Boldly going where it hasn’t gone before, episodes of the original Star Trek TV series from the 1960s - the one that launched a global franchise - have been getting facelifts, with new special effects and audio enhancements as well. Now comes the first season of those “remasted” shows in a DVD box set that’s the ultimate Trek for a fan this holiday gift-giving season.

The new effects versions were launched last year for the TOS (The Original Series, if you didn’t know) 40th anniversary, and this ten-disc set includes all 29 episodes of the first season of Star Trek, presented in their original 1966 airdates on amazing-looking HD and regular DVD formats. There are the voyages of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Uhuru, Sulu and Chekov - names known around the world now.

The now-iconic theme by Alex Courage has been re-recorded, while the new shots of the Enterprise in space, its interiors, planets, cities, structures and so on clearly were labors of love for all involved. And then there are those stories, which have lasted because many of them were so well done. This really is classic Trek in the cat-and-mouse “Balance of Terror,” which introduced the Romulans; the two-part “Menagerie” incorporating the first pilot for the show, with Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Pike; the sleeper ship of genetically enhanced humans in “Space Seed,” the basis for the ’80s sequel film, The Wrath of Khan; the spoiled child-god Trelane in “The Squire of Gothos,” which has now been linked to the “Q” of Trek’s “Next Generation” and other series; the silicon Horta of “Devil in the Dark,” meeting that mandate to “seek out new life”; the Federation-Klingon stand-off in “Errand of Mercy”; and writer Harlan Ellison’s contribution considered by many to be the finest Trek ep ever, “The City on the Edge of Forever.” It’s all here and has never looked better.

There are plenty of indulging pleasure extras with some material from the 2004 Season One DVD set, including the overview, “The Birth of a Timeless Legacy,” “Reflections on Spock,” featuring a 21st century interview with Leonard Nimoy, and “Life Beyond Trek: William Shatner.” The new features are great short documentaries as well, especially “Spacelift: Transporting Trek into the 21st Century,” which looks at the remastering process to create the new visuals while remaining true to the storyline of each episode and comparing the 40-year-old effects to today’s CGI upgrades.

Another fun new feature is “Billy Blackburn’s Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories,” a real, loose, behind-the-scenes look at the show’s production, shot in 8mm by background extra Billy Blackburn.

There’s also a preview of the “Star Trek Online” MMO game, as well as an interactive on-screen graphic interface program called “Starflet Access,” which allows for special viewings of select episodes. And then there’s the “Interactive Enterprise Tour,” exploring the original U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 inside and out.

While the box sets of the TOS episodes as they were are an essential part of TV and science-fiction history, these new versions offer a chance to rediscover Star Trek all over again, and surely priming so many of the new JJ Abrams vision, currently being filmed.

Season Two “Remastered” for HD is coming in late March…and you can beam me up for that one now.

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