Star Trek: The Next Generation - Season 1
can’t exactly say I was counting the seconds until my Star Trek: The Next Generation first season DVD box set came in the mail. After all, the first season wasn’t one of my favorites. Getting it was more an excuse to get rid of all those decaying VHS tapes I recorded the show on back in the early 90s. The real fun begins when I get my third season set - with its classic episodes like Yesterday’s Enterprise and The Best Of Both Worlds - but I have to wait a few more months for that.
The first season box set does have some interesting treats, including a very clever foldout holding case that is about the size of a small book. Folding it correctly the first few times can be challenge, but it’s still a good design, especially for someone like me who’s very space-conscious. The case comes with seven discs, each with roughly four episodes. The seventh disc contains four special features detailing the genesis of the series in 1987.
The producers certainly put a lot of effort into making this package look good. I’m happy to say, the interactive menus - which generally annoy me on most DVDs because of their needless technical gimmicks - are quick, clean and beautiful. As one might expect, the menus are designed like the computer control panels and interactive screens - also known as Okudagrams - seen on The Next Generation with the same chirps and bleeps.
Unfortunately, the richer picture quality doesn’t benefit the episodes too well. It only reinforces how poorly photographed and lit the show was during much of the first season. The episode Skin of Evil - not exactly a landmark first season show to begin with - looks even more laughable with its clearly artificial sets and painfully embarrassing special effects work. Granted, Next Generation didn’t have the benefit of today’s high-end special effects technology, but at least it could count on the gauzy resolution on most of those 80s TV sets to mask some of the blemishes.
One thing the DVD transfer does provide is excellent sound. I watched Encounter at Farpoint on a four-speaker system connected to my computer, and every note in Dennis McCarthy’s thrilling score can be heard with perfect clarity. Even though it was a bit cheesy, I always thought Ron Jones’ score for Skin Of Evil was one of his best for the first season. His piano accompaniment in Tasha Yar’s final scene in the episode is even more touching when heard on DVD. I can only imagine what his score for The Best Of Both Worlds will sound like in the third box set.
If fans want the complete un-edited two hour version of Encounter At Farpoint, they’re in luck. The box set version contains scenes deleted from the pilot when it was rebroadcast as a two-part episode. One shows Riker getting a video review of the mission after he first boards the ship and the other has Picard visiting sickbay to have a heart-to-heart talk with Crusher about her feelings working with him. The producers could have put a few bucks into correcting some obvious visual flubs in the pilot - like the now-infamous “bush edit” that occurs on the holodeck when Riker and Data are talking and that silly piece of what looks like carpeting supporting the Con station on the bridge when Data and Picard discuss “snooping”.
The extra features on disc seven are satisfying but a little disappointing. Together they chronicle the making of The Next Generation from the perspective of the actors, producers and production crew. Most of the interviews were done at the time the season was being made or a couple of years later. They don’t really offer 
any new insights for diehard Trek fans. New fans of the series may enjoy the features as a kind of Cliff’s Notes to the making of the show, but for long-time fans, this is all old news.
I would have enjoyed a segment of bloopers or retrospective interviews with the cast today. Hopefully, future box sets will be a little more interesting in this regard.
If it’s quality you’re looking for - and you’ve got the money to shell out - then the first-season box set is a must-have. Some fans may choose to buy only their favorite season and skip the others, and I can understand that. I had considered it myself. But it’s nice to know it’s there if I want to watch it and that I’ll never have to hit rewind on all those old VHS tapes ever again.