In 1966, Star Trek set out to boldly go where no series had gone before, beginning a three-year mission that led to a franchise that would last decades. Here at last is the first season of the original series all in one box, 29 episodes in their original broadcast order. That means starting with "The Man Trap," and soon followed by "Where No Man Has Gone Before," the second pilot filmed and the first one starring William Shatner as Captain Kirk. The many highlight episodes include "Balance of Terror" and "Errand of Mercy" (introducing, respectively, the Romulans and the Klingons), the two-part "The Menagerie" (which recycled footage from the original pilot, "The Cage," which featured Christopher Pike as the captain of the Enterprise and is not included in this set), "Space Seed" (introducing Ricardo Montalban's Khan character), and "The City of the Edge of Forever" (written by sci-fi giant Harlan Ellison and considered by many the best-ever episode of the series).

Season One - High Quality

There are more erudite and expertise opinions in the other reviews about the detail of each of the episodes in Season One. Suffice it to say, I bought this set for my wife, a long-time trekkie, and we have all (including 2 x teenage sons, who had not seen these - being Voyager/Next Generation fans) thoroughly enjoyed the episodes. Great re-mastering (quite astonishing video quality actually considering the age of the episodes), 5.1 sound, and well put together. And at the current Amazon price, an absolute bargain. Highly recommended.

Still the best Trek series - let the voyages begin again!

After having watched Enterprise (Season 4) and The Next Generation (Season 5 - their best season), I have reached one inescapable conculsion. The Original Five-Year Mission, helmed by Captain James T. Kirk, is by far the best. The first season is full of gems, the worst of which is better than the best 1st-season show in ST:TNG. The Original Series takes a lot of heat: deadline issues created William Shatner's stilted delivery ("It bought me time to remember the next line!") and budget issues led to some very cheesy (even for the late '60s) effects. But the stories themselves, and the interaction between the Big Three of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy raised the level of the show to levels seldom achieved before or since. One might question the need to release these shows on DVD - after all, they seem to be on in syndication constantly! But the clarity and completeness of the shows, not to mention the lack of advertisements (they run 10 minutes longer than a conventional hour-long drama, and are often trimmed in syndication), is reason enough for me to pick up this set.

These shows have a timeless quality, because the writing is often a metaphor for the human condition in general. Often written by the top science fiction (and in the case of Robert Bloch, horror) writers of the day, the actors are given a wide range of emotions and interactions: with the regular cast, with the guest stars, even with blocks of latex masquarading as aliens and robots. The actors have been panned in later years as being hams - especially Shatner - but such an opinion does not bear close scrutiny when watching these shows. These are actors at the top of their games (especially when compared other performances of the '60s). Interestingly, these shows are presented in order of broadcast (not in order of production, as they are always shown in syndication). This leads to some bizarre anachronisms in the early episodes. Sulu, for example, has three positions (helmsman, botanist, and physicist), and Uhura's costume changes back and forth between yellow and red several times (and occasionally a black belt appears for no apparent reason). That said, it's amazing how fast the cast and writers come together - by the time of The Naked Time - the 4th show broadcast - the main characters are fully developed. This didn't really take place in TNG until Season 3!

Instead of listing the episodes in order, as other episode lists do, I've decided to arrange them by importance/enjoyability. The episodes of Season 1 are (order of broadcast in parentheses:

Super-Fantastic Episodes:

Where No Man Has Gone Before (3) - The second pilot develops some real tension between the crew members as Kirk must act to save his crew at the expense of his best friend.

The Naked Time (4) - a virus causes members of the crew to lose all inhibitions, so we learn that Spock finds it difficult to hide his emotions, that Kirk finds the Enterprise to be a substitute for a real woman, etc.

Balance of Terror (14) - The Romulans have a new weapon and a new cloaking device, which they are testing on the Federation's outposts. Kirk and the Romulan engage in a battle akin to a destroyer-submarine conflict in WWII.

The Devil in the Dark (25) - Kirk must find and destroy a creature that is killing miners on a very valuable mining colony.

The City on the Edge of Forever (28) - Often voted the Best episode of the series. McCoy mistakingly changes history when an accident sends him through the time portal called the Guardian of Forever. Kirk and Spock follow him back to the 1930s to try to repair the damage. Guest stars a young Joan Collins.

Very Good Episodes:

What are Little Girls Made Of? (7) - A showcase for Majel Barret as Nurse Chapel, in which she and Kirk are pitted against her ex-fiance as he tries to force his idea of utopia onto the human race.

The Menagerie (11 & 12) - the only 2-parter in TOS, using footage from the Cage pilot. Spock hijacks the Enterprise and kidnaps his former captain. During the court martial, we find out why in flashbacks.

The Galileo 7 (16) - Spock, McCoy, Scotty, and a few others crash-land on a planet in the middle of a nebula. A great story marred only slightly by the seemingly artificial attacks of McCoy and others on Spock's leadership.

Arena (18) - Kirk and an enemy captain are forced into single combat by Superbeings into whose space their battle strays. One of the few ideas the Next Generation series did better (in "Darmok"), but this is still a very good episode.

Space Seed (22) - the first part of what turned out to be a 4-part arc (this show, plus films 2, 3, and 4). Ricardo Montalban guest-stars as the genetically enhanced Khan, exiled from Earth, who tries to take over the Enterprise to reinvoke his rule on humanity.

Errand of Mercy (25) - the first appearance of Klingons, as the Enterprise and the Klingon war fleet battle for control of a strategic planet. The natives of the planet seem strangely indifferent to their plight, however....

Episodes to which I am fairly indifferent, but enjoy when I see them:

The Man Trap (1) - the first episode, suffers from poor development of the Salt Vampire monster, although there is a nice debate about the morality of committing xenocide even to save oneself.

The Enemy Within (5) - covers much the same arc as "Naked Time" but only Kirk is involved, as he is split into an intellectual half and an emotional half.

Mudd's Women (6) - Harry Mudd, interstellar con artist, is transporting women using an illegal drug to make them irresistable to men.

Dagger of the Mind (9) - Kirk is taken hostage by an insane doctor in a mental hospital, who is illegally using a machine to wipe out the minds of his inmates.

The Corbomite Maneuver (10) - the Enterprise is caught in a standoff with another ship while exploring a new region of space. Notable as an early example of Kirk talking his way out of trouble instead of shooting his way out.

Shore Leave (15) - A neat idea but not a very credible delivery. The Enterprise comes across a planet where thoughts become reality, sometimes to deadly effect.

The Squire of Gothos (17) - One of the first Superbeings encountered by the Enterprise.

Tomorrow is Yesterday (19) - An encounter with a black hole throws the Enterprise back in time, where they inadvertantly change the past. They must correct the error before they can return to their own time.

Court Martial (20) - Quite enjoyable for the most part, if contrived. The ending spoils it somewhat - surely there is an easier way to prove Kirk's innocence than evacuating the entire ship?

Return of the Archons (21) - Notable as the first instance of Kirk talking a computer to death.

A Taste of Armageddon (23) - A pair of planets is engaged in a sanitised, 800-year-old war, and the Enterprise is listed as a casualty, and is expected to voluntarily destroy itself. Kirk intervenes to put an end to the society that allows the war to continue.

This Side of Paradise (24) - A spore infection causes the entire crew of the Enterprise to choose a utopian sloth over a life of progress that contains danger and struggle.

Operation: Annihilate! (29) - A madness-inducing parasitic organism threatens to spread through the galaxy, destroying humanity, unless Kirk can stop it.

Episodes I wouldn't watch if they happened to be on in syndication:

Charlie X (2) - only "The Changling" is a worse TOS show.

Miri (8) - again, much of the same material (the tension between Kirk and Rand) is covered in "Naked Time", and the rest isn't really that interesting.

The Conscience of the King (13) - an ambitious Shakespearean episode that just doesn't come together for me. Kirk and Lt. Reilly are the last two living witnesses of a massacre when they were children. Kirk suspects a Shakespearean actor is the man who ordered the massacre, but can't act without proof.

The Alternative Factor (27) - A madman and his alternate-universe doppleganger battle between two universes, when a meeting in one universe of the two of them would spell its complete destruction.

WOW - what can I say that hasn't already been said??!

Since other reviewers have already extensively covered the contents of these discs, let me add instead what stood out to me: 1) the design of the packaging, 2) the DVD menu interface, and 3) the series itself!

1) The packaging is AWESOME. Distinctive and futuristic in that fabulous Sci-Fi Era way, while still being entirely utilitarian. It holds the DVDs securely and safely stowed inside the plastic shell.

2) The menu interface is great ~ one of the best I've seen on a DVD in a long while. Easy to navigate and filled with little features I didn't expect to find, like trailers for each episode. WOW!

3) Obviously if I wasn't a die-hard ST fan I wouldn't have spent the money on the entire first season. ;-) However this really IS a great show, with far more morals and far LESS gratuitous sex and violence than what is on TV today. It is an adult show that I don't feel guilty letting my kids watch with me.

I HIGHLY recommend this. If I could give this 10 stars I would.