Columbia Jan catalog-including Barney Miller S1,Dilbert & Critic series sets,Superbit

From Mao @ DVDTalk:
Any bold effects added by me.

I DO hope this is true. If it is, This means OAR for Matilda!!! I have been wanting this for so long. Also, maybe they will fix the framing problem that the current Annie has. I will have to go update the victories page at WA on the Matilda one if true, since there was a petition for it.

I'm assuming that ANNIE: SE is going to be the original movie...

Sweet, Dilbert and the Critic in January. Man, I thought I'd get a break after October and November, but there's already a few things coming out in January I want.

Excited about MATILDA (OAR!!! hopefully) and THE CRITIC. Can't wait

The TV remake was released on home video by Disney/Buena Vista.

Am I imagining this?

Yes, that would be nice. But it would be even nicer if Columbia had fixed the initial release. See the DVDFile review of Annie which talks about the framing problems. There were a few posts here on HTF after that where somebody said that Columbia confirmed the problem and was promising to fix it, but we never heard about it again.

Guilty As Charged, huh? That's pretty cool...

TVShowsOnDVD is reporting that Columbia will release official information about The Critic on November 17 (contents, # of discs, features, etc.). I can't wait!

I think it's safe to say that all 23 TV episodes will be in the set (Season 1 is 13 episodes, Season 2 is 10 episodes). Aside from extras we don't know exist but may be included (behind-the-scenes, outtakes, etc.), I can think of two "extras" that should be included to make this collection complete:

1. The 10 "web" episodes
2. The Simpsons/Critic crossover episode when Jay comes to Springfield to judge the Film Festival

I'd like to think that since Al Jean, Mike Reiss, and James L. Brooks produced The Critic and worked on The Simpsons, there is a real possibility the crossover episode will appear on The Critic DVD set. What do you think?

Jim, where Columbia is concerned I wouldn't usually hold out hope for extras. You might in fact get them, but right now I wouldn't get my hopes up.

Crossover episodes should, in my opinion, be handled that way in all cases. However, the studios have a different opinion, it seems. I haven't seen a single crossover situation handled that way yet. Anyone know of one I missed?

David, TVShowsOnDVD is a wonderful website and an invaluable resource for me!

After submitting my reply, I went to TV Tome to get some additional information. The crossover episode, "A Star Is Burns," is from Season 6, so at least it will be available on DVD in 2006 (based on The Simpsons current 1-a-year policy)!! So, not a big deal (this set is a must-buy even if it only has the 23 episodes).

When I went to the listing for that episode, I found two interesting bits of information:

"This episode was broadcast before the premiere of The Critic on the FOX network, a show that didn't last on ABC when it premiered there last year."

"Matt Groening hated the series "The Critic", so he had his name taken out of the credits in both the beginning and ending sequences."

The second piece of information makes me think Groening would never allow "A Star Is Burns" to appear on The Critic DVD set!! I wonder why he hated the series?

Is the Spider-man the one that just played on MTV??

Glenn, Columbia has fixed the "Annie" DVD - about a year and a half ago. I exchanged mine and the newer pressing has the corrected framing.

A special edition would be welcome. Much that was shot was left on the cutting room floor. Friends of mine worked on the film and said some of the better stuff was cut. Judging from the final results this must be true. The film has it's moments but overall isn't great.
Let's hope they include the original filmed versions of the songs "Easy Street" "Never Fully Dressed Without a Smile" and "Maybe" as well as the documentary "Lights, Camera, Annie"

WHOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!




Matilda in widescreen, God bless America


And I'll probably check out the S-man too.


Chris

Thanks for the info Greg. I do vaguely remember some talk about checking VOB file dates or something on newer pressings. So I guess they did fix it, but I was waiting for some kind of official information about how to get an exchange.

How exactly did you exchange yours? If it's too much hassle I may just sell this one and get the SE.

I'll be picking up the TV sets of Barney Miller and the Critic, and the Annie and Matilda SEs.

About Annie, exactly how much was cut before release, and what did it entail? Does it still exist? Was it cut against the producer's and/or director's wishes?

For this new version, I would really like to have better sound (the 2.0 on the current DVD isn't that great; it's overcompressed to fit a P&S version). The picture, while clean, isn't quite as bright as on the laser disc. There was a 6-track 70mm mix that could be mixed to 5.1.

Hopefully a non-flipper remaster of Oliver will come next year as well.


I also imagine 20th Century Fox would not license it.

The only one from that list that grabs me is Philadelphia: SE. I have been holding off rather impatiently for this one and it's finally paying off.

Kevin, you're not seeing things! But I too can't believe what it is I'm looking at. Are we talking about the same New Guy movie with that guy from Road Trip? A director's cut??? This is unbelievable! I think I speak for all of us when I say "WTF." But hey bring it on, let's see what it's all about. Maybe it's super unrated!

Where the hell is NewsRadio S1 & S2?!

I wonder if there's going to be anything on the new "Dr. Strangelove" that justifies purchasing it yet again....

Luke, wait for it. It's coming. This is January's slate (and Columbia is gonna be pissed that all this was leaked before the announce dates for these titles). If NewsRadio's not announced for a slate as late as April, THEN I would start getting upset.

Right now I suspect Columbia is trying to see if they can get 35 episodes of NewsRadio S1/S2 onto 2 single-sided, single-layer DVDs.

Well, it's going to be a superbit...

Thanks for the updates, Scott. I'd love to know a little more about this one:

Where's All in the Family Season 3?

You're not kiddin'. I'm not sure Columbia TriStar knows what the hell they're doing anymore. My best guess is they're throwing the first season of every series they own out onto the market to see which ones sell the most. My inclination is they'll continue with those that are the most profitable. And the others might be on the back burner for years and years. Like Good Times and Garry Shandling, for instance.

I plan on buying The Critic (since I'll be getting the complete series in one shot) and Barney Miller come January. But as a purchaser of Soap, All In the Family and Married with Children as well... I gotta wonder how much they're really committed to going all the way with what they start.

Dammit, it seems that every 30 days I tell someone that this isn't expected until Feb slate or Mar slate. They release these about a year apart.

We're still looking at the Jan slate, so it's not expected yet. I'll only be concerned about this if I don't see it in the Mar slate.

I wonder why All in the Family is getting released about every 10-12 months while Sanford and Son is breezing along at every 6-8 months.

"About Annie, exactly how much was cut before release, and what did it entail? Does it still exist? Was it cut against the producer's and/or director's wishes? "

Matthew,

John Huston didn't like the film, but he needed the money (He was clearly the wrong director for the property)

The film was completed in the summer of 1981, in the fall the cast was called back and much of the film was re-written/reshot. The entire opening with Annie escaping and getting caught by Burnett was reshot (photo's even show different costumes), the musical numbers mentioned above were restaged and reshot ("Easy Street" was a big production number with a hundred extras). There were also a lot of "bits" shot which Ray Stark had filmed to make the film more appealing to the teenage male audience (Which never should have been a target audience, but these were the years of "Star Wars" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" which is why Annie's dangling from a suspension bridge at the climax of the film.



One way of noting the added footage is by Carol Burnett's chin. She had it cosmetic surgery to enlarge her chin after filming was completed - only to come back to do the reshoots with a new chin (Look at the "Easy Street" number and then the scene right after her chin is smaller (It's pretty noticable)

No rhyme or reason...maybe it takes that long to produce?