Star Trek TOS DVD Set: ugh

What happened here? Some of the effects scenes look
terrible. They are all jumpy and grainy like the crappy local
broadcasts I used to tape off Channel 46 years ago! Babylon 4 in the
time rift never undulated as much as the 1701 does here! I mean, if
you can't get a proper representation of the Enterprise in space near
a planet, why bother? Did they not master it right or something? Or
are the negatives just in lousy shape? And where is The Cage? Easter
egg? ARGH! I paid all that money and this is what I got! Save your
cash, folks.

James Evans

James Evans wrote:
> ...where is The Cage? Easter egg?

It'll be included in the Season Three box, in both its color/B&W and
full-color forms. Back when the show was issued two episodes to a disc,
"The Cage" (both versions) made up the 40th and final disc, and Paramount
seem to be following the same plan with the season sets.

And no, I'm not sure why, either: the first season seems like a more
logical place to put it.

doug

--
"If this is not an exercise, could it be a...?"
--Wire

Douglas Bailey

"James Evans" <> wrote in message
news...
> What happened here? Some of the effects scenes look
> terrible. They are all jumpy and grainy like the crappy local
> broadcasts I used to tape off Channel 46 years ago!

That's inherent to the source. It's the best they could do on a small TV
budget back then.

Duh.

Joshua Zyber

In article <eJbZc.7589$. net>,
Joshua Zyber <> wrote:
>"James Evans" <> wrote in message
>news.. .
>> What happened here? Some of the effects scenes look
>> terrible. They are all jumpy and grainy like the crappy local
>> broadcasts I used to tape off Channel 46 years ago!
>
>That's inherent to the source. It's the best they could do on a small TV
>budget back then.


Small budget, and no expectation of high-quality viewing.

They used to show good film prints of the episodes at science
fiction conventions. When projected onto a large screen, things
like the wood grain on the bridge set became visible. That simply
wasn't how it was made to be seen.

<brag audience="geeks">
I had the privilege as a teenager, and later as an adult, to visit
the sets of the original series and of Next Generation. Even to
a teen, the original set _felt_ like a set, obviously fake plywood,
etc., though no less fun to play with for that. By contrast, the
Next Gen set was more detailed, obviously intended for
motion-picture-quality viewing, with fine details visible everywhere.
Walking those corridors felt like being in a real place, even to
a (presumably) more sophisticated adult.
</brag>

Michael Urban

On 1 Sep 2004 12:48:38 -0400, (Michael Urban) wrote:

>In article <eJbZc.7589$. net>,
>Joshua Zyber <> wrote:
>>"James Evans" <> wrote in message
>>news. ..
>>> What happened here? Some of the effects scenes look
>>> terrible. They are all jumpy and grainy like the crappy local
>>> broadcasts I used to tape off Channel 46 years ago!
>>
>>That's inherent to the source. It's the best they could do on a small TV
>>budget back then.
>
>
>Small budget, and no expectation of high-quality viewing.
>
>They used to show good film prints of the episodes at science
>fiction conventions. When projected onto a large screen, things
>like the wood grain on the bridge set became visible. That simply
>wasn't how it was made to be seen.
>
><brag audience="geeks">
>I had the privilege as a teenager, and later as an adult, to visit
>the sets of the original series and of Next Generation. Even to
>a teen, the original set _felt_ like a set, obviously fake plywood,
>etc., though no less fun to play with for that. By contrast, the
>Next Gen set was more detailed, obviously intended for
>motion-picture-quality viewing, with fine details visible everywhere.
>Walking those corridors felt like being in a real place, even to
>a (presumably) more sophisticated adult.
></brag>

Cool! The closest I've come to touring any Trek is:

-TOS: repeatedly poring over the official Enterprise blueprints
-TNG: Las Vegas' "Star Trek: The Experience"
-DS9: Same as TNG

I met Armin "Quark" Shimmerman at ST:TE in LV, btw. He stated the
mezzanine area was very close to the shooting set for DS9 but he may
have just been trying to throw the fan-boy a bone.

The Merry Piper
Remove Your Coat To E-Mail
[http://tmpiper.livejournal.com/]

The Merry Piper

"Michael Urban" <> wrote in message
news:ch4uh6$as4$...
> <brag audience="geeks">
> I had the privilege as a teenager, and later as an adult, to visit
> the sets of the original series and of Next Generation. Even to
> a teen, the original set _felt_ like a set, obviously fake plywood,
> etc., though no less fun to play with for that. By contrast, the
> Next Gen set was more detailed, obviously intended for
> motion-picture-quality viewing, with fine details visible everywhere.
> Walking those corridors felt like being in a real place, even to
> a (presumably) more sophisticated adult.
> </brag>

Ironic, then, that the post-produced-on-film TOS is able to be
remastered from the original film elements for optimal picture quality,
while the post-produced-on-80s-analog-video TNG looks much worse.

Joshua Zyber

> > ...where is The Cage? Easter egg?
>
> And no, I'm not sure why, either: the first season seems like a more
> logical place to put it.

My own educated guess is that the disc set for the 3rd season will
have more "room" for such extras, since that season was several
episodes shorter than the 1st two seasons. Also, we are lucky if we
do get "The Cage" at all... let's not forget, that episode was
technically NEVER actually broadcast in its entirety. It is not an
official episode of the Original Series at all. Sorry, it's true!

Con

Con

"Con" <> wrote:

> Also, we are lucky if we do get "The Cage" at all... let's not forget,
> that episode was technically NEVER actually broadcast in its entirety.

Yes, it was. It was "never actually broadcast in its entirety" *on
NBC*, but it's been broadcast in syndication. Hell, I taped it off of
Boston's WLVI about 10 years ago. It played as part of their regular
cycle of STAR TREK reruns.

> It is not an official episode of the Original Series at all. Sorry, it's true!

But given that it's been released on VHS/Beta and LD along with the
rest of the series, as well as released with the first DVD issues of
the series, it's reasonable for consumers to expect it to be released
in the new season sets.

-- jayembee

jayembee

>> > ...where is The Cage? Easter egg?
>>
A friend of mine who is a DVD NUTCASE (collects EVERYTHING) has the original
ST DVD series. The Cage was released on the last DVD of the set so he is
assuming it will be on the Season 3 set. (Don't ask why???)

Steven Wandy

Steven Wandy wrote:
>>> > ...where is The Cage? Easter egg?
>>>
> A friend of mine who is a DVD NUTCASE (collects EVERYTHING) has the
> original ST DVD series. The Cage was released on the last DVD of the
> set so he is assuming it will be on the Season 3 set. (Don't ask
> why???)

It's actually quite, er, logical. The TOS DVDs are ordered by broadcast
order, not production order. Technically, "The Cage" was the last TOS
episode "broadcast", as it was not shown on television until long after
the series was over. Ergo, if you number your episodes in broadcast
order, "The Cage" becomes Episode #80, and therefore would go into the
Season 3 set.

Personally, I'd've much rather that they order them in production order,
and have "The Cage" as the first episode, "WNMHGB" as the second, Balok
on the third, and so on -- but no one asked me .

--
Bob

Bob Flaminio