In the days right after TOS went off the air, I was happy when I would visit my grandparents in Indianapolis because the NBC affiliate there had picked up Star Trek syndication early on. During the show's original run I had the opportunity to catch quite a few of the episodes "live" but I could tell my experience with all of them was not complete. Knowing the titles helped to track them down; in those days I sought those unknown hours like a grounded fish gasps for water. It took me a few fun years to collect them.

In my early grades in school I would whittle boring hours away writing and re-writing the episode titles to commit them to memory. I think the last original episode I caught was "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" I remember that because reading the TV Guide description of Kollos as "an unbearably ugly creature" left my pre-teen imagination with all sorts of nightmarish preconceptions. (All of which were, of course, ridiculous compared to how the Ambassador was depicted in the episode.)

I started having "dreams" featuring entirely new episodes of TOS; it's funny that many Trekkers I talk with have had the same. (Some of those images I would like to bring out of my head, using computer graphics as siphons.) To encounter new Trek was a dream made real. Anyway, here I am late the other day taking a break and hopping channels. What to my wondering eyes should appear but an episode of Enterprise I've never seen! (I only missed a dozen or so fourth season episodes while a guest of the state, so I could place it immediately. That the story was even remotely interesting was another big clue.) I found myself getting interesting in the program. So I shut it off.

Why? Because, this being the new millenium and all, I'd rather experience the show unsurrounded by commercial content (AKA on DVD). No worrying about omissions, or distractions away from the set, just me and my digital picture playable on demand. Maybe it has something to do with knowing there's only so many left. I'd like to think the remainders won't suck so bad but that's alot of Richards' Law spinning. Whistle whistle whistle. Yet there you have it. I've gone from breathlessly anticipating new Trek to actively bypassing it, but the time has come to return to the ship. God willing this column will resume reviews starting next week, first the rest of "Enterprise," and then TOS.