I fastidiously recorded all the episodes and watched my favorites many times. Then, I ditched all the tapes when I bought the blu-rays. I never bought the DVDs, but I can't remember why not.
^They were not available yet? IIRC the first HD remasters did not occur until well into the 2000's. I paid so damn much for the DVD's. ($100 seasons) I was never able to justify the remastered, then they arrived on P+.
Again my memory is faulty! I searched and found pictures of the DVDs sets in those silver boxes. I did own them! So, the sequence was: taped VHS > DVD > blu-ray. It would have been strange for me to keep watching the tapes during those years when the DVDs were available.
I balked at the MSRP of the DVDs; eventually got them used. Knowing what goes into the restoration, I was surprised to see the blu-rays' MSRP being $129. Now imagine my shock and caffeinated-hamster glee when walking into the store and saw the seasons for $79~$89 on their first day of release.
My video store loved me. I must have looked like the world's biggest sucker to them. They were always smiling from ear to ear when I walked in. lol Yeah, and all that extra money and effort I wasted. But they went to good homes, watched and loved them a lot. I just watch everything on P+ now. The tapes, the dvds, it was all a waste of money, and time!
Until they remove them again... https://trekmovie.com/2022/10/01/all-10-tos-and-tng-era-star-trek-movies-have-exited-paramount/ There are pros and cons to streaming and collecting, I won't deny...
Odds are they will land somewhere I subscribe to or have access to. Or I can do without for a while. Plenty more Trek to go around. But I doubt any more will leave P+ than is needed for a nice Syndication Package for whoever is buying.
I remember buying the Columbia House subscription for the VHS tapes. Massive collection, only 2 (sometimes 3) episodes per tape! Once a month, for what seemed like ages. I want to say I was paying around $30 a month for it. I also remember TNG was still on the air at this time! My parents recently moved and found the box of tapes in the attic. My dad asked if I still wanted them. Nah, no need, I have the blu-rays. I tossed them myself. All my dad said was "such a waste of money" haha! Maybe, but seeing that I bought them 30+ years ago, it was my money to burn!
It wasn't a waste of money because you all watched those VHS tapes and DVDs and streaming didn't exist yet.
Good point, and I still occasionally watch the blu-rays - better picture and sound quality than streaming. I must admit, I don't watch most episodes anymore. I only watch the same few chestnuts every once in a while...
I came to TNG when it started over here in the Ireland and the UK around the early 1990s (I think!). I remember renting VHS's of it frrom the local video store at the time and that combination with the aforementioned showing of it on TV at the time, got me hooked and have been a fan ever since. I loved the pilot (as campy as it was, then missed a few episode and came back into the series at the episode The Battle (The Stargazer one!). That combined with the episode the arsenal of freedom (where LaForge took temporary command of the Enterprise) pretty much sold TNG to me and I kept watching it from then until the end of the seires in 1994.
Where I lived, Farpoint premiered on a Friday night. I was delighted to come down the next morning for some Saturday toons, and lo, The Naked Now was on! No waiting a week for me.
I'm still thinking about my memory lapse and am embarrassed about it. Thankfully no one called me on it! But, the reason I'm responding to my own post is because I thought back on those DVD sets. Despite looking very cool on the shelf, with the metallic outer box whose seams revealed a differently-colored inner box, they were a pain! First, I had to be very careful not to scratch the outer box. Then, when I wanted to extract a disc, I opened it and shook the inner box out on the carpeted floor (the inner box was a very snug fit within the outer box). I then carefully opened the accordian and extract a disc. Replacing the disc also required care. The blu-rays are boring, but much easier to use. The only complaint I have is that the episode list inside the case can be hard to read, especially the titles that are obscured in the corners by the clasps.
I was only 8 months old when TNG premiered in the States, but I remember watching the series on BBC 2 in the mid-1990s and getting hooked pretty quickly. Earliest episode I can remember watching was Peak Performance and being annoyed at having to leave halfway through for tennis practice. Remember buying the VHS of Farpoint/Naked Now for £10 from my local Woolworths (throwback for other UK based fans) around about 1997 or so.
I was working the night of the premier and I had no cable television and bad antenna reception. A friend gave me a vhs recording of Encounter At Farpoint. I watched and watched. Then I started to record the episodes, again, with poor reception. I was working two jobs and there was little time, but THG was a great comfort.
Even though they were clearly crap, I do miss those days of making dodgy recordings on VHS, poor television reception, mulling between choosing SP and LP quality and setting the video timer… I know it was crap. I know if we regressed today I’d hate it, but I do miss it!
I'm starting watching Season 3 proper for the first time tonight. I've seen a bunch of episodes but never the whole season through.