The first Star Trek: The Original Series episodes released on LaserDisc, "The Menagerie, Parts I & II", were part of the set Television Classics: Volume 1 in 1984, which harkened back to the collection name the first five Original Series VHS/Betamax tapes had been released under, back in 1980 and which had included the "Menagerie" double-bill. The disc was double sided, with one episode on each side, unlike the previous tape versions which had been edited into one feature-length episode.
When the TOS episodes began releasing the next year, these two episodes were not re-released, with the exception of its inclusion as part of the Japanese Star Trek - Log 1 LaserDisc set. "The Cage" was released twice, once as a color/B&W copy and later, 1991, in full color. This brought the total number of discs up to 42 for the US release. Actually, the regular release also precipitated the complete first-time release of the entire series on VHS/Betamax as well – albeit in the one episode per tape format – as these were released in simultaneous conjuncture with the discs, sharing similarly designed cover art. As a result, the LaserDiscs were released in groups of five, whereas the video tapes were released in groups of ten. [1] When Pioneer started to release the LaserDiscs in 1984, they were priced at US$29.98, which was incredibly low when one considered that the in quality inferior video tapes, concurrently released, were still priced at around US$40. [2]
LaserDisc releases |
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The Original Series • The Animated Series • Star Trek films • The Next Generation • Deep Space Nine • Voyager Star Trek documentaries and specials |
Releases[]
Box sets and other collections |
Betamax • VHS • CED • LaserDisc • DVD • Blu-ray • Digital |