The Archive of Incomplete TV DVDs - Buyers Beware! (Updated 3/27/05) (1 Viewer)

[AnthonyC]

Update: Urbanworks has confirmed that they're the syndicated episodes. What they're going to do to fix this is a whole other question, especially since the press release promised uncut episodes.

 

[ElijahS]

Has Urbanworks given any sort of excuse as to why they put in the syndicated versions?

Please let Carsey Werner move this set to Anchor Bay, or almost any other studio, where it can get a good release.

 

[JasonLa]

I'm not sure what you mean thankfully Rhino heard the outcries. Is Rhino going to be releasing ALF uncut due to lion gate's failure to do so?

Its unfortunate that Cosby is not uncut as I do remeber reading the press release promising it as originally aired too. I'm glad someone posted here otherwise I would probably have bought it without even thinking about it based on the press release info. I seriously hope that this was a major goof up and that it gets properly released.

 

[Jay_B!]

no, if you notice, I posted that after Too Close For Comfort. Rhino suffered a backlash over TCFC season 1 and then redeemed itself for season 2.

 

[JasonLa]

Oh my bad I misunderstood i thought the stuff in the ( ) was refering to both shows. Especially since there is so much of the fan base for ALF outraged by lion gate's disreguard for the shows fans. They got bombarded with letters and such and still continue to make the show syndicated.

Has anyone heard if another company will be picking up the rights to ALF to do it the right way?

 

[Bill Williams]

Here's one for the upcoming Star Trek: Enterprise S2 set:

At the start of UPN's telecast of the episode "Stigma", from February 5, 2003, they included an on-screen tribute to the crew of the Columbia that read as follows:

"To the men and women of the space shuttle Columbia... You will always be an inspiration."

This tribute has been omitted from the DVD presentation of the episode. Imagine what "Star Trek IV" would have been like if they chose to leave off the Challenger tribute at the head of the DVD, or the Roddenberry tributes at the head of "Star Trek VI" and the TNG 2-part "Unification" from S5. To me this is a blatant slap in the face to the memory of the Columbia crew, especially for a series that has constantly prided itself in honoring NASA's contributions to space flight.

 

[LCD22]

That's strange. I wonder why they omitted that "tribute".

Bill, quick question. When UPN re-broadcast "Shockwave, Part II", they put back in 1 min. and 4 seconds that was cut in the original broadcast (according to TV.com). Is that on the DVD?

 

[Bill Williams]

I haven't gotten that far yet, Chris, simply because of time and space and living arrangements until the wife and kids and I move into our new house (which should be by the middle of next month, if all goes well - yes!). I'm thinking that the version of "Shockwave II" that's on the DVD is probably the longer version that aired the second time around. Like you, I recall the first airing of that episode being about a minute shorter than in its rerun. When I have a chance to check it out, I'll let you know.

 

[LCD22]

No problem. Thanks.

 

[Dane Marvin]

Biggest travesty in a while: The Cosby Show season 1 will be all syndicated episodes.

For a guy whose band is called "Kill Bosby", this comes as a huge disappointment.



Not buyin' it.

 

[Jay_B!]

another travesty.....

in October, HIT Entertainment will be rereleasing the perennial late 1970's and 1980's Christmas classic "Emmit Otter's Jug Band Christmas". Luckily I got a copy from Columbia Tristar, which is now out of print. The new edition from HIT will excise all Kermit The Frog (who narrated the story and appeared in several scenes) footage as they couldn't reach an agreement with Disney for usage. For those who watched this as a kid, check ebay or used bins and pick up a Columbia TriStar copy of this set because they carried the Kermit footage.

btw, I got the info from DavisDVD.

 

[Jean-Michel]

Actually, some of the Kermit material was also missing from the Columbia release as well, along with some other edits. That said, most if not all of the "missing" material from the Columbia release wasn't present in the original 1977 version.

 

[Jay_B!]

the new one from HIT goes one step further and has NO Kermit at all. Sony presented the 1977, not the more famous 1980 version, but it still contained Kermit (who was even showcased on the cover to lure in Muppet fans), but the new version will be Kermit-free the way Dawson's Creek sets are free of any musician you might possibly be familiar with, lol.

 

[MatthewA]

I doubt, therefore, we will ever see an uncut "Muppet Family Christmas" DVD, as Disney will have to pay to use Fraggle Rock and Sesame Street characters.

 

[Bill Williams]

Chris,

I finally checked out the Enterprise S2 DVD set, and the version of "Shockwave, Part II" that is represented on the DVD is in fact the longer version with the extra minute of footage that was shown in the rerun telecast and not in the original. The extra scenes of the additional dialog with the Suliban agents, the Suliban searching the corridors of the Enterprise, and Malcolm Reed running around the corridors to escape detection are all present in the episode on the DVD.

 

[LCD22]

Thanks again for checking.

 

[Lee Jamilkowski]

Not that Paramount would ever go back and redo the disc with "STIGMA" on it, but I think it would be great if someone started a petition to complain to Paramount about the lack of the tribute opening. I'd do it myself, but I'm not very eloquent and don't know what to say without sounding like a whiny fanboy.

 

[Jay_B!]

unfortunately there's an avalanche of edited DVD's coming:

Roseanne season 1 - syndicated cuts
That's My Mama season 1 - 80-90% of the episodes are edited, see Sitcoms Online
Married With Children season 4 - 7 episodes are syndies, see Sitcoms Online

 

[JasonLa]

Although I am not a fan of those shows I don't understand why comapnies do this. They have got to know that a majority of the fans want the show uncut as originally seen on tv. I just hope that none of the rest of my favorite shows are like this. And hope that the few that have been are rereleased by someone else done correctly. Its a shame really, these companies should look at the shows from the stand point of an avid fan then perhaps they would understand.

 

[Katherine_K]

While there are some companies playing fast and loose with their production values when episodes are offered cut, there are legitimate reasons for offering sets with cut episodes.

A) The original masters no longer exist. This is often true of classic material when once they were cut the old material was simply lost.

A, II) The episodes were cut to remove cigerette ads in the 1970s. Also most often true in classic material. Again, if the material no longer exists they can't give you uncut episodes.

B) The original masters were damaged. These things do happen. Famously the Babylon 5 masters were damaged and had to be replicated from video backups (which accounts for inconsistent video quality in that series). IIRC the masters were partially eaten by mice.

C) The masters simply do not exist.

One has to remember that the preservation of television masters was not considered as important as film masters, and even there time is the enemy of the filmstock. I am not saying that every company has legitimate reasons. I think ALF and the Cosby Show were particularly attrocious. What's most important to me is that if a company advertises a complete set, or uncut episodes, that they deliver that.