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Hotel-Season 1 will finally be released on DVD(21st July) - Page 2

post #31 of 99
7/17/09 at 8:40am
Sitcomsonline has a review up.  It sounds like the transfers are pretty good
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post #32 of 99
7/17/09 at 2:37pm
Will have to check that review out. PlayUSA posted my copy earlier this week. Should get it in the post in the next few days, depending on whether there are customs charges or not (you have to pay customs charges if a DVD or DVD boxset is £18 or more).

Edited by WaveCrest - 7/17/2009 at 09:54 pm GMT
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post #33 of 99
7/21/09 at 5:28pm
I ordered my copy today as planned.  Hopefully it won't take forever to receive.
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post #34 of 99
7/25/09 at 7:11pm
 I just got my copy today, and I have seen four of the component outings, including the pilot. I'm enjoying it so far, but Paul Mavis' review gives me a little twinge of buyer's remorse:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/38000/arthur-haileys-hotel-the-first-season/




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post #35 of 99
7/25/09 at 10:05pm
Ha! yes that review does not make the show sound very appetizing to say the least. But, that does not bother me in the slightest. Because say what you will about it. This is no more a time waster than 75% of the rubbish people cherish on the air today. This is Aaron Spelling while not at his best, still giving us an enjoyable romp in the manner he could only deliver. I think my set will arrive on mon/tues & I look forward to watching it.
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post #36 of 99
7/25/09 at 10:19pm
here is a review that will make you feel better.

www.hometheaterinfo.com/hotel_season_1.htm

blogcritics.org/video/article/dvd-review-hotel-the-first-season/

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post #37 of 99
7/26/09 at 2:51am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Aryn Leroux View Post

Ha! yes that review does not make the show sound very appetizing to say the least. But, that does not bother me in the slightest. Because say what you will about it. This is no more a time waster than 75% of the rubbish people cherish on the air today. This is Aaron Spelling while not at his best, still giving us an enjoyable romp in the manner he could only deliver. I think my set will arrive on mon/tues & I look forward to watching it.
You're absolutely right about that. It, so far, is very enjoyable. The transfers, while having a little dirt and some specks in them, come off quite crisp, and make you feel like it's 1983 again. I've also seen a couple of video clips of the opening from YouTube, and while those are good, this DVD version adds more clarity and detail to the opening titles, just as if you were watching the series on ABC in 1983.

My last post, I should add, was not meant to discount the fact that Paul Mavis has the right to his opinion, as do we all.

Oh, and by the way, those other two reviews that you posted make me feel a little better already. Thanks a ton!

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post #38 of 99
7/26/09 at 3:29am
 Oh, and by the way, one other thing about this-- while it does have the CBS Television Distribution logo on the end of the component episodes (at least, those that I've seen), it has a very different "CBS Home Entertainment" logo on disc startup. Though this release is branded on the spine as being from CBS DVD, the logo that comes up, while having the CBS DVD jingle, looks a whole lot different than the "globe and streaks" logo seen on releases of "Five-O," "Lucy," et al. 
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post #39 of 99
7/26/09 at 9:26am

What the first reviewer laments there, is precisely why I take oldtime TV over modern eye candy, why it beats the living crap out of what's on the box today. Yes, stories sometimes sucked badly (never as bad or boring as now), but the fine actors more than made up for it usually. Can't wait to dig into this set. 

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post #40 of 99
7/26/09 at 10:39am


Quote:
Originally Posted by HenryDuBrow View Post

What the first reviewer laments there, is precisely why I take oldtime TV over modern eye candy, why it beats the living crap out of what's on the box today. Yes, stories sometimes sucked badly (never as bad or boring as now), but the fine actors more than made up for it usually. Can't wait to dig into this set. 


Some people may actually like ABC and the other networks in the state they are now, but not you and I. I've been (for the longest time) a fan of what was on then more than what is on now. That is, as a whole, what has driven the DVD purchases that I have made, and it will continue to do so.


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post #41 of 99
7/26/09 at 11:12am


Quote:
Originally Posted by HenryDuBrow View Post

What the first reviewer laments there, is precisely why I take oldtime TV over modern eye candy, why it beats the living crap out of what's on the box today. Yes, stories sometimes sucked badly (never as bad or boring as now), but the fine actors more than made up for it usually. Can't wait to dig into this set. 


Gotta disagree on that count. I don't think their are too many series from 50s - mid-90s that can top the all around talent found on "Oz," "The Wire," "Dexter" and "The Sopranos." The new version of Battlestar Galactica is superior to the original version. Love Boat is fun as a nostalgic artifact of kitsch, but it's as mindless as a test pattern. This first season of Hotel came off as an uptight version of Love Boat. It could have been helped by a sense of humor.
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post #42 of 99
7/27/09 at 8:25am
What I like about Hotel is that there's no humor, something I never enjoyed about Love Boat to be honest, the Brolin show was going for something else entirely. I positively dislike laugh tracks (wish they offered a turn-off option), and don't watch any of the 90s/00s shows you mentioned, strictly a classic TV guy. So I obviously prefer the original BG to the updated one. Thank God for DVD!
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post #43 of 99
7/27/09 at 9:06am
 got to say that you're really missing out on the new BSG. Richard Hatch is much better on the new one

Watching Hotel, what storylines that were supposed light (like Erin Moran) came off more uncomfortable than comic. 
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post #44 of 99
7/28/09 at 8:05pm
I watched the first disc of the set. I enjoyed the episodes I have watched so far. Seeing Pernell Roberts in one of the episodes has me longing for a release of Trapper John though. Hopefully this sells well enough so we can see future seasons. A worthy purchase!
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post #45 of 99
7/29/09 at 3:22am
 I'm nearing the halfway mark, and I've really been enjoying it. However, something I thought I should bring to your attention-- they seem to have been playing musical chairs with the closing backgrounds. One time, it's the Golden Gate at night, another a daytime skyline shot, and yet another a nighttime skyline shot. Has anyone else paid attention to this?
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post #46 of 99
7/29/09 at 2:16pm

 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Corey3rd View Post

Gotta disagree on that count. I don't think their are too many series from 50s - mid-90s that can top the all around talent found on "Oz," "The Wire," "Dexter" and "The Sopranos." The new version of Battlestar Galactica is superior to the original version. Love Boat is fun as a nostalgic artifact of kitsch, but it's as mindless as a test pattern. This first season of Hotel came off as an uptight version of Love Boat. It could have been helped by a sense of humor.

I completely disagree with you on all counts. The material on older shows may not have been as true-to-life as what you watch now but it was infinitely more appealing and entertaining than what is being passed off as drama today. And the actors were just as good as any you see today. The directing was a bit hokey, sure, but we're talking about a different period in our culture. Today everything is too serious and heavy-handed. I'll take the older stuff by a mile over most anything that's on today. 

P.S. I hate this new site. I'm having a terrible time just replying to threads.

 
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post #47 of 99
7/29/09 at 2:20pm

Quote:
Originally Posted by Elena S View Post


I completely disagree with you on all counts. The material on older shows may not have been as true-to-life as what you watch now but it was infinitely more appealing and entertaining than what is being passed off as drama today. And the actors were just as good as any you see today. The directing was a bit hokey, sure, but we're talking about a different period in our culture. Today everything is too serious and heavy-handed. I'll take the older stuff by a mile over most anything that's on today.



Amen to all of that, Elena.  You are spot on correct!


Gary "why am I not surprised to find myself agreeing with you on this issue?" O.

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post #48 of 99
7/29/09 at 2:50pm
That's a 10-4 Elena, & Gary.  With y'all all the way.  I like a couple of post-80's shows here & there but they're few & far between.  No comparison to the (imo) golden age of TV shows, 50's-60's.  I consider the 70's a "silver" age.

What?  Someone doesn't like the new HTF software?  Can't believe it   Just kidding.  I ain't crazy about it myself.  I think we were used to the vBulletin board but I read on the "new software" thread that Ron had to tweek the old Bd frequently to keep it going smooth for us so the change is good in the long run.
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post #49 of 99
7/29/09 at 2:50pm
" Today everything is too serious and heavy-handed."

 

Monk, The Big Bang Theory and the Simpsons are too serious and heavy-handed? There is humor in Dexter. Even the Wire and the Sopranos had light moments. I understand a certain level of 21st century TV hating on Memory Lane, but must it sound like what my grandfather said about Fred Silverman's Jiggle TV?

Watching the DVD of Hotel just reminded me why I didn't watch it the first time around.

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post #50 of 99
7/30/09 at 8:30am
If you felt like that the first time, there's little chance you're gonna feel differently now, then why did you buy it?  The so-called humor in much of today's drama, is 'haha, making fun of others' humor, not the jokes of past years. Hotel is good innocent drama entertainment, think we need this more than ever, grabbing and mostly diverse stories (by now been a rarity for decades) without the superficial glossiness of modern TV. Can't believe I'm saying this about a Spelling show.   
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post #51 of 99
7/30/09 at 9:56am
I didn't buy it. 
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post #52 of 99
7/30/09 at 10:06am
He gets these for free to review them, Henry. 

Gary "loving good, old-fashioned 20th century Americana on DVD - not so much 21st century depravity" O.
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post #53 of 99
8/3/09 at 2:08pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Corey3rd View Post

" Today everything is too serious and heavy-handed."

 

Monk, The Big Bang Theory and the Simpsons are too serious and heavy-handed? There is humor in Dexter. Even the Wire and the Sopranos had light moments. I understand a certain level of 21st century TV hating on Memory Lane, but must it sound like what my grandfather said about Fred Silverman's Jiggle TV?

Watching the DVD of Hotel just reminded me why I didn't watch it the first time around.


Wow, you're referencing shows about serial killers and mobsters. Nah, nothing serious or heavy-handed about those.
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post #54 of 99
8/5/09 at 7:57am
I would tend to agree the "fun factor" in the tv landscape today, is just not there the way it used to be. There are a few exceptions with shows like Burn Notice, Leverage which are based on the mold of 80's style shows that were "fun".
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post #55 of 99
8/5/09 at 8:11am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Elena S View Post




Wow, you're referencing shows about serial killers and mobsters. Nah, nothing serious or heavy-handed about those.

and there's nothing heavy handed about a show taking place in a Nazi prisoner of war camp or the crime ridden ghetto apartment tower in Chicago. No way you can't be nothing, but serious in those places.
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post #56 of 99
8/5/09 at 8:42am


Quote:
Originally Posted by Corey3rd View Post




and there's nothing heavy handed about a show taking place in a Nazi prisoner of war camp or the crime ridden ghetto apartment tower in Chicago. No way you can't be nothing, but serious in those places.

You've obviously never seen "Hogan's Heroes" or "Good Times"!
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post #57 of 99
8/6/09 at 11:09am

Those were the ones he was thinking of, probably. But in all seriousness, even in war you do need to turn things around sometimes and have a laugh about the meaninglessness of it all, and joke about the creeps you're fighting against. However, shows about murdering mobsters and serial killers - crime for gain or personal pleasure - I don't think are really suited for too much lightheartedness and (in essence) glorification. 

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post #58 of 99
8/6/09 at 12:19pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by HenryDuBrow View Post

Those were the ones he was thinking of, probably. But in all seriousness, even in war you do need to turn things around sometimes and have a laugh about the meaninglessness of it all, and joke about the creeps you're fighting against. However, shows about murdering mobsters and serial killers - crime for gain or personal pleasure - I don't think are really suited for too much lightheartedness and (in essence) glorification. 

But the SS and Gestapo are ripe for humor under your perspective?

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post #59 of 99
8/6/09 at 8:53pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Corey3rd View Post



But the SS and Gestapo are ripe for humor under your perspective?

 

You are trying to compare apples and oranges -- sitcoms vs. dramas. No comparison.
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post #60 of 99
8/6/09 at 9:05pm


Quote:
Originally Posted by Elena S View Post




You are trying to compare apples and oranges -- sitcoms vs. dramas. No comparison.

You're just making excuses as to why you can laugh at SS and Gestapo agents versus Dexter or Paulie Walnuts on the Sopranos during their comical moments. Have you even seen either of those shows are are you part of the "I don't watch any television that was broadcasted with a stereo soundtrack" crowd.

Far as the level of drama on Hotel, I ended up watching another Spelling production over the weekend - Family. Now that's a show where the tone and the script match up. The whole Erin Moran episode reminds me too much of the Love Boat with Charo - except they wanted us to take Erin's story way too seriously.

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