When I see this picture -




- I hear a whiney nasal little voice saying:

"You don't need to see Han shoot first. The originals aren't the DVDs you're looking for. You can go about your business. You do need to buy the DVDs again."

I've bought the original (and still best!) Star Trek on VHS, on Laserdisc, and on the initial 40-DVD set...there is no way in hell I'm spending another dime on buying this show a fourth time. And, while it's my all-time favorite show, I simply refuse to drop any more cash on it.

Will I watch this? To be honest, I will. But, like the original, non-"Special Edition" Star Wars movies, the way they were originally run on TV is the "canonical" version, as far as I'm concerned.

We'll all have to search local listings for this, because it doesn't look like stations will be jumping at the bit to air it.

In Boston, for example, BALANCE OF TERROR kicks things off on the 17th...at 2:35am!

This whole project sounds like something that was put together at the last minute, doesn't it? Certainly, if that time slot is any indication, most stations feel the same way.

Also adding insult to injury is that, though these will be produced in HD, because of the satellite transmissions most local stations use to pick up syndicated programming, most stations WON'T be airing it in HD, even if they broadcast digitally (like Channel 5 in Boston).

Don't forget BALANCE OF TERROR premieres THIS weekend!

Well that was a colossal waste of time.

I caught one scheduled showing on my HD-DVR at 3am last night in Boston -- and the newly added FX were understated to say the least. A few ship models looked fine and were respectful, in keeping with the old series, but then there were a few added FX shots which looked like video (the way the TNG effects appeared) -- and while they weren't overdone, they seemed mightily distracting for a show that was shot on film. After that I pretty much lost interest.

The 4:3 aspect ratio was maintained (at least in the broadcast I viewed), but this really seems like much ado about nothing. Certainly the new FX really didn't ENHANCE what was already there, and I didn't care for the "video" appearance of some of the new animation.

For me, upscaling the current-gen DVDs to 720p/1080i will pretty much do just fine.

Film buffs, mavens, historians and just plain lovers of movies-here is the face of your enemy. Remember it. Do not forget it. It has no soul, no way to reason, no feeling.