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12-10-2004, 08:12 PM
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#1 of 58 
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I just watched the first episode on the new Fat Albert box set and it appears to me that these were PAL transfers converted to NTSC. Right off the bat, the theme song sounded wrong. I've heard this theme hundreds of times over the years, so it was immediately noticeable. Also, during the opening monologue, the pitch of Bill Cosby's voice definitely sounds sped up. Not horrible, but definitely noticeable. Also, I see lots of ghosting which is common on PAL-NTSC conversions. There seems to be lots of other compression artifacts as well, but the ghosting was the most annoying.
I'm no expert, so I would love to hear someone else's opinion on this.
Also, if anyone has the Time/Life Fat Albert discs, I would like to know if those are true NTSC transfers. I may just end up getting those.
Jeff
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12-11-2004, 03:24 AM
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#2 of 58
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I wonder if the one disc version is the same way?
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12-11-2004, 10:33 AM
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#3 of 58
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This news really disappoints me.
I was REALLY looking forward to watching this set with my kids, but what you've described sounds awful.
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12-11-2004, 10:35 AM
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#4 of 58
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Is the quality much less in comparison to the Time-Life discs?
If this is a big issue, someone should inform Craig Crumpton who has been in contact with the company producing these sets and passing along advice and suggestions on our behalf. It would be good to address the issue before the 2-disc chronological volumes are issued so that if there is a significant problem with the video quality or transfers, it can be corrected before future volumes are released...
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12-11-2004, 06:54 PM
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#5 of 58
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I have the Fat Albert Time-Life set and it looks pristine, sharp, not sped up at all. In fact, it looks like they used the original film negatives to master the DVD set because unlike other DVD releases (Lost In Space comes to mind) where you can see video scanning lines (because they were mastered from video sources), the Fat Albert Time-Life sets look beautiful. The only problem with them is the fact that they didn't include every episode of the series. Here is a list of all the episodes not included in the Time-Life set:
1st season Episodes missing:
The Runt
Fish Out Of Water
The Hospital
2nd season Episodes missing:
Mom or Pop
How the West Was Lost
Sign Off
3rd season Episodes missing:
None
4th season Episodes missing:
What Say?
5th season Episodes missing:
The Dancer
Spare The Rod
Sweet Sorrow
Poll Time
The Mainstream
Soft Core
If you can live without these episodes ( I have so far), I suggest you buy the Time-Life set. Maybe eventually someone will release a set that'll include the missing episodes. I was thinking of buying the new set only so I could have the episodes not included on the Time-Life sets, but after reading the reviews, I think I'll pass.
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12-12-2004, 01:05 PM
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#6 of 58
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Hey Guys,
Semi-unrelated question for you Fat Albert fans. I desperately want a copy of the Fat Albert Christmas special on DVD. I have seen a couple on Ebay, but I have questions about their authenticity. Was it released as part of the Time-Life sets? If so, was it available on its own? My mom taped it off TV when I was kid in like 1985 and I always loved it. Thanks for any info!
You'll Believe A Man Can Fly
DVDAF
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12-12-2004, 06:08 PM
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#7 of 58
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Quote:
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I desperately want a copy of the Fat Albert Christmas special on DVD. I have seen a couple on Ebay, but I have questions about their authenticity. Was it released as part of the Time-Life sets? If so, was it available on its own?
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Yes Zack, the Christmas special was released through TimeLife, on a single disc along with the Halloween special, the Holiday Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. I actually got my copy through eBay a couple of years ago. |
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12-12-2004, 09:24 PM
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#8 of 58
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It's also tentatively planned for release through Urban Entertainment next year.
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12-12-2004, 09:43 PM
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#9 of 58
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Quote:
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I was thinking of buying the new set only so I could have the episodes not included on the Time-Life sets, but after reading the reviews, I think I'll pass.
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Well, I still want to wait until someone else can confirm whether or not my suspicions are correct. Again, I'm not expert. It just sounded to my ear that the pitch is off and I noticed ghosting throughout. Those are 2 symptoms of a PAL-NTSC converted transfer. But I'll wait until someonw with more experience can confirm this.
Anyone else found a review anywhere? |
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12-12-2004, 09:49 PM
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#10 of 58
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Quote:
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Yes Zack, the Christmas special was released through TimeLife, on a single disc along with the Halloween special, the Holiday Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. I actually got my copy through eBay a couple of years ago.
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Great! Thank you very much for the info. 
You'll Believe A Man Can Fly
DVDAF
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12-13-2004, 09:05 AM
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#11 of 58
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Well, since Fat Albert is now owned by British company "Entertainment Rights", perhaps they were lazy and had some PAL video masters converted to NTSC, rather than searching for NTSC video masters (if they even have them). Who knows if ER even has the original film prints?
I knew of someone who temped for Hallmark who was boxing the stuff up in anticipation of the "sale" to ER. He said many of the shows were on digital tape. Since Filmation material was in distribution in the UK and other regions for a much longer time than the USA, I suppose it's possible that the only videotape masters (in a modern format, that is) are in PAL, so perhaps ER were either too lazy or too cheap to have new NTSC masters made.
The Time/Life sets were made when Hallmark owned the series.
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12-13-2004, 12:15 PM
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#12 of 58
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Quote:
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The Time/Life sets were made when Hallmark owned the series
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And thank God they were made at all, because the quality of the Time/Life sets looks superb. I'm a huge fan of the old Filmation shows (Archies, Groovie Ghoolies, Sabrina, Isis, etc. I have been anticipating these shows being released on DVD eventually. However, if this British company plans on releasing these shows the same way they did with Fat Albert, they won't be seeing one penny from me. I don't understand why they would take a show done in the U.S. in the NTSC video standard, transfer the shows to the PAL standard, then re-convert them back to NTSC for distribution in the states. This makes no sense. Maybe this "Entertainment Rights" company should sell the rights of these shows to some other company, hopefully one who takes a little pride and care in releasing a quality product to the public. |
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12-13-2004, 10:46 PM
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