Well, well, well ... guess who still looks great at 50? Star Trek does!
I saw this announcement the other day over at Blu-ray.com, and -- while I like most dedicated Star Trek enthusiasts would certainly be hungry for anything new honoring one of the most respected SciFi franchises of all time -- I'm having a hard time believing that Gene Roddenberry (of all people) had held anything back of relative substance.
Let me explain ...
For those of you who may not have followed the behind-the-scenes history of Trek, it's fairly well known that Gene pretty much "bailed" on Star Trek in its third season on NBC. There are various accounts of why that was, but -- for the most part -- it's been accepted that the writing was on the wall: his show was moved into the Friday night death slot, so it was only natural that this Trek would be coming to an end and soon.
It's at this point that many allege Roddenberry decided that -- since the fan base was still ravenous for all things Trek -- he's branch out more into merchandising the Trek brand and build a different future for the property. Always the visionary, Gene wanted to keep his vision alive, and -- if that meant selling out to what I'd term crass commercialism -- then so be it.
So as that was his reputation for some time, does it stand to logic that there would still be footage yet unseen, stills and images that could've previously been put onto discs and sold for exorbitant prices by Paramount?
As rapid a fan as I am, I'm gonna wait for the reviews on this one. I'll let the experts -- those who get freebie advance copies anyway -- give me the straight skinny on whether or not this collection is worth the investment. Besides, all of us know how Paramount is, and that means there's likely to be dozens and dozens of re-issues of this material down the road; and re-issues have a way of bringing prices down.
Still, I'm exciting ... just more than a bit cynical, too.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
I saw this announcement the other day over at Blu-ray.com, and -- while I like most dedicated Star Trek enthusiasts would certainly be hungry for anything new honoring one of the most respected SciFi franchises of all time -- I'm having a hard time believing that Gene Roddenberry (of all people) had held anything back of relative substance.
Let me explain ...
For those of you who may not have followed the behind-the-scenes history of Trek, it's fairly well known that Gene pretty much "bailed" on Star Trek in its third season on NBC. There are various accounts of why that was, but -- for the most part -- it's been accepted that the writing was on the wall: his show was moved into the Friday night death slot, so it was only natural that this Trek would be coming to an end and soon.
It's at this point that many allege Roddenberry decided that -- since the fan base was still ravenous for all things Trek -- he's branch out more into merchandising the Trek brand and build a different future for the property. Always the visionary, Gene wanted to keep his vision alive, and -- if that meant selling out to what I'd term crass commercialism -- then so be it.
So as that was his reputation for some time, does it stand to logic that there would still be footage yet unseen, stills and images that could've previously been put onto discs and sold for exorbitant prices by Paramount?
As rapid a fan as I am, I'm gonna wait for the reviews on this one. I'll let the experts -- those who get freebie advance copies anyway -- give me the straight skinny on whether or not this collection is worth the investment. Besides, all of us know how Paramount is, and that means there's likely to be dozens and dozens of re-issues of this material down the road; and re-issues have a way of bringing prices down.
Still, I'm exciting ... just more than a bit cynical, too.
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
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