STAR TREK!! STAR TREK!! TERMINATOR!! MENTALIST!! TAXI!! SOPRANOS!! BROTHERHOOD!! HercVault!!

I am – Hercules!!

The first HD edition of Star Trek: The Second Season Remastered has been a long time coming, as the first season hit HD-DVD way back on Nov. 20, 2007. As with the first-season Blu-ray set, the this one allows you to view the episodes with either the effects created in the late 1960s or the new effects created in the 21st century. I think if I had to buy only one Blu-ray title this year, this would be the one. The Pavel Chekhov-enhanced second season boasted some of the series’ finest efforts.

* “Amok Time.” A super-horny Spock slices open Jim Kirk with giant Vulcan weapons so the science officer can seed cheaty local hottie T’Pring. Try not to be moved after Vulcan leader T’Pau greets Spock with the now-famous hello “Live long and prosper.” “I shall do neither,” Spock replies. “I have killed my captain and my friend.” * “Who Mourns For Adonais?” Kirk takes on Apollo, his 433rd outer-space entity with god-like power – and the first he’s encountered in a minidress! * “The Changeling.” Another god-like entity, this time in the form of a floaty space-heater with daddy issues. The first “Star Trek” movie was its big-budget remake. * “Mirror Mirror.” A transporter mishap transports Kirk, McCoy and Scotty into an alternate universe in which everybody’s ruthless and evil and Spock sports a sinister Vulcanian goatee. This episode inspired many TV sequels and perhaps the premise of J.J. Abrams’ “Fringe.” * “The Apple.” Kirk tries to help a primitive society that worships a computer. Or was that “The Paradise Syndrome”? Or was that “Return of the Archons”? Or was that “The World Is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky”?

* “The Doomsday Machine.” The Enterprise does battle with both a planet-gobbling alien superweapon and a revenge-crazed Starfleet commodore. * “Catspaw.” Kirk is confronted by a goth couple with, you guessed it, god-like powers. * “I Mudd.” One of the funniest episodes, co-written by the guy who wrote “Mudd’s Women” and the guy who wrote “The Trouble With Tribbles.” Ne’er-do-well Harry Mudd and the Enterprise crew run afoul of bored robots. Spock defeats them with the help of poetry that doesn’t rhyme. Nimoy’s reading of “Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers that smell bad” is a stitch. Why no Mudd episode in season three? * “Metamorphosis.” The crew stumbles upon 240-year-old warp-drive inventor Zefram Cochrane, who looks nothing like James Cromwell and has been kept alive, well and youthful by a horny alien cloud-being. “Father Knows Best” daughter Elinor Donahue played commissioner Nancy Helford.

* “Journey To Babel.” During a Federation conference marred by Andorian-on-human violence, we get a glimpse of Spock’s dysfunctional family dynamic. If memory serves, Daddy Sarek wanted Spock to go into computer programming instead of Starfleet. “Father Knows Best” mom Jane Wyatt played Amanda Greyson. * “Friday’s Child.” The crew, caught between Klingons and a primitive race of giants, literally head for the hills in an effort to protect an gargantuan pregnant local (Julie Newmar). * “The Deadly Years.” A strange disease advances Kirk’s age to the point where he can’t even be trusted with the viewscreen remote. Don’t be forgetting Sarah Marshall played daddy-issue casualty Dr. Janet Wallace! * “Obsession.” Kirk grows determined to defeat the deadly vampire creature who vexed him in his youth. * “Wolf in the Fold.” “Psycho” author Robert Bloch contributes a teleplay about the spirit of Jack The Ripper alive and well on the planet Argelius. * “The Trouble With Tribbles.” When someone calls the Enterprise a “garbage scow” Scotty engineers a merciless Klingon beatdown. Also, a merchant brings to a Federation space station a faceless furball that does little besides eat and poop out more faceless furballs. * “The Gamsters of Triskelion.” Multicolored brains with god-like powers bet on whether Kirk can murder his alien opponents. Porn star Angelique Pettyjohn played the horny warrior Shauna. * “A Piece of the Action.” Aliens find a book about Prohibition-era Chicago and decide to model their entire society on it. An appalled Kirk and Spock have to carry machine guns and learn how to drive.

* “The Immunity Syndrome.” The Enterprise has to destroy a massive space-amoeba before it can reproduce and consume the universe. * “A Private Little War.” Kirk is scandalized when he learns the rascally Klingons have been arming a primitive culture, then finds himself reduced to disregarding the Federation’s Prime Directive in response. * “Return To Tomorrow.” Kirk, Spock and Dr. Anne Mulhall decide to lend their bodies to a trio of very old disembodied aliens determined to return to corporeal existence. * “Patterns of Force.” Federation historian John Gill molds a planet’s culture into one resembling Nazi Germany. Conveniently, they even have their own version of the Jews to destroy, natives of the neighboring planet Zeon. * “By Any Other Name.” Intergalactic invaders take over the Enterprise by reducing most of its crew to tiny geometric shapes. Scotty tries to defeat them by consuming unsafe quantities of alcohol. Kirk tries to defeat them by making one of the beautiful alien females all hot. * “The Omega Glory.” After discovering that all the water has been sucked out of the crew of the U.S.S. Exeter, Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down to Omega IV, where they are told by the Exeter’s captain that if they ever leave the planet they’ll suffer the same fate as the Exeter crew. 1,000-year-old Yangs battle 1,000-year-old Kohms. Spock is mistaken for Satan. Kirk is mistaken for God. Somebody pulls out a flag. * “The Ultimate Computer.” Starfleet replaces Kirk with a machine that goes all HAL-9000 and starts shooting up Federation starships. * “Bread and Circuses.” The Enterprise encounters something akin to a 20th century Roman Empire. Spock and McCoy get to fight in televised gladiatorial combat. * “Assignment: Earth.” The season’s final episode was a pilot for an unmade spinoff series about a 20th century human named Gary Seven (Robert Lansing) trained by extraterrestrials to ensure Earth survives its nuclear era. Seven would come to supervise two fabulous young assistants: the alien Isis (Barbara Babcock), who could turn into a cat, and newly hired human secretary Roberta Lincoln (Teri Garr). Extras returning from the remastered DVD edition: * A second set of Billy Blackburn’s never-before-seen on-set home videos (12:03). The bit player and extra who played pre-Chekhov navigator Lt. Hadley shows his 8mm films of and talks about the Starfleet tunics’ hidden zippers. Learn that Blackburn played the bald robot body from “Return To Tomorrow” and a Tellerite in “Journey To Babel.” Learn that the red makeup he wore in “The Apple” kept staining Blackburn’s shower for weeks after the episode wrapped. Learn that Blackburn looked so much like the male twins in “I, Mudd” that he was cast as a third twin. * The “Star Trek: The Animated Series” episode “More Tribbles, More Troubles” (24:11), featuring audio commentary by David Gerrold, who wrote both the animated episode and its live-action prequel. Learn that “More Tribbles” had originally been developed at Gene Roddenberry’s instigation for the live series’ third season, but was vetoed by “Rawhide” writer and incoming third-season showrunner Fred Freiberger, who objected to the comedic tone of the original “Tribbles.” Learn that Gerrold’s original idea was for crewmen to start disappearing after the tribbles’ nasty natural predator was brought aboard to get rid of the furballs. Learn that the animated tribbles are pink because the guy who assigned colors for Filmmation was colorblind! * The “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” episode “Trials and Tribble-ations” (45:27). One of the funniest, most compelling and (I’m guessing) most expensive episodes in all of Star Trek, it was scripted by “Battlestar Galactica” mastermind Ron Moore & Rene Echevarria from a story by Ira Steven Behr, Hans Beimler & Robert Hewitt Wolfe. The guy who played Arne Darvin in the original “Tribbles” returns for an adventure that sends Darvin, Sisko, Dax, Odo and Worf back 105 years to encounter an Enterprise manned by Kirk, Spock and McCoy. Bashir considers putting the bone to his own great-grandmother! Terry Farrell cavorts in Starfleet-issue go-go boots and minidress and reveals a romantic liaison with a young Leonard McCoy! (“What happened? Some kind of genetic engineering?” O’Brien asks Worf when he sees the human-looking Klingons hanging out aboard space station K-7. “A viral mutation?” guesses Bashir. Worf refuses to spill, but subsequent episodes of the prequel series “Enterprise” eventually explained that both genetic engineering and an airborne mutant virus were to blame for the Klingons’ human-like appearance during Kirk’s era.) (I note that the animated episode appears to have been remastered for HD and carries a striking degree of sharpness and clarity – the dust and other flaws on the acetate cells are almost hypnotizing – while the DS9 episode looks much more standard definition, particularly in the effects shots.) * “Trials and Tribble-ations: Uniting Two Legends” (17:01). The making of the DS9’s tribble episode is examined. Learn that Ferrell’s grandmother once made her a tribble. Learn that DS9’s staff wasn’t entirely keen on doing an episode celebrating Trek’s 30th anniversary. See a short-haired, clean-shaven Moore reveal an early idea was to create a sequel to “A Piece of the Action,” depicting the 100-years-later imitation-gangster planet Sigma Iotia II, which had since evolved into a Star Trek Convention planet on which everybody walked around dressed like Kirk and Spock. (In “Trials,” Dax became the surrogate for all the Trek fans.) Learn that the idea of sending everybody back to Kirk’s era was the first idea; the tribble episode was settled upon because it was perceived as the series’ most famous. Learn that the episode benefited from being a production of Paramount, which had just developed useful “Forrest Gump” technology used for inserting Tom Hanks into to all sorts of old film footage. DS9 showrunner Ira Steven Behr has an astonishing story about spotting Charlie Brill (Darvin) in a Beverly Hills pizzeria as he was having a conversation about bringing Brill’s character back for the episode. One wonders if the guys behind the remastering considered (however fleetingly) sneaking some of the DS9 footage into “The Trouble With Tribbles” alongside their other alterations. * Trials and Tribble-ations: An Historic Endeavor” (16:40). See Behr with hair! Learn how production designer Herman Zimmerman prevented the Enterprise from being rebuilt at three-quarters scale. Visual effects coordinator Gary Hutzel tells us some TV stations got 35mm prints of the ‘60s episodes to broadcast while others got 16mm prints! Moore remembers his astonishment at an early test screening, when he failed to notice the uniformed member of the DS9 visual effects team had been seamlessly integrated into a shot from “The Trouble With Tribbles.” Extras returning from the remastered DVD set include: * “To Boldly Go …” (19:18). An overview of season two featuring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Walter Koenig, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, writer D.C. Fontana, producer Bob Justman, and fan/author Bjo Trimble. Be reminded that the original title for “The Trouble With Tribbles” was “A Fuzzy Thing Happened.” Learn that Justman thought the episode might have been too funny. Learn that there were backstage “tribble fights.” Learn that George Takei missed the start of the second season because he was stuck overseas with the delayed production of “The Green Berets,” which resulted in a lot more to do for Walter Koenig. * “Life Beyond Trek: Leonard Nimoy” (11:49). Leonard Nimoy discusses his photography generally and his new project on “time” specifically. Learn that Nimoy owns a countdown clock predicting via actuarial data how many days he has left to live; it reads exactly 5,400 days as he shows it to the camera. The Vulcan hand-salute comes from a Jewish ceremony Nimoy witnessed as a 8-year-old; learn that at least one rabbi believes that witnessing that particular ceremony places the witness in mortal danger – sort of like witnessing the opening of the Ark of the Covenant! * “Kirk, Spock & Bones: Star Trek’s Great Trio” (6:56). Learn that William Shatner has five times as much dopamine in his body than normal humans. Hear George Takei compliment Shatner on his acting! * “Divine Diva: Nichelle Nichols” (12:51). Learn that Nichols’ first TV guest-star role after moving to Los Angeles was on Gene Roddenberry’s “The Lieutenant.” Learn that she auditioned reading Spock’s lines because no dialogue was yet written for Uhura. Learn that Gene Roddenberry didn’t decide if “Uhura” was the character’s first or last name until long after the series ceased production. (I always assumed it was her only name; Roddenberry ultimately made it her last name.) * “Designing The Final Frontier” (22:13). A look at how cup lids, discarded typewriter packaging and coffee tables were perverted to create Trek’s many otherworldly sets. Learn that the Jeffries Tube (the franchise’s generic maintenance crawlspace) was made from a cardboard tube normally used to create concrete pillars. * “Writer’s Notebook: D.C. Fontana” (7:22). Learn that the original series’ story editor, Dorothy Fontana, started submitting material as D.C. because women writers weren’t welcome in the era’s action-adventure market. Learn that she used the pseudonym “Michael Richards” (formed from the names of her brothers) for projects she thought turned out badly. Learn that writers drew from Japan and The Middle East to create the culture of the Vulcans. Learn that the dodecahedrons so memorably utilized in “By Any Other Name” were inspired by a Mexican paperweight Fontana had given Roddenberry. * “Star Trek’s Favorite Moments” (16:57). Actors Michael Dorn, Ethan Phillips, Tim Russ, John Billingsley, Jeffrey Combs, Vaughn Armstrong and Robert O’Reilly, writers Ronald D. Moore, Jeri Taylor and Jimmy Diggs, production illustrator Andrew Probert, astrophysicist Sallie Baliunas, science advisor Andre Bormanis, effects supervisor Ronald B. Moore, and fans Bjo Trimble, Russ Noel, Matt Kirk and Mark Steele all spew love for the original series. * The original “next week” promos for every episode. Other extras include: * “Starfleet Access,” which provides picture-in-picture interviews and pop-up trivia when you play “Amok Time” or “The Trouble With Tribbles.” * “Star Trek: TOS on Blu-ray.” (10:04) Marc Zicree, who provided the story for the 1991 “Next Generation” episode “First Contact” (not to be confused with the movie of the same name) interviews “remastered project” visual effects supervisor Neil R. Wray, “remastered project” visual effects producers Denise and Michael Okuda and Dave Rossi, and “Trouble With Tribbles” writer David Gerrold. Learn from this feature, brimming with effects clips, that Michael Okuda uses the term “spectacular” to describe the J.J. Abrams film. Learn Okuda says the team was allowed “an amazing amount of autonomy” as they created the new effects. Learn that season two’s “The Doomsday Machine” was the most ambitious undertaking of the remastered effects team, with “105 effects.”

A crime drama about a former fake-psychic who now uses his powers of observation to help California cops, “The Mentalist” was created by Bruno Heller, who earlier created HBO’s brilliant period drama “Rome.” The new show stars Simon Baker (“Smith,” “The Devil Wears Prada”), Robin Tunney (“Hollywoodland”) and Amanda Righetti (“The O.C.”). The pilot gets off to a shaky start, thanks to some subtlety-free direction by TV’s ubiquitous David Nutter, but the haunted, atheist, rulebreaking title character, compellingly assayed by Baker, quickly distinguishes himself amid the vast blue sea of primetime cops. “The Mentalist” and “Fringe” were last season’s two highest-rated new series.
The Associated Press says:

… He's flighty, cheeky, charming but sometimes insultingly blunt, a mite mysterious, and altogether disinclined to follow rules. A character like that provides a great showcase for an actor, and Simon Baker ("Smith," "The Guardian") is terrific in the role. Just watch him looking at things (he's a good-looking guy), sifting through clues, the wheels in his brain almost visibly whirring. …

USA Today give it three stars (out of four) and says:

… The Mentalist may be a copy, but it's a well-done copy sparked by an actor who has come into his own as a TV star. …

Entertainment Weekly gives it an “B” and says:

… smart enough to know how silly its premise is. … the tricks he performs are overshadowed by the glee with which Baker performs them. Like any good grifter, he gets a genuine thrill out of entertaining, manipulating, or confusing people. With his rapid, just-above-a-whisper cadence and cucumber-cool reactions, Baker reminds you of Val Kilmer in his spry Real Genius days, but with really great hair. It's a mesmerizing little act. …

The New York Times says:

… Mr. Baker keeps “The Mentalist” easy on the eyes and brain. …

The Los Angeles Times says:

… Played by the virtually irresistible Simon Baker, Jane also gets to make wiseacre comments like "He irks me; he's irksome," which only add to his already considerable charm. … It's a solid enough pilot, with Baker and Tunney having just enough edge to promise something more than a standard quirky procedural.

The Chicago Tribune says:

… one of the better new offerings … a modest concept given a thoughtful execution. Considering how bad most of the other new shows are, that seems like more than enough. …

The Washington Post says:

… The best reason for watching -- perhaps the only reason -- is Simon Baker … Baker has a sly, cagey, scruffy demeanor that can really grow on you, and in about a minute. … We don't need another cop show, that's for sure -- especially on CBS. But if we're going to have one anyway, "The Mentalist" is definitely the way to go.

The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… After 59 minutes - boom, it all wraps up nicely. And this time you've got Baker's charm in the lead role and just enough juicy twists from executive producer Bruno Heller ("Rome") to make the time fly. …

The Boston Globe says:

… has very little dramatic heft or distinction, but it's wily and brisk enough to engage you for an hour. … Baker has a mysterious, inner-directed charm that makes you want to watch him closely. He doesn't chew scenery, but, with his persistent smirky calm, he registers strongly in every scene. And, since Patrick's unfolding back story involves serious misfortune, Baker also projects a believable tinge of hidden sorrow behind his playful eyes. …

Variety says:

… Baker does possess a certain roguish charm, and writer Bruno Heller ("Rome") and pilot-directing guru David Nutter mine that -- as well as the central character's slightly menacing backstory -- to try and invest the series with a bit of depth, mostly to little avail. …

The Hollywood Reporter says:

… This role is tailor-made for Baker, who has a flair for playing irreverent characters who are crucial to the success of the system even as they tweak its authority figures. … has an appealing low-tech approach to crime-solving. …

I don’t know why everybody else decided “Dexter,” which I find obvious, slow-moving and repetitive, was better than “Brotherhood,” which is darker, crazier, more violent and more nuanced, but that’s pop culture for you. The third and final season of Showtime’s not-signature hourlong drama follows the sudden rises of sociopathic mobster Michael Caffee (the incredible Jason Isaacs) and his slightly less sociopathic politician brother Tommy. Mob boss Freddie Cork had to take a job selling cars. Family friend Decco was hired to investigate statehouse corruption, cousin Colin did something about his attraction to Michael’s girlfriend, mother Rose ran up against the health-care system, Eileen contended with a difficult pregnancy and Tommy and Michael found themselves on different sides of a proposed new waterfront development. Sadly, I noticed not extras on the new set.

In “Taxi’s” fourth season, on sale today, was I believe the first full season of “Taxi” on which the great Sam Simon (showrunner and mastermind of “The Simpsons’” first four seasons) wrote. Jim Ignatowski demonstrates psychic powers and starts giving advice to a network exec (Martin Short), Alex and Elaine vacation in Europe, Latka becomes Alex, Zena’s friend (Andrea Marcovicci) seduces Louie, Alex’s estranged father (Jack Gilford) visits, Louie’s mother plans to remarry, Elaine tries to help an agoraphobic artist (Paul Sand), Tony runs afoul of a syndicate that wants to take over management of his boxing protégé, NOW demands Louie’s firing after he spies on Elaine in the bathroom, Louie builds a bomb shelter, actor Bobby Wheeler returns and learns his primetime pilot is going to series, Alex rejects a hot black girl (Charlayne Woodard), Tony falls for the hot rich woman (Rebecca Holden) he chauffeurs, Latka is devastated when Simka falls for Vic Ferrarri, Jim “adopts” a runaway, Alex runs into his ex-wife Phyllis (Louise Lasser), Elaine seeks revenge against her hairstylist (Ted Danson), Tony trains a football hopeful (Bubba Smith), Jim attends a fancy party as Elaine’s date, Latka asks Simka to marry him, Jim destroys Louie’s apartment, and the gang flash back to moments that could have taken their lives in entirely different directions. The only extras appear to be episodic promos.

The third season of “30 Rock” won a boatload of Emmys on Sunday, including one for lead actor Alec Baldwin, one for comedy writing and the big one, outstanding comedy. (Its writing alone was nominated four times for four season-three episodes. Everybody said I was nuts when I called this the funniest sitcom on broadcast TV three years ago.) Bonus features, per the press release:

• Deleted Scenes • Commentary: Features audio commentary by Tina Fey, Jon Hamm, Alan Alda, Jack McBrayer, Jane Krakowski and more. • Behind-The-Scenes With The Muppets • 1-900-OKFACE • Season Finale Table Read • Making Of: “He Needs A Kidney” • Photo Gallery

The Shirley Manson-infused second season of “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” was a lot better than the first but still a little too doofy and slow-moving. To its credit, it did keep me watching week after week, and its crazy series finale was probably its best episode.