Finally, The First Season Of Star Trek: The Next Generation On DVD!

Well, it’s been a long time in coming but it’s finally here! Star Trek: The Next Generation is finally being released on DVD one season at a time. Of course I’m sure this comes as no surprise to any dedicated fan of the show. However, I’m thrilled and still am a little in disbelief of it. Anyone who’s followed the entire Star Trek saga knows full well that Paramount hasn’t exactly always given it’s top franchise the royal treatment. With the arrival of DVD, they’ve had an unparalleled opportunity to make the dreams of every Star Trek fan come true. They’ve frequently failed to do this. We’ve seen the Trek movies released on DVD with limited or no special features (only to be re-released in special editions with special features). The original series was released one two episode disc at a time. This might seem like an advantage because not everyone wants to own every episode but in the end, it’s much more cost-effective to simply buy a full season in a box set.

That is what is finally being done with TNG. Previous to the release of the first season, there was a lot of speculation amongst fans about the packaging of the sets. Many fans believed that Paramount would go all out with this one, considering this was the most popular of all the Star Trek series. Sadly, the packaging for the US release isn’t all that special or impressive. It is packaged in a cardboard box that has been given some sort of metallic finish. It looks nice but feels flimsy. Anyone who buys this set and plans to watch it frequently will surely be opening and closing the outer box many, many times. It would have been nice if at least the outer package was either some sort of plastic or metal.

The discs themselves are contained in a fold out inner sleeve. It too is composed of cardboard. They’re fairly easy to access but the process of unfolding and re-folding the sleeve is a bit annoying. This also doesn’t feel very durable and I have my doubts as to whether it will hold up to heavy use.

With all of this said, the real issue is the content of the discs. Having viewed most of the first four discs and skipping around a bit on the remaining three, I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve seen and heard. The menu system for each disc is very attractive and easy to navigate. It is done in the style of the familiar Okuda-grams (Not sure if I spelled that right) that were something of a trademark of the series. It really kind of gives you the feeling of accessing one of the Enterprise D's computer interfaces.

I haven’t viewed the first two hour episode of the series, Encounter At Farpoint for years and upon watching it, I was surprised at how good it actually was for a series premiere. Certainly this episode and many others in the first season are much less refined and have more obvious script and plot errors than many of the episodes in the later years of the series. However, that magic spark is definitely already clearly visible by the end of the first season. In spite of a few real stinkers, the first season has quite a few episodes that are really quite enjoyable.

Sound And Video

So, how does it look and sound? Well, the video quality has left me with mixed feelings. However, I’ve heard that the first couple of seasons were heavily edited with early digital technology and stored on analog tape. Certainly the video looks far better then you’ve ever seen it on television and the improvement over the VHS releases is quite noticeable. Still, the level of video quality I had expected to see is not quite there. Maybe the later seasons will look better. The episodes are presented in the original Full Frame aspect ratio The sound is remixed in full 5.1 Dolby Digital and it sounds fantastic! Finally, you can hear photon torpedoes streaking across your listening environment and the dull thud of their impact. The sense of ambience the 5.1 surround adds really enhances the viewing experience. In this aspect, I doubt any fans of the series will be disappointed.

If there’s one thing most fans probably anticipated more than anything else about these discs, it would probably be the special features. There are plenty of special features but they're somewhat disappointing if you've been a long time fan. They are contained entirely on the seventh disc and take the form of four featurettes. They are named as follows:

* The Beginning

* Selected Crew Analysis

* Making Of A Legend

* Memorable Missions

The features are not nearly as extensive as I had hoped. Certainly there’s some good stuff there. However, a lot of it is comprised mostly of interviews with the cast and creative team that were conducted at the time of the original production dates. There isn't much new material at all here. I was hoping to see interviews with the cast as they are now, looking back on the first season. There seems to be little mention of any of the turmoil that apparently went on in the first season. Also, much of the material contained in the special features has been seen repeatedly in past specials.

So, having said all of this, why would anyone buy this set? Well, there are advantages, most of which are attributable to the DVD format itself. Random access is definitely a big plus. Like countless other TNG fans, I remember taping a lot of TNG episodes off the air and being frustrated by the commercials. Also, I forgot to label a lot of my taped content and inevitably lost much of it. Here you have any episode you want to watch. It's all commercial free and at your fingertips. Also, there’s the issue of the DVD format being much more compact. Just the first season on VHS no doubt takes up considerable shelf space in many a fan’s collection. With the DVD sets, the entire seven season collection (once complete) should fit easily on one shelf in many DVD storage units.

While watching these discs, I have noticed something that I really never noticed before. There's much more of a sense of continuity from one episode to the next. Without all the commercials and switching tapes, fast forwarding and rewinding to get in the way, you can finally focus entirely on the content. Although I’ve seen most of the first season episodes a few times, it all seems strangely fresh and new again.

If you’re a fan who doesn’t already have all of the episodes on tape, I don’t see how you could justify not purchasing this set. The format is durable (with proper care and handling) and will last many times longer than VHS. It’s convenient and easy to access the content. Best of all, there’s nothing to get in your way of enjoying the show.

I have also purchased Season 2 which just came out recently. So far, I’m enjoying it as well and may review it as well in the future.