Pick Enterprise BD Cover Art (1 Viewer)

Outside of the remastered TNG in 2013 (and the new movie on disc), the first official clue about what else CBS Home Video has on tap for the franchise has leaked out: Enterprise.

They want some help picking the cover art for the first two seasons, so I guess it's a good bet we're getting those two years in 2013.

The poll is on Facebook. It says they're "exploring" Enterprise on BD, but come on: no studio asks for public opinions on a release they're just "exploring."

Enterprise is a natural for blu ray, as it was originally shot in hd and the only star trek series that doesn't (didn't) need some kind of restoration. Sadly I found only the fourth season particularly interesting. Anymore than $150 for the whole show would be way too much.

There are isolated episodes from S1 and S2 I enjoy and would rewatch. A lot of them have always seemed "the same" to me and get jumbled in my memory. S3 is underrated, I think, because of what they were trying to do. Remember: DS9 was the only Trek show to have any experience with long-term arcs...and all those writers left to do other programs (ie. none were brought into Enterprise). S4 was really for hardcore fans. If you didn't get the reference to TOS or TNG, you're missing half the fun.

That being said, I think $150 for four years on BD is a bit optimistic. I'd go more $200 or about $50 a season.

It sure looks like they are fishing around to see what the interest level is for a BD release.
I don't like any of those cover designs! Which makes me more convinced its to check interest. I'm in for the whole series of they are released.

It's not fishing anymore according to The Bits.

S1 in Q2 (hopefully) with S2-S4 also in 2013

Well, that's a pleasant surprise!
Nice to see CBS opening the floodgates. Feels kind of surprising. It could mean DS9 after TNG is done, then Voyager? Are they releasing too much too fast?

Nelson Au said:

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Are they releasing too much too fast?

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And that is the million dollar question. The original DVD releases were put out very, very quickly (each series over the course of one year). That led to a lot of exhaustion and monetary commitment from the consumer. I think these are being spaced out much better and the intent is to make sure there is a lot of Trek product on the shelf to tie into the new movie next year. Back in 2009, my feeling is Paramount/CBS was caught flat footed with almost nothing "new" to entice consumers with. Next year, they'll have at least two seasons of Enterprise (one in Q2 with the new movie), at least 2 seasons of TNG (I'm assuming a July-December release schedule), the movie in the theaters AND the home video release of the movie in the fall. If I'm reading between the lines correctly, we may also have the SE of TMP (based solely on comments here and nothing official from Paramount/CBS).

As I've said elsewhere, I was told specifically by a Paramount SVP at the meet that 2013 would be a big year for Trek on disc. If he was just talking ENT and TNG, so be it. But I think there's going to be more.

All good points Jason.
It never occurred to me that 2009 was seen as a time Paramount/CBS was caught flatfooted because they released the two motion picture blu ray sets to coincide with that JJ Abrams movie. But I know the TOS motion pictures were universally panned, particularly Star Trek The Motion Picture being overly DNR'd and not including the DC. Something I've been eagerly waiting for. So it follows they were rushed out to time with the new movie and not properly done.
I'll be interested in reading more about your HTF meet and the comments from the Paramount SVP. I'm all for more Star Trek TV blu ray product in hi-def, hopefully they continue to do it to the high standards that the TOS sets were. Enterprise is a series I liked. It had its ups and downs but I think they were really trying to put out a good product.
Holy Klingon Targ! It's been 11 years since the DC DVD of Star Trek The Motion Picture was released. It's really past time to get that on hi-def.

Nelson Au said:

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I'll be interested in reading more about your HTF meet and the comments from the Paramount SVP. I'm all for more Star Trek product in hi-def, hopefully they continue to do it to the high standards that the TOS sets were.

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I've pretty much shares everything we were told at our lunch. I did mention the way the TNG BD replacement program worked was very very well thought out and painless for the consumer; I wanted to make sure CBS knew they screwed up, but made it right as quickly as possible. I was assured the information would reach New York (where CBS DVD is) since the two groups talk every day.

I didn't press the Paramount folks to divulge the plans since most of it would be from CBS anyway...and even if new versions of the movies are on the way, I can't believe they'd be released anytime prior to April 2013.

The part that stuck in my brain was the "big year." I don't know what that means, per se, but even if TNG, ENT and the new movie are all that's on tap, that's a pretty good line up, at least in my mind.

Jason, it did seem odd that Paramount didn't give the TOS Star Trek films the love they deservs on Blu Ray. My guess is that up until the JJVerse version of Star Trek was out, the jury was still out in the minds of Paramount execs that they were not sure how well Star Trek will do in the theater after the burn out from all the series and films up to Nemesis.
I agree its great we have the theatrical cuts now. So I look forward to the Directors Cuts. Though I don't agree with Nick Meyer's changes to Star Trek 6.
Thanks for sharing what you heard at the lunch meet you had at Paramount. I didn't know if there was a thread somewhere summarizing the trip to all the studios. Big year sounds good to me!

Nelson Au said:

/t/325138/pick-enterprise-bd-cover-art#post_4001007
Jason, it did seem odd that Paramount didn't give the TOS Star Trek films the love they deservs on Blu Ray. My guess is that up until the JJVerse version of Star Trek was out, the jury was still out in the minds of Paramount execs that they were not sure how well Star Trek will do in the theater after the burn out from all the series and films up to Nemesis.

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I think your guess is more spot on than we're ever going to know. After the mediocre Insurrection, after the abject failure that was Nemesis, after the way Voyager ended, after Enterprise...I'm very happy we got a new movie, regardless of what anyone may think of it. If the Trek 09 bombed, Paramount could say the movies are on BD and then focus on the TV stuff through CBS and that's all we're ever going to have. But since the movie led a resurgence in Trek being "cool," there's a brand for a new generation and new fans. If that's what gets the entire franchise on BD, I'm down for it. I enjoy even "bad" Trek.

Thanks for the clarity Jason. i remember a few years ago there was a thread, or some threads that had a summary of one of the trips with photos so the rest of the membership could see what you learned.
Agreed that the JJ Abrams Star Trek did succeed to make Star Trek cool for a new generation. So that's good for the whole fan base. I'm looking forward to seeing the new blu rays of TNG and ENT.

I don't really like the choice of covers for Enterprise either, but I'm glad they are pushing forward with releasing the series on blu ray.
Agreed that the films need to be reissued. Especially the Director's Edition of The Motion Picture. Wise really intended this to be the only version of the film show and released from here on out and Paramount did not respect his wishes.
Anyway. Hopefully more news on the Enterprise blu ray sets is coming very soon. I watched Season 1 online this year and really enjoyed seeing it again.
Looking forward to next week't TNG theater event too.

I found an interesting article at trekcore regarding an issue that some might find distressing about the mastering for Enterprise if it does indeed come to blu-ray. I know it's all but assured its coming, but you never know.
In the article, they talk about how the series was filmed in high definition. However, the digital effects were actually rendered at 720! So the potential issue is they have a choice. One, Re-render the effects at 1080 and re-edit the material into the live action. Or two, upscale the 720 files to 1080 and reassemble the episodes with the new material.
What is interesting is that there is precedent for rendering the effects at 720 and upscaling them to edit with the live action. Battlestar Galactica was actually done like this. The same guy who worked on Star Trek, worked on Galactica. Doug Drexler. He explains as follows:

I’ve seen a lot of discussion about the fact that the CGI on BSG is rendered “only” at 720 and upscaled to 1080 for the final. Everyone should understand that render time was the LEAST important factor in this decision.
The fact is, at 1080, the CG just came out WAY too crisp. When intercut with the live action (or even composited), the CG popped off the screen and didn’t match the look and feel of the rest of the show. I’m sure all of you have had the experience of watching computer generated material on a flat panel or other high quality display and noticed just how razor-sharp it can look. It can often appear unaturally crisp.

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So with that fact, it seems that Enterprise really is totally ready for Blu-ray conversion.

I've been watching this show with my family on Netflix. It's good! Like some of you, I actually think the 4th season is the best. It's amazing the number of references to past Trek they get in.

I really think Enterprise figured out its own formula in the second half of season three. By that time, though, too many people gave up on it.

I'm on season 2 and I had forgotten how well the show started.
Voyager, TOS and DS9 will always be my favorite Trek shows though.