Info on 2004 Original Series Clamshell box set.

Sorry about that.

The reason I wasn't interested in my old videotapes anymore is that I'm blind now. I quit watching TV at least 14 years ago so that's how long those tapes were sitting idle in my bookcase and i can't even sort through them myself.

I even almost threw away a 28 year old video of myself playing bass and singing in a rock band at an annual biker party called "The Hogfest" in 1994. It's the only video that was ever made of me playing in a band.

The problem was that I thought I hadn't labelled that video properly so the only way I could save it would be to have someone else go through a couple hundred of videotapes to find it and I felt it was too much to ask so I didn't even mention it to anyone. I was an idiot not to always properly label my home videos.

I guess I was so down on the fact that I would never be able to see it again that I was ready to just dump it along with everything else. I could listen to it of course but that same performance was also recorded on audio cassette tape which I still had and I was careful to save all my audio stuff. I was feeling pretty sad about finally throwing all that stuff away that I can't see anymore after uselessly holding on to it for so long.

So the very night before my old house was going to be cleared out, my sister's husband, the brother in law I mentioned before, called me and asked where my old biker party video was, I had shown it to him once long ago. Earlier that day, he had helped me grab some last things before the house was cleared out and he had noticed the bookcase full of videotapes that I was leabving behind and then later wondered where that particular video was.

So I explained the problem to him and whined about how I can't see it anyway. Bless his heart, he said "Well, if you're not interested in that tape, what about the family, they might like to see their ol' uncle Robert in his younger days actually playing and singing in a rock band." he wanted to find it and get it digitized.

So my brother in law started getting ready to go over to my old house intending to grab all the non-commercial videotapes he could find to load in his car so we could hope to find that video later, the house was due to be cleared out in only hours. I was afraid I had put that video where he wouldn't find it.

While my b in law was getting ready to go over to my old house, he kept asking me questions about the video, trying to prod my memory and At that moment, I had a flash of memory and suddenly I realized that I HAD labelled it after all, very distinctly with the band's name, I could see it in my mind's eye. I had gotten so down on not being able to see that stuff anymore I had just pushed all of it out of my mind long ago.

So I told him what to look for, he wouldn't have to grab all those tapes after all. So we hung up and I waited while he went over to my old house to looked for it. He called back and said he found it. Not only that, he found two copies of it clearly labelled, I had completely forgotten that I had made a copy so I wouldn't wear the original out. Apparently, even back then in 1994, I knew digital video would someday become common so I was saving the original tape for the day it could be digitized. After hanging on to it for so long, I almost threw it away. But thanks to my brother in law being such an avid media collector, it was saved. God bless all media collectors.

So just in case there was more, my b-in-law went ahead and looked through every tape in that bookcase, staying on the phone with me. As he looked, he said "There sure are a lot of TNG, DS9 and B5 tapes, what is B5?" I told him what it was and he said Are you sure you don't want these? The media collector in me almost wanted to save them but I couldn't believe anyone could be interested in them so i said to leave them behind.

I had been selfish in not realizing that my family would want that video of me playing in a band. My other, younger sister for example, had known the other guys in that band, she had been friends with the wife of one of the guitar players and had been the one who introduced me to him. She had no idea that the video existed and she's very excited to see it.

I hope I haven't bored y'all too much but it was such a wonderful thing my brother in law did to have saved that video at the last minute when I knew for sure it was forever gone.

Robert

 

Unless he taped the Sci-Fi Channel Special Edition run in the 90-minute timeslot with Shatner hosting and guest interviews, his episodes will be cut for time. Chances are your uncle came in before that and got the episodes as first remastered by Paramount. They were bright, clean, and beautiful, but with a thousand tiny cuts for time.

 

Yes, they’re definitely edited for time. It’s fun to see them in that state as that was my first exposure to them. I know the Nitpicker’s Guide book points out what was cut but it’s nice to see them in motion. Also, he kept the commercials of the time intact. Those are priceless windows into our past. I’ve got the complete series on VHS and LaserDisc to accommodate the lost scenes.

 

God, yes. There are some youtube videos of just "period" commercials and they're great.

In the mid-1970's, we used to pull in three Canadian stations (CFTO, CBLT, and CHCH) with our huge roof antenna, and at one time or another, they all ran Star Trek as weekend fare. And I used to love the commercials. The jingles were so catchy, and they had a charming, innocent quality not found in the American ads. Toys and games, and breakfast cereals were the best.

 

You might want to join us for our Trek viewings... I spend HOURS each week getting and emplacing the ads for each one.

This Wednesday's is "The Menagerie" (part 1).

 

According to the book "Star Trek: Lost Scenes" the film that was used for most productions at that time was actually (apparently unintentionally) manufactured in such a way that the colors will fade over time. If I recall correctly, first the green, then the blue, and then the red color will fade, and the prints now look magenta, when they were not supposed to be. As such, some color correction seems to be needed to get back to what it would have looked like back then.

The Blu-Rays seem close, when viewing the original effects (although some are missing the mono mix, and the mono track is the 7.1 combined into mono), but it would be really nice to have an option of watching not only with the old effects, but with the true original mono sound, and with no "clean up" done to the film, so that grain and imperfections are visible. I had hoped that blue-rays would let you chose between these versions, but it seems that only the "cleaned-up" version is available during scenes with no new effects.

I thought for sure I saw versions like this being shown on a local TV station some years ago, but since it was after the Blu-rays came out and the Blu-rays don't have that as an option, I do not see how that could be.

 

The 35mm transparencies sold by Lincoln Enterprises in the 1970s have all deteriorated now; they're nothing but red. Their pigments are absolutely shot. But those slides were cut up from the workprint film reels, which were presumably developed fast and cheap. They were used for the dailies, and for the film editor to assemble his rough draft, as I understand it.

I'm pretty sure the actual camera negatives would degrade at a much slower rate. They were scanned frame by frame in HD for the Blu-rays, and posed no challenge to modern color correction software. So now it doesn't even matter if the negatives fade. The series is preserved and beyond the reach of film failure or warehouse fires. Same story for the music scores: the audio tapes are preserved on CD now, and they aren't going anywhere.

 

Not quite but they're getting close.

The dailies were used to make the workprint. Lincoln sold clips cut from both the unused dailies film and the workprints.

Once the production office was happy with the workprint and it was locked (i.e., the editing finished), it was given to the negative cutter (along with notes) to serve as the master guide.

Yes, they are degrading but at a much slower rate. I've transferred several rolls of negative film and can attest to this.

 

It would be really wonderful to watch the series from these transfers without any additional cleanup work, except maybe fixing the color fading. The Blu-ray special features talk about fixing dirt, holes, etc., and I'd love to to see a version of the show based on the negatives just as they were when scanned, except maybe corrected a bit less red if they display that issue. I wish that they original, unaltered sound for each episode were made available to the public also. Did I read that at that time it was on a mono magnetic tape that was attached to the film? Again, I'd love to hear it exactly as it was done originally with, maybe, just a little correction of inconsistent speed if needed. Since special editions of famous music exist like this, why not the episodes?

 

I am getting the Season 1 DVD set! And guess what, it's the 2004 release! Hopefully, I'll see the original printings of the episodes, even with the original intros and the Desilu logo at the end. I already have the Season 3 DVD from 2004. Someday I might get the Season 2 DVD.

 

Are the 2 episode US DVDs the same as the later boxsets? I think the latter is remastered picture, the former not, but are there any audio differences? I know the boxsets onwards aren't the authentic mixes.

In terms of the UK...The 2 episode UK tapes are closer mixes than the 3 episode tapes. Are the 2 episode tapes the same as the laserdiscs?

 

I don't know. My region code is NTSC US, so I don't have the UK stuff.

 

If it's the 2004 box set you'll get the Desilu logo at the end. The actual Paramount logo from that era didn't show up on the DVDs until the third season. You'll see the 90's era Paramount logo after the Desilu in the first season. And yes, it will be the original effects with the late 1990's prints. Congratulations.

You'll also see the "created by" credit in the first 2 episodes and the electric violin theme in 10 episodes. That's too many and, other than Where No Man Has Gone Before, not on the end credits, but it's great to have it anyway.

I love these prints. Enjoy!

 

The Desilu Logos should be on the season 2 episodes as well with the more recent Paramount logo following. Year three is all recent Paramount Television logo and music.

 

I'm so glad you wrote that. I just watched TOS streaming for the first time. When the theme tune started playing, I seriously thought there was something wrong with my TV or hearing. Although, everything else sounded good! I can't listen to it, so I skip it.

 

For my Trek watches, I actually snip the Desilu ending from Mission: Impossible so it doesn't have the (c) 1978 Paramount on them.

 

Okay, so I heard from someone that they found the Desilu logo with the rarer, four-note fanfare on the episode "Charlie X" on the Season 1 DVD set from 2004. That fanfare variation appeared on some Season 1 episodes of Mission: Impossible, and possibly on an episode of The Lucy Show ("Lucy Meets George Burns"). It is called the "bump" theme, which may be the basis for the M:I theme.

 

This person found it on the 2004 DVDs? Because my box set (I have three) and the individual volume doesn't have it.

 

Then what about the PAL DVD sets?

 

I can't say, but they should be the same prints. But considering some of the weird changes I've seen on various releases, it's certainly possible. Now I'm curious.