More Trek on DVD

Well, Trekkie that I am, I have to take a moment to acknowledge the big DVD release of the day...for trekkies.

The average nerd on the street generally has to be reminded that Star Trek was briefly resurrected as a Saturday morning cartoon in the early 1970s. It ran for two seasons (1973-1975), lasting 22 episodes. They were able to bring back the entire original voice cast to do their own voices. In fact, James Doohan (Scotty) got to fall back on his experience as a voice actor for CBC radio to do a multitude of voices for all kinds of aliens. It was made by Filmation, the same animation house that my generation remembers best for bringing us He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. While the show was generally derided for its wooden animation, it was applauded for its writing. Just like the original live-action series, they were able to get a whole bunch of big name sci-fi authors (as well as writers for the original live-action show) to come back and write scripts.

And it sat for years as the last bit of Star Trek that had to be released on DVD...until today.

That's right, today, Paramount Pictures releases Star Trek: The Complete Animated Series. This 4-disc set contains all 22 episodes of the animated series. You also get a couple of featurettes about the show (including one that tries to answer the age old question that fans have always asked, "Is this canon?"), and some of those wonderful pop up trivia text commentaries, compiled by Michael and Denise Okuda.

In other DVD news today, the new holiday classic Home Alone gets re-released today in a brand new, 2-disc special edition. You get a running commentary with star Maculay Culkin and director Chris Columbus, featurettes about the making of the film (both new and made back in the day), cut scenes, bloopers, the trailers, and all the trimmings.

And no, your eyes didn't deceive you. Home Alone was directed by Chris Columbus, who went on to direct the first two Harry Potter movies.