Twilight Zone to be one of Images first HD DVD/Bd releases - Page 4

Re: Twilight Zone to be one of Images first HD DVD/Bd releases

the semi-annual DDD 20% off sale where you enter the coupon code.

Re: Twilight Zone to be one of Images first HD DVD/Bd releases

what ls the code? is it still valid? thanks

Re: Twilight Zone to be one of Images first HD DVD/Bd releases

^The sale ended last week.

Re: Twilight Zone to be one of Images first HD DVD/Bd releases

tino, check out the bargains section of htf good stuff pops up over there.

DVD Talk Forum - might buy car on ebay, except....

Any news on Image's Blu ray version of the 1959 series?

...especially next NEXT FRIDAY is the show's 50th anniversary.  A blu-ray release of Season 1 to celebrate it would have literally made me the happiest man on earth.  Alas.... no such luck.

Yeah, the whole thing about Twilight Zone on Blu-Ray just seemed to sort of go away, didn't it?

Image Entertainment was merged into another company, Nyx Acquisitions, Inc in 2008. I'm not sure if this had an effect on their distribution deal with CBS or not. I suspect with CBS now releasing much of the CBS/Paramount TV library, they might want to release this show themselves.

Doug

Edit: The only thing listed for The Twilight Zone on the Image website, are 2 of "Best of " DVDs priced at $14.99. I suspect Images rights to the show are running out. I would look for CBS to put something out in the next few years.

Oh, great.  CBS/Paramount.  We can look forward to music replacements.

CBS is top notch with the Star Trek series on Blu-ray...so we could hope for that level of quality!

The music cues for The Twilight Zone are well documented and even appear in books on the series so there's absolutely no reason to worry about a situation like The Fugitive.
Edited by TravisR - 10/7/09 at 8:01pm

Sorry Travis, but I don't share your optimism.  After CBS/Paramount's butchery of The Fugitive (and others shows, too), I have no reason to believe that The Twilight Zone is immune.  The fact that the music cues are well documented is by no means a guarantee.  I'll be pleased as punch to be proven wrong, but I'll wait for reviews before I ever buy anything from CBS/Paramount again.

Thank God we got the Definitive Editions on DVD. 

I understand being gunshy but in the case of The Fugitive, they didn't have the cue sheets so they chose to replace the music because they didn't want to risk a lawsuit. For The Twilight Zone, they have the cue sheets and know who owns what so there's no reason that they would have to replace the music.

I think a better question is what might happen to the extras from the Definitive Editions. If the supplements are owned by Image, I wonder if Paramount will bother licensing them for the Blu-rays.

Again, the knowledge of who-owns-which-cues isn't the issue.  The issue is:  If CBS doesn't own a cue, they're more likely to replace it than pay for it.

 There is every reason to believe The Twilight Zone is immune and if you choose not to want to understand or believe it, then that, as they say, is your deal.  The cues in question on The Fugitive were from a different music library - the lawyers got nervous and replaced them - stupidly, as it turns out.  The Twilight Zone has no such problems - others have said it, and well-documented is well-documented.  But you worry and then you can come and post "Whew, glad I was wrong to be worried."

As to my level of understanding on the subject ---- I own the Martin Grams Jr. book, which includes cue lists for every episode, but more importantly, I own Xeroxes of the cue sheets from all 156 episodes.  The stock-scored episodes include cues from many sources.  Some of them are marked, simply, "CBS."  Many are marked "April Music Inc.," which I assume is CBS-specific, as all the cues from Bernard Herrmann, Jerry Goldsmith, and other regulars fall under that category (not just full episode scores; individual library cues as well).  Other cues are marked "public domain."  So far, so good. 

However, there are also cues sourced from a variety of different music publishers, and there are no notations as to whether or not they were/are an actual part of the CBS Music Library.  The cue sheet for the episode "Escape Clause," for example, has a note at the top that reads:

"April Music, Inc. make no claim to the music written by Bruce Campbell & Arthur Wilkinson per file ending ASCAP to PRS 8/9/60." 

Now, I'm not an expert on music publishing; I never claimed to be.  But that notation suggests at least the possibility that the cue in question (titled "Soldiers on Strings," if you're interested) might not be owned by CBS.  And if that's indeed the case, then the question is:  Is CBS/Paramount going to pay for it, or are they going to yank it out and replace it?

Billy, if you (or anyone else) can point to a credible source that definitively states that EVERY SINGLE CUE used throughout the series was in fact owned outright by CBS, I'll happily forgive your condescending tone.  Otherwise, I'll stick with my cautious outlook on the situation.

None of the Perry Mason discs have had music replaced.

In addition The Twilight Zone is one of the few CBS shows that used very little tracked music from the CBS music library. In fact I believe that The Twilight Zone only used music that was written for that show even when tracking music from another episode.

The major difference between The Fugitive and The Twilight Zone, is that Zone was actually produced in house at CBS, where Fugitive was independently produced.

There is unlikely to be an issue with the music for this show.

Doug

I'll give you that CBS most likely doesn't own every cue but I still think worrying about it is like worrying that the sun won't rise tomorrow- it's possible but what are the odds? If they pull music they don't own, they still have to pay someone to record new music. Can a 50 year old library cue cost that much?

EDIT: Doug, TZ did re-use their own music but they also used a fair amount of music from other series as well. That being said, I don't how their use of music compares to other series of the time.

I'm in the process of making a feature film at the moment. I had had considered using vintage 40's/50's library music, but looking into broadcast/DVD and theatrical rights, I've found that it would actually be cheaper to hire a composer and a 30 member orchestra to do original music.

Doug

They did reuse episode-specific scores in other episodes ("To Serve Man," for example, is scored almost entirely with cues from the earlier "Back There"), but they also utilized a TON of library cues not written specifically for the series.

I do now that they had far more original music in the show than for instance Perry Mason. On Mason about the only original music on the show is the short intro bits that include the Perry Mason theme. Almost all of the incidental music on the show is tracked from the CBS library, and in fact includes a fair amount of music tracked from The Twilight Zone in later episodes.

There is only one complete original score for that show that I know of, and that was scored by Jerry Goldsmith.

Doug

I adore the music in the CBS library (especially the Herrmann stuff), and I'd love to be able to score my film with it.... but there's no way in hell I could afford it.  It's depressing.

Yeah that sounds typical of a CBS production. But The Fugitive is not a CBS production and I'm not sure it is fair to compare The Twilight Zone to the situation with The Fugitive.

Doug

Yeah even libraries like DeWolfe and Valentino are really outrageous. And I'm really looking for a vintage sound for my film.

Doug

Guys, all I'm saying --- It's not outside the realm of possibility that some minor music substitutions could happen.  Is it likely?  Probably not.  But it's not impossible either.  And The Twilight Zone is by far my favorite series of all time, so I'm a bit protective of it.  :)

Well, I hear Mark Heyes is available... 

I hear you there, but given that the show was licensed to Image including the isolated scores on the DVDs, I doubt there will be issues.

Doug

Funny!!! But to be fair, he actually did a good job with what he was given. I wouldn't hesitate to hire him to write an original score. Its just unfortunate that had to go in that direction with that show.

Doug

Some promising news:

http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=3813

wow, between Trek & Twilight Zone, this is EPIC!!! =D