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New Carson Collection?!?

#31
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I received "The Best of Carson" volume 1 yesterday and was pertrubed to see the following note on the back of the box:

"Features Material Previously Available Only To Carson Club Members!"

A quick scan of the contents inside reveals that ALL of this material (save for the "bonuses") was previously released on those Carson Club DVD's...the ones you would get once or twice a month.

Combine that with the "bonus material"--also previously released on DVD--and well, let's just say that if, like me, you're a big enough Carson fan to have bought alllllll those previous releases, this new boxed set is basically worthless.

It's my fault for "buying blind" I guess...although the phrase "includes never before seen footage" would seem to indicate.....uhm....footage that has never been seen before.

If you weren't a Carson Club member, there's some good stuff here....and even though it's butchered from a complete 90-minute episode, the "Return to Studio One" stuff is fascinating. The "Memories" thing is a rehash of rehash of rehash.

Putting aside my own personal feelings of being screwed here...it really irritates me that Carson's heirs and R2 Entertainment are willing to engage in this kind of deception. Putting aside the arguments over "clips" versus "full episodes", to me it seems nearly criminal to have 30 years of classic "Tonight Show" archive and keep going back to the same stuff over and over again.

If they don't feel like doing the type of research and editing that Johnny Carson himself did to ferret out the very best stuff for that first set of videos back in 1993, then just release anniversary specials...or "Carson's Comedy Classics" for heaven's sake!

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#32
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?


There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

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#33
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I don't have the "Carson Club" DVDs so I bought this set. It's been a wonderful journey so far, but there is one very bad thing to report:

The classic Carson confrontation of Rickles over the cigarette box episode has been severely edited to show primarily Johnny's intrusion on the set and just a few seconds of banter. The hilarious segment where Carson "does Rickles" is gone. You can see the whole thing on You Tube which leads me to believe the entire segment was on the "Carson Club" DVD but was chopped down here.

Aside from this, the laughs are plenty and the quality of the clips is pretty good. I do give a thumbs down for including a special feature which recycles clips from the prior collection and a double thumbs down for spelling Groucho's name "Marks". No, I am not making that up. Someone at R2 should be ashamed of themselves for that.

Those interested may want to check Costco which is selling both Carson sets for $22.xx apiece.

Steve
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#34
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Well...here we are a few months later and TVShowsonDVD.com is heralding yet another new release from the Carson estate.

Unfortunately...a close look at the covers shows the same old stuff that's already been released a bunch of times.

Those covers clearly show "Animal Hijinks", "Tonight Show Memories" and "Final Show". Four shows on 2 DVDs. The other release is "Stand-Up Comedians."

How much effort can it take to cull that vast library and come up with some really funny stuff. Not much...that's how much! Just think what some talented people at certain production houses could put together with material of this quality.

Both releases are MSRP'd at $24.99 and are due out June 5.

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

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#35
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
Well...here we are a few months later and TVShowsonDVD.com is heralding yet another new release from the Carson estate.

Unfortunately...a close look at the covers shows the same old stuff that's already been released a bunch of times.

That's ridiculous. They have about 30 years of material & about 5,000 episodes to choose from. Plus the first time I bought this stuff, I had to pay around $80 for the set!!!!!!

If they had a monkey randomly pick 6 episodes and put them on bare bones release, we'd be better off.
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#36
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Completely agree with Mike and David above. Very disappointing news. With all the material they have to choose from, why does the same stuff keep getting rehashed and repackaged?

Not every clip has to be an animal relieving itself on Johnny's desk, a "civilian" doing incredibly dopey things, or a comic in their "pre-famous" years. There's a reason why Carson was the "Gold Standard" for so many years and the Estate should let today's generation see some of the many interesting and thought provoking guests who appeared on the show, especially in those 90 minute episodes.

If doing a comic collection, let's go back and get some appearances of Benny, Burns, Hackett etc. from the 70s. They were still in fine form then. Even Hope was a delightful guest through most of the 80s.

Johnny also had a lot of visits from actors who were wonderful storytellers even if they weren't "stars". Let's get some Sterling Hayden, Richard Harris, William Demarest, etc. on disc.

Music rights might be a problem with some acts, but surely there's enough "clearable" material to put together a wonderful collection of Buddy Rich, Sammy Davis, etc. material. There's a reason why Johnny had some acts on repeatedly over the years. They were great entertainers and rather than let them be forgotten, let's give them some exposure here.

I have nothing against Jay or Dave (both men are extremely talented), but, in my opinion, there is no comparison to the dumbed down and trite modern version of Late Night to the excitement that surrounded those Carson years.
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#37
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Steve...O
If doing a comic collection, let's go back and get some appearances of Benny, Burns, Hackett etc. from the 70s. They were still in fine form then. Even Hope was a delightful guest through most of the 80s.
Jimmy Stewart was seen a lot on The Tonight Show in the 1980s when Stewart himself was in his 80s, and it wasn't to plug anything. It was just to read his collection of poems.
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#38
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Crap ! At least 2/3 or the Tonight Show run supposedly still exists but they can't get more of it released to the public ? Aside from the DVD's and a brief run of edited eps that aired on PPV, the legacy of this show has truly been wasted. Why oh why isn't someone going through all the old eps and creating a syndicated package of the interviews and stand-up comedy performances ? I would expect the musical performances to be few and far between because of music rights. How about highlighting the eps that featured guest hosts such as the infamous (and higher rated) Joan Rivers era. Not to mention guest host runs by Burt Reynolds, Garry Shandling, Bill Cosby, etc.

Who the hell is in charge of Johnny's estate ? And how hard can I bitch-slap them ?
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#39
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

The last I heard Jeff Sotzig (spelling?), who was Johnny's nephew, was in charge of the estate.

Perhaps he needs to bring in an outsider with experience in these matters to fully exploit the marketability of their holdings. In some previous cases where an artist or their family controls their works, we've seen disasterous results. Examples include the handful of Hope films that he owned. They were not properly stored over the years and the DVDs of them are sub par. Hitchcock owned 4 of his films and they were out of circulation for years and existed only in subpar elements until Katz/Harris restored some of them. The entire Roy Rogers filmography is owned by his estate which has not done it justice. They even sold off the masters to his legendary TV show to a private collector thus ensuring we will probably never get an authorized, high quality release of it.

Steve
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#40
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I think of what some companies such as Image or Shout Factory have been able to put together of TV shows without nearly the amount of quality material to work with as this situation presents.

This is shameful. What a chance to give a new generation of fans the opportunity to get "up close and personal" with one of the greatest all-time legends of television...a man who defined an entire genre of broadcasting. (My teenage son is captivated whenever I spin one of the discs from the Ultimate Carson Collection.) Not to mention a lost opportunity for the survivors to be making barrels of money.

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

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#41
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I guess it's just easier for them to re-release this material, which has had all of its clearances taken care of, than to assemble a new collection, obtain guest and music clearances, send out contracts, etc.

In other words, laziness. As others have said, it's a shame that they're not at least releasing some of the old pre-assembled clip packages (i.e. the anniversary specials or Carson's Comedy Classics).

If Carson's nephew does indeed control the archive, then it's apparent he doesn't really need the money, or he'd be out there trying to exploit it as much as possible. Have you seen all the hoops you have to jump through (and costs, many of which unrefundable) just to licence a clip from the archive? $500 for a timecoded screening cassette of a clip, not counting the cost of licencing said clip? And I thought the costs of the individual shows (when they were doing them) were high...
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#42
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

The estate will sell clips from the shows in the archives...with time-code burnt-in...@ $500 a pop?

Why would they do that?

And they were selling complete shows? Same deal? Time code burnt-in? I missed all this.

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

Top Ten Ways to Find Good Deals on DVDs and Blu-ray...
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#43
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
The estate will sell clips from the shows in the archives...with time-code burnt-in...@ $500 a pop?

Why would they do that?

No, the screener VHS, if you want one, will have time codes burnt in, not the actual broadcast-format tape that the clip will have on it.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
And they were selling complete shows? Same deal? Time code burnt-in? I missed all this.

They were selling complete shows on VHS, but not timecoded or anything like that. They were the real deal, complete with the original national commercials. If I remember right, pricing was about $100 or 125 per show, and $75 for each additional show (but no more than four at a time). That's what the "guest search" feature on the site was originally for: to find the show(s) you were looking for. Yes, it was expensive, but I think most of the money was to pay residuals to the musicians, guests, etc. who appeared in each show.

They stopped selling complete shows 2-3 years (?) ago due to the fact that some of the people buying shows were pirating multiple copies of them on eBay.

I bought two shows and, one I'd saved up some more money, intended to buy 2-4 more. When the day came, I went on the site and discovered the unhappy news! I so wanted to get Rod Hull and Emu's second appearance! Glad I got the first one when I had the chance!
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#44
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AndyMcKinney
They were selling complete shows on VHS, but not timecoded or anything like that. They were the real deal, complete with the original national commercials. If I remember right, pricing was about $100 or 125 per show, and $75 for each additional show (but no more than four at a time). That's what the "guest search" feature on the site was originally for: to find the show(s) you were looking for. Yes, it was expensive, but I think most of the money was to pay residuals to the musicians, guests, etc. who appeared in each show.

They stopped selling complete shows 2-3 years (?) ago due to the fact that some of the people buying shows were pirating multiple copies of them on eBay.

I bought two shows and, one I'd saved up some more money, intended to buy 2-4 more. When the day came, I went on the site and discovered the unhappy news! I so wanted to get Rod Hull and Emu's second appearance! Glad I got the first one when I had the chance!

Too bad, Andy.

I would love a copy of a show from the early 70s which I used to have an audio copy of (might still in some form, actually) in which In Johnny's monologue he told a joke about a Nixon White House dinner at which, since times were tight and they were "cutting back" at the White House, General Alexander Haig had to wash up afterwards in his helmet. That was the punchline...and there wasn't a peep from the audience.

As we all know, Johnny was at his best when the material failed. He went back to that joke time and time again during the monologue and had a great time with it. I would LOVE to see that again. I remember at one time Carson referenced that particular joke/occasion during a Rolling Stone interview.

The sale of individual shows was certainly a unique marketing idea. Too bad they haven't figured out the incredible demand for the stores of material in their archives.

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

Top Ten Ways to Find Good Deals on DVDs and Blu-ray...
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#45
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I was going to upgrade to the DVD release of the "Ultimate Collection" from the VHS tapes. However, I have read over at amazon.com that some material has been cut on the DVD version over what appears on the VHS tapes. Is this true? If so then what has been cut from previous release and why?
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#46
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

I'm not sure many people are aware of it, but the Carson estate has donated every existing episode of the Tonight Show that Johnny Carson hosted to the Museum of TV and Radio in NY & LA. You can actually go there and for the price of admission to the museum, see virtually every episode that Carson hosted from 1973-1992, along with a few shows from the 60s and early 70s. The picture quality is quite good, studio master VHS, with the episodes all unedited and with original commercials. It's quite a treasure trove! People should definitely check it out.

Last time I was there, I saw a 90 minute episode from 5/14/80, with Jimmy Stewart and Don Adams. Stewart read a poem his daughter wrote to get the milkman not to deliver any more milk. He also told behind the scenes stories from some of his films, like dropping Margaret Sullavan on the set of The Mortal Storm and not being able to ski. He also talked about renovating his pool. Adams talked about his early days as a stand-up comedian warming up for Mae West and told a funny story of being on the same plane as Carson, but riding in coach while Carson was in first class. Also saw the 10/30/81 episode with Michael Landon and Sheena Easton. Carson's conversations with his guests were the best part for me. He really knew how to connect with them.
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#47
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by jdee28
I'm not sure many people are aware of it, but the Carson estate has donated every existing episode of the Tonight Show that Johnny Carson hosted to the Museum of TV and Radio in NY & LA. You can actually go there and see virtually every episode that Carson hosted from 1973-1992, along with a few shows from the 60s and early 70s.
While that's certainly great to know (and I'm somewhat familiar with the Museum of TV and Radio Broadcasting, having once gone to their New York facility in 1985), it could be addictive. I live in San Diego now and rarely get up to Los Angeles, so it's not that convenient for me anyway.

In addition to The Tonight Show, there are so many other series from decades past you can watch for free. It's best to go for the rare stuff and material you think will never see the light of DVDay.
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#48
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

It's very rare that the Museum of TV and Radio has a complete run of anything. They usually just have a handful of episodes from various series. That they managed to get a virtually complete run of Carson's Tonight Shows from 73-92 is the exception, not the rule. It's nice that there is at least some way to view all these programs.
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#49
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

If only NBC hadn't been so foolish to delete the COLOR VIDEOTAPES of every Jack Paar Tonight Show from the late 1950s to 1962 and many of the Johnny Carson Tonight Shows from 1962 to the late 1960s...
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#50
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeff#
If only NBC hadn't been so foolish to delete the COLOR VIDEOTAPES of every Jack Paar Tonight Show from the late 1950s to 1962 and many of the Johnny Carson Tonight Shows from 1962 to the late 1960s...

Whoever that guy was who made that dumbass decision to throw those out...

IIRC, NBC was worried they were running out of storage space in a warehouse.

===================

It's great that the Broadcasting Museums have these...but I don't ever see me getting to view any that way.

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

Top Ten Ways to Find Good Deals on DVDs and Blu-ray...
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#51
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike Frezon
Well...here we are a few months later and TVShowsonDVD.com is heralding yet another new release from the Carson estate.

Unfortunately...a close look at the covers shows the same old stuff that's already been released a bunch of times.

Those covers clearly show "Animal Hijinks", "Tonight Show Memories" and "Final Show". Four shows on 2 DVDs. The other release is "Stand-Up Comedians."

How much effort can it take to cull that vast library and come up with some really funny stuff. Not much...that's how much! Just think what some talented people at certain production houses could put together with material of this quality.

Both releases are MSRP'd at $24.99 and are due out June 5.

That post of mine I've quoted is from April. And it's deja vu all over again.

According to my ol' buddy Dave Lambert @ tvshowsondvd.com...the Carson Estate is doing it again.

Except this time it's all previously released stuff...and packaged with an MSRP of $99.99. Personally I would LOVE to be able to get the six-disc Timeless Moments part of the package...but I've already got what I want of the rest of the re-packaged stuff.

Too expensive and too repetitious.

They need to separate the stuff out and dig into the vaults!

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

Top Ten Ways to Find Good Deals on DVDs and Blu-ray...
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#52
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

It's ridiculous that they have thousands of hours of great stuff and are simply rehashing the same material. Are they even attempting to clear more stuff ? How insulting to the fans and to Johnny's memory.
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#53
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

One word to describe this "new" package = LAME

It's a shame that Johnny's 30 year legacy is going to be reduced to a relatively small number of clips that are going to be recyled over and over again.
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#54
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Does anyone have a complete list of Carson DVDs released to date? I trying to figure out if I have all of them.
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#55
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

C'mon in, kids. It's that time of the year again to revel in some major disappointment regarding Johnny Carson's legacy on DVD.

Just in time for the holiday shopping season, my local BJs Wholesale Club has gotten in about a dozen copies of the big Carson DVD Collection ($59.99). It includes the expected fare:

Quote:
- Timeless Moments From The Tonight Show
- The Original Ultimate Collection
- Stand-Up Comedians
- Carson Country

AND,,,it includes a "holiday bonus disc!" I know this from a sticker stuck to the outside of the box. The sticker says simply:

Quote:
Johnny Carson Celebrates Christmas

...and it's got some seasonal graphics dressing up the sticker. But that's it. No details of what's on the disc. There seems to be no information available at johnnycarson.com. Maybe it's THIS?

Who knows? It's really sad that there is no substantive new material coming from the Carson vaults.

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

Top Ten Ways to Find Good Deals on DVDs and Blu-ray...
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#56
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

What the hell is wrong at the Carson estate ? Do they really expect people to buy the exact same stuff over and over again ? I know the first decade or so of Johnny's run was destroyed but wouldn't that leave a good 20 years worth of great material ? So where is it ? At the very least they could launch a syndicated show with the best of the interviews.
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#57
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Not sure if it's anything new but there are some details here.
DVD Challenge \'05

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#58
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Re: New Carson Collection?!?

Shame on me for not checking in with Dave on this issue, Anthony. Thanks!

That must be, then, the bonus disc, inside the box.

We gotta get some new material, Carson estate! Think of the money to be made!

Even my 18-year old son, who was raised in a completely Johnny-free world (which is a sad enough thing. He only knows of Leno & Letterman and the newer guys.) has watched these compilation discs and sees what I'm talking about when it comes to Carson's "accessibility."

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

Top Ten Ways to Find Good Deals on DVDs and Blu-ray...
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#59
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It's "Deja vu all over again."  :o(

A "new" Carson Collection of rehashed rehash. 

This is another situation which gets more ridiculous with each passing year as the audience which loved and revered Johnny continues to get smaller and smaller. 

I'll meet you all again back here in another year or two as I find this same core of material re-packaged yet again (although they're not even doing much of a job with the "repackaging").

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

Top Ten Ways to Find Good Deals on DVDs and Blu-ray...
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#60
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HERE is Dave Lambert's view on this release from over at TVShowsonDVD.com

There's Jessie the yodeling cowgirl. Bullseye, he's Woody's horse. Pete the old prospector. And, Woody, the man himself. Of course, it's time for Woody's RoundUp. He's the very best! He's the rootinest, tootinest cowboy in the wild, wild west!

Top Ten Ways to Find Good Deals on DVDs and Blu-ray...
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