One of the great things about having TV shows on DVD is that they are often the perfect choice for an early evening. When you strip out the commercials, classic TV programs run about 46 minutes, allowing you to sneak in an episode just before bed.
Some years ago I acquired the first two seasons of Star Trek and plan on finally picking up the third. The franchise, like the original cast, is all but dead, but the show has aged surprisingly well.
I'm sure a lot of Trekkies may regard the machismo of Kirk as cringe-worthy, but I think values of the time – women and men are different and should be used for different things – still holds up.
What hasn't aged well is the utopian belief that science and "bad beliefs" will have faded in the future. Indeed, the best episodes are the ones that center on human (or Vulcan) nature. "Amok Time," for example, is a wonderful display of passion, anger and treachery.
Yeah, there are continuity problems, the writers had trouble keeping their tech lore straight and – to repeat – I've not watched the third season, which had some true clunkers.
But for all that, the cast really was quite solid, mostly older, bit-part types who nevertheless threw everything they had into their roles.
It's kind of funny how much Star Trek has faded, both for me and the larger culture. No, I never got into the weird cosplay aspect of the fandom, but I read many of the novels, watched the movies and for a while considered myself in the upper echelons of the fandom. What really turned me off was The Next Generation, which I did not like, and I generally ignored the subsequent iterations of the show. I guess that makes me something of a purist, and I'm fine with that.
Chateau Lloyd 
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