The Next Generation (1 Viewer)

[Tom Landers]

Any Definate plans for the release of Star Trek TNG on DVD?
Date?
Sorry if this has been discussed, I haven't logged on in a while.
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"We THOUGHT you was a Toad!"

 

[Greg_S_H]

According to Dark Horizons, the first TNG box is coming out in March, and it'll be a 7-disc set. That's great news, as it probably means most of the discs will have three eps (two will have four, if I've figured correctly). That'll keep compression errors at bay. Plus, the eps have been totally remastered (again, according to Dark Horizons), and will have currently-unnamed extras.
If the survey at startrek.com is any indication, we'll get all this for around $99. Personally, I think it'll be higher than that, but it will be worth it.

 

[Frank Anderson]

Five more months... I can't wait.

Frank
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http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mc.asp?alias=Nightdog&acceptadult=true

 

[David Williams]

Quite frankly I am disappointed to hear about the proposed $99 pricepoint... some shows have managed to full season sets on par with TNG for a much cheaper price, but then again I guess X-Files blazed a path for them. (I like/love the X-Files... just not enough to pay $99 and up for each a season.) If the price on TNG goes over a hundred I probably will save my pennies for the DS9 set... probably

 

[TheoGB]

I would like them to release the movie episodes again separately like before. My version of All Good Things... is looking really ropey and I'd love to add Time's Arrow, Best Of Both Worlds and Encounter At Farpoint to it.
TNG was not that good. Even with extras the first series is not worth that much money. They'll overcharge us in the UK, regardless...

 

[Frank Anderson]

$99 for 23 hours of viewing enjoyment. Compare that to $15 or $20 for a two hour movie (sometime less).

Frank
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[David Lambert]

quote: TNG was not that good. Even with extras the first series is not worth that much money. [/quote]
In Your (very) Humble Opinion!!!
TNG was the best of the 4 (now 5) series, in my humble opinion.
I will be ectastic if I can get a season of TNG episodes at a time, laden with appropriate extras, for just $99.99 list price! I am passionate about this series!!
BTW, The X-Files boxes have a list of $149.99, but streeted for as low as $93.99 at some places. So do the math.
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DAVE/Memphis

Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.
Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.
Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.
http://www.miami.com/herald/content/...ocs/000565.htm

[Edited last by David Lambert on September 27, 2001 at 05:26 AM]

 

[Peter Loan]

Is it me or did the show not get rolling until the 3rd or 4th season? Wow, when the show did get rolling, the writing was superb. Anyways, if they price the set at $99, it will be available at discount for around $70 which is fine with me.
[Edited last by Peter Loan on September 27, 2001 at 01:51 PM]

 

[Peter Overduin]

Yea, it kinda got rolling when Q and the Borg showed up. I wonder if they will put either of them in the new series, which, from tonight's premiere, looks quite promising. It would be nice to see these on DVD shortly after they air.

 

[Jaxon's Dad]

Peter,
Q was there in season 1. Q was introduced in the pilot, and, interestingly, it was Q who introduced Picard et al to the Borg in the 2nd Season Ep, "Q Who."
David,
In my never-humble opinion TNG didn't start to get good until Roddenberry began giving up more and more control to Rick Berman. Sad to say that it took his passing to completely change the kind of story-telling that went into Star Trek. The Great Bird was so determined to make every story a humanist morality play that each week for 2 years we were force-fed Roddenberry's utopian-vision of mankind. The crew of the Enterprise-D was so sanitized and perfect and this formula got really old really fast. Fortunately by season 3, the story-telling began to move beyond the Roddenberry-humanist-sermon-of-the-week, and we actually got some good writing.
But TNG never seemed to get over it's Data fixation, even after Roddenberry passed away. This carried over even into the films featuring TNG crew. Data's quest to become more human will always be there to remind us that Roddenberry often sacrificed drama for his own personal humanist crusade. I'm sorry, but I just don't care about Data anymore. If the internet rumors are true, Data's fate in the upcoming movie should have happened during Season 5, IMN-HO.
IMN-HO, Deep Space Nine was, by far, the best Trek since TOS. The media at the time of TNG's release were lauding Roddenberry for catching lightning in a bottle for the second time. If I may be so bold, Rick Berman caught lightning in a bottle with Deep Space Nine. It had some of the most underrated if not completely overlooked dramatic stories in it's 7-year run. The characters were more real than Picard's crew. The environment of Tarrok Nor presented much more danger and there was always a feeling of instability on the station that made Sisko's problems with running things more real. And the Dominion War arc over two seasons - brilliant! I will grant that had it not been for TNG's success, Deep Space Nine might never have happened. We may have gone right to Voyager...
Don't get me wrong. I'm planning on enjoying all 7 seasons of TNG on DVD. It's just that I much more fully enjoyed Deep Space Nine than TNG.
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~Marriage is great but she keeps leaving the toilet seat down...~
[Edited last by Doug Irving on September 27, 2001 at 08:43 AM]

 

[TheoGB]

Sorry David, I didn't mean that to sound so controversial. I was thinking more of how the series didn't really get into its stride until much later.
Personally I am a big fan of Babylon 5 which had an on-going story arc and it's this sort of thing which drives me to buy a series (e.g. Buffy and hopefully one day Twin Peaks).
TNG never had that and while some episodes were great the whole series would be more than I would ever watch, hence my request for the movie-length ones in their unedited form.
On a side note, the reason DS9 didn't get made until Roddenbury died was due to it being a B5 'rip-off'. JMS pitched the idea to Paramount in the hope of gettting made as a Star Trek franchise because he knew it double the viewing figures.
They refused but the ST team still wanted to do it. Roddenbury didn't let them becuase he loved the idea of B5 so much. This is supposedly one of the reasons Majel Barret was in B5 - possibly Walter Koenig too.
Now DS9 totally failed to utilise it's in-built story arc until about series 4, by which time B5 had proved that Sci-fi nuts actually like that sort of thing. When DS9 got going full-on it probably did a better job than B5 did, largely because they had a writing team who didn't seem to have JMS's love of schmalz and terribly cliched dialogue.
Phew!
[Edited last by TheoGB on September 27, 2001 at 07:22 AM]

 

[JamesHromadka]

A week or so ago StarTrek.com had a survey asking about what special features we wanted in a Season set, pricing, etc. They were even thinking about a gift for those that purchased 5+ seasons!
All I know is Seasons 3 & 4 better be released very close to each other. BOBW is my favorite episode and I would hate to wait for the 2nd part.

 

[Jaxon's Dad]

Theo,
Interesting stuff about the DS9/B5 connection. I'm one of the last people on the planet who doesn't currently have cable or a satelite dish, so I've never really seen B5. I'll have to check them out when they finally arrive on DVD. I hope that WB will make every episode available.
But we digress from the given topic...
D
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~Marriage is great but she keeps leaving the toilet seat down...~

 

[TheoGB]

Well at the risk of digrressing further there was a thread a few weeks back on this section of the forum about the forthcoming B5 DVD release where one kind soul listed the order you should watch in. The plot is so important that you're best off watching all of them in release order which isn't necessarily the same as the order they should be watched int. Bleurgh. I've even confused myself now. ANyhow, have a search around. I've got to rush.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Now DS9 totally failed to utilise it's in-built story arc until about series 4, by which time B5 had proved that Sci-fi nuts actually like that sort of thing. When DS9 got going full-on it probably did a better job than B5 did, largely because they had a writing team who didn't seem to have JMS's love of schmalz and terribly cliched dialogue.

That's what I've always said, if DS9 did indeed "steal" B5, at least they made it better! Coincidentaly, Season 4 is when Berman basically abandoned the show for Voyager, then Ira Behr took over and REALLY made it shine! DS9 is the best of all the Trek series, I hope the DVDs will make some of the naysayers watch it again. Enterprise is looking to be pretty strong though.
Jeff Kleist

 

[Ryan Spaight]

On a side note, the reason DS9 didn't get made until Roddenbury died was due to it being a B5 'rip-off'. JMS pitched the idea to Paramount in the hope of gettting made as a Star Trek franchise because he knew it double the viewing figures.
They refused but the ST team still wanted to do it. Roddenbury didn't let them becuase he loved the idea of B5 so much. This is supposedly one of the reasons Majel Barret was in B5 - possibly Walter Koenig too.

Well, JMS *did* pitch B5 to Paramount, but *not* as a Star Trek series. He's always been a bit suspicious of the timing and similarities, but he never envisioned B5 as a Trek show.
Ryan

 

[Greg_S_H]

Back to the question of when it got good, I would say season three is about right. Most people actually say The Best of Both Worlds (the end of three/beginning of four) was the start, but I find that episode to be highly overrated (IMHO).
At any rate, four and five were almost clunker-free, but it started sliding back downhill soon thereafter.
Actually, one of the worst episodes occurred in season four, now that I think about it. Night Terrors. Even Frakes singled this one out as particularly bad. This is the one where Deanna sees those two lights in a dream, or something. It's so bad, I've tried to forget.
Doug, I agree with a lot of what you say, though I do like Data. I always saw him as more a Pinocchio figure than anything. But, I got sick of the same stuff you got sick of. I just roll my eyes at it and try to ignore it at this point.
Time to change the subject to avoid further bringing politics into the thread. So, uh . . . do you think we'll have to wait until Enterprise finishes its run before we start to see those boxes?
[Edited last by Greg_S_H on September 27, 2001 at 02:54 PM]

 

[Jeff Kleist]

That is all dependant on whether Paramount has already sold Enterprise to TNN for syndication. I would love to see Paramount take the lead and start putting out shows on a more UK-like schedual (months after they finish airing)
Jeff Kleist

 

[Jason Seaver]

That is all dependant on whether Paramount has already sold Enterprise to TNN for syndication.

(A) That wouldn't be syndication.
(B) Unlikely; even when keeping it in house like that, deals like that generally don't happen until after a show has at least a commitment for three-to-four years in the can. Since I think "Enterprise" is currently only working on a 26-episode order, Paramount's a ways away from talking to anyone
(C) Even if they have, they may have language in the contract allowing for a video release.
Jeff, please, please, please stop applying the circumstances which applied to "Buffy" to every other TV series whether you've got evidence to support it being relevent or not.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I know nothing about how syndication works, but TNN just got the rights to TNG and that hasn't held up the DVDs. I wonder if looking to when Voyager started coming out on VHS might give us a clue. I know they were available before the run ended, but I don't know exactly when that happened. I wouldn't be surprised to see Enterprise available before its run ends, but I am guessing it'll be at least a couple of years.