Beverly Hillbillies S2

I notice that dvdpricesearch has added The Beverly Hillbillies S2 to their database. Right now it is only listed at DVD Empire as a October preorder. Has anything been confirmed by Paramount?

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Uh...........yeah.

The Beverly Hillbillies DVD news: Announcement for The Beverly Hillbillies - The 2nd Season | TVShowsOnDVD.com


You should really add tvshowsondvd.com to your list of daily websites to go check out.

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Look for a new story at TSoD, with updates about this release. I'll post it tomorrow, if all goes well.

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^Hopefully there will be some word of a Season 1 release.

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Nope, nothing like that. Just a few more details about this S2 release, and hopefully cover art (probably early art, but I might have final by then).

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Dave, do you know what their plans are regarding S1? I don't have the MPI sets and am reluctant to buy them because, (a) I don't want to double dip on the S2 episodes, and (b) the exclusion of the Christmas episodes on MPI sets really bugs me. Not only would I have to buy 3 MPI releases to get all of S1, the viewing order would be interupted by having to switch discs to get the Christmas episode in the proper sequence. Plus, it's the principal of the thing. They should have included those in the larger sets instead of trying to squeeze a few more bucks out of their customers.

Be that as it may, I wish Paramount would go ahead and release S1. (I can live without the extras that are on the MPI sets.) Or release a S2V2 set, at a reduced price, that picks up where the MPI sets leave off.

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So basicly Beverly Hillbillies Ultimite collection Vol 1 & 2 would be consider S1? (and x-mas special)

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Paramount doesn't own the rights to season one so far as I know. If you want season one, it's MPI.

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NObody owns the rights to Season 1.

Season 1 and the first half of season 2 are in the public domain...which is why there are so many crappy-looking unauthorized DVDs out there with those 55 episodes.

However, it's also why most of those do not have the real opening and closing theme songs. Because those songs are still under copyright, and owned by the estate of Paul Henning (the show creator). The PD releases that cost a dollar obviously didn't spend the money to purchase the theme song rights. Some put it on there anyway, and I believe that the Henning estate has pursued their legal options whenever that happened.

So MPI took those 55 episodes, extracted the two Christmas eps from the first two seasons and put them on their own disc. They took the remaining 53 eps and split them evenly into "Ultimate Volume 1" and "Ultimate Volume 2". They licensed the theme music from the Henning estate, then took it a step further and worked with the estate to remaster their 16mm prints in the estate's own archive. Then they delved further into the archive for the sponsor portions at the end of the opening credits for each episode, AND for the bonus material.

That resulted in a 4-disc DVD set that took you most of the way through the first season, then another 4-disc set that took you through the rest of the first season, and halfway through the second season.

So yeah, to get "Season 1" right now, get all three of MPI's releases.

Could Paramount release Season 1 themselves? Certainly, if they wanted to. Will they? Well, they have not made any announcement for it, though, nor do my industry sources yet say that they are even thinking about it. That doesn't mean they aren't thinking about it. But if they are, I have had no hint of it. I wouldn't count on it, that's for sure. If they were going to do it, they would either have put it out first, or made both available on the same date. Since they didn't, I'm guessing that it's not even on their radar, for whatever reason.

Let's just say I'm glad I already own the MPI releases.

I'm hoping to find out why include "all" of season 2 (instead of just the second half of it) on this first Paramount release, when it's clearly not necessary in light of the MPI Vol. 2 release (and the Christmas disc). So far, I haven't gotten a real clear view of that yet. If I find out, naturally I will pass on that info either here or, if appropriate, at a TSoD news post.

One guess is that the answer is that it felt odd, in the studio's eyes, to release something labeled "Season 2, Volume 2" when there's no "S2V1" they put out to go with it.

On the other hand, they could have just called it "Ultimate Volume 3" and left it at that. I doubt MPI could have done much about that (even if they wanted to, which I doubt), because that's such a generic combination of words.

Another guess, which I caution you is ONLY a theory (so DON'T get excited about this thought), is this: As I said, the MPI releases were remastered from 16mm prints. Someone said it either here at HTF in another thread, or at a similar discussion forum, that the Paramount releases would have to come from their own 35mm prints. Which I would tend to agree with. Which means that the resulting print quality ought to be at least a bit better, if not majorly so. So, PERHAPS the reason to do the Complete Season 2 is to up the PQ on those earlier episodes in that season...IF Paramount has the 35mm prints for those. Which I assume they do.

Then again, maybe they do for Season 2, but not (or not all of them) for Season 1, and maybe that would explain why they're doing what they're doing.

Well, enough rambling, tired thoughts late in the day. Bedtime. G'nite, and y'all come back now, y'hear?

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I just hope Paramount doesn't snip out all the songs by Flatt & Scruggs (or from granny, for that matter!).

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Did anybody else think the MPI junk was unwatchable? They were clearly NOT remastered and were the type of badly dubbed 16mm prints that you would get from a public domain release. I could not even sit through that set. I was really in shock when I saw how bad they looked.

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I didn't find the MPI sets unwatchable. I watched the first volume w/my dad one weekend and it looked okay to me. Personally if I find a set is kinda crappy, like those $10 sets that you get at WM, it makes it more enjoyable, like you are more in the there as you watch it. I thought the picture looked good on those sets.

So should we start taking bets that Paramount won't release S1 until they do a complete series box set, and use that as the only way to get S1, outside of buying the MPI sets?

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I had 20 year old VHS tapes that were recorded at 6 hr speed from a UHF station of the show that looked better then the MPI sets. I don't see how it's open for debate. They were very dirty 16mm dubs. Those prints looked like they were dragged down a dirt road for 10 miles. I think the most popular TV comedy series of the 1960's deserved a lot better then that. I got to think the Season two sets will be a HUGE improvement.

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They weren't unwatchable (Lancelot Link, Secret Chimp DVDs are unwatchable, lets get real) but they were a disappointment.

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I simply fail to understand where people are coming from, saying that the MPI releases are "unwatchable".

No, they're not the best transfers I've ever seen anywhere...let's get that straight off the top.

On the other hand, they're the best transfers of The Beverly Hillbillies I've ever seen. Growing up watching them as a kid, they looked worse than I see on these DVDs. Watching them now on a local UHF station, the episodes look completely pitiful.

I was recently watching the MPI "Volume 2" discs on my LCD HDTV, though, and they do still show some artifacts here and there. But the natural beautiful film grain is still there, as it should be, and the shades of gray are bright and run the gamut pretty well for me. I can see everything I'm supposed to see, and can easily enjoy the stories without being distracted by video-related problems.

Are the blacks as black as they should be? Not quite. Are there problems in the occasional place? Sure. Did the "remastering" job MPI did consist of high-end stuff like Citizen Kane was subjected to? Oh, hell no. Was I "impressed"? No, too strong a word. Was I "disappointed", then? No, not at all, in any way, shape or form. I thought MPI did quite good with what they had.

If I were reviewing the video on these discs (and keep in mind, I haven't regularly performed DVD reviews in several years; it's not a job I enjoy) on a 10-point scale (10 being the highest), I'd probably clock these in at about a 7.

Of course, opinions vary. But that's mine, for a show I would personally categorize as "beloved". As long as Paramount's PQ is equal to or better than MPI's, I'll be cool with it.

The Season 2 cover art I'll be posting later today, though...man, that's gotta go!

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It is a public domain release.

Paramount's stuff should look better, as they presumably have the masters.

(Have to add: I think we, as consumers, have gotten spoiled with all the remastered, hi-def stuff. When I saw these shows rerun in syndication in the 70s, they were shown from old 16mm TV prints...the Lucy Show box set from St. Clair Vision, that's how they looked! Yeah, it's pitiful compared to something mastered from the original negatives -- but I guess having grown up seeing them look like that, either it doesn't look that bad to me or it locks in with something nostalgic for how I saw them when I was growing up.)

(Of course, another thing is that these kind of expectations unfortunately lead to problems like DVNR, etc. because studios are afraid of negative feedback over the condition of the masters.)

Could they do better? Probably. Hopefully, Paramount will.

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I'm not sure what this means: "you are more in the there"?

But I feel the exact opposite. I think a show gets more enjoyable the better it looks, not the worse. Even a cheap, stupid show somehow seems better with a pristine print.

I don't want these things to look the way they used to when they were rerun on a UHF station with bad reception, just because that might put me in a nostalgic mood.

I want them to look the way they should have looked, and it's wonderful that we now have the technology to achieve it.

It's odd to get a state-of-the-art DVD, DVD player and widescreen, HDTV and then be happy something looks bad because that's the way you remember it, but whatever makes one happy, I guess .....

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If they are the best prints of the show that you have ever seen, I can only assume you have never seen the show in reruns in the past 30 years. Get out your DVD's and compare them to the reruns TV land is running right now. There is no way you will be able to say that with a straight face. I was trying to think of any TV show on DVD that looked as bad and Lancelot Link (as another post said) was all I could come up with.

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My goodness, that art is terrible and looks worse than what PD companies use. Simply awful.

Thanks for putting the item in the news story confirming that the original theme music is being used. Jerry Scoggins lives on! (Flatt & Scruggs had the hit single but didn't sing the theme)

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horrible box art. The least the can do is show us the iconic mansion in the background.

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Exactly. And where's Pearl, Mr. Drysdale and Jane Hathaway?

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Come on, we all know that the box art is going to change before the release. I think they just wanted some mock up to show that they are serious w/the release.

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I'm not nostalgic for any syndication-quality 16mm prints of The Beverly Hillbillies either. I'm nostalgic for the way they looked on CBS Wednesday nights at 8pm Central for the better part of a decade. And they looked a lot better than MPI.

But, having said that, I wasn't disappointed in the slightest by MPI's release. The prints looked exactly like what they were: 16mm prints saved by the show's producer for private viewing among friends and family. And I never thought I'd ever see the Winston and Kellogg theme song extensions in my lifetime. Not to mention the cast commercials. Frankly, as a result of the care that went into the extras, I was thrilled with the MPI releases. And through a freak coincidence, I found that I was watching the premiere episode on the same date as the premiere back in 1962. So I pretty much stayed in synchronization all the way through the three packages, watching the Clampetts celebrate Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the arrival of spring in real time. I can't remember when I enjoyed vintage TV on DVD more and look forward to Paramount picking up the baton with 35mm source material.

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I'd say it's probably too much for us to expect Paramount to include (if they even have access to) the theme/sponsor extensions or cast commercials. Those really "made" the MPI release for me. The only "letdown" on the MPI one for me was that the commercials were presented separately, instead of integrated into the episodes as they were originally.

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I don't think you'll see the sponsor-oriented theme song extensions when Paramount continues the series. That was a happy by-product of using the 16mm prints from the Henning estate. The 35mm master material was probably shorn of any sponsor-related material decades ago to prepare for the 35mm network daytime run.

But the Paramount release should look spectacular nonetheless.

Everything in life is a trade-off. If you want to see the sponsor material, you'd better pick up the MPI releases, which are very watchable on my set, scratches and all.

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You are absolutely correct on all counts. While we will not get the sponsor spots on the CBS/Paramount set(s) like we did with the MPI sets, we will assuredly get better quality. And like many of you, I never thought the MPI sets were all that bad to begin with. No, they were nothing like the CBS sets we are getting now and will certainly get with "The Beverly Hillbillies - Season 2", but they were more than watchable.

Gary "now if only we can get CBS to put out the sister series, 'Petticoat Junction', on dvd" O.

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And what do they have in common? Lancelot Link as released by Image was also a public domain release (even though it has a licensing credit from some UK company that is not the copyright holder), from 16mm syndication prints. They tried, but they couldn't even come up with all 17 half-hours. (This is one show that likely will never be released or shown again in its original one-hour form -- the rest of the hour consisted of Warner Bros. cartoons!)

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Absolutely- I'll buy Petticoat Junction and the Hillbillies!!