Customer Reviews

Star Trek: The Original Series 365

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The best book about Star Trek TOS since the Justman/Solow book. Really well done, with great photos (many I have never seen before). The text on each episode captures many anecdotes that I had not heard before either. And I love that the authors included some early aspects of fandom -- including the first few New York conventions. If you are a fan of the original series -- this is a "must have" book. I hope they do another one for the first six movies featuring the original cast.

STAR TREK 365 is a time capsule to the magic that was Star Trek. Sure to gladden the hearts of all us moldy oldy Trekkers, it offers up a 744-page tribute to Roddenberry's original, classic show filled with clear, crisp color photographs and incisive text. To coin a phrase, it's "Fascinating!"

Authors Block and Erdmann take a roughly chronological approach to the original series, detailing the show's origins, its beloved characters and the actors who portrayed them, behind-the-scenes info, specific episodes, themes, special effects, make-up, etc. Yet STAR TREK 365 is the kind of book where you just jump in at a random page and enjoy!

Paging through the book you're reminded of what a fine job Roddenberry & Co. did back in 1966. It not only brings back fond memories of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and all the others in action but also makes one realize how much better Star Trek was in comparison to the tripe that dominated the boob tube back then. Roddenberry, Gene Coon and Bob Justman brought a sensitivity and humanity to Star Trek that was sorely missing in so many other shows, especially in the first two seasons. The show's humanism and sense of optimism was underscored by the superb acting that helped create the endearing Enterprise crew not to mention the equally memorable villains like Khan, Charlie X and Trelane. In particular, though Spock in some respects stole Kirk's thunder, watch Season One and Two shows and marvel at what a damn fine acting job Shatner did as Kirk.

The photographs are a combination of color and b&w production shots and candids, some never-been-seen, of the regulars, guest stars, the Enterprise and other starships, aliens and monsters, special effects, dramatic scenes from various shows and so on. All in all, a visual delight.

In short, STAR TREK 365 may not be THE definitive Star Trek book but it is an engagingly-written and appealingly-presented package. And a steal at $29.95! Beam this one on board; you won't be sorry! Recommended.

This incredible Star Trek book is the perfect companion to all 3 full-season, remastered DVD boxed sets released last year. Informative, insightful and loaded with great photos and artwork, this book is a must have for even the most casual Star Trek enthusiast. Beam up your copy today!

One can spend hours sitting at a couch flipping through this book. The problem is that the hardcover is cheaply made and the glue that binds the spine falls apart and then you're dealing with pages coming loose.

I'm a huge Star Trek fan, and it's a pleasure to receive a new reference book on the franchise (this time, centered around the original series, aka TOS). The Encyclopedia and Chronology were great in their time, but with all the information in the later Deep Space Nine and Voyager episodes (as well as Enterprise and the last few movies), they've become outdated. I expected 365 to be similar to the excellent Art of Star Trek (1997), and it is a great companion piece to that book, offering some beautiful images along with insights into the production and the impact of the classic series over the last 40 years.

In general, the layout has images on the right side, with brief episode teasers and other information on the left.

I'm going to note a few things that came to mind as I read through the book:

Materials

+365 comes in hardcover, with a beautiful image of the Enterprise on the front and a picture of Spock, Kirk, McCoy and Scott (from "Spectre of the Gun") on the back. The pages are semi-glossy and easy to flip through. The page numbers are colored the same as the dvd sets - yellow for season 1, blue for season 2, red for season 3 (and black otherwise).

-The cover can scratch and dent easily, and mine already has a sort of "haze" around the edges. The pages pick up fingerprints (wash your hands before reading!), and several of the text pages had ink smears and other blemishes (not a big deal, but worth noting). The page numbers are all on the text (left) sides and are cut off slightly. I guess this was a stylistic choice, but they're often hard to read.

Episode Guide

+The episodes are presented in production order. Though this was often different from airdate order ("The Man Trap" aired before "Where No Man Has Gone Before", even though "Before" was actually the second pilot), the layout is much more logical and easier to read through.

-There's no table of contents, so it's hard to find your favorite episode or get a sense of which shows aired in which season. The opening page for each episode has a teaser for the show, which might whet your appetite, but doesn't reveal too much. They could have put the episode number on the page (1-79), the stardate, the original airdate, a list of personnel (directors, guest stars, etc) or other things, yet those are all missing. A few notes on specific actors or props might be included on subsequent pages, but you never really know what's coming.

PICTURES

+The big draw for 365 is in its images, and here it rarely disappoints. Many of the pictures are razor-sharp and look like they could have been shot yesterday (Spock mind-melding with Van Gelder from "Dagger of the Mind"). I've read the comments about the rest, which sometimes look a bit grainy; knowing they are from the original negatives and have been cleaned up makes up for this at times, though other times you wish they just chose another shot.

-Sometimes the pictures are from the remastered episodes (the Enterprise and Balok's ship from "The Corbomite Maneuver") without any note of that fact. It wouldn't bother me if it was consistent, but sometimes there is a really crummy original shot (The USS Constellation approaching "The Doomsday Machine") that would have looked much better if they used the remastered footage instead (the original shot used a model with almost no detail). There are also some episodes that are missing things that should be there...for instance, there are no pictures of Elaan in the collection for "Elaan of Troyius" (!), or of Mudd, who was in two episodes ("Mudd's Women" [5 pictures with the women, none of him!] and "I, Mudd"). Actually, several villains should be pictured but aren't, like Merik from "Bread and Circuses" or the Klingons from "A Private Little War".

INFORMATION

+I guarantee you'll not only learn a lot about TOS, you'll learn things that will make you smile (like how Vaal - the big dragon head from "The Apple" - was actually made of aluminum foil!). There are nice tidbits on some of the guest actors, locations, costumes, episode scores and more. You'll find out why several planets seem "just like Earth," why Sulu was missing for most of season 2, and why William Shatner sometimes kept...pausing in the middle...of his dialogue!

-Some of the information is presented randomly (a comment on the look of the transporter platform comes in-between episode summaries for season 3). They keep mentioning how NBC gave the show a small budget, but not WHY this was so, or WHY so many people left before the third season (also no mention of Freiberger, the producer for that season). Also, there's too much information in some places and not enough in others. For instance, we get a whole page of text dedicated to the belly dancer from "Wolf in the Fold" yet nothing on Klingon warrior Kor ("Errand of Mercy") or Kodos the Executioner ("The Conscience of the King"). I also expected more interviews and actual quotes from the actors and others; how did Ricardo Montalban approach the role of Khan? What did Mark Lenard think about Sarek's relationship with Spock ("Journey to Babel", as well as the third and fourth movies)? Surely these people (and the main cast) had something to say about the show (and its effect on their lives) that could have been reproduced here. Finally, it would have been cool to include a bit on the 2009 movie, like a trivia section on the little homages to TOS people might have missed.

I know I've piled on the book a bit, but what it all boils down to is: did I enjoy it? Yes, I did. It was fun to go through once, and I'll surely be checking back to it whenever I view the episodes again. I still think the DS9 Companion is the best Trek book out there though (even if it's only in black and white).

The anecdotes and reminiscences in this book are thoroughly entertaining and very illuminating in many instances. The episode descriptions are brief 1 page affairs, which are perfectly fine for the format this book is presented in. If you happen to want much more detailed descriptions of the actual people involved in the technical aspects of the show or more thorough story synopisis' i would suggest picking up the Star Trek Compendium. Even being as familiar as I am about the production of the original series there were still numerous stories and observations in this book I'd never heard before. The pictures chosen are also outstanding, many, many of them previously unseen before. Behind the scenes, publicity stills, alternate views of scenes from the episodes themselves.....they're really great, there was absolutely no issue for me regarding the quality of the images used in this book as i had read in an earlier review. This is a real first rate book and I'm happy to have picked it up and added it my collection, I've enjoyed reading through it over the past few nights and if your a fan of the original show, you just can't go wrong with this one! Well done Paula!

A solid piece of work which is, refreshingly, not as much a behind-the-scenes tell-all but, instead, very focused on story. Star Trek would be nothing without excellent stories, and this book discloses much about the literary depth that made the The Original Series a truly great show. Add to this the hundreds of delicious-for-any-fan photos and we have what is a truly professionally assembled, enjoyable reference.

This is an interesting little book. Strange size (about 6" high and 9" long but 2" thick) but a cool book. It's very heavy (seems like the weight of a phone book)!! Basically it devotes 2 or 3 pages to each episode sometimes with a summery of the episode; other times with some behind the scenes information. It also has the appropriate corresponding photos (which look grand). Mostly screen caps but there are many behind the scenes photos and some photos that have not been seen before. Has some interesting tidbits like the doomsday machine was actually made by dipping a wind sock into concrete. The only bummer is that there are full page photos of the phaser 2, communicator and tricorder . . . . wait for it . . . . . yes, they are all fakes! Anyway well worth picking up.

It is a cheap book to read about the Star Trek TOS. There are many reviews and trivia about the series compiled into a single volume. The reading is easy to read in its proposal any time and curiosity to read a very interesting day.

As a Star Trek fan, I have a large collection of Star Trek books. This original series 365 is a must have for anyone who likes the original Star Trek series. The photos are high quality. The stories are great fun. Remembering All of the episodes is priceless. One could not go wrong with this book.