Star Trek: The Next Generation finally comes to Blu-ray, and if you don’t think that’s cause for rejoicing, you don’t have many Trekkies in your life. The series grappled with significant problems in making the leap to an HD format, thanks to its copious effects shots created in an era when high definition simply didn’t exist. They’ve finally cracked the code and the new Season One Blu-ray reaps handsome rewards as a result…. with a few notable hiccups. Hit the jump for my full review.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is officially, and finally, coming to Blu-ray. StarTrek.com confirms the news, and says the discs will start hitting in January. Rather than kick off with season one, a sampler set of episodes will be the first Blu-ray to be released. The complete first season will hit shelves later next year, with the subsequent seasons to follow. The Next Generation ran for seven seasons from 1987 to 1994, with 178 episodes. For the HD transfer, CBS is returning to the original film negatives to bring the highest quality image. Visual effects won’t be upconverted, but instead the studio will recomposition them, culminating in true 1080p HD masters with 7.1 DTS Master Audio. Denise and Michael Okuda are overseeing the transfer.

The sampler will be called Star Trek: The Next Generation – The Next Level. It will include the feature-length version of the pilot, as well as the season three episode “Sins of the Father” and the season five episode “The Inner Light.” The Next Level will hit shelves on January 31, 2012 and has a suggested retail price of $21.99.  Hit the jump for the trailer and box artwork.

South Park is now an institution. Something to take for granted. The show struggled early on after it became a breakout sensation, but now it’s there, always there. You know what Trey Parker and Matt Stone are going to do to a certain extent. Their comic rhythms are familiar, and they know how to tell a joke. The fun in revisiting the movie is that Trey Parker obviously loves musicals, and he made one with his film. My review of South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut after the jump.