work is impeccable.

To Boldly Go: A rehash of older cast interviews circa 2004; should be of interest to those who haven't seen them yet. These mainly feature Shatner and Nimoy. The second bananas are splintered out into separate chapters:

Life Beyond Trek: Walter Koenig (aka Chekov) is featured here. He never had much to say, and says very little again... in a very long-winded manner. I've always felt that Koenig, like all the other supporting cast, tried to maximize their minor contributions to the show with a lot of self-serving yadda yadda. (Another reason why diehard Trekkies and I don't get along.) Chekov, Sulu, Scotty and Uhura were not important characters. They added (pardon the pun) a bit of color to the show... but face it people, their acting skills were limited. Since the franchise took on a life of its own, the second bananas have been leaping from talk show to convention to the book circuit squeezing out every last cherished memory of their time on the show. Die hard nerds eat this stuff up with a platinum spork. Hailing frequencies be damned, I say!

Memoir from Mr. Sulu: Like Koenig, George Takei says little with a lot of words.

Chief Engineer's Log: James Doohan (aka Scotty) in one of his last lucid interviews. Very sad. And dull.

Captain's Log: Bob Justman in his last interview. This fellow, an associate producer at the time, is the unsung hero of TOS. While Rodenberry fiddled with details and script rewrites, Justman was the "go to" guy. He ran the show, juggled the budgets, resolved disputes and kept everything running smoothly. It's obvious that Justman loved his work, the show, and the cast. (Read his book on the subject: Inside Star Trek -- it's great!)

Star Trek's Impact: My head will explode if I hear another story about how a TV show changed the world! Yes, ST: TOS was influential, iconic, etc. Yes, a real spacecraft was named after the Enterprise. Okay, so today's cell phones look like communicators! Get over it.

Collectible Trek: Having bought a few pieces Trek memorabilia in my time, I shouldn't talk, but the fans are so rabid for every little inconsequential item that it just cheapens the whole phenomenon. Paramount licenses this stuff to virtually any toymaker, t-shirt printer, and coloring book manufacturer on the planet. 99% of it is mass market junk. High-end items (such as statues and prop replicas) are way overpriced. The Trekkies worship these items like Scrooge McDuck and his money. Bleh.

FINAL THOUGHT

A "must have" for Star Trek TOS fans... and a worthwhile, family friendly rental for general audiences.