Star Trek: The Original Series--The Complete Second Season

The 1967-68 season of the original Star Trek featured some of the best sci-fi tales broadcast on television up to that time. Series creator Gene Roddenberry made occasional concessions to the network by supplying some action-oriented episodes that smacked of immature “space opera,” but he also presented some unusually fine, character-driven stories. The season opener, “Amok Time,” was a showcase for Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock, the Vulcan officer whose emotions come to the fore as he begins to manifest the mating impulses of his species. “Who Mourns for Adonis?” was Star Trek's first exploration of a popular sci-fi supposition: that creatures believed by ancient humans to be gods were actually aliens with unusual powers. “The Doomsday Machine” featured guest star William Windom as the Ahab-like commander of the Enterprise's doomed sister ship, a man obsessed with destroying the seemingly indestructible weapon that killed his crew. “The Ultimate Computer” showed the starship's crew under great strain while deploying an experimental computer system intended to replace them. Other memorable episodes among the 26 collected here on seven discs: “Mirror, Mirror,” in which Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Spock, Scotty (James Doohan), and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) found themselves transported to a parallel universe; “Assignment: Earth,” an unsuccessful spin-off attempt for a series that would have starred Robert Lansing as Gary Seven and Teri Garr as his secretary; and “The Trouble With Tribbles,” a comedic romp that became one of the series' most popular installments. DVD extras include a pair of pop-up text commentaries, six solid featurettes (with new interviews), production art, a photo gallery, and a quartet of Easter eggs. Highly recommended. [Note: Star Trek: The Original Series--The Complete Third Season is also newly available.] (E. Hulse)[DVD Review—Aug. 19, 2008—Paramount, 8 discs, 1,311 min., not rated, $84.98—Making its second appearance on DVD, 1967-68’s Star Trek: Season Two looks and sounds better than ever on this newly re-mastered set boasting Dolby Digital 5.1 sound. While the new digitally-enhanced Star Trek includes some CGI restoration/replacement work (check out the new Enterprise), the extras here are disappointing compared to the last boxed set, with the only new bonus feature being “Billy Blackburn’s Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories, Part 2” featuring longtime extra Blackburn. The other extras are the episodes “More Tribbles, More Troubles” (from Star Trek: The Animated Series) with optional audio commentary, and “Trials and Tribble-ations” (from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine). Bottom line: although a little disappointing on the extras side, true Trekkies will want to see this spiffed-up Star Trek.