On September 8, 1966, a new series began on NBC. The show
was not a ratings success though. It carried on lasting only three seasons and
those at the studio claimed there was no interest in the series. And yet here
we are, some 50 years later, still talking about that series. Its name? START
TREK.
The series didn’t develop a cult following like some series,
it developed a mainstream following. By 1979 a feature film starring the
original cast was made and followed by numerous sequels. Then in 1987 a new series,
THE NEXT GENERATION came about. That was followed by DEEP SPACE 9 in 1993,
VOYAGER in 1995 and ENTERPRISE in 2001. These last two series are now being
offered in a special packaging that fans will want to add to their collection.
STAR TREK: ENTERPRISE takes us back in time, before the
original series took place. It follows the adventures of Captain Jonathan
Archer (Scott Bakula) as he takes out the first Enterprise spaceship into
space. Earth has been contacted by the Vulcans and one of those, T’Pol (Jolene
Blalock) accompanies Archer and his crew on their journeys. The show only
lasted 98 episodes but fans loved it.
A box set of the series is now available from CBS for a
great price, much lower than in the past. Individual seasons of the show sell
on amazon for anywhere from $35 to $45 dollars and with 4 seasons that can add
up. The new box set is currently listed on amazon for just $49.96 with a
standard price of $57.69. Not only that it will take up less room on your shelf
with the packaging they’ve come up with.
If that weren’t enough CBS also has a new packaging on the
series VOYAGER as well. Running seven seasons VOYAGER told the story of
Starfleet Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) and the crew of the starship
Voyager. Taking place during the same time period as DEEP SPACE NINE, the first
episode saw the crew and ship on the trail of a rebel spaceship only to be
sucked into something unusual that took them 70,000 light years from Earth. The
series then followed them as they attempted to find a way home, hoping to find
a way of getting them there that would not take them the 75 years it would to
travel at their highest speed.
This series lasted 172 episodes. Here again individual
seasons range in various prices from $18 to $70. But this new packaging
features the entire series, every episode, for as little as $82.99 currently
($144.99 standard). Even at the standard price trying to pick up all the
seasons of the show amounts to a more expensive proposition. And, again, the
packaging makes this collection much easier to store on your shelf.
So what draws us to the stories of Starfleet and the future?
What makes fans of Star Trek so dedicated that even after studio heads felt no
one was interested we are still not only watching and re-watching the old
episodes but new movies are being made as is another series? Most have realized
that the series gives us something that many science fiction films had never
done in the past: hope. It showed us a future where there might be other
civilizations set on destruction and controlling the universe but at the same
time the combination of planets and peoples who made up Starfleet were
numerous, cooperating and living in peace. With the Vietnam War raging when the
first series came out and wars raging since then, people found a certain amount
of solace in the fact that the future held a much brighter picture. And we as a
people were included as well!
The series also gave us plenty of action, stories that went
deeper than most seen on TV and casts that were perfect in so many ways. We
were allowed to visit other planets, to discover other people and, yes, to
boldly go where no man had gone before. Is it any wonder that we are all still
there watching each and every series that was created?
With the release of these two new packagings fans now have
the opportunity to add them to their collection at a reasonable price, to enjoy
over and over again. Most of the others are available as well but these are the
latest offered this way. If you are a STAR TREK fan you’ll want to pick these
up. And at these prices you’ll live long and…prosper. Sorry I had to say it.
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