Star Trek / The Original Series / Season Three : 4 of 5

I've finally finished watching the 30 hours of episodes included in this DVD set, which means I've watched the entire Original Series over the past year and a half. The third season of Star Trek is famous (or infamous!) for several reasons. First, the series was basically cancelled after Season Two, but a huge letter writing campaign by the fans almost forced the studio to continue with another season. Next, Gene Roddenberry generally didn't participate in this season (besides being executive producer), and their budget was dismal. And so, this season is full of cheese - think of the goofiest Star Trek episode you can remember, and it's probably from Season Three! The all-time silliest plot is Spock's Brain (which was actually the season premiere!), where alien hotties steal Spock's brain to run their computers. The Way to Eden is a classic because of its hilarious "space hippies" (complete with folk songs), and I always laugh like crazy at The Savage Curtain when I see Abraham Lincoln flying through space (although that episode does have many merits). On the flip side, some of my favorites are in this season, including The Tholian Web (such a cool idea) and Day of the Dove (with great Klingon tension). Just like the other sets (Season One and Season Two), there's some fun bonus material (including a nice restored version of the original pilot The Cage), but my favorite feature is the text commentary, which is only included with two episodes. I would buy these sets again if they had text commentary on every episode - it's so entertaining! I really enjoyed seeing the original series again, which makes me want to watch all the movies next!