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The Man From UNCLE?? - Page 9

post #241 of 687
10/11/06 at 4:21pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

I'd love to see an official release but this could take a long time to clear up. Unfortunately when it comes to matters like this, might makes right. While Warner may not be right, they have a department full of attorneys with nothing better to do than fight battles like this. I'm just happy that I transferred my tapes, all from a San Francisco run in the late 80s, complete (not time sped) and remastered. Oh, and before on screen bugs.
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post #242 of 687
10/11/06 at 5:24pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Quote:
Originally Posted by FrancisP
There isn't likely to be any resolution anytime soon. Warner's strategy is likely to be delay, delay, delay, and rely on their deep pockets to win rather than having this abdjucated in court.


The only problem with Warners strategy is that by the time they release it many of the buyers will either be gone or too old to load a DVD player anymore.

I really wish Anchor Bay would somehow get the rights to this because if Anchor Bay were releasing this I would be 100% confident that it would be a stellar release. If Warners ever releases it I would not be confident that it would be anything more than a mediocre release and that we would likely never see anything past season one.
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post #243 of 687
2/7/07 at 8:37am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

So, speaking of 60s classics, is there any new word or is it still stuck in rights limbo?
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post #244 of 687
2/8/07 at 8:37am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Still stuck. 10 months and counting.

Frankly, I don't think Warner cares if TMFU is ever released. They just want to make sure that no one else ever does. This is an "asset" they must preserve at all costs.

It's been 40 years now. Give it another 10 years and there will be no one around who will give a d@mn. Then their "asset" will have a value of 0. "Window of opportunity" is something they apparently have no grasp of.

- Tim
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post #245 of 687
2/8/07 at 9:53am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim.O
Still stuck. 10 months and counting.

Frankly, I don't think Warner cares if TMFU is ever released. They just want to make sure that no one else ever does. This is an "asset" they must preserve at all costs.

It's been 40 years now. Give it another 10 years and there will be no one around who will give a d@mn. Then their "asset" will have a value of 0. "Window of opportunity" is something they apparently have no grasp of.

- Tim


Well as evidenced by them being in no hurry to do anything with 77 Sunset Strip and the rest of their 50s classics which are now 50 years old. The window of opportunity, if there even is one for those shows anymore, will be closing even sooner.
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post #246 of 687
2/8/07 at 11:04am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Michael Alden
Well as evidenced by them being in no hurry to do anything with 77 Sunset Strip and the rest of their 50s classics which are now 50 years old. The window of opportunity, if there even is one for those shows anymore, will be closing even sooner.

Warner Bros. was so busy making sure that they didn't miss the window of opportunity to release 7 seasons of The Dukes Of Hazzard that the window for their 50's classics sailed right past them.
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post #247 of 687
2/8/07 at 8:10pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Come On Warner! Release MFU already! Maybe Time Life needs to by the rights and release a complete series set.
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post #248 of 687
2/9/07 at 4:40am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenneth V
Come On Warner! Release MFU already! Maybe Time Life needs to by the rights and release a complete series set.

Oh, man... Don't tease us like that!
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post #249 of 687
2/9/07 at 7:16pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam Favate
Oh, man... Don't tease us like that!


It was just wishful thinking. Something has to be done about the rights to shows though. Look at Batman......we will never see that released either.
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post #250 of 687
2/9/07 at 7:43pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kenneth V
It was just wishful thinking. Something has to be done about the rights to shows though. Look at Batman......we will never see that released either.

"Never Say Never" ALthough I tend to agree with you about Batman. But, I keep being surprised when I check in at TSoD & see announcements like "WKRP....", "Flipper", "Cagney/Lacy", "Hawaii Five-O", "Bosom Buddies", etc, getting announced just within the last few days. Just when I think that maybe the 60's-80's era's releases have peaked and are on the downward slope of the curve, Gord posts the news. I believe that UNCLE and Batman will be released eventually....just a matter of time.
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post #251 of 687
2/12/07 at 3:06am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Well, seeing as how I'm already 52 years old I'll probably never see an official release of this title if they keep progressing at the current rate.
Glad I got a chance to burn Seasons 1-3 off of American Life Network (before COMCAST "upgraded" my service and dropped the network). I've had to acquire Season 4 and the Reunion Movie from "other" means, so I'll stick with my own homemade copies even if they eventually get off their butts and release this.
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post #252 of 687
2/15/07 at 12:37pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Robert Vaughn in an interview in the December 2006 issue of Starlog magazine (Dec. #351) states that he still believes it will come out on DVD in 2007, he'd already done a half day of filming of supplemental material at the beginning or 2006 before the rights conflict became an issue.
Here's hoping his information on this is good...
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post #253 of 687
2/15/07 at 3:46pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Unfortunately his involvement has nothing whatsoever to do with clearing up the rights issues.
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post #254 of 687
2/15/07 at 7:41pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Maybe he should buy the rights and give them to a company to distribute the series.
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post #255 of 687
2/16/07 at 5:23pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Did David McCallum also record any U.N.C.L.E. audio commentaries or do any video interviews for a possible DVD release? It's good to see that both he and Vaughn are busy as regulars on different current TV series, although I don't care for either show.
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post #256 of 687
2/16/07 at 9:25pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

I just ran across a great website tonight with all kinds of wonderful uploads of classic TV series episodes, including several Man from U.N.C.L.E. (first 3 seasons from Americal Life Network).

Also on there are a few episodes of The Invaders, a Dean Martin Celebrity Roast of Ronald Reagan, and many episodes from the first 4 seasons of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. You can download any of these too, but obviously the picture looks best (and very clear) in the smallest size....which is about 7 inches wide.

I just found this site a few hours ago, so there may be a number of other treasures.....
Am I allowed to share the link, since they're free to view?
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post #257 of 687
2/18/07 at 8:31pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

I decided to go ahead and post the link:

Here are 36 episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. :

http://www.guba.com/general/search?f...ry=-1721327189

24 of them are first season, 11 are 2nd season, and the other is one of the worst from the 3rd season "The Her Master's Voice Affair".

The B & W episodes have a much larger picture and are in the best condition because they're off of the GoodLife Network a.k.a. American Life Network (a cable channel my cable company never provided).

The color shows are a combination of CBN Cable airings from the early 1980s (when I first discovered U.N.C.L.E.) and from VHS tape releases.

There may be some TNT reruns mixed in among them too, but I haven't watched more than a few of these so far.

The problem with the site is that it sometimes stalls when playing because buffering takes up a lot of memory. Make sure you have a broadband connection too.

http://www.guba.com/general/search?f...ry=-1721327189
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post #258 of 687
4/18/07 at 5:54am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Very encouraging news posted on tvshowsondvd.com:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7190
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post #259 of 687
4/18/07 at 6:55am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

You beat me to the post It's great news and looks like we'll see this one released soon.

Jeff "That wait list is getting smaller" W.
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post #260 of 687
4/18/07 at 8:15am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

I've begun watching these on AOL's IN2TV website. I've downloaded about 10 eps onto my PC. I've been amazed at the near DVD quality clarity of the picture. You have the option of streaming directly from the site, or downloading individual episodes onto your computer. The downloaded eps are much clearer than if you stream them.

I've enjoyed what I've seen so far.It's great to get to preview a series to see if I'll like it, before it comes out.

There are about 3 or 4 episodes that have odd run times like 1:10, 1:31, etc. I'm wondering if anyone knows if these were movie versions of the series since these eps clearly weren't done for a 60 minute slot.
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post #261 of 687
4/18/07 at 9:19am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Glad to hear that we will likely see this by the end of the year. Hope Warner does as good a job as Anchor Bay had seemingly planned.
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post #262 of 687
4/18/07 at 10:27am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Yes, we'll never be able to make a set comparison, and from what I've read by others owning Anchor Bay sets, they generally do a very good job. I think the only Warners sets I own are for "Adventures of Superman" which I was quite pleased with for packaging, menu design and price. They obviously had put a great deal more thought into this than say, Universal with their amateurish "Night Gallery" S1 release. I just hope Warners releases MFU as season sets and (most especially) on DVD-9s.

Wow--MFU and "The Fugitive" too. '07 may yet rival last year for classic tv releases.
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post #263 of 687
4/18/07 at 12:07pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Good news, and I hope it comes to pass this year. And I hope that they add the MFU feature films as bonuses to the appropriate season sets.
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post #264 of 687
4/18/07 at 2:08pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Hopefully someone can bring this up at the WB TV Chat on 5/7 and more info will be available ? Ron ? Parker ?
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post #265 of 687
4/19/07 at 1:24am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie
There are about 3 or 4 episodes that have odd run times like 1:10, 1:31, etc. I'm wondering if anyone knows if these were movie versions of the series since these eps clearly weren't done for a 60 minute slot.
Yes, these are either 2-part episodes, or combos that were edited and turned into movies.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie
I've begun watching these on AOL's IN2TV website. I've downloaded about 10 eps onto my PC. I've been amazed at the near DVD quality clarity of the picture.
Thanks. I'll have to check those out. But "near-DVD quality" is a bit hard to believe , at the 1.4 MBit/sec rate the downloaded files work out to (DVDs are normally 3 times that). [I.e., 540 MB/50 mins.] At that rate, you could put 15 full-length episodes on a single-sided DVD-9 disc. Perhaps they're using a much better codec than MPEG-2?

- Tim
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post #266 of 687
4/19/07 at 9:19am

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim.O
Yes, these are either 2-part episodes, or combos that were edited and turned into movies.


Thanks. I'll have to check those out. But "near-DVD quality" is a bit hard to believe , at the 1.4 MBit/sec rate the downloaded files work out to (DVDs are normally 3 times that). [I.e., 540 MB/50 mins.] At that rate, you could put 15 full-length episodes on a single-sided DVD-9 disc. Perhaps they're using a much better codec than MPEG-2?

- Tim

I'm not "techno-literate" enough to know about bit rates and the like. I do know that in the past when I've tried to stream internet videos the pictures are fuzzy, the audio is subpar, and the video tends to intermittently freeze up making for an overalll frustrating viewing experience.

The downloaded (not the streamed) episodes of UNCLE are played in something called AOL HI-Q video player which you have to download to be able to watch them in non-streamed format. It allows you to watch the videos in a much larger window than if streamed, and it literally looked like I was watching something on TV. So while "near DVD quality" may be a mistatement, the videos I downloaded were 10 steps above ANY internet video I've ever streamed or downloaded.

They had three pages of episodes available from different seasons, so it's a great way to see a generous representation of episodes from the show's run.
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post #267 of 687
4/19/07 at 4:20pm
Thread Starter 

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Well, if it is true and we are finally going to get it on dvd, I just have one thing to say: YAY!
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post #268 of 687
4/19/07 at 4:35pm

Re: The Man From UNCLE??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ollie
The downloaded (not the streamed) episodes of UNCLE are played in something called AOL HI-Q video player which you have to download to be able to watch them in non-streamed format. It allows you to watch the videos in a much larger window than if streamed, and it literally looked like I was watching something on TV. So while "near DVD quality" may be a mistatement, the videos I downloaded were 10 steps above ANY internet video I've ever streamed or downloaded.
I still don't know what codec they're using, but I did download a couple episodes, and I agree they do look good (as long as you have video acceleration turned on, so the scaler code runs). The other plus is that (as you mentioned) they do have a generous sampling of episodes up there from MFU (and I believe, the complete set from GFU).

On the downside, I was a bit miffed at the large In2TV logo in the corner, more miffed at the 6 advertisements per episode, and rather steamed that in their info on AOL Hi-Q they flat-out lied. I.e., they claim that internet connectivity is required only for a single licensing authorization per show (unless you stop and exit). Which is definitely NOT true. They connect and re-authorize on EVERY one of the 4 segments per episode, and once more for good measure to see the end credits. No continuous connection, no watch. Plus, they leave the large Play/Exit box up covering the show after it starts playing automatically, before you even click the Play button. So you have to futz with that every time.

Lastly, without a connection, you also get multiple popups every time you pause or resume play. So I'd say they have some work to do to make things more user-friendly.

On the up-side, I did get to watch an episode I hadn't seen for a long time (season 2, I think), which was a lot cheezier and more corn-ball than I remembered. So, thanks for the reference.

- Tim
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post #269 of 687
4/20/07 at 2:34pm

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN DVD SETS!!!!!

Not wanting to cast any disillusionment on a (truly) momentous DVD release of a great 1960s tv classic on the basis of the inferior source elements utilized in the 1950s SUPERMAN tv series DVD sets Warner Brothers Home Entertainment had better come up with something (considerably) better than that.

Extras are fine but it's the quality of the actual episodes that really counts here!

Jeff T.
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post #270 of 687
4/20/07 at 7:30pm

Re: THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN DVD SETS!!!!!

Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffT.
Not wanting to cast any disillusionment on a (truly) momentous DVD release of a great 1960s tv classic on the basis of the inferior source elements utilized in the 1950s SUPERMAN tv series DVD sets Warner Brothers Home Entertainment had better come up with something (considerably) better than that.

Extras are fine but it's the quality of the actual episodes that really counts here!

Aside from the fact I respectfully disagree about the quality of Warners' TAOS's releases (I thought they were very good), this is an apples and oranges situation. TAOS had multiple ownership changes and Warners was not the custodian of these prints from Day 1. UNCLE is a Warners show and they should have access to high quality prints. The episodes I've seen on American Life/Goodlife look very sharp so one should expect a DVD release to be comparably sharp. UNCLE is also more than a decade younger than TAOS which makes a big difference considering the advances in technology during that time.

I absolutely agree that having high quality, uncut episodes is the most important thing.

For a show that at one time had a large cult following and spawned spin-off books, etc. UNCLE has seemingly disappeared over the last decade or so and it will be interesting to see how the marketplace reacts to this release.
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