Muppet Show Update! (1 Viewer)

[Joel Turpin]

Well, crap.
There goes my "frugal spending plan" for the month of August. And I'd been doing so good, too.
Just ordered the set, making good use of the coupon.
Seriously, thanks for the links. Not a bad deal at $14 a pop.
Joel

 

[Jeff Kleist]

They come in standard Alpha Keepcases. I'm guessing they're talking about the shipping packaging which has little more than the packing slip and an AOL disc for padding, that is, unless they send 3 or more discs, then you get a nice shipping box. I nagged them so they gave me free overnight shipping
Funny thing is, someone was in such a hurry adapting the box art for DVD, that they forgot to remove a certain element
1979/Color/85 minutes/VHS

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The discs come in standard Alpha keepcases, they're probably talking about how they box them for shipping
The funniest part is, that someone rushed making the slicks for the keepcases. What's wrong with this picture?
1978/85 minutes/Color/VHS

 

[James_A]

Wow Jeff, that's a lot of cases .
Anyway, you're all welcome for the coupon, it was a big suprise to see it, and I hit my CC hard to make the buy (god, I sound like a drug addict).
Jim
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[email protected]
Want to hold up a bank in Latin?
"Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam."
(I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.)

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The posts were not showing up in the thread, that's why the triple post
WORD OF WARNING-
The silkscreen for v.9 (Stallone) is on the v.8 (Brooke Shields) disc. 9 is the last one they need to send me, so I'll see if 9 has 8's
Jeff Kleist

 

[cafink]

Can I get these discs through any online vendor, or only through Time Life? I'm kind of short on cash right now, but I'd love to own these… will they be available indefinitely or should I expect them to be available for a limited time only?

 

[JohnS]

Carl,
Why dont you do the monthly program.
they send you a new dvd each month, if you like it, pay for it, then wait another month, watch it...and so on!
I know you'll be waiting month to month, but if your short on cash, its a great way to get these DVD's!
It's what I'm doing!
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[David Lambert]

When I got up at 4:30 this morning, I had an e-mail from Time-Life...they said the entire box set shipped and is on the way to me!
YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
It's time to play the music...it's time to light the lights...
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DAVE/Memphis
Widescreen is Family Fun!

 

[alan halvorson]

If you haven't ordered yet, use the coupon code TLSAF36 (good until 09/30/2001) for 20% off, making it $140 plus shipping of $3.99. For some reason, it didn't work for me when I initially signed up and I stopped just short of submitting my order. I cleared my cart, reselected the box set, and then I could use the coupon.
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They're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa To the funny farm. Where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and they're coming to take me away, ha-haaa!!!!!
- Napoleon XIV
[Edited last by alan halvorson on August 24, 2001 at 08:28 AM]

 

[David Lambert]

Thanks for the heads-up about the discount. I contacted Time-Life and asked if it was too late to apply this discount, since the items had shipped and all. They were extremely nice and said that they would go ahead and credit my credit card for $35, which is the amount of the 20% discount. He took down the code you mentioned and said he'd verify it later, but he assured me he was already processing the discount/refund.
I also asked whether there were any more Muppet Show DVD's on the way. He checked and said that there were definately only 10, and he thought that all 15 VHS volumes had been squeezed into 10 DVD's. I asked him how sure he was of that, and he looked up some more and told me he was pretty sure. I mentioned the HTF and explained what it was to him, and then asked if he was sure enough that I could post it there! He put me on hold, called his help desk, then came back and told me that he was sure that "10 is all there is on DVD, and it has all the material from the 15 VHS volumes". He told me to pass it on to you guys.
So! I am really happy with THIS part of Time-Warner/AOL. Now if only we can clear up that pesky rumor as to whether that Wonka WS is a hoax...

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DAVE/Memphis
Widescreen is Family Fun!

 

[Tim Gerdes]

quote: He put me on hold, called his help desk, then came back and told me that he was sure that "10 is all there is on DVD, and it has all the material from the 15 VHS volumes"[/quote]
I do not have my discs yet, but I am fairly certain that the Warner rep is wrong. If you go to their website they do a complete breakdown of each tape/dvd and the content appears to be exactly the same on both versions.
I also asked Time Life about future volumes and they told me that if the first set sold well, additional DVDs would follow.
Can anyone who actually received their discs (Jeff?) confirm whether or not additional content appears on these discs? I'm not sure how they would divide 15 episodes over 10 discs.
The tapes all included 3 episodes apiece. Volumes 11-15 on VHS included the following guest stars: Roy Rogers & Dale Evans, Kenny Rogers, Mac Davis, Liberace, Rita Moreno, Lynda Carter, Tony Randall, Beverly Sills, Pearl Bailey, Liza Minnelli, Madeline Kahn, Mummenschanz, Senor Wences, Lola Falana and Juliet Prowse. Did any of these guest stars make it to the first series of discs?
Of this second series, I am most looking forward to the Juliet Prowse episode, as it contains the classic Muppet song "Ma-na-ma-na"
[Edited last by Tim Gerdes on August 24, 2001 at 10:20 AM]

 

[Aaron Silverman]

How many episodes were there in total of the show (the original series, that is)? I wonder how many sets it would fill.
Too bad they didn't publicize this more- I might have ordered it right away before I started my new personal budget!

 

[Tim Gerdes]

How many episodes were there in total of the show (the original series, that is)? I wonder how many sets it would fill.

There were 5 seasons, each with 24 episodes, or 120 episodes in total.
At 3 episodes a disc, assuming they release the whole series, it will take 40 discs before we have everything. That's a lot of shelf space!
I only wish these were being released chronologically. New characters were added in later seasons, and favorite characters changed a bit as the series went on.

 

[John Berggren]

The fact that they are not being presented chronologically is one of my only 2 hesitations. That and being unsure as to whether the VHS transfer was used to create the DVDs.
I basically have until 9/30 to decide.
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Rationality is not a commodity which is evenly distributed.
Thank you Sci-Fi channel for Season 6 of Stargate SG-1
View SpaceDog's DVD Collection

 

[David Lambert]

I am usually a fanatic about getting TV Shows in-order, preferably season-by-season, and never ever endorse best-of sets.
For a variety show like The Muppet Show, I think an exception is in order. True that characters changed a bit and new ones were added, but how much exactly does that affect your enjoyment of the songs, skits, and routines that constitute a variety show?
This isn't exactly a soap opera or anything else with a continuing story. No, as with SNL (or even Johnny Carson if the price wasn't so outrageous), I think a "Best Of" format is entirely appropriate for this. I certainly would not be interested in spending the money to buy every episode as they were originally broadcast...I'd never get to them all!
Scooby-Doo, on the other hand, is a different story...

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DAVE/Memphis
Widescreen is Family Fun!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Well, these are not VHS masters, the picture is too clear. The discs look great. You have to remember that TMS was shot on VIDEOTAPE 25 years ago. It looks soft, there's some banding, but it's all part of the original signal, and matches how I remember it looking
There are extras, if you highlight Animal on the main menu, there's a little trivia bit (Easter Egg). Otherwise you get a "Muppetisms" (like on the movies), a short movie spoof segment (ranging from pretty cool to pretty lame) all shot for the Odyssey channel. Rounding it out, there is 1 production sketch per disc (cool, but not mind-blowing). It's obvious from the intros that there is a kickass 90min documentary just WAITING to happen. I'm talking to my friends at the muppets to see if it can be made to be
Each ep also has an intro by Brian Henson

 

[ScottR]

I remember seeing a documentary around the time of the show's original run. I remember this because it showed the puppeteers operating the Muppets and I was shocked and horrified (being everybit of five years old.) This may have been a segment on 60 Minutes.

 

[Tim Gerdes]

Well my discs arrived in the mail today, and I've spent most of the morning watching the Muppets.
The video and audio are both fine, considering the source and age of the material.
The discs also contain the same content as their VHS counterparts. None of the episodes from the VHS volumes 11 - 15 were added to these discs.
What stuck me though is how quickly they must have rushed to get these out the door. As Jeff mentioned previously, there are typographical errors on the packaging, as well as a misprinted silk screen on disc 9 which mistakenly labels it as disc 8. And in my set of discs, some of the disc inserts are for other volumes.
I guess Time Life really was swamped with unforeseen demand for these discs.
I'm also not too happy with the way the scene selection works. If you choose to watch, a particular skit in the middle of the episode, when that skit is over it returns to the main menu. Forward and Reverse buttons are disabled here as well (for anything beyond the selected skit) You can't easily start from the middle of an episode and jump to specific content.
And as long as I'm complaining, I kind of wish the Brian Henson intros were optional special features. Instead they are tacked on to the beginning of the episodes themselves, and in my opinion not that informative.
Still these are really trivial complaints and I am glad to finally have the Muppets on DVD. I hope Time Life releases a second series soon.
[Edited last by Tim Gerdes on August 25, 2001 at 11:00 AM]

 

[James_A]

Boy, I love moments like this.... all of my Muppet DVD's are staring at me... just daring me to spin them.... hehe... Had to work today, but it was all good because I had them shipped there. All of them came in a big cardboard box by USPS. And I still havn't gotten an e-mail telling me that they have shipped!
Muppets tonight (love to see that as well)
Jim!
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[email protected]
Want to hold up a bank in Latin?
"Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam."
(I have a catapult. Give me all the money, or I will fling an enormous rock at your head.)

 

[Tom Boucher]

Ah, you offer me hope. I've gotten no confirmation from anything, a charge has showed up on my CC that I'm not aware of and my friend in Seattle keeps sending my ICQs saying 'ha ha i got mine and you didn't'
We both ordered within 5 min of each other online. He told me about it, he got through a bit faster, maybe by 5 min.
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