Alfred Hitchcock Presents Coming To Dvd In 2005...i Hope!!!!!! (1 Viewer)

[JeffT.]

Well since Universal Studios Home Entertainment has (wisely) decided to release the upcoming ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS - SECOND SEASON DVD set in 5 discs I'm willing to give this tv premium another try.

The second season (1956-57) has one of my personal favourite segments "I Killed the Count," Parts One (17/03/1957), Two (24/03/1957) and Three (31/03/1957) guest-starring that reliable Hitchcock stock company player John Williams in its exceptional cast which is an absolute hoot to savour and enjoy.

With the 39 half hour black-and-white episodes now spaced out over 5 discs hopefully all of Mr. Hitchcock's prologue and epilogue narratives will be included in their entireties in addition to the mid-episode bumpers with the (fantastic) orchestral overtures similarly present this time.

If only Universal would go back and redo the first season (1955-56) episodes on a 5-disc set with all the omissions there figured in as well.

Jeff T.

 

[michael_ks]

I will almost certainly purchase S2 now that Universal has done the right thing by refraining from using DVD-18s. I noticed that back in April I predicted that S1 would mark the one and only release--I'm pleasantly surprised to see that I've been proven wrong. But I'll still wait and see if the Hitchcock intros/tags are unedited and if quality control issues exist before purchasing. To date I've not purchased S1 and probably won't until Universal fixes it up right.

 

[hitchcompanion]

I didn't have any problem what so ever with Season One and
I have a really cheap DVD player.

I am on a Universal News mail list and have even been emailing
them questions but it was on Amazon.com that I found out that
Season Two was out. Strange.

I will buy Season Two as soon as possible.

.../Patrik Wikstrom
Author of The Alfred Hitchcock Presents Companion

 

[RickER]

Season 2 has its own thread now. Nice set. Only 1 audio flaw i have seen "heard" so far. A loud chirp that occurs about 3 times in one episode. Other than that, well worth the money.

 

[JeffT.]

In response to Patrick's message post after the initial pressing of the first season (1955-56) set Universal Studios Home Entertainment may have gone back and manufactured later editions exercising stricker quality control measures...but I still wouldn't trust them myself much as I would have liked to started from the very beginning.

The Amazon.ca sales rank for the second season (1956-57) set peaked at an outstandingly impressive 14 attesting to this vintage tv classic's (enduring) popularity with today's DVD consumer out there.

I received shipment of my second season set and from the sound of things it appears to be a winner...especially with the inclusion of the mid-episode bumpers this time which I'm especially looking forward to seeing (and hearing) again!

Well if all goes well I'll certainly hang in their for the remainder of the series not to mention a possible DVD release of THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR (CBS 1962-64, NBC 1964-65) some time in the future.

Thank you Rick for the favourable evaluation!

Things are looking very bright indeed.

Jeff T.

 

[Jeff Swearingen]

Can anyone give me a lead on how to get Universal to replace a disc in this set? My set is out of return policy time.

 

[JeffT.]

In response to Jeff's (recent) inquiry refer to an earlier message post on this discussion thread where I provide a weblink to Universal Studios Home Entertainment Customer Contact (just a few posts back from this one).

I hope that you're not referring to the recently released ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS season two disc set!

Good luck!

Jeff T.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

My copy plays with a "Hitch" in every episode!

 

[Jeff Swearingen]

Unfortunately I'm not getting any help from that weblink. Did anyone else have a problem getting a replacement from Universal?

And don't worry, this is regarding S1, not S2...

 

[JohnOPR]

Jeff

Universal sent me replacement discs for season 1 of AHP. I simply filled in the blanks (explaining that the discs were freezing on me), mailed the defective items back, and got replacements free within three to four weeks. Of course, I paid for the postage when I sent the discs to them but the replacements worked fine. Here's the email address to use:

http://www.universalstudios.com/home...gi?email_id=10

Hope it works for you and that you get good service.

John

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Did Universal use DVD-18's again for Season two? I can't tell becuse Universal Provides Netflix with DVD9's

 

[TravisR]

No.

 

[JeffT.]

With the satisfactory handling of seasons two and three of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS minted on 5-discs why doesn't Universal Studios Home Entertainment go back and redo the disasterous micro-compressed first season 3-disc set presenting the episodes in their entirety (complete with the mid-episode bumpers) on 5-discs?!

For the benefit of those of us who (reasonably) abstained from purchasing it!

The AMAZON.COM and AMAZON.CA online sales for this classic anthology tv property have been absolutely phenomonal so there definitely is justification for this.

Jeff T.

 

[Jason Seaver]

Because there's, like, five of you.

 

[michael_ks]

I couldn't agree with you more on this, Jeff. I still have not purchased S1 but will continue to purchase each and every season that is released unedited and in the single sided disc format witnessed in S2 and S3. Universal should chalk up S1 as a poor marketing decision and correct their error.

 

[RickER]

Ditto, and i guess that makes 3. I feel the same way about Adam-12 and Dragnet too. I would add Airwolf, but i own the first season of that on DVD from Columbia House. I dont buy TV shows on DVD-18s, and i am iffy with DVD-14s!

 

[JeffT.]

I reiterate that the AMAZON sales ranking (in the U.S. and Canada) for both the second and third seasons of the ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS tv series DVD collections have been positively outstanding!

So I wouldn't intelligently depreciate its performance in retail sales or the (considerable) interest in this particular tv property.

Pertaining to an improved reissue of the first season it would be a (welcomed) precedent set but what is the likeliness of this?!

As it now stands this is an incomplete DVD release as there are (certainly) many who either returned their defective sets (which may still proliferate) or on the basis of the generally poor online reviews (see DVD TALK) cautiously (and wisely) didn't buy it in the first place.

Jeff T.

 

[michael_ks]

AHP may well become an incomplete release for a more basic reason, i.e. Universal letting the season releases slide well before we even get to the "Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (seasons 8-10, if you will). I hope I'm wrong but its alot of announcements to hope and hold out for.

 

[JeffT.]

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has been releasing a single season of ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS a year at a time and there is no reason to believe that this practice will not be continued for the entire series (if the positively outstanding AMAZON.COM and AMAZON.CA retail sales are any indication of this classic tv property's outstanding success and popularity).

However that still leaves the botched season one (1955-56) outstanding!

The fact that Universal dramatically changed in producing the ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS collections from 3 double-sided discs to 5 single-sided pressings is an indication (or admission) that there were definite problems with the initial set so why not correct this?!

Besides encoding technical defects some of the episodes were not made available in their entirety.

I am confident that a DVD release of THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR is also definitely forthcoming sometime in the future.

Jeff T.

 

[John Carr]

I wouldn't miss out on the wonderful first season of Alfred Hitchcock Presents simply because of prejudice against flippers... Maybe I'm just lucky, but all my discs work fine and I've been able to enjoy all 39 shows.

Sure I'm glad they released the following season on single discs -- my first choice. However, I woudn't let the flippers stop anyone from purchasing season 1.

You can always buy the set from a brick and mortar store and keep returning them if any of the discs are inoperative...