Beverly Hillbillies S2 (1 Viewer)

[chadHobbick]

Likewise here regarding a review of the set. Did this even get released today? I pre-ordered this along w/other tv-shows/movies that were released today from Amazon but noticed that the shipping date is for next Tuesday, the 14th. I'm guessing that this set didn't drop today and was pushed back to next week. Anybody have the details?

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Target had it on sale yesterday morning, so it is out.
Sitcoms Online - The Beverly Hillbillies - The Official Second Season DVD Review
That's the url for a review of the set at sitcoms online. The reviewer says the set is seemingly unmolested, but he's not 100% sure, because he doesn't know the show as well as some hardcore fans who know every music piece and scene in the show. However, the running times are all about right, and the extras are good.
I don't like the idea of mandatory "smoking is bad for you" messages, though. I paid for episodes of the Beverly Hillbillies, not a sermon from a nanny.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

Somebody really needs to come up with some alternate cover art to print out for this DVD!!

 

[Carabimero]

The cover art they had for those public domain sets with the funky music were better than the cover art for Paramount's release.

 

[Tony S]

I will be getting this during the November dd sale, but i do hope that they release the "official" season 1 before proceeding on to season 3. I ain't buying that MPI crap.

 

[Gary OS]

My set is in the mail but, alas, I can't say I'm so familiar with this series that I will be able to notice any and all music changes. If there's a change in what a radio is playing in some background scene for 5 seconds, I probably will not know it. Sorry.

Gary "only reason I'm getting this one early is because I pre-ordered over 2 months ago when I got a great deal using a 20% off coupon code" O.

 

[David Lambert]

I will be getting this during the November dd sale, but i do hope that they release the "official" season 1 before proceeding on to season 3. I ain't buying that MPI crap.

I've been assured by multiple parties that there are no intentions of going back and re-doing Season 1. Next stop: season three and beyond...if sales warrant it.
And it may interest you to know, actually, that the DVD producer of "that MPI crap" contributed quite a bit, I hear, to Paul Brownstein's DVD production of the Season 2 release. And to the Operation Petticoat release coming up, too.
Sorry you don't like the MPI releases...I think they're terrific. Not perfect, but I find them to be very good myself.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I've been assured by multiple parties that there are no intentions of going back and re-doing Season 1. Next stop: season three and beyond...if sales warrant it.
And it may interest you to know, actually, that the DVD producer of "that MPI crap" contributed quite a bit, I hear, to Paul Brownstein's DVD production of the Season 2 release. And to the Operation Petticoat release coming up, too.
Sorry you don't like the MPI releases...I think they're terrific. Not perfect, but I find them to be very good myself.

Good news David, I'm ready for Season 3 and beyond also and am glad they won't go back to Season one. No need to double dip. The MPI releases are good enough unless they are going to do it in Blu-Ray which of course is not likely anytime soon.

 

[Gary OS]

I've been assured by multiple parties that there are no intentions of going back and re-doing Season 1. Next stop: season three and beyond...if sales warrant it.
And it may interest you to know, actually, that the DVD producer of "that MPI crap" contributed quite a bit, I hear, to Paul Brownstein's DVD production of the Season 2 release. And to the Operation Petticoat release coming up, too.
Sorry you don't like the MPI releases...I think they're terrific. Not perfect, but I find them to be very good myself.

I agree with you 100%, David. I loved the MPI releases and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world.
Gary "I thought it was to be assumed we'd be going forward and not backwards with the Hillbillies anyhow" O.

 

[Rob_Ray]

I will be getting this during the November dd sale, but i do hope that they release the "official" season 1 before proceeding on to season 3. I ain't buying that MPI crap.

Despite the scratches in the Paul Henning Estate's prints, the MPI releases were done by people who really care about the product and were filled with terrific extras over and above the original cast commercials. I see no need to move backward until we have all nine seasons on DVD.
Just spot-checking the box last night, I heard lots of authentic music cues throughout and the show hasn't looked this good since it left the Wednesday night CBS lineup.
The episodes I checked gave you the option of choosing to view with or without the original sponsor tags. If you chose "with" you got a 16mm opening credit similar to MPI with the Winston/Kellogg extension before returning to top-quality for the actual episode. In addition, you got the often episode-specific tag commercial at the end. If you chose "without" it looked like 35mm quality to me.
If someone with more knowledge about music issues can confirm that these episodes are largely untouched, then I would strongly urge that we send a message to Paramount by buying this box.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I held it in my hand at WalMart yesterday, but my policy is not to buy anything any more until I read what the people who CARE say about it -- and by the people who care, I mean the people who contribute here at the HTF!
As of now, this sounds like it's probably ok. Whew!
P.S. to Dave: You said Operation Petticoat, when you meant Petticoat Junction.

It's easy to get your petticoats mixed up.
P.P.S. Do women still wear petticoats? Do they call them that? The word seems awfully archaic now.

 

[Charles Ellis]

And it may interest you to know, actually, that the DVD producer of "that MPI crap" contributed quite a bit, I hear, to Paul Brownstein's DVD production of the Season 2 release. And to the Operation Petticoat release coming up, too.

I assume you mean Jim Pierson- he's done a lot of the MPI stuff, from Dark Shadows to The Doris Day Show and beyond. And he's a nice guy too boot (I've known him for years!).

 

[David Lambert]

Yes, I mean Jim. Great guy.
And yeah, I got my Petticoats mixed up!

I've seen petticoats still worn here in the south (grew up in TX, currently live in TN), but hardly as a casual thing: costumes (obviously), special balls/parties, or some other appropriate occasion such as a square dance...yes, the still have those!

 

[The Obsolete Man]

The Paramount Beverly Hillbillies sets are something I would put my faith in blindly... I mean, I know there's all sorts of legalities and everything involving the music rights, but Paul Brownstein is the DVD producer, and usually any sets he's involved in come out really well.
And I can live without "the official" season one right now, since the MPI stuff looked fine to me. However, I would one day like the opportunity to own some nicely remastered copies of the episodes without having to buy a complete series set.

 

[Steve...O]

I actually believed that "Operation Petticoat" was coming out when I read the above! Brownstein said on Shokus radio awile back that CPO Sharkey was in the pipeline; didn't Sharkey and Petticoat air back to back or is my memory failing me? Sharkey is a possible purchase because of Rickles. OP had a decent cast as I remember but it wasn't all that funny IMO.

 

[Carabimero]

I don't know why people don't consider the MPI release of season one "official." Am I to take it that my box set of War and Rememberance isn't "official" either?

What constitutes "official"? Digital remastering?

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Well, first off, the Beverly Hillbillies box set just released is called "The Official Season Two" (new adjective there), which would lead one to believe that any other, non Paramount release of these episodes is "unofficial".
I mean, "official" is in the title of the box set.

 

[Carabimero]

Gotcha.
In that spirit, I declare this my first "official" post

 

[David Lambert]

Well, first off, the Beverly Hillbillies box set just released is called "The Official Season Two" (new adjective there), which would lead one to believe that any other, non Paramount release of these episodes is "unofficial".
I mean, "official" is in the title of the box set.

Ugh, is THAT the logic people are using?
The logic the studio used, I'm told, in titling this release "The Official Season 2" is because some, but not all, of the second season eps have been made available on other DVD releases (both MPI's and several of the various unauthorized PD releases). The folks at CBS merely wanted to emphasize that this had EVERY Season 2 episode on it.
My first question, upon hearing that, was "why not just call it 'The Complete Season 2' then?...that would convey what you want." I was informed that CBS and Paramount, along with several other studios, try very hard these days to no longer use the word "complete" in the titles of any of their TV-DVD releases.
Why? Because of all the negative feedback they get from consumers (yes, including us here at the HTF) for using that word in the title when there's even a single edit to one episode anywhere on the season set. Just like it's easier for CBS/Par to put "episodes may be edited" and "music may be changed" disclaimers on almost every box so their rears are covered in case there are any edits or changes, they also find it easier to just never use the word "complete" in the title, in case it's not truly complete in that interpretation.
So, my understanding (which I don't claim is the - heh - official story; just what I've been told by sources "close to the project") is pretty much that they used the word "official" in the title, in place of the word "complete", in order to convey the intended meaning of having every episode included in an authorized release of the second year of the show on DVD.

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I don't buy the explanation that "Official = Complete." It does make sense, though, since the series has been heavily bootlegged, to state that this is an official and authorized release. OTOH, it also unnecessarily casts aspersions at MPI's sets, which aren't boots but are in fact (at least as I understand it) public domain.