West Wing Season 2 announced! (1 Viewer)

[Greg S]

Well dam May 18th can't get here fast enough. I just finished Season 1 last night and now gotta wait 3 months to get the next installment.

This is probably IMHO the single BEST acted show I have ever seen. While I love things like 24, The Shield etc. and might pick one of those as my "favorite" show they are all completely different animals when compared to what TWW brings to the table.

Superb acting, better directing, and even BETTER writing. All around high quality material here and very REWATCHABLE!!

I will say this though its all very fast paced, you sure is heck can't be attempting to do somethiing else and watch this show at the same time (ie surf the net) as it is too easy to miss something.

Oh one last why the hell can't all other TV show sets be like this one --- 4 double sided discs and under $40???

Greg

 

[Chris Bardon]

Does anyone have any ideas on what the deal with the rebate for buying season 1 and 2 is? I still haven't bought season 1 yet, and if there's going to be a rebate on it, then I'll just wait and buy both on the 18th. I take it that they've done this before?

 

[LisaDoris]

When DVDAf was having server issues awhile back, I put everything into different folders. Forgot to change the link so thanks for the reminder.

As for the rebate, I don't know if they'll run a rebate or not. It's really hit or miss with them.

 

[David Von Pein]

Per the blurb on TVShowsOnDVD.com you can get $10 back if you purchase BOTH West Wing sets OR West Wing 2 AND an "ER" set.

With "ER Season 2" arriving shortly before WW-2, it's a fairly timely offer.

 

[Chris Bardon]

I saw that-I should have clairfied. If they've done these rebates in the past, is there a time frame on when you have to buy the dvds? For example, if I were to get season 1 now, and the season 2 in may, would I be able to grab the rebate (probably not...)?

 

[David Von Pein]

I'm wondering, then, WHY the DVD packaging says "Widescreen format, preserving the aspect ratio of its original television exhibition".

It would seem this blurb, in this case, is not entirely correct...since the "original TV exhibition" was 1.33 FF.

It looks mighty nice in 16x9 WS though. Colors look much more brilliant than via an OTA broadcast, IMO.

 

[David Von Pein]

Yes. You have to purchase all eligible sets between May 18 and Aug. 18. Meaning those of us that picked up ER-#2 on release date (04/27) are SOL re. this $10 rebate. :frowning:

Oh, well....them's the breaks.

(I forgot to save the dang "ER-2" Proof-of-Purchase thinga-ma-bobs anyway.)

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I wondered the same thing too when the package arrived - I can say with absolute certainty that season two aired 4:3, and the reruns on Bravo, as well as the syndicated rerun package on in some markets Saturday/Sunday nights of season two are 4:3.

It's been suggested in this thread that the show was intended to be seen in widescreen, but for this season, AFAIK, that's simply not true. I have an issue of American Cinematographer somewhere in which Tom Del Ruth, the show's cinematographer, states very clearly that the first two seasons were shot for 4:3, and that he was excited to be switching to the 16x9 widescreen format for season three. The article very clearly states that season three was the first time in the show that it was staged and framed for 16x9 exhibition.

I hope that this release being in widescreen was not a response to some of the (ill-informed) complaints that season one was not in widescreen.

If I notice anything unusual when I start watching the set, I'll post my observations here.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

So the 2nd season DVD is widescreen, not a packaging misprint?

 

[Chris Bardon]

I don't know if there's a misprint or not, but I started watching season 2 last night in widescreen. I did notice that the "previously on" and main titles were 4x3 windowboxed though.

Bring on Season 3!

 

[David Williams]

And the transitions are as about as graceful as a dead whale on roller skates. I was really disappointed in the presentation. As much as I love having the OAR for future television viewing (current TV is 4:3), this is bad. I really don't care if a 'Previously on' is framed properly and you'd think they'd have done the credits a second time in widescreen if they were going to shoot that way. When I popped in the first disc and was greeted with the windowboxing my first reaction was that there was something wrong with my DVD player and/or my TV.

ICK!

 

[Sam Favate]

I found that very strange. I was wondering if my dvd player had a funny setting or something. Windowboxing the credits? What on earth for?

 

[Yee-Ming]

Any thoughts on the 16:9 framing? I've watched 6 episodes so far, and I can't say I have any complaints, even if I'm an OAR-purist. AFA I can see, if anything it appears that S2 might have been shot widescreen-protected, since the framing appears quite natural, not overly cropped foreheads and chins like Babylon 5 S1 was. Either that, or the 4:3 was pan/scanned and this was "opened up" -- there always seems a fair bit of space on the sides now. Anyone know for certain either way?

But that business of windowboxing the "previously on" and opening credit is bizarre. Assuming it is a tilt-and-scan job, I guess they felt doing it for the rapid-fire edits of the "previously on" clip was too troublesome? And the opening credits tend to utilise the entire 4:3 frame and wouldn't have been easy to crop.

 

[Aryn Leroux]

i just finished watching disc 2. the episode Noel WOW that was amazing as is this entire season so far. looking forward to season 3, but i dunno if i will stop buying after season 4 or not yet.

 

[PhilipG]

No it's not. WB did very well by not cropping anything. That was my biggest problem with the B5 DVDs - they didn't have w/s versions of any shots with sfx, so they zoomed in on the 4:3 frame, cropping off chins and foreheads. The opening credits of TWW s2 were composed for 4:3 only. The previously ons used scenes from season one/the pilot.

 

[David Von Pein]

Yes, I agree.
The last two episodes of Season 5 (which IMO were very good; esp. the season finale) just might have redeemed Season 5 for me in terms of a DVD purchase. (Loved the baseball-throwing scenes in the White House corridor.)

 

[Yee-Ming]

I'd certainly agree the 16:9 framing in S2 looks "right" and it does seem S2 was shot 16:9 protected. But the quote earlier in this thread says the cinematographer was "excited" about shooting S3 for widescreen.

I suppose for S3 he was "let off the leash" and allowed to shoot with only 16:9 in mind, rather than protecting for 4:3, so he could use the entire width of the frame? (Which I notice happens a lot in Angel as well, since we get a pan/scanned broadcast that regularly chops heads off or in half ) S2 tends to have tight, but acceptable, framing on the sides in 4:3 (which you can see in the "previously on" clips), and has lots of "empty space" in 16:9.

Once again showing that if you shoot to protect both formats, you get screwed both ways. Joss Whedon made such a comment on a commentary on Firefly, and he says he and the cinematographer deliberately shot certain early scenes as wide as possible for 16:9 to push Fox into agreeing to broadcast 16:9 instead of 4:3.

And I can't believe I'm still commenting on this topic. Enough! I'll just enjoy watching this glorious show and not worry too much about the framing from now on...

 

[James Lambert]

I'm very impressed with the framing of Season 2. I'm up to the 3rd disc and have not seen anything that looks unsuitable, however the dialogue is often so sharp I'm not always paying as much attention to the visauls.

However, going back to an earlier issue in this thread, I believe the 9/11 episode is on the R2 Season 3 set, but have yet to read any reviews of the set. Can anyone point me in the right direction as I'd like to watch S3 again before the S4 discs comes out in September (in the UK it appears the DVD will be out before it's screened on terrestrial TV).

 

[Rob T]

I just finished the set.
The press conference brought a tear to my eye.
I hope season 3 is announced ASAP!

 

[David Von Pein]

Me too.

If the current "WW" pattern is adhered to faithfully, we should get
The West Wing: Complete Third Season on or very near Tuesday,
November 16, 2004. (1 season every six months.)

I've just started watching Season 1. I had never seen the S.1 shows. All I can say is ..........

WOW!!

These episodes are so good, I've been tempted to immediately re-watch them. And I know Season 2's eps. are of equal quality. Amazing! Just amazing (IMO)!