“The Center Seat: 55 Years Of Star Trek” is a slick, glossy and often ridiculously entertaining look into the history of Star Trek, aimed primarily at longtime fans rather than newcomers.
The Production: 4.5/5
“The Center Seat: 55 Years Of Star Trek” is a slick, glossy and often ridiculously entertaining look into the history of Star Trek, aimed primarily at longtime fans rather than newcomers. While there is a lot here that most Trekkers will already know about in some way or another, and probably a little too much for the casual viewer to absorb, the eleven-part series succeeds by allowing its interview participants to take center stage. The mix of cast and crew interviews, academic analysis and insight from self-styled historians is deftly woven together with an energetic and humorous narration provided by Gates McFadden, best known around these parts as Dr. Beverly Crusher from The Next Generation.
Beginning with the origins of Desilu, the studio that would give Trek its first green light and covering all of the subsequent series and films up to present day, each episode takes a look at a particular era, with surviving participants and archival interviews mixed together with a fast cut array of clips, artwork and music. Like nearly every work seeking to shed light on the history of Star Trek, the information contained within is only as good as its sources, which means that there are numerous minor occasions where opinion is presented as fact, or a careless edit makes it appear as though someone has mistaken a specific date or timeframe. Nonetheless, viewers should not lose sight of the forest for the trees, for what is present here is a wonderfully comprehensive assembly of voices that add balance and contrast to the “official” story as told on the behind-the-scenes features assembled by Paramount on the disc releases for the various shows and films. The filmmakers here have made good faith efforts to get as close to the truth as possible, and when participants have conflicting memories, the show will often present both recollections, leaving the viewer as the final arbiter.
In many ways, this series distills the experience of attending a Star Trek convention into something longer lasting, allowing fans to revisit their favorite anecdotes even when those presenting them are no longer with us. It’s exactly the blend of voices one might see there: main cast members and guest stars holding court with their fans, academics discussing the cultural impact of Star Trek, and enthusiasts with various degrees of expertise sharing their knowledge. If nothing else, this set contains some of the final interviews conducted with people like Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols and Kirstie Alley, and it’s a joy to see them onscreen appearing alive, well, and in good humor. Many bit players are given their due here as well. There will come a time when the surviving members of the original cast and the subsequent shows are no longer making public appearances at Trek events, and this documentary helps preserves so many road-tested and crowd-pleasing stories that sound best coming from their mouths.
If the series has one shortcoming, it’s that the focus is almost entirely weighted on the Trek series and films from the Gene Roddenberry and Rick Berman eras, but even this makes sense on reflection. With the work on those shows and films long since complete, the participants from those eras are much freer to offer insight without concern of reprisal. Harold Livingston, for instance, isn’t going to lose any future opportunities detailing (in the most colorful fashion possible) his struggles working with Roddenberry on “The Motion Picture.” On the other hand, the participants from the later Kelvin films and the Alex Kurtzman-produced shows are very much still actively involved in making Trek, and it wouldn’t be fair to expect them to spill the beans while still on the payroll. Rather than filling an extra episode with generic platitudes from the newer groups, the documentary makes the wise choice to mention their contributions in passing; perhaps a decade or two from now, those casts and crews will have a chance at their own unauthorized documentary.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
“The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek” is presented in its original broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 (16×9), and looks far better than a standard definition DVD has any right to. With most of the footage consisting of brightly-lit talking heads and still photography (along with some very brief clips from the Trek shows and films), there’s nothing here that DVD’s MPEG2 codec can’t handle, and from a normal seating distance, it doesn’t feel like a downgrade from the original high definition History Channel broadcasts. There are no issues with compression artifacts or untoward digital manipulation. In many ways, the interviews here look better than most of the ones included on the official Paramount releases for the original series and original cast films.
Audio: 5/5
The audio for this release is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1, and is surprisingly active for a television documentary. The narration by Gates McFadden, as well as the interview soundbites, are routed through the center channel and are always crisp, clear and easy to understand. (Optional subtitles are included as well.) But where the soundtrack really excels is in its use of music and sound effects to create an immersive soundscape that is a treat for the ears. It really elevates what could have been an otherwise paint-by-numbers presentation into something that is enthusiastically energetic.
Special Features: 5/5
With the main program providing nearly everything one could want and serving as the ultimate Star Trek special feature in and of itself, it probably wasn’t necessary to include anything further, but the disc producers have outdone themselves by including an entire extra disc with the full length interviews with Leonard Nimoy, Nichelle Nichols and Kirstie Alley. Each unedited interview runs well over an hour, and presents the viewer with a final opportunity to practically sit in conversation with each star. Each of these individuals were unique in their own right, capable of commanding any room they entered while also coming across as if they were your close friends, and it’s a gift to have this extra time with each of them.
Overall: 5/5
“The Center Seat: 55 Years of Star Trek” may not appeal to every single Trek viewer. If you’ve never been to a Star Trek convention and can’t imagine why anyone in their right minds would want to attend one, this probably isn’t the documentary for you. But if you’re someone like me who feels a kinship with the legacy that these talented performers, writers, producers and crew members have cultivated, this documentary is a rewarding trip down memory lane, and a worthwhile preservation of over half a century’s worth of triumphs, failures, anecdotes and memories. This isn’t a replacement for the fine official behind the scenes material that Paramount has created, but rather, a worthwhile additional perspective. The addition of the bonus disc with unedited interviews from Nimoy, Nichols and Alley makes the set itself worthy of purchase, despite the easy streaming availability of the main episodes. For the Star Trek fan who already has all of the series and films on their shelf, this is an entirely worthy addition to that collection.
CENTER SEAT: 55 YEARS OF STAR TREK
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