Anchor Bay and TV Soundtracks (1 Viewer)

[Tom M]

I saw Anchor Bay's 2 disc set of the Incredible Hulk TV movies today. The audio was listed as mono. I decided not to get it untill someone can confirm this. All 3 of the Hulk post TV series should have stereo soundtracks. In fact, I have a VHS copy of Return Of The Incredible Hulk which is in stereo.

Anchor Bay has a history of scrapping stereo TV soundtracks in favor of mono. Crime Story is one. All episodes of Crime Story, including the pilot, should be in stereo. The pilot is in mono, however. The upcoming series DVDs most likely will be mono also.

Finally, although I don't have it, I noticed that the AB website lists the TV movie Nick Knight as being in mono. Again, the VHS I have of NK is stereo.

Someone should really check into this. It just seems strange that AB does this with TV product. Are mono soundtracks are all that AB has to work with? Then what happened to the original stereo soundtracks? Anyone know?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

the stereo track is probably just the mono shuttled to 2 channels. Until the mid-1980s there were no devices capable of recieving stereo

 

[Tom M]

Uh, no. The stereo tracks on my VHS tapes of The Incredible Hulk Returns and Nick Knight are TRUE stereo soundtracks. Both films soundtracks will decode to pro-logic. Both films even have directional sound effects. They actually sound very good for TV movies.

ROTH aired in 1988. NK in 1989. Both TIHR and NK aired in true stereo on their original broadcasts. As did Crime Story.

I'm just curious as to why AB is using mono when there are true stereo soundtracks available.

BTW, I had well over 300 posts on this forum so why do I now only have 1? It makes me look like a newbie! Weird.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Stereo TV broadcasts became widespread in 1985; I believe the first stereo signal went on the air in '84. There were a few shows with good soundtracks but a lot were mishandled- some were promoted as being in stereo but only the theme music had any real stereo presence. I don't remember any Hulk show besides the one with Bill Bixby though.

 

[Tom M]

Yes, I know very well the history of stereo sound on TV. I also know that many early shows either just had the theme music and/or music score in stereo. Dialogue and sound effects were mono. That is NOT what I am talking about.

I don't remember any Hulk show besides the one with Bill Bixby though.

You don't remember the three post series TV movies?:

THE INCREDIBLE HULK RETURNS (1988 with THOR)
Not to be confused with the 1978 TVM The Return Of The Incredible Hulk
THE TRIAL OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1989 with DAREDEVIL)
THE DEATH OF THE INCREDIBLE HULK (1990)

All three starred Bill Bixby (who also directed the last one).

I am NOT talking about the 1977-81 Hulk TV series. I KNOW that was in mono, OK? I am talking about the post series movies which were broadcast in stereo.

No one seems to be even reading my posts in their entirety (or at all). I am NOT talking about the 2 disc set with the pilot and the feature length episode "Married" coming from UNIVERSAL in June. That will be mono since those TVMs were broadcast that way. I have no problems with that set.

I AM talking about the ANCHOR BAY 2 disc set featuring the 2 post series TVMs The Incredible Hulk Returns and Trial Of The Incredible Hulk. These two TVMs were NOT broadcast in mono but in full stereo/surround. My VHS tape of TIHR from the el cheapo Starmaker label proves this.

Again, PLEASE read my previous posts more carefully.

Crime Story, I believe just had the songs and music score in stereo, everything else was mono but still...

The TVM Nick Knight did have a full stereo/surround soundtrack. Again, the VHS tape I have proves this.

So, once more I ask why is Anchor Bay mono soundtracks for EVERY TV series/movie regardless of how it was originally presented?

 

[Damin J Toell]

My VHS tape of TIHR from the el cheapo Starmaker label proves this.

Again, the VHS tape I have proves this.

Not for anything, but prerecorded VHS tapes that have a stereo soundtrack do not prove that the original broadcasts were also in stereo.

DJ

 

[Tom M]

True enough. BUT I also have Death Of The Hulk on Beta taped from the original broadcast were you can clearly see the big and fancy NBC STEREO logo they used to use. The other two Hulk movies also used the logo as did Crime Story. Nick Knight was in CBS StereoSound.

ALSO, I watched all 3 Hulk movies, Crime Story and Nick Knight on their original broadcasts on a stereo TV. I can tell the difference between stereo and mono. These programs were NOT mono. PERIOD.

Everything I have written in this thread is true. Why does no one believe me? Was I the only one in the entire country who heard these in stereo?

 

[Damin J Toell]

ALSO, I watched all 3 Hulk movies, Crime Story and Nick Knight on their original broadcasts on a stereo TV. I can tell the difference between stereo and mono. These programs were NOT mono. PERIOD.

Various threads over the years about films such as Star Wars and even Hannibal (a mere few months after its release!) prove that viewers' memories are usually pretty unreliable to the point of being worthless. Don't take it personally, but I don't take as fact anyone's memory about something they watched on TV 15 years ago.

The main thing to consider here is, assuming that these programs should be in stereo, where the blame should be placed. Odds are that if Anchor Bay has only provided mono tracks on DVD, that's all they were provided with by the rightsholders of the productions. I doubt AB has some secret conspiracy against stereo TV soundtracks, especially given their prediliction for 5.1 remixes.

DJ

 

[Randy A Salas]

Don't take it personally, but I don't take as fact anyone's memory about something they watched on TV 15 years ago.

The Image laserdisc for The Incredible Hulk Returns, which came out shortly after it was broadcast, was in stereo, verified by listings of the LD specs and a review.

 

[Tom M]

The Image laserdisc for The Incredible Hulk Returns, which came out shortly after it was broadcast, was in stereo, verified by listings of the LD specs and a review.

Thanks! In fact, I found a review of the LD here: www.dvdlaser.com

In the search box, type in hulk and a list will come up. Pick Incredible Hulk Returns and read on!

 

[Adam Tyner]

It does seem weird that ALL Anchor Bay TV product is mono.

You might want to remove the caps around "ALL", seeing as how the season sets of Xena: Warrior Princess and Highlander are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. Also, the bulk of Anchor Bay's television product is pre-1985 -- how many of their releases are supposed to have stereo tracks and don't? Is it confirmed that the Hulk DVDs are monaural only? You mentioned in your original post that the audio is listed as mono, but did you see the actual packaging or just specs on a DVD retailer site? I know DVD sites have gotten screener copies in -- has anyone popped the movies into their players to see if this could just be a misprint?

 

[Jeff Kleist]

You might want to remove the caps around "ALL", seeing as how the season sets of Xena: Warrior Princess and Highlander are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1.

To be fair, AB is merely distributing the discs

 

[Tom M]

AND I was not aware of Anchor Bay distributing Xena.

Also, the bulk of Anchor Bay's television product is pre-1985 -- how many of their releases are supposed to have stereo tracks and don't?

I should have made it clear in my previous posts that I was talking about ONLY shows that were broadcast in stereo, NOT anything that was not. Sorry for any confusion I might have caused.

Look, I'm not trying to cause trouble or be a smart ass. I was just asking what I thought was a simple question. I just wanted to know why AB was using mono tracks instead of stereo. If it's a rights or any other kind of issue, so be
it. Considering that AB goes out of their way to get the best AVAILABLE elements for their DVDs I'm going to buy it and be happy. If AB should re-release the Hulk with the stereo tracks, then I'll buy that too.

I wasn't trying to make a big deal out of this. Like I said, I thought I was asking a SIMPLE question.