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  1. Mike*SC

    "That '70s Show" on Blu-Ray, widescreen in 1080p

    "That '70s Show" was shot on film, in 4x3 but "protecting for 16x9." That is, the camera viewfinders showed a widescreen image with a box in the center that showed what would air on television at the time. In theory, the cameramen and everybody watching the feed on stage would watch both, but in...
  2. Mike*SC

    Good News about Complete Bob Newhart Show (see Post 90)

    If the rest of this show comes out, I think it will be the last of my TV shows wishlist. Is that possible? I honestly don't know what else I would want that hasn't come out. Either I will be a very contented man, or my life will be suddenly empty and devoid of dreams. Either way, hope this...
  3. Mike*SC

    Do The Studios Know Their Shows?

    There are so many variables in music clearance, it's impossible to make any such blanket assumption (unless the song and performance are in the public domain, which makes it easy). There are really no set rules -- the rights owner can ask for any amount he feels like at that minute, or outright...
  4. Mike*SC

    Do The Studios Know Their Shows?

    But why do the studios need an excuse not to release something? Or do you mean it's simply a way to get fans off their backs? People always accuse me of being an apologist for the studios when I point this out, but nonetheless, let me state that no two music clearance problems are alike...
  5. Mike*SC

    Most requested "stalled" show?

    I'm glad to see that many here share my wish for the rest of "The Bob Newhart Show." I love that show, and so enjoyed revisiting it. I'm amazed that that's the only one I can come up with, since they completed "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," every season I want of "All in the Family," and "The...
  6. Mike*SC

    What you you think will happen next with the Saturday Night Live season sets?

    With respect, I'm not sure of your point, Stephen. The popularity of Louis-Dreyfus on "Seinfeld" was one of the reasons "Old Christine" existed on television at all (though it was not conceived for her, it was certainly a selling point). The show was a marginal ratings success for a while...
  7. Mike*SC

    What you you think will happen next with the Saturday Night Live season sets?

    I can't say this is surprising, and I hardly believe that these would be immensely popular and Universal is just too clueless to realize it. Yes, Eddie Murphy is popular in "Shrek" (less so now than a few years ago), but does this mean "Imagine That" and "Meet Dave" were also good sellers...
  8. Mike*SC

    DVD Review The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series DVD Review

    As others have confirmed, the film portions were indeed shot on film. The process you're referring to is now obsolete in the days of hi-def video, but back at the time of "Sanders," it was called "film look" and it was applied to standard definition video to sort of mimic film. it involved...
  9. Mike*SC

    Looney Tunes Censored 11 comes to Warner Archive in 2011!

    The fact of their being online (which, naïvely, I hadn't realized) doesn't really change anything. There's a distinction between what long-dead executives okayed seventy years ago and what current Warner Bros. execs hope to make a profit off today. Everybody knows that WB did not upload those...
  10. Mike*SC

    Looney Tunes Censored 11 comes to Warner Archive in 2011!

    I'll believe it when I see it. Have you ever seen "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs"? To a modern audience, the racism is ugly and shocking. Certainly, the film has historical value, but I can't imagine why Warner Bros. would want to expose themselves to the enormous outcry and condemnation...
  11. Mike*SC

    Mary Tyler Moore Show Season 7?

    Bravo to Fox for addressing the curtain call issue immediately! But I must say, this is a very strange happening to me. How in the world did it come about? Why were there multiple masters from which DVDs were pressed? Perhaps my brain just can't comprehend it, but it doesn't make sense...
  12. Mike*SC

    Should Studios Offer "DVD-to-Blu Ray" Trade-In Program?

    The studios' only interest in enticing people to convert to Blu-ray is so that they can sell them discs. If they give those discs away, or at a price that they cannot profit from, the benefit to them is nil (unless the studio is Sony, which sells Blu-ray hardware and makes a royalty on all...
  13. Mike*SC

    RHODA Season 2 Is In the Works!

    Boy, it seems very unlikely to me that a "fixed" season one will ever be released for a low-demand series like this. It would be very expensive to produce, and most of the potential audience already owns it! I'm not trying to be a naysayer, just being realistic. Word here almost dissuaded...
  14. Mike*SC

    Bob Newhart Show, current $11 a season at Amazon

    Enjoy them! I just finished the last of the DVDs, which I was going through slowly because I enjoy them so much. This was a great show, and I"m sorry sales have apparently been insufficient for the series to continue on DVD. Maybe someday…
  15. Mike*SC

    Production Order vs. Broadcast Order

    As some here are saying, there is no general answer. Even within a series, or a season of a series, there are episodes deliberately shot out of broadcast order (for pragmatic reasons -- the availability of an actor, for instance, or simply to move up a script that was in better shape) and there...
  16. Mike*SC

    Cheers DVD's - Are they uncut with no music substitutions?

    vnisanian, if that's what you really believe -- if you really think the studio decided to spend time and effort to piss of potential buyers of their products -- well then, I have nothing left to say. Sometimes, I think it's valuable to understand why things happen, rather than get angry about...
  17. Mike*SC

    Cheers DVD's - Are they uncut with no music substitutions?

    " The Fugitive" case was a huge blunder, to be sure. (I'm not familiar with "My Three Sons," but I assume it's something similar?) But the thing with "The Fugitive" is it came from miscommunications, legal timidity, and outright mistakes. I'm not defending it -- they blew it, big time. But...
  18. Mike*SC

    Cheers DVD's - Are they uncut with no music substitutions?

    I know, I know, I'm going to be accused of being an apologist, or a shill, or a plant, or worse. But I would just say this: As the TV on DVD market has matured, the studios have a much better idea of how many they can expect to sell. They are putting these out for profit, remember. Sales of...
  19. Mike*SC

    Cheers DVD's - Are they uncut with no music substitutions?

    Can you please tell me how you know this? I mean, you obviously do, because you wouldn't post that "they make little no to [sic] effort in securing original music" if you didn't have inside information about how lazy they are. So clearly, you have a source at Paramount. Or you work at...
  20. Mike*SC

    Cheers DVD's - Are they uncut with no music substitutions?

    Quote: Music rights can be bought and sold in all sorts of permutations. In this case, it's quite possible the music wasn't bought for broadcast in perpetuity, but rather for a specific window. This is not uncommon. After the rights expired (likely a few years, long enough for all network...
  21. Mike*SC

    When Did TV Shows Shrink?

    Another issue with product placement: These sponsors are used to controlling every aspect of all nine hundred frames in a thirty second commercial. It's one thing to dress a character in (say) Gap jeans, and another when Gap decides that a cast member doesn't look good in them. It's one thing...
  22. Mike*SC

    When Did TV Shows Shrink?

    Yes, but it's a tricky equation: The sheer number of commercials drives some viewers away, and as ratings drop, the networks can demand less money for each commercial. In theory, if fewer commercials resulted in higher viewership, the networks could charge more for fewer commercials, make as...
  23. Mike*SC

    When Did TV Shows Shrink?

    The shrinkage was definitely gradual, and has increased every year. It seems hard to imagine any show will become closer to 50% commercials, but it could happen. Yes, long running shows definitely are shorter at the end of their runs than they are at the beginnings. It used to be that...
  24. Mike*SC

    Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

    I agree, Joe. Which is why I was happy (despite your objections) about the idea of a complete series set, so I could grab one before 20th Century Fox realized the error of their ways.
  25. Mike*SC

    Saturday Night Live-Season 5...Any News?

    I would not take it as any sort of sure thing that Eddie Murphy seasons would be big sellers. The sorts of people who buy full seasons of a television series are more collectors of a favorite series than fans of a specific actor. There is a "best of" Murphy SNL DVD that appeals to those fans...
  26. Mike*SC

    Why 6 months between DVD season?

    Weirdos. You don't want to know them.
  27. Mike*SC

    Why 6 months between DVD season?

    It's to give each season and the people buying them a little "breathing room." Most non-fanatics won't spend $35-$50 each month for a series (it adds up quickly), especially since, unless you're mainlining the episodes, it will take more than a month to watch them all. The idea is to give each...
  28. Mike*SC

    FINALLY.....RHODA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Well, there's an episode of "Mary Tyler Moore" where Mary calls Rhoda (who's in bed with Joe) for advice on her own boyfriend (also named Joe). Is it possible that's what you're thinking of?
  29. Mike*SC

    FINALLY.....RHODA!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Go to a forum about something you don't care at all about and see what those people are claiming "we" want. They are all, like this forum, echo chambers that suggest a groundswell of like-thinking people, when that rarely exists. Go to the Game Show Network boards, where fanatics insist "we"...
  30. Mike*SC

    Strange behaviour of TV companies

    But again, if you shot on film back then (as many, many shows did at the time), you cut it on film. That was simply the available technology. So let's not canonize Mr. Arnaz too much. Okay, I've probably come off as a jerk here, and if I have, I regret that. I just think it's important to be...
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