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.

The geniuses (and sheriff) of the scientific research town of Eureka were on hand today to talk about Season 4.5 of the popular SyFy series. Along with regular cast members Colin Ferguson, Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Neil Grayston, this season’s new addition Felicia Day also joined a Q&A moderated by Wil Wheaton. Executive producers Jamie Paglia and Bruce Miller introduced a new trailer for the currently-airing season and teased the audience a bit with upcoming changes to America’s smartest little town. For info about Eureka’s new space program, the love triangle among scientists and even an animated Christmas special, hit the jump!

“The Nerd Empire Strikes Back” for season three of The Big Bang Theory and the gang is back and up to their usual shenanigans.  Raj is still too nervous to talk around Penny, Howard is willing to try anything to get laid (even almost get a tattoo), Sheldon is still a hilarious and neurotic mess, and Leonard and Penny are dating.  Wait a minute, that’s a new development…  Now Sheldon has to deal with being the third wheel to Penny and Leonard’s tumultuous and severely awkward relationship.  This season delivers the same amount of laughs as the last two and Sheldon is still the NERD KING, but the flaws of the more standard sitcom jokes and some performances are starting to stick out more this time around.

Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) will have to face his nemesis once again, as The Big Bang Theory producer Bill Prady confirmed to EW that the producers want Wil Wheaton to return to the show this season, possibly for November sweeps.  Sheldon and Wil Wheaton have faced off twice before: in a card game and on the bowling lanes, but Prady says that the scenario being planned now was inspired by the idea of “minor celebrities cutting in line.”  You can probably imagine Sheldon’s rage if the person he loathes most were to cut in line in front of him and take the last seats (or the acoustic sweet spot) to a midnight one-time-only movie screening, so it’ll be awesome if this plan actually happens.  Sheldon deserves one more chance at revenge, served cold and in Klingon, against the man who dared to call him Moonpie, because nobody calls him Moonpie but Meemaw.

In a recent interview, writer/director Kevin Smith reveals some details about his next movie, the hockey flick, “Hit Somebody”.  It’s a film that grows out of Smith’s new direction following his post-Zack & Miri-epiphany and how we’ll start to see that new direction in his upcoming film, the buddy-cop comedy, “A Couple of Dicks” starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan.  Hit the jump to read what Smith had to say about “Hit Somebody” as well as a hint that Grand Geek of the Interwebs Wil Wheaton may have a role in the film.