This isn’t exactly a new idea, but it’s one of the bigger pushes for it: the Star Trek “Fan Collective” DVD sets, pulling the “best” episodes from the various ST series that deal with a particular theme. The annouced sets are the Borg and Time Travel. I could imagine “Q” sets and “Data” sets as well (actually, character-focused box sets have been not uncommon on TV DVDs). Or “Klingons.” Or “Omniscient Beings (Other Than Q) That Screw Around With Us.”
Hmmm.
On the one hand, yeah, I could see doing something like that. Certainly I’m not going to go out and buy all the ST series DVD collections, so if I wanted to zero on a particular plot element like this, matrixed collection of this sort makes sense. On the other hand, something like this is more often than not going to be a compromise. An episode will be left out, or two. Or the aftermath of an event (e.g., does the episode detailing Picard’s mental and emotional recovery from being a Borg count? Should it?) or later significant references to it.
Heck, 7-of-9 was a Borg. Any number of Borg-related bits regarding her are going to be left out unless you include quite a few episodes that don’t really focus on the Borg.
Similarly, there’s the risk of highlighting (in an multi-year/multi-series franchise like ST) inconsistencies between presentations of certain things (e.g., the Borg) over the years.
Still, those who are looking for that sort of thing will probably find it the sort of thing they like.
(via Steve)