6M$M and Bionic Woman Region 2 release 09/26/05? - Page 2

Which is weird why theyre doing pre-orders so close to the ship date. I've had my Dr Who 05 boxed set on preorder for months now and that's not coming out until late fall.

Must be the distributor up to some monkey business.

Hey Universal, I just spent about a half hour creating the following sample covers for a SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN: SEASON 1 R1 release (and I'm no professional!). Please give these some thought, instead of using the artwork you're releasing for the R2 set.
SMDM and BW Season One
SMDM Seasons 2 & 3
BW Seasons 2 & 3


EDIT: Fixed links to reflect my new improved, dimensional designs.

EDIT: Combined links with above post.

I bet six million dollars (joke) that the R1 releases, whenever they hit, don't have the "classic television" logos on them.

I just can't picture it. The look of the logo does not go with a sci-fi show that is essentially "futuristic", even if the setting of the show is paradoxically set in the 70s, thirty years ago. Rather, I would expect Uni to come up with some covers that scream "Bionic!" top to bottom.

Kolchak and Hitchcock Presents are getting that logo, albeit in a "darker, thinner" version. But American Gothic is not. Nor is the much more "classic" Murder, She Wrote (full-size cover art going up shortly, after I finish puttering at HTF ). Nor is Munsters S2, although that could just be because of Herman's Head. Airwolf didn't have it, although the logo was in use by then (as the same-day-streeted Black Sheep proves). Quincy didn't have it. Other scif-fi shows like Cleo 2525 and Earth 2 didn't have it. Universal just does not use that, uh, universally. I just have a gut feeling that the two Bionic shows won't get it, either. If they do, then it will be a modified version of it, like Kolchak's/Hitchcock's.

Dave, you may be right. I have no way of knowing whether they'll use this new "branding" or not. I just used it for these mock-ups. Universal has been VERY inconsistent in their packaging. I don't know what criteria they use to determine whether a show is "classic" or not. Age? Popularity? Perceived demographic marketing tactic? A graphic design department run amok?

Seasons 1 & 2 of "Columbo" are not "classic", but Season 3 is? (from 1973, the same year as the debut of "SMDM").
"Quincy" Season 1 (1976, three years after "SMDM") is also "classic".

I think shows like "Murder She Wrote" and "Airwolf" had their packaging designed way before this new "classic" concept started to appear. Universal has a well-known reputation of announcing shows for release way in advance, then delaying them for unknown reasons. I'd guess that much of the packaging has already been configured at the time of announcement. When some of these shows finally appear, their packaging doesn't conform to other current offerings from the studio.

Universal's inconsistency can be seen in "Columbo", for an example. Season 1 has 5 DVD-9s in a DigiPak, Season 2 has 4 DVD-9s in two Amarays and Season 3 (the only "classic"!) has 2 DVD-18s in Amarays in a reverse-opening case. Seasons 1 & 2 have a "trenchcoat" band at the top, while Season 3 has been branded as an "NBC Mystery Movie" (no doubt because of Uni's new parent company being NBC). The box design for Season 3 is more consistent with "McCloud" and "McMillan & Wife" (other NBC Mystery Movies) than Seasons 1 & 2.

That's the one thing we can count on from Universal: their consistent inconsistency!

It almost looks like Lee Majors is smoking a cigarette while he's running on your mock cover ...

I thought that too. It's really just a leftover flash from the sun behind him. It's a screen-grab from the title sequence.

Play.com has just posted an update on the SMDM Season 1 R2 set. They have now indicated as special features:


I figured that would be the case, since the original announcement showed 13 episodes/6 discs, while "Bionic Woman" showed 14 episodes/4 discs.

Play.com's listing of the contents now looks like this:

1. The Moon And The Desert
2. Wine Women And War
3. The Solid Gold Kidnapping
4. Population: Zero
5. Survival of the Fittest
6. Operation Firefly
7. Day of the Robot
8. Little Orphan Airplane
9. Doomsday, and Counting
10. Eyewitness to Murder
11. The Rescue of Athena One
12. Dr. Wells is Missing
13. The Last of the Fourth of Julys
14. Burning Bright
15. The Coward
16. Run, Steve, Run

While the inclusion of the three original pilot movies is fantastic, I'm still a bit worried. They refer to them as "episodes", and the premiere pilot movie is indicated to be "The Moon and the Desert", while its actual title is simply "The Six Million Dollar Man". The "Moon & Desert" was the new title applied after the movie was "expanded" and divided into a two-part syndication version. The same procedure was also used on the other two pilots, since all three were originally shown in 90-minute timeslots, a format unsuitable for syndication runs.

The fact that the pilots are listed as one title each, rather than "Parts 1 & 2", which would make the episode count total 19, makes me feel a bit better. Hopefully the "Moon & Desert" indication is not the actual on-screen title, so we'd likely be getting the real deal...finally!

Universal Playback released the three pilots on VHS years ago. I believe that only one of them contained the original "movie" version, while the other two utilized the re-edited, two-part syndi versions. Here's hoping that we'll finally be able to own these original pilots, not seen properly since 1973!

Here's the link to Play.com's SMDM updated listing:

www.play.com/play247.asp?page=title&r=R2&title=716855&p=57&g=72&pa=sr

I posted the following a few days ago in another thread, but I think it should also be here, as it pertains primarily to this topic.





By strange coincidence when coming upon this post, I had just finished a conversation with Kenneth Johnson, the creator, writer, producer and/or director of such shows as "The Bionic Woman", "The Six Million Dollar Man", "The Incredible Hulk", "Alien Nation" and "V". I had been actively pursuing him to learn whether he will be involved in any special features or commentary for Universal's upcoming SMDM and BW sets. (Afterall, he did provide two of my favorite commentaries on "Hulk"'s pilot and season two opener, which was also released by Universal)

In another coincidence, Mr. Johnson, ("Kenny" as he wished to be called), told me he recorded commentary for his pilot for "Alien Nation" on DVD today! He said the only reason he knew the DVD was in the works was because a fan, like myself, had contacted him about it. He told me Fox was embarassed to not have thought to contact him. Luckily, he was able to get to them in time to record the commentary. He offered his behind-the-scenes footage and gag reels, but apparently the budget was used up and there wasn't enough time to meet the release schedule. (We've heard that one before!)

After our initial conversation, Mr. Johnson followed up with an update that he immediately contacted Universal Home Video to "scope out the situation" regarding SMDM and BW. He said he'd let me know what he finds out. The guy is so gracious and welcoming of fans. He is exactly the kind of guy we want involved in our DVD sets! He also said he has gag reels for BW that he'd make available. Do you hear that Universal?

For fans of TV commentaries, I'd highly recommend listening to his commentaries on "Hulk" and "V". The guy has an unbelievable memory for details, and is very generous with compliments for co-workers on his sets, even pointing out extras by name and pointing out how their contributions helped the production. I'm really looking forward to hearing his commentary on "Alien Nation". The guy is a real team player and it shows, through his work and his interaction with fans. A class act all the way!
Now...I just hope and pray that I got to him, and that he gets to Universal, in time to make a difference on the SMDM and BW sets! Let's keep our fingers crossed!


Just think of how often this scenario plays out in the studio business. It seems a shame that there are so many fans that could help so much by doing so little. Everybody would win. So why aren't the studios more responsive? Most of the people in their marketing and production departments probably weren't even born, or weren't fans, of the many shows they are assigned to work on for DVD release. There have been only a few examples of DVD sets where fan, or creator, input was utilized, and the results show. Think of all the mistakes that could have been prevented. Like knowing whether the episodes are cut, proper broadcast or production order, airdates, making sure photos on the packaging are from the correct season and liner notes are accurate. Studios: think of all the money you'd save on your production budgets, since most of this work would be gladly done for free, without so much as a credit in the liner notes! (Speaking for myself, anyway).

I personally got involved when I heard that Criterion was releasing HALLOWEEN on laserdisc (back in the day), and supplied them with many of the stills for the supplement section. I was told that I was also responsible for convincing them to release it in CAV, rather than CLV, which allowed the use of the stills and text files. (To those of you I forced to shell out an extra $50: :p) )

I also got involved when I heard that a company was going to release a set of SMDM: 30th Anniversary trading cards last year. They sent me some samples of the product they had started. Bottom line: I ended up writing all the copy for two full seasons of episodes, and supplying them with a copy of an episode that Universal was missing, therefor allowing for a complete set.

So, with a little effort, differences can be made. That's one great thing about the internet: it enables many of us, through forums like this, to efficiently communicate our wishes and ideas. Now, the hard part is getting those pesky studios to listen, and let us volunteer our services!

No its not. Very few UK releases get announcements in the timeframe US releases do. Sometimes your lucky to get 1 weeks notice!

Anyhow, these are now officially announced
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=58336

Thanks for the link, James. The cover art is even uglier when viewed in full-size/hi-res! What's with the orange color scheme? They couldn't have found worse images to use if they tried! That blurry, dark photo of Lindsay Wagner is from BW Season 3, and is the same one they used for the covers of the previous three "best of" DVD volumes. And certainly there must be an "action" shot of Lee Majors to be found that would better adorn the cover. Neither cover does justice to these shows.

Very lazy cover design IMHO. Please Universal, there's still time to do a better job on the R1 versions! I feel bad for all the R2 fans who will be subjected to this hack-job.

Ok, I feel relieved now. Both sets are listed on Amazon as well as SendIt.com.

Well, my copy of both sets has shipped from Sendit. It usualy takes a week for a package to get to the US from the UK, so I should be able to give a report on the discs soon.

Sadly, it's been 30 years since I've seen the show, so theres no way for me to compare them for syndication cuts or anything like that.

Tony i'll be real interested to hear about the packaging, in particular how sturdy the hubs are.

i'm hoping that since Rockford finally got a R1 release, these two won't be far behind, but knowing a modest priced set is already out there, its going to be hard to resist.

My sets are also on the way from Amazon.co.uk.
I'll post my thoughts when they arrive. I couldn't wait for the R1 versions, and I'd also like to have non-DVD-18s
on these titles, albeit with PAL speed-up.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for SMDM's three pilots to be in their original 74-minute format, and not the re-cut
two-part syndicated versions.

Jeff, you can be sure I'll post my findings. The previous VHS and DVD versions that were released in R2 by Universal Playback were all uncut, except for two of SMDM's pilots, which were the two-part episode versions. Strangely, one of the pilots was left intact.

The running time of the PAL R2 episodes, converted to NTSC, is about 50 minutes each, which is exactly what they
should be. I'm fairly confident in Universal's track record with providing uncut episodes.

i'm having issues recently with the Universal dbl sided discs as well (Quincy, McCloud, Bela Lugosi) so as much as i don't like the Pal speedup (i do notice it on my BW discs) that would be something to seriously consider.

Actually, it's a little more complicated than that:

SMDM
PAL-VHS
volume 1: Contains uncut versions of the first two pilots (Wine Women and War is the original movie version, not a 2-parter as your above post seems to imply)

volume 2: Contains the 2-part syndication version of Solid Gold Kidnapping rather than the original, longer movie version.

Classic Collection boxset: Contains nine uncut first season shows.

Pulp Sci-Fi WH Smith exclusive: Contains two uncut episodes: Golden Pharoah and Burning Bright.

DVD
Volume 1: Contains uncut Secret of Bigfoot 1 and II and Seven Million Dollar Man.

Volume 2: Contains three uncut episodes: Day of the Robot, Run Steve Run and Return of the Robot Maker.

Volume 3: Contains three uncut episodes: Hocus Pocus, Price of Liberty and Bionic Criminal.

Volume 4: Duplicates three episodes from the 3-VHS boxset.


BIONIC WOMAN
PAL-VHS
Volume 1: The Bionic Woman pilot from SMDM. Still presented as two SMDM episodes, but if memory serves, there's some slight editing, which may or may not just be the recap at the beginning of part 2.

Volume 2: Return of the Bionic Woman from SMDM. Still presented as a SMDM segment, but it is edited into a "movie" version, so no recap on part 2 and all the footage that would've had episode info. superimposed at the beginning of "part 2" is likely removed, as it doesn't appear on the tape.

Pulp Sci-Fi WH Smith exclusive:Kill Oscar 1, II and III. Episodes are the original syndication version (I say original as none of the actual episode footage itself is edited out), so this means that for part two, the opening/closing SMDM title sequences have been replaced by BW ones. As all 3 episodes were on the same tape, I see no good reason this was done. Also, all the recaps, and the "to be continued on the Six Million Dollar Man", etc. have been cut.

DVD
volume 1: Contains three uncut episodes: Black Magic, Motorcycle Boogie and Jailing of Jaime.

volume 2: Contains the original syndication version of Welcome Home Jaime part I (so the only edit is the replacement of the SMDM title sequence and "to be continued" with the BW titles), Welcome Home Jaime part II (don't remember if the recap is still on there) and an uncut Angel of Mercy.

volume 3: Contains three uncut episodes: Vega Influence, In This Corner... and Jaime and the King

My sets arrived today - and I havent had a chance to fire the discs up yet (About to go do that now), but I thought I'd let you know what I've found so far.

* The packaging is booklet style, like the Babylon 5 sets or the Ken Burn's Civil War set - instead of folding out, it's clear plastic holders that open like a book. (What the 'official' name for this style is - I have no idea).

* The odd thing - instead of the discs sliding out of the outer sleave to the right (like where a book would open if you were reading it), the discs slide out to the left. It took me a few moments to realize "Hey! I cant get these out!"

* A quick check of the menu screen shows that the pilot is indeed broken up into parts 1 and 2 for both shows.

* The only booklet is a 8 or 10 page promo for the other shows - A-Team, Knight Rider, a couple of UK sets, and that sort of thing. The book is the same for both sets.

* No extras, like we were suspecting.

I'll let you know more when I get a couple of episodes under my belt.

The "pilot" for "The Bionic Woman" was always a two-parter, so this is OK. But "SMDM" had three pilots, and all were 90-minute "movies".

Not surprised at all.

So, Universal, now that you've screwed up the R2 versions...there's still time to get it it right for the R1 versions. Geeeeeeez!

My sets haven't arrived yet, but I'm already disappointed.
Tony: hurry up with your assessment!

Well, I got through the first two pilots of the 6M$M- and they are the syndicated versions like we suspected. Part 2 of each has the recap, and the first pilot is indeed labeled The Moon and the Desert. An odd note - I don't know how it was syndicated, but the The Moon and the Desert had the wrong Rudy in the credits (not Martin Balsam) and featured Oscar - who of course was nowhere to be seen in the story.

Brief aside - boy did the series get better. While I'm more than certainly willing to cut the show for the 70's cheese, I was expecting Steve to battle bionic bigfoots from mars and fembots and stuff. While the introspection of becoming bionic was cool and all, it moved way slow compared to what is yet to come. That and thank goodness they got Richard Anderson and toned down the Government Weasel aspect of Oscar. The other guy was a serious dick. But anyway. . . .

Sound is mono, and was fine to my ears. The video looked about comparable to the previous "best of" discs that playback had previously issued - and frankly what do you expect from a 30 year old TV show anyway? All things considered, it was just fine.

Like I said, I barely remember the show from when I was a kid, so I'm not qualified to tell if the episodes have been cut or not. I randomly sampled some episodes for the running time - Population Zero ran for 48:50 and Survival of the Fittest clocked in at 48:40, so if I had to wager - accounting for PAL speedup - I'd say that sounds about right.

I haven't touched the Bionic Woman yet (and I've been saying that since 1978 ) but I suspect that the set will be more or less the same. I'll take a look at the pilot tomorrow and report back in if things look too out of balance.

Anything else you guys wish to know?

Well, he's already said that the first two $6M Man pilots are not the original uncut movie versions, but the shorter 2-part syndication versions.

Don't really undertand why this happened, as Playback have issued the first two pilots in their original movie format just a few years ago on VHS. Maybe they thought it'd make the set look like it has "more episodes" on it, or someone who knows nothing about the series just pulled the first copy of each story from the shelf, or assumed the two-parters were the originals and that the movies were for syndication?

Guess I'll have to hang onto my PAL tapes awhile longer (or maybe much longer if they simply port over this exact set for R1 instead of the US division of Universal doing their own work).

Considering the syndication print cock-up on $6M Man, how much you wanna bet part one of "Welcome Home, Jaime" is presented as a BW episode rather than a $6M Man one?

I remember that the series was based on the novel Cyborg. Was the Initial Pilot movie also called that? If it was maybe there's a rights issue. I seem to remember the pilot was called something different

While the pilot was based on the novel Cyborg, the 74-minute pilot movie's on-screen title was always simply "The Six Million Dollar Man". The syndicated two-part episode version was retitled "The Moon and the Desert" (Parts 1 & 2). The MCA DiscoVision laserdisc release from 1979 featured the correct 74-minute version, but the title on the cover was "Cyborg: The Six Million Dollar Man" for some reason. It continues to be (incorrectly) referred to as such in many places, including IMDB.com.

It sort of figures that they've favoured the TV version over the movie version. They did the same with the original 70s Battlestar Galactica (which was a good thing) and Airwolf (which wasn't).

Like The Six Million Dollar Man the original Airwolf pilot (movie version) has been released on VHS several times here. It's rated 18 and contains some bad language.

The perfect scenario would be to put the movie versions on there as extras. Anyway... based on previous experience I doubt the R1 set will be any different to the R2 (except the R1 has less chance of proper playback!)

JR