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Star Trek The Original Series - The Complete Third Season | 
 enlarge | Actors: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy
Studio: CBS Paramount International Television
Category: DVD
Buy New: $107.99
New (6) Used (5) from $71.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  79 reviews
Sales Rank: 17947
Format: Box Set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dvd-video, Full Screen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled)
Number Of Items: 7
Running Time: 1349
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.4 x 2
MPN: 097360509441
UPC: 097360509441
EAN: 0097360509441
ASIN: B0002JJBZO
Theatrical Release Date: September 8, 1966
Release Date: December 14, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Captain James T. Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise travel through space in order to defend the United Federation of Planets and explore new worlds.
Genre: Television
Rating: NR
Release Date: 8-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD
Amazon.com
Saved from the brink of cancellation by its loyal fanbase, Star Trek's third and final season rewarded them with a number of memorable episodes. Tight budgets and slipping creative control, however, made it the series' most uneven season, though it did have some of the coolest episode titles ("For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky," "Is There in Truth No Beauty," "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"). Some of the best moments involved a gunfight at the OK Corral ("Spectre of the Gun"), a knock-down drag-out sword battle with the Klingons aboard the Enterprise ("Day of the Dove"), the ship getting caught in an ever-tightening spacial net ("The Tholian Web"), TV's first interracial kiss ("Plato's Stepchildren," and it should be easy to guess who participated), Sulu taking command ("The Savage Curtain"), and Kirk's switching bodies with an ex-love interest ("Turnabout Intruder"). Also appearing in the set as a coda are two versions of the series pilot, "The Cage," a restored color version and the original, never-aired version that alternates between color and black and white. Starring Jeffery Hunter as Captain Pike, Leonard Nimoy as a relatively emotional Spock, and Majel Barrett (the future Nurse Chapel and Mrs. Gene Roddenberry) as a frosty Number One, this pilot was rejected, but a second was commissioned, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," now considered the "official" beginning of the series. But "The Cage" is very recognizably Star Trek with its far-out concepts (telepathic aliens collecting species samples), sexy humanoid women, character development, and of course cheesy costumes and special effects. Footage was later reused in the season 1 two-parter, "The Menagerie." The best of the 63 minutes of bonus material focuses on three of the actors: Walter Koenig, George Takei, and James Doohan. Koenig discusses how he was cast and shows off his various collections, one consisting of Chekov figurines. Takei speaks movingly about the Japanese American internment and, in what is probably his last Star Trek appearance, Doohan, slowed by Alzheimer's but still with a twinkle in his eye, recalls his voiceover roles and his favorite episodes. The Easter eggs are amusingly called "Red Shirt Files" in tribute to those poor saps who everyone knew were only in the landing party so they could die. --David Horiuchi
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| Customer Reviews: Read 74 more reviews...
 The Original Team Still Rocks! October 15, 2008
What I like about the original Star Trek series is the interplay between the characters. By today's standards, the special effects are pretty bad, but in many cases, that pushes the viewing experience into the "so bad, it's good!" category. Like the issue where a space alien is a man in a rubber suit with a dinosaur head, making "Grrrrr!-Grrrrrr"! noises, and the issue where the bridge display screens have gone blank, but if you look closely, you can see black paper in waves simulating a blank screen. One more - the computers always recognize the voice of the user, and yet can't speak in a way even remotely human. Etc. etc.
Which takes me back to my original comment - that the interplay between the characters is great. I still like the original series the best for that aspect. Partly it's nostalgia too - I never got to see all the episodes when they were on TV, so it's fun to see the series methodically and in the same order in which the shows were made.
Ron Faxon
Spectre of the Gun - Surreal, Brilliant August 9, 2008
I was channel surfing one night and inadvertently stumbled upon an episode of the old Star Trek. The colorful sets caught my eye so I put the remote down. I had already missed the first 25 minutes of the hour episode but watching the remainder of "Spectre of the Gun" was, for me, a mind blowing experience. I don't remember seeing this episode when I was 10 years old (season three, 1968...right?) but to see it now at age 50 was an unexpected treat.
After taping the last 35 minutes of the episode and watching it over and over, I noticed that the sets looked bare. But, the content was far from lacking. The colors they used made me feel as if I were looking at a moving surrealist painting. I loved it! The character actors were fantastic, true craftsmen and women. The bar tender, the sheriff, the woman who fell in love with Chekov, Doc Holiday, the fourth evil sheriff, and those irresistable pair of actors who played the Erps, all played their roles so well I can't get enough.
And the concept of having the crew thrown into the role of the Clanton gang is so far out I can't help but love it. What fun they must have had! The dialogue was brilliant. The producers had a limited budget (I had no idea that the budget for season three was slashed until I began reading the reviews here), but not only did they side step this potentially disastrous problem, they pulled it off with artistic flare! By making this western town a product of alien imagination, the writers were able to make those cheesy set pieces work. They made the best with what they had. Bravo!
It is because of the fine work by all the actors and writers in this episode that my interest in Star Trek has been renewed. That's why I'm here: I was looking for the episode I saw that night and found out that it was called "Spectre of the Gun." I intend the buy the boxed set containing the first three seasons now that I've found my gem. I can't wait to watch all the original Star Trek episodes. It takes a lot of talent to pull off what these people did, playing make believe with such conviction. Love it!
Old Trekkie August 5, 2008
I'm an Old Trekkie and I don't know what to do...should I hang on to the old or should I grab on to the new???
The product is great...digital quality is excellent. I'm able to see the original Star Trek series with today's technology. Order yours now.
If you love Star Trek, the DVD series is a must have June 19, 2008
Outstanding idea to come out w. the original series on DVD. I own all 3 seasons. Well written, great plotlines and characters - this show was ahead of its time in addressing social issues such as prejudice, custom and tradition, disaster, grief, power, gluttony, etc.
The special effects are not so bad in the 3rd season, as per the first, but this was the way that things were done back in the day. The series does not have to hang its hat on explosions and such to carry itself.
 Too Far Ahead of Its Time June 8, 2008
After the first two seasons of Star Trek: The Original Series, the show was set to be cancelled by its network. However, after receiving a flood of letters from devoted fans that wanted to keep the show on the air, the network renewed it for one more season. Of course, since the show was not the culutural phenomena that it has now become, the network buried it in a late-night time slot and forced creator Gene Roddenberry to operate on a shoe-string budget. As a result, the special effects or sets that are needed in a show which regularly shows viewers spectacular events are severely hampered in this season. One episode takes place in an empty Enterprise, one is set in a pitch-black room much of the time, and another takes place in a deserted old West town (as no money existed to pay extras).
Yet, for fans of the first two seasons, this Third Season still delivers some great action, mind-bending drama, and little doses of humor. It is only the physical environment of the scripts that go downhill...not necessarily the scripted material itself.
Here are what I consider to be the highlights of this Third Season:
Day of the Dove: The Enterprise continues its battle with the Klingons.
All Our Yesterdays: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are thrown into different periods of past galaxies and forced to survive while trying to find a way home.
Turnabout Intruder: A body-switching tale that, while common fare now, had probably never been seen on TV to that point.
To conclude, the Third Season of Star Trek: TOS continued to produce some great dramatic TV hours, but was severely hampered by budgetary issues. Is it still worth your time? An emphatic "Yes"! Essentially, the show was so far ahead of its time that viewers did not know how to handle the "mature" (by 1960s standards!) themes it presented (i.e. many people boycotted the show because they thought Spock represented Satan due to his long ears!), thus its viewerships problems. It wouldn't be until the release of the major motion pictures in the 1970s and 1980s (after space travel was a well-established reality in this country) that Star Trek become the phenomena it is today.
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