Timeless Media Group - New Releases (1 Viewer)

[michael_ks]

I've always called Royal Dano the poor man's Gregory Peck, because I think there is a definite resemblance to Peck both in voice and appearance. There is no doubt that he is one of the best character actors around. I wonder what his personality was like in real life? He so often played such an oppressed sad sack of a human being; it is hard to imagine him ever being happy.

Of the 10 or so episodes I have featuring Dano in my DVD collection, about the only one where he appears as a normal person is in "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" S2 (The episode with Harry Townes and Vera Miles). In practically everything else from "Daniel Boone" to "Big Valley" and "Rifleman" he comes across as you say, a 'sad sack' and very often a demented one at that. I love the scene in "The Big Valley" where he blasts Nick Barkley for his power and wealth, complaining about how he had to work the land on his hands and knees. I would love to see his performance in "The Rebel" where he attempts to explain to Nick Adams that he's only yelling like a crazy man to keep Indians away from his gold...! He did run away from home at age 12 and that may very well have contributed to his acting style and the roles he was offered.

 

[Dan McW]

"Day of Reckoning" I gather?

That was the one. I recorded it off Encore Westerns a few months ago.

 

[Bert Greene]

Well, the "Tate" episodes must have been transferred to film sometime, as the prints do have tiny, tell-tale emulsion specks evident. I wonder if it was even perhaps originally aired via 35mm film-print copies, as opposed to tape masters. Whatever the case, they look sensational (although the 2nd episode is a tad grainy). Great black-and-white contrast. In fact, I'm somewhat amazed 1960-vintage videotape looked this good and was capable of capturing so much. Looking at them, I'm often hard-pressed to acknowledge they were 'not' shot on film. So far, I've watched the first five episodes. Eight more to go.

And, the series itself is quite nice. Better than I ever remotely expected. Although, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, especially once I noticed Harry Julian Fink's name in the credits (he was the writer responsible for some of the most memorable "Have Gun Will Travel" episodes). Star David McLean, however, sure doesn't have the charisma or acting chops of Richard Boone. Not that he needs much, considering the high calibre of the guest-stars backing him up in this little, short-lived series. Anyway, I'd certainly recommend this to any tv-western fans out there. It's well worth a look.

 

[Bob Gu]

Bert,I was thinking maybe TATE was actually filmed and later transfered onto video tape for easier editing for broadcast. There is a lot of very open outdoor photography in TATE. Were video cameras that portable in 1960?

Tate with his grim (but easy going) demeaner and poncho may have inspired The Man With No Name.

These Timeless releases are great fun. I've got LAREDO up next and CHECKMATE and THE RESTLESS GUN on the way, (along with MAN WITH A CAMERA).

 

[Hank Dearborn]

It's amazing how sometimes misinformation gets repeated over and over as fact. I watched a few Tate episodes and there is no way in hell this was a videotaped show. It is film, it always was film. You can't take tape and make it look like this show looks. Maybe people got this confused with The Wrangler which was a videotaped summer replacement series from the same time period. But Tate is film, as sure as I can be about anything.

 

[Doug^Ch]

Has anyone bought TMG's three disc release of the Mickey Rooney Show? If you have, how does it look, and is it worth buying?

Doug

 

[Bob Hug]

With respect to Timeless' release of "Riverboat," I'm getting a higher-than-normal amount of digital breakup on the episodes. The other two sets from Timeless that I've purchased thus far, "Arrest and Trial" and "Checkmate" have not had this problem. I suspect that it's because Timeless placed five episodes on each disc (245 minutes running time per disc) versus four episodes for "Checkmate" (196 min/disc) and three episodes for "Arrest and Trial," though A&T episodes run about 75 minutes each (225 min./disc). Anyone else experiencing any digital breakup problems on any of the other sets?

 

[Doug^Ch]

So far I've watched Checkmate, The Tall Man, The Restless Gun, and Cimarron City. I've experienced no digital break up, but Cimarron City had significantly worse video quality than the other sets I've seen so far. The stories however are very good and I'm still enjoying the set, but I think the quality of their masters must have been not quite up to par with this one.

 

[Bert Greene]

I'm glad to see Hank confirming my doubts regarding the 'videotape' origins to "Tate." I was really having a hard time buying that, based on its look. Usually you at least expect some trace of glitches, or a kind of subtle halo effect or something. These looked like film. Anyway, having watched a few more episodes, my opinion of the series keeps rising. Darned good little series. You can't help but feel sorry for ole Tate, as the writers do consistently put him in some hellishly uncomfortable situations.

Along with Doug, I'm also curious about the print quality on the "Mickey Rooney Show" set. I remember seeing a few of those on cable, years ago, under its "Hey Mulligan" title. CBN added it to its late-night sitcom lineup, but only for about a couple of weeks, before pulling it.

 

[Charles H]

"The Mickey Rooney Show" is about the same calibre as most Timeless Media dvds--a bit soft, but nothing is edited out. The series was created by Richard Quine and Blake Edwards and is a cute, likeable sitcom. Rooney was always underrated--both as a comic and an actor.

 

[Doug^Ch]

Thanks for that information Charles. I'll probably pick this one up. I have to really wonder how TMG sells enough of these old forgotten shows to recoup their investment. They probably market these mostly, with I'm guessing a mail order catalog, catering to nostalgia buffs. I think they could sell a lot more of these sets if more people knew about them. They need to send out screeners to all the DVD reviewers around who review these older releases. I emailed Paul Mavis from DVD Talk to congratulate him on another great review for Family Affair, and asked him about reviewing any of the TMG sets. He indicated that he would be willing, but TMG would have to send him some free screeners. To me it would behoove TMG to send a stack of these out gratis to help publicize these new sets.

 

[Ivan G]

While browsing DVD Price Search this morning, I came across some Timeless Media titles due for a February 19, 2008 release (except the last one, which is due out February 5th):
Arrest and Trial: Best of Season 1 - I'm not certain how a show that only lasted one season can have a "Best of Season 1" release, but I'm sure Bob Hug is pumped about adding more A&T episodes to his collection. CD Universe has a pre-order price of $18.54.
Best of Checkmate: Season 2 - This is the one I'm stoked about; I finally got around to purchasing the first set and was very impressed--this is truly one hell of a show. DVD Pacific has a pre-order price of $15.39.
The Lawless Years: Season 3 - I was wondering when Timeless would get around to releasing the rest of the shows in this series. Again, DVD Pacific has it for pre-order at $15.39.
Still no word on a Laredo: Best of Season 2 release. According to Timeless' website, it's their biggest seller.

 

[Charles H]

Hasn't ARREST AND TRIAL: Best of Season #1 aready been released or should it be called MORE OF THE BEST OF SEASON 1? Has the original ARREST AND TRIAL been made available on any venue other than the Timeless website?

 

[Bob Gu]

Charles, Arrest & Trial, and all the other Timeless releases are available all over: Deepdiscount,Critic's Choice, Amazon, Barnes & Noble etc.

BEST OF LAREDO: Season 1 Part 2 is listed at BarnesandNoble.com with the same Feb 19,2008 release date.

Barnes & Noble lists the second sets of Checkmate and Arrest and Trial as:

Checkmate B and Arrest & Trial B.

Say, has everyone noticed that the Laredo theme is a faster version of the secondary theme from Rawhide called "Beyond The Sun" both composed by Rudy Garcia.

 

[Ivan G]

Thanks for the additional info, Bob!

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I rented Riverboat from Netflix to check out the quality and it's ok, alot of Dirt, scratches and little Glitches, but this is about the best we're gonna get,I might pick up the series I like McGavin I'll watch anything he's in, but Reynolds Looked Bored Here, I can see why he was replaced.

 

[Bob Hug]

release. According to Timeless' website, it's their biggest seller.

Just back from a brief hiatus from this board and glad to see these releases, Ivan. I'm somewhat surprised to see more of "Arrest and Trial" and "Checkmate" so quickly after the initial releases, but they are very welcome, indeed. And finishing up "The Lawless Years" does make some marketing sense to me, in light of Paramount's releases of "The Untouchables."

 

[Jeff Willis]

Welcome back Bob! 'Ditto' on Checkmate S2. I'm still early into the 1st set but that's another gem from that "golden era" of shows. I remember Dad watching that one from faint memories. I didn't see the "smoke-filled screen" with a chess Bd in the intros of the 1st couple of episodes in S1. Do you all know when that intro first appeared? S2?

 

[Bob Hug]

I didn't see the "smoke-filled screen" with a chess Bd in the intros of the 1st couple of episodes in S1. Do you all know when that intro first appeared? S2?

I vaguely seem to remember a chessboard opening sequence, but I very well may be confusing it with the American opening title sequence for "The Avengers."

 

[Bob Gu]

Jeff, I have a season one episode on VHS of Checkmate called the "Human Touch" that has the swirling paint with the chess board and Checkmate title logo. It's a 'bumper' that is shown in front of the teaser sequence before the main title credits play. Probably cut off all the syndicated prints.