In order to fully capitalize on the popularity of the release of the Star Trek film, Paramount has released a bevy of DVD’s and Blu-ray’s related to what is one of their most valuable and lucrative franchises.

For fairweather fans of the shows, the film has no doubt rekindled at least a passing interest and what better way to entice people back than a pair of DVD’s coming it an under ten bucks for 8 of the best episodes of Star Trek ever produced?

The Best of Star Trek: The Original Series contains four great episodes of the show, starting with one of my favorites, “City on the Edge of Forever”.

All four episodes on this collection are also the remastered versions of the show, so if you’ve been waiting to take a gander at it, there’s no better or cheaper time to do it. (It also contains the first appearance of the Romulans in what I think is one of the best photographed episodes of the franchise, “Balance of Terror” and everyone’s favorite “The Trouble With Tribbles”. The last episode sees Spock returning to Vulcan for Ponn Farr in “Amok Time”.)

This is the prefect priming gift for someone who thought they didn’t like Star Trek, but liked the movie. This DVD will make them realize that the show was (and is) pretty damned cool.

The Best of Star Trek: The Next Generation starts with the two part “The Best of Both Worlds” which sees Captain Picard assimilated into a Borg. I never really liked the Borg, but this should provide a lot of entertainment for new fans and is a good primer for people just getting into The Next Generation.

The other two episodes rounding out the disc are “Yesterday’s Enterprise” and “The Measure of a Man”. Watching these made me remember both how much I loved The Next Generation and how dry it was. These are solid, yet dry, television dramas.

Overall, for the price, these are the perfect gifts to get someone who loved the new summer spectacle and need to get into the series.

I can guarantee these will operate as a gateway drug.