Liz finally got her star in 2008
Bewitched Season 8?
I very much doubt I will. I'm sure it will be akin the crappy Jeannie complete set, which means little to nothing new and probably VERY tacky looking. And if it's the same as the Japanese set, then definitely not. Neither Tabitha nor the Nicole Kidman travesty belong in the set with the original series.
We'll see what it has and what it looks like when it comes out (and if by some miracle they fix the messed up eps.) But based on Sony's track record with this series and their complete sets, I'd say it's 99.2% sure that there won't be anything on it warranting a second purchase.
Liz finally got her star in 2008
But even though I might wish for them to be corrected, I know Sony will simply release what was already put out. Shame.
Liz finally got her star in 2008
burned them to a DVD-R with my DVD stand alone Burner, so i have them uncut & in their
entirety as originally seen & they look great, as good as episodes on the DVD set do.
Nobody But A Frog Knows How To Live i burned from my Sony DVD set as well to DVD with the black blank footage that was in between a few scenes for a few seconds edited out, so it is fixable too, S5's Cousin Serena Strikes Again, Pt 1 was fine except for the colour being far too strong on it, but all you have to do is turn the colour down about 5 notches from 23 to 18 on your remote & it is perfect.
I believe all the other episodes were basically fine with no real flaws.
Larry Tate :)
I believe the real trouble with CSSA, Pt1 is that it was mastered from video of a 16mm print. The color is not only too strong, but slightly off as well, leaning to red and the grain is just hideous. But at least that one, as you say, is somewhat fixable with simple TV adjustments, although it looks FAR from perfect. In fact, so many of the 5th season eps suffer from low-level (or no) color correction and unrestored prints. A real shame. It really stands out as the worst looking of the DVD sets. But of course, that's because Sony spoiled me by having such good transfers on this series as a whole. And without the music, effects and laugh track substitutions that plagued S2 of I Dream of Jeannie. I am VERY grateful for that.

Mike, about half-way through Act II of NBAFKHTL, right after the Tates and Mr. Saunders leave for the night, there is a brief fade to black and then back up, losing about 4-5 seconds of action and sound, almost like fading out to a commercial, but it isn't a commercial break. It's weird. Someone goofed in the transfer, and they should have fixed it. It doesn't ruin the episode, but it should have been corrected.
In that case nothing was lost in terms of action or sound as what happened was the blank footage was inserted into the episode itself in addition to the episode inbetween two camera shots & did not right over any actual visual or audio footage, so it is odd but does not effect the actual episode content in any way, i confirmed this with the factory Screen Gems VHS tape release of it that i own.
With SSTS Part 1 i did not see any grain issue at all so i believe it was from a 35 mm print & remastered as per usual, the tint was fine too & once i turned the color down the episode looked sharp as a tack & as good as any we had seen previously from a visual quality perspective.
Myself i don't agree re season 5 as i see a restored & remastered set every bit as good as any other prior or since.
The odd episode has the odd issue but no more or less then any other season set does.
Season one for example in episode #15 Visions of Sugar Plums had a grainy issue as it was from a 16mm print & not restored, one or two episodes each season had such or otherwise glitches in regards to them.
Larry Tate :)

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Originally Posted by David*P
Unbelievably almost 2/3 of the 26 episodes of this season are direct remakes of previous episodes, some even being word for word remakes!
Were Sony to actually release this as they should the following extras should be included:
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It sound's like this series had definately "Jumped the Shark" during this season, if it hadn't already.
As for the Bonus Features consider this SECONDED!
Thumbs down for me, sorry. I don't pay to see commercials, and nor does anybody else, I don't think. Also, Sony would probably have to pay the companies involved for getting those commercials, which would add to the overall production costs of the disc mastering. Just get commercials off of YouTube, or get a hold of the 16mm films from somewhere and have those converted to DVD.
Anyway, I LOVE this set!! I'm so happy to FINALLY have all 254 episodes in my possession on DVD. I love that Sony included EM's intro on every episode along with the "Be Right Back" bumper.
The color and clarity on the few episodes I've watched so far is fantastic!
Any extras are nice, but I wouldn't want it to increase the price of the set. I'm not willing to pay for them.
"Nothing is better for thee than me!" -- Quaker Oats tag line circa 1964-5.
I always said if I ran one of the original sponsor companies like Chevy, Quaker Oats, Kodak or Oscar Mayer (which are all still in business today), I would kick in a nominal fee to restore and remaster the the original sponsor openings and commercials for the dvds, and voila... built in advertising each time someone pops in an episode to watch! In this day of webisodes, downloads, on-line ads, etc. you need to think outside the box. Certainly, if I worked at Sony I would have approached the companies about doing this. A win-win for all involved.
Edited by JohnMor - 7/16/2009 at 09:24 pm GMT
David,
Thanks for the early info on the video Q for S8. I'm way behind in viewing BW but getting there. I just watched the 1st ep in the S4 set today. I still remember that 1st "Dr Bombay" appearance in the last ep in the S3 set
Looking forward more of the Dr's episodes. The way that he told those jokes when popping in at the house was classic....Darrin & Sam's "lead ballon" responses are great 
"Checkmate King Two Out" Jeff Willis "Combat! A Selmur Production"
I'm a 50's - mid-90's TV/DVD Collector. One DVD show since '96: Firefly
The Fugitive/See Hollywood & Die: [Miles] "What, you think I'm crazy?!" [Kimble] "Next question."
Serena's Youth Pill
SERENA: "Well the children where upstairs playing at the time and there wasn't anything else to do."

LOUISE: "I'm really worried about Larry. He's acting strangely.
SAMANTHA: "Oh, well they all do sometimes."

Tabitha's First Day at School
MRS. PEABODY: "Class, this is Tabitha Stephens. Say 'Hello' to Tabitha. And this is Tabitha's mother, Mrs. Stephens. Say 'Goodbye' to Mrs. Stephens."

3 Men and a Witch on a Horse
DARRIN: "The odds on Count of Valor have dropped from 30-to-1 to 5-to1."
SAMANTHA: "Really? That groom must be a real blabbermouth."

Hansel and Gretel in Samanthaland
OLD WITCH: "I heard that!"
John,
All great picks. I haven't seen most of the S8 eps in a long time but I remember that one about Tabitha's 1st day at school. Classic

"Checkmate King Two Out" Jeff Willis "Combat! A Selmur Production"
I'm a 50's - mid-90's TV/DVD Collector. One DVD show since '96: Firefly
The Fugitive/See Hollywood & Die: [Miles] "What, you think I'm crazy?!" [Kimble] "Next question."

Some great S8 lines:
Tabitha's First Day at School
MRS. PEABODY: "Class, this is Tabitha Stephens. Say 'Hello' to Tabitha. And this is Tabitha's mother, Mrs. Stephens. Say 'Goodbye' to Mrs. Stephens."

They also used this line in season 5 when Tabitha started preschool. The same actress played the teacher, too!
"Congratulations. You're still in the running towards becoming America's Next Top Model."
The same day a complete set of all 8 seasons is supposed to be released for 99 pounds.
Larry Tate
Liz finally got her star in 2008
Liz finally got her star in 2008
before the pilot was filmed, she wore it until the second to last episode of season 6 & thereafter
stopped wearing it & rumor hath it that she gave both copies she had away to members of the crew.
From this point onwards she wore a S for Samantha necklace (i don't believe it was a gift, just a prop) or a choker, the reason for the change?............again rumor hath it that the love that led to the gift was no more due to Bill Asher's roving eye.
Larry Tate :)
Liz finally got her star in 2008
I think S8 is vast improvement over S7, except for a few dogs here and there. The main thing about Liz's performances in S8 that I feel really shows she was at the end of her rope with the show and character was she mugged so cheaply throughout S8, especially on fade outs.
And the speed with which they finished the eps (3 days usually during S8) really shows. The coverage shot isn't nearly as plentiful or well-thought out this season. Especially with some of the Serena eps. They really took some shortcuts this season instead of shooting all the coverage they used to. Plus the lighting was cheaply and quickly done as well. They lit and shot very flat this year in order to finish the shows in such short time to minimize setups.
But to me, ep by ep, S8 is still more enjoyable the S7. It has a looser more fun feel than that season did.
Liz finally got her star in 2008
One thing that's always bugged me though was how cheaply they did the Europe eps. I mean, come on, there are backlot streets all over LA that could pass for European locales, but for 3 CONSECUTIVE weeks they redressed the recently cancelled Flying Nun's home. The former Convent San Tanco was Hampton Court, the inn at Inverness and the town square in Pisa. It's one thing to use the same set and spread it throughout the season, but to use the same set for 3 different places 3 consecutive weeks in a row looks REALLY cheap. At least the Tower of London/Rome Museum set was spaced out 3 weeks. I found it laughable as a kid when they first aired, but seeing them on DVD back-to-back only makes it worse.
Liz finally got her star in 2008
Liz finally got her star in 2008

Liz finally got her star in 2008

