Customer Reviews
Star Trek The Original Series, Season 3 
2008-04-20
Overall, this is a first class standard DVD production. If for no other reason, you should buy this set for the restored version of "The Cage", the original series pilot. It was, to coin a phrase, fascinating.
However, I did feel a bit let-down. I was hopeful that this set would include a segment on DeForest Kelley amongst the bonus materials. I was expecting there might have been some past interviews of him that could have been strung together. Or just the cast and crew members sharing stories about him.
Despite this, Star Trek (TOS), Season 3 is a DVD collection well worth the investment.
Out of Order 
2008-04-08
Although it is real nice having the set in one package, it is a shame that they did not have the foresight to think we might want to watch them in the order they were numbered, i.e. episode 2 before 3, 3 before 4, 4 before 5, etc. They are on the disks in air date order, which is not the correct order, if you want to watch in actual order, you must juggle between disks. Wait to purchase until the idiots at Paramount get it right. Maybe this is why sales were not so good and went from $129 - $199 per season to less than $40.00 per season.
Wheeeeeeee...!!! 2008-01-24
What's to complain about? It's "Star Trek," the original series. What fun! What great pop culture kitsch! The people who kvetch and give this third season low-rated reviews seem like an alien species to me: lighten up, folks! It's TV from the 1960s. Space hippies are funny. Kirk is a sexy monkey. What more is there to say? This is a fun old time, very entertaining and very nostalgic. (Joe Sixpack, Slipcue)
Star Trek: The Third Season 2007-12-24
I cannot give you an honest review of the product that I ordered through Amazon,because,even though I ordered it on November 23, 2007 (a month ago, yesterday), as I STILL have not received it!
It was intended as a Christmas gift for my wife's stepfather, who lives in Carson City, Nevada, but, if and when it arrives, and we can wrap it and send it off to him, he'll be lucky to receive it before New Year's Day!
We are thoroughly disappointed in the quality of service that hasn't been provided, and most probably will not be using your company again!
four stars but not for everything! 
2007-09-29
The definition of Star Trek was season Two. It had great story telling and was defined and refined from season one. The characters knew themselves and the ship's technical(for those interested) innerworkings as well as the time line was finally on consistantly set principles(via LtCmt Scott's dialogue mostly) on well into NG and even now. Though the third season had some slacking in writing it can't be compared to the abysmal Enterprise or Farscape or dare I say, "Flashy "Zipfly" Gordon and his sock smelling sweetheart of the Y2K junior writing drivel, or any sci fi show today so don't knock it! I am surprise to see so many positive reveiws and so is mine. This is encouraging! Only two episodes come to mind as being unclassic(and compare it to a hundred thousand SG1's today!) Some things remain in the 60's and should not be written at all! The hippie one(who cares what that title was! "Eden" or some drivel) with the gitar goofies and the other cheeze fester "And the Children shall lead" are 60's only viable! And as in Martian Chronicles' "Rocket Summmer" of absolutely no merit today! All the rest were tollerable, sometimes even fun! I can excuse the frequent high strung attitude aboard the enterprise too. Even the commanding officer's very unorthodox behavior. As in (Captain) Kirk's contiunal "shouting" matches with contact people and his crew. You must realize, the Enterprise crew have been in space for quite a long time and sesaon three supossedly marks the "Third" year of the voyage. Also, little contact with starfleet or terran star bases could acount for it being excusable behavior-EVEN on account for the officers and ship's captain's erratic behavior at a number of times!(See Dark Star for examples of long space trips!) Also it could account that such insanity ocurrs in both crew -and- the whacky episodes(foriegn planets) only means to a veiwer in story telling terms, that these are aliens or eccentric rogue earth ships(hippies) at best for the crew's experiences, and -also- with little or no point of reference to Earth's culture or proper behaviors of Starfleet. I deam it appropraite for such a long voyage going to the farthest reaches of space. The music as well reflects the feelings and in a very moody way(some tunes are new and not in other seasons) Others are of Season Two, yet mostly the tense high strung variety of Courage's works. If a fourth season had been issued(The Interplay computer game "25th annaversery" and "Judgment Rites" --kind of-- made a fun fill in link) the Enterprise NCC 1701(original no letters) would have then turned about hard on it's axis and gone slowly back to Earth for decommission(fourth year and all) so it makes sense that this would be as far out in space as the crew would ever go on this "five year" mission(with little contact from earth or their bases). I think they would be a bit edgy and the contacts, if any, would be a bit strange(insanely cheezy) on some planets. Out of fun I excuse this as being a "space happy" season and the "Blood red" packaging is perfect colors for it!
Where in Red Apple Hades is the sound track for "For I touched the Sky's"/"No truth in Beauty'" frenzic fighting sequence and the insane batman style time warp music? Very catchy! And not in season one or two?
If you love Star Trek, the DVD series is a must have 2008-06-19
Outstanding idea to come out w. the original series on DVD. I own all 3 seasons. Well written, great plotlines and characters - this show was ahead of its time in addressing social issues such as prejudice, custom and tradition, disaster, grief, power, gluttony, etc.
The special effects are not so bad in the 3rd season, as per the first, but this was the way that things were done back in the day. The series does not have to hang its hat on explosions and such to carry itself.
Too Far Ahead of Its Time 2008-06-08
After the first two seasons of Star Trek: The Original Series, the show was set to be cancelled by its network. However, after receiving a flood of letters from devoted fans that wanted to keep the show on the air, the network renewed it for one more season. Of course, since the show was not the culutural phenomena that it has now become, the network buried it in a late-night time slot and forced creator Gene Roddenberry to operate on a shoe-string budget. As a result, the special effects or sets that are needed in a show which regularly shows viewers spectacular events are severely hampered in this season. One episode takes place in an empty Enterprise, one is set in a pitch-black room much of the time, and another takes place in a deserted old West town (as no money existed to pay extras).
Yet, for fans of the first two seasons, this Third Season still delivers some great action, mind-bending drama, and little doses of humor. It is only the physical environment of the scripts that go downhill...not necessarily the scripted material itself.
Here are what I consider to be the highlights of this Third Season:
Day of the Dove: The Enterprise continues its battle with the Klingons.
All Our Yesterdays: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are thrown into different periods of past galaxies and forced to survive while trying to find a way home.
Turnabout Intruder: A body-switching tale that, while common fare now, had probably never been seen on TV to that point.
To conclude, the Third Season of Star Trek: TOS continued to produce some great dramatic TV hours, but was severely hampered by budgetary issues. Is it still worth your time? An emphatic "Yes"! Essentially, the show was so far ahead of its time that viewers did not know how to handle the "mature" (by 1960s standards!) themes it presented (i.e. many people boycotted the show because they thought Spock represented Satan due to his long ears!), thus its viewerships problems. It wouldn't be until the release of the major motion pictures in the 1970s and 1980s (after space travel was a well-established reality in this country) that Star Trek become the phenomena it is today.
.....much maligned and misunderstood 2008-05-07
No one seems able to write a positive, straight forward review about Star Trek's much maligned Third Season. As the media seem incapable or unwilling to run articles about Birmingham without the need to accompany absurd pictures of Sphagetti Junction, so Season Three is forever handicapped by the casual image of Mr Spock lobotomised without a single loss of hair!
Most observers tend to agree that the majority of the episodes in Season Three are ultimately lacking and the season's unbelievable opener (Spocks Brain) was certainly indicative of the substantial drop in quality to come. But the real betrayal was to sacrifice Star Trek's literary format, continuity and characterisation by foolishly exploiting Spock's box office potential at every opportunity and in doing so, the final season suffered a dreadful lack of plausibility and credibilty. And yet despite this, there remains an artistic voice about Season Three which few observers readily identify. In episodes such as "The Tholian Web", "Spectre of the Gun" and "All Our Yesterdays" you will find delicious, thoughtful scripts to rival any storyline from the revered First Season. Sadly, these gems are buried deep inside a mass of bland mediocrity, which is such a shame as Season Three contains some of Star Trek's greatest adventures (possibly as many as three of the all-time Top 10). Despite the obvious inadequacies, the final season is still in parts an enjoyable experience and worthy of repeated viewing.
The 7-disc DVD boxset is nicely packaged with all the bells and whistles you would expect - featurettes, retrospectives and commentaries. The discs are easy to navigate through with on screen menus resembling perspectives of the Enterprise bridge - a nice touch, but screen characters appear highly pixelated and lack smoothness around the edges.
This is what I've been waiting for! 2008-05-02
I haven't watched the 1st or 2nd season dvd's yet. I ordered the 3rd season because it has my favorite episodes. Spocks Brain and The Tholian web are 2 of my favorites. I really like The Enterprise Incident, where the Enterprise enters the Romulan Neutral Zone, Kirk disguises as a Romulan, Spock gets lucky and they steal the Romulan cloaking device. Way to go Spock! The video and audio quality is great. The packaging is good too. I especially like the video trailers. I can't remember the titles of some of the episodes so the trailers are a good preview. Some other reviews say that the 1st and 2nd seasons got higher ratings. If they are as good as the 3rd season, I'll probably buy them too.
Live long and prosper!
Staar Trek Season 3 Review 2008-04-25
The DVD series is great and the price was excellent. Cheaper than I could buy it for in any store.
