STAR TREK RE-DISCOVERED

Last week, I found that the STAR TREK ORIGINAL series ( the ones that made William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy icons in the sci-fi genre ) went on sale. My credit card suffered another setback.

But it was worth it. I saw only a couple of Star Trek episodes in the Philippines in a small B&W TV. But I discovered then its addictive spell. When I arrived in Toronto, cable TV made more Star trek re-runs accesible. LCDs were still "light years" away..But I did remember being in a mall a few weeks after my arrival in Toronto. I saw an episode of Star Trek with the young, boyish William Shatner exchanging barbs with Mr. Pointed Ears Spock.

But raising a family is more prioty than watching television. Missed lots of favorite programs cause sometimes I worked night shifts. And the VCR was not invented yet. Sorry it was ALREADY invented, but at that time it cost around 2,500 $ to have a Betamax ( the original model ) ..

To cut to the chase, I closed my eyes and I bought the Star Trek collection, season 1.. The first disc starts with the episode called THE MAN TRAP. I dimmed the lights and watched it on the 40" Sony Bravia, a recent addition to the household collection of electronic toys..

The remastering and writing on a disc was commendable. One could see the glisten of sweat in Captain Kirk's forehead as he landed on that hot planet to check on 2 humans who were doing some archeological work: a man and his wife. The man told Kirk he did not want them around. And the woman, well..she appeared in different forms to all 3 visitors from the Enterprise . She was a former girl friend of Bones McCoy, the doctor. To him, she appeared beautiful not a day older than 25. To Kirk, she appeared as a comely lady of 35 with streaks of gray in her hair. And to the 3rd member of the landing party, she appeared as a very sexy blonde. The 3rd member swore she looked like his girl friend in the Military Academy from where most of the crew of the Enterprise graduated. By this time, you have an inkling why the episode was entitled man trap.

These early episodes have that lovable and natural dialogues, especially between Kirk and the major characters. Shatner who seems to be still working ( He is in BOSTON LEGAL ) was fit as a fiddle, very little paunch and the bright twinkle in his eyes were never more sparkling. The episode, inspite of its crude props, ( a living plant in a solarium of the Enterprise looked very much like a gloved hand which it really was ), it was able to sustain its suspense and narrative punch up to the final conflict being resolved..and revealing WHO was the real MAN TRAP.

In the same Disc is Charlie X, Where no man has Gone before and the Naked Time..The sound was in Surround 5.1 ( like who cares about the fraction ) but you could hear the sound of the space ship going around your TV room especially in the opening title credits...

Now I have to do the housework faster ( Warp 10 ) so I can have more time in the TV room!----#