Sixty years ago this September, a low-budget science fiction show about a starship crew premiered on NBCand changed the direction of sci-fi entertainment. Now, asStar Trek marks that anniversary, the original series is getting a release that will thrill lifelong fans.
Amazon has announced an exclusive collector’s edition of Star Trek: The Original Series, timed to release on September 8, the same date the franchise’s first episode aired in 1966. The set includes all 79 episodes across all three seasons on Blu-ray and DVD, featuring previously remastered visual effects and audio. Standard versions of the anniversary release are also planned, but the Amazon-exclusive deluxe giftset adds a run of premium lobby cards depicting iconic scenes and behind-the-scenes moments, designed so the cards’ backsides form the franchise’s 60th anniversary logo when placed side by side. The set also includes a four-inch vinyl figure that plays theme music and sound effects drawn from all three original seasons.
The original series had a rocky path to even reaching three seasons. NBC nearly canceled the show after its second year, a decision reversed only after a letter-writing campaign from fans convinced the network the audience was bigger than the ratings suggested. That fight for survival became part of the show’s mythology.
The remastered visual effects included in this set aren’t new to this release. They debuted in a 2006 package that replaced the original series’ dated optical effects with digitally rendered starships and planets, a controversial move at the time that has since become the default way most fans watch the show. Those remastered episodes have been bundled into various home video releases over the years, but this set marks the first time they’ve been paired with anniversary-specific packaging built around the exact broadcast date of the first episode.
Related: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Returns in July, Then Says Goodbye
The release is one piece of a packed anniversary year for the franchise. Star Trek has already marked the milestone with a themed float at the Tournament of Roses Parade, an environmental partnership campaign called Boldly Go Green, and Star Trek: The Cruise IX, a Caribbean voyage that drew original cast members including William Shatner, Jonathan Frakes, and Marina Sirtis. New comics, a preschool animated series called Star Trek: Scouts, and the franchise’s first-ever LEGO set have also rolled out this year, alongside Strange New Worlds’ fourth season and the now-canceled Starfleet Academy.
Ironically for a franchise built on the idea of a hopeful future, the anniversary arrives at an uncertain moment. Star Trek currently has no new series or films in active production, and Strange New Worlds is set to conclude with a shortened fifth season. Still, six decades after Gene Roddenberry‘s vision of an optimistic, unified future first reached television screens, that vision keeps finding new formats to live in, from streaming platforms to comic panels to a box set built for the shelf of any longtime fan.
The Star Trek: The Original Series 60th Anniversary set is available for pre-order now ahead of its September 8 release.
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