Any news on a Carol Burnett Show DVD? (1 Viewer)

[NY2LA]

Very exciting. I had only a short exposure to the previous set I once called Guthy Renker to buy some, but their sales script the agent was reading was just SO pushy, obnoxious and relentless (no matter how many times you said NO they had something else to try to sell you) that I hung up in disgust and didn't order ANY! (found five volumes in a used bin at Amoeba years ago then had to sell them in a lean period). Almost anybody here could have more knowledge about the previously released sets than I, so...
Who knows exactly which, or how many episodes, were the maximum ever released in the previous two versions? I thought I may have heard somewhere there were about 31 or so volumes of 2 each.
I have a hunch these are the same 60 or so episodes that were being circulated before. I remember reading some speculation that we likely will never see ALL the episodes again, due to huge music rights fees, something about ownership or who produced which seasons, and which periods Carol liked best and least.
Although I suppose I should start saving now for the 20 discs. Why no BluRayl I wonder? Are they using old analog masters? I also wonder if reuse fees are the same for simply rebroadcasting them, like on cable or streaming services...
PS, Carol's fansite mentions the two CBS Julie And Carol specials are being released together, but alas, only on CD.

 

[David Rain]

I'm guessing it's the same eps being recycled but for fans who didn't get all (or any) of the CH releases then this could be a good thing.
As far as seeing the entire series released (or reshown) I wouldn't hold my breath. It's true about ownership and music rights problems. Unfortunately, we will have to be grateful for what's already been put out and what "new" material might appear on a future set.
Also, I'm not sure why anyone would seriously think this could come out on Blu-ray. It's a 40 year old show that, I assume, was shot on videotape.

 

[David Lambert]

I'm guessing it's the same eps being recycled but for fans who didn't get all (or any) of the CH releases then this could be a good thing.
As far as seeing the entire series released (or reshown) I wouldn't hold my breath. It's true about ownership and music rights problems. Unfortunately, we will have to be grateful for what's already been put out and what "new" material might appear on a future set.
Also, I'm not sure why anyone would seriously think this could come out on Blu-ray. It's a 40 year old show that, I assume, was shot on videotape.

Please see the update I added to the bottom of my TVShowsOnDVD story later in the day; TL tells me that there will be new-to-DVD content on their sets, material not seen on the previous CH or GR discs.
I agree that we'll never see the entire run of this show due to all the rights issues (and possibly also due to other possible reasons). But from the way my TL contact was talking, I think the rights issues with "Burngood" episodes are cleared up, because it was indicated that pre-'72 eps will be included.
I also agree that there's no chance of a Blu-ray release, starting with the reasons mentioned and including the fact that TV-on-BDs still aren't selling anywhere near as well as TV-DVDs are, and that BDs still cost up to as much as 6x more to produce than a DVD containing the identical same content. Most "successful" TV-BD releases tend to be current shows, and even if they are retro shows then either way they are usually special-FX-heavy programs. Carol certainly doesn't fit into that category.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Please see the update I added to the bottom of my TVShowsOnDVD story later in the day; TL tells me that there will be new-to-DVD content on their sets, material not seen on the previous CH or GR discs.

Of course, the key word there is content, since that can simply mean clips/sketches used in the bonus features and doesn't necessarily mean "new episodes". I'm sure we'll have more information soon enough, though.

But from the way my TL contact was talking, I think the rights issues with "Burngood" episodes are cleared up, because it was indicated that pre-'72 eps will be included.

Did the contact actually use the words "complete episodes" or something more generic like "material" or "content"? I know that pre-'72 clips have been included in most (if not all) of the specials/reunions, so that's never been a problem.
If there are going to be new-to-DVD episodes in the sets (including pre-'72 ones) part of me will be happy, but another part of me will be disappointed, as I suspect there will likely be a lot of overlap on the 1972-and-later episodes, as those were hand-picked by Carol for the CH sets (or so we were told), so many of those are probably episodes she considered as 'among the best' anyway.
It would be nice if any "new" episodes could also be sold on single discs for those of us who took the effort to track down and buy all 31 of the Columbia House discs (or 20 or so G-R ones), but I doubt that would happen.

I also agree that there's no chance of a Blu-ray release, starting with the reasons mentioned and including the fact that TV-on-BDs still aren't selling anywhere near as well as TV-DVDs are

Of course, the fact that this show as produced on NTSC videotape is the major reason that Blu-Ray should be a no-go here. The only benefits of Blu-Ray on a videotaped show are storage (less discs needed) and the potential for less compression, but I doubt any studio would release a taped show on Blu-Ray for these reasons, because there's the public perception that Blu-Ray automatically equals high-definition, and there would probably be complaints about the fact the picture was standard def if they bought it on Blu.

 

[David Lambert]

Andy, you're asking me to dissect a hurried phone call made yesterday (I've slept since then) with a person who was stressed because he didn't want to me late for a plane. I didn't have time to write down exact words, and I don't want to lie to you and say he said something he might not have. The general tone, though, was that he felt fans would be happy in the end. Of course, studios can indeed be wrong about that...but these guys did pretty darn well with Get Smart and Six Million Dollar Man, among others. I'm clearly not as deeply passionate about this as you, or the other people posting in this thread, are about TCBShow. However, my confidence level is pretty high right now. Suggest you give them the benefit of the doubt for now, and let's see what updated info says as things get finalized.

 

[NY2LA]

I'm guessing it's the same eps being recycled but for fans who didn't get all (or any) of the CH releases then this could be a good thing.
As far as seeing the entire series released (or reshown) I wouldn't hold my breath. It's true about ownership and music rights problems. Unfortunately, we will have to be grateful for what's already been put out and what "new" material might appear on a future set.
Also, I'm not sure why anyone would seriously think this could come out on Blu-ray. It's a 40 year old show that, I assume, was shot on videotape.

No one said they were holding their breath, but there seems to be a possibility that rights to air are different than rights to sell, as they were created to be aired and reruns were certainly a reality in those days.
Are you certain that the full quality of broadcast masters in the 60s/70s can be fully contained within the limited bandwidth of a DVD? I'm not so sure. If DVD were as good as it gets for that material, why would anything shot on videotape in that era be released on Blu?

 

[mrz7]

I have to commend David Lambert (as well as Gord Lacey) over at tvshowsondvd.com.....They do wonderful job getting "the scoop" on DVD releases related to T.V. shows. They are just the messengers....and they ALWAYS make sure that the information they provide on their website for their latest news on DVD releases is either "rumored" or "a possiblitity with further details to come" in their descriptions.
I think for me (as well as maybe Andy, though I can't speak for him), in regards to the new 4 DVD configurations of "The Carol Burnett Show" coming out from Time Life...it's exciting news that they are coming out with these new configurations, with new material. However, I think we don't want to be too excited to think that MOST of the material might be the same as what was on the Columbia House or Guther-Renky releases. I know, personally, I have all 31 of the Carol Burnett Show DVD's from Columbia House (which is 2 episodes per DVD....a total of 62 shows). I would hate to "double dip" on the new Utimate set (that contains 50 shows) for just maybe a "few" bonus sketches with the same full episodes I already have (even though, I am huge Carol Burnett fan, and probably end up buying the new set anyway!!) It is great to know there will be new bonus features with the cast (minus Harvey Korman of course, but there will be a new tribute featurette to him).
At this point it's all speculation until Time Life releases specific details (Full show Episodes / sketches / bonus features) to what's on the different sets. And I am sure, like always, tvshowsondvd.com (David and Gordy) will provide, over time, the most accurate information they will be able to get from Time-Life.
Thank you again David, for all the hard work you and Gordy do at tvshowsondvd.com!!!

 

[Brian Himes]

I've been mulling this over for the last couple of days, and here is my two cents worth on content for these releases. I have all 31 Columbia House releases and I'm not sure, but somewhere after volume15 or so, the intros with Carol, Harvey and Tim stopped. So, I'm guessing that these episodes were the ones that were supposed to be hand picked by Carol at the time. So, that let's say that the intros stopped at volume 15. That would be 30 episodes that might be on the Ultimate set as well as 18 of those 30 may also appear on the Carol's Favorites set. If this all plays out that way, then there is still 20 episodes to fill out the 50 on the Ultimate set. Personally, I really don't see more than 15-20 episodes from the Columbia House set being re-released on the Ultimate set. The only thing that I am almost certain of is that if poeple buy the Ultimate set they will not have to buy any of the other sets. Any episodes on those other sets will already have been included in the Ultimate Set. I'm also pretty sure that the Went With The Wind episode will be included in all four of the releases.
I will be getting the Ultimate set. Even if it gives me only 20 or so new episodes that I don't already have. There were several sketches that I was hoping for on the Columbia House set that I didn't get. Mainly the rest of the Tudball & Wiggins sketches and several of Tim's 'Old Man' sketches (especially the fireman, and the deli one). I also hope that the episode with Mildred Fierce is on this set. There are a couple of As The Stomach Turns sketches I would love to have. The one where Marion attends a wedding and a funeral in the same day. "I've had a happy, sad day, but at least I caught the bouquet." It was a funeral wreath. LOL. Too Funny.

 

[NY2LA]

Okay then, so... 62 episodes previously released, 50 coming in this set, and not sure how many of the 50 will be what was contained in the 62. So a lot of us will be waiting to find out about that. I currently have NONE of the episodes, but I wasn't too crazy about the 2 per disc format, especially without a play all feature. (I rarely watch Fox's MTM season 1 set for that reason)...
So my HOPE is that this release does SO WELL that they can afford to release another 50 episodes and we can ALL end up with more than were released by CH or GR.
Does anyone have a preference for how they arrange/organize the 50 episodes? Chronology seems to be out the window, so what else, by theme, guest stars, what? We can already figure some discs will have 3 eps, some 2. Without commercials they could put as many as four on a disc with room for some extras. I imagine everyone would prefer any extras to be on the same disc as each episode they're related to.
To keep this fun, how about everyone listing what favorite moments, scenes, episodes, etc will end up in the big set?
Mine I'll have to think about, but how about the As the Stomach Turns Exorcist parody with Bernadette Peters as Raven and Tim Conway as the local exorcist: "an 8x10 glossy of Pat Boone drinking a glass of milk!" and he nearly cracks BP & Carol with an ad-lib at the end of a line "and a little bit of her knee." I would like to see lots of outtakes...

 

[David Rain]

So can we dream about the idea that all 50 eps will be previously unreleased ones ? I'm guessing not.

 

[Neil Brock]

I really only watched the show during the first few seasons so I've always been disappointed with what's come out. Never really watched the show post-Lyle Waggoner years as there was always something on opposite that I was more interested in. And I'm not a big Conway fan.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

So can we dream about the idea that all 50 eps will be previously unreleased ones ? I'm guessing not.

Not, I'm afraid, considering how much was said about "Went With the Wind" in the press release (that was on volume one). I''ll be surprised if any of those 50 episodes are ones that weren't previously available, if for no other reason that the "legwork" has already been done on all of those episodes concerning who to pay royalties to, etc. I bet most (if not all) of the previously unavailable footage is in the bonus features.
I don't want to set myself up for disappointment (remember all those times that the old Johnny Carson compilations got repackaged/re-released and everyone kept hoping for new stuff (as the titles/packages were always changed) only to get burned?
David: sorry if I came across as demanding an explanation, I was just curious if you remembered how specific they were, because as we all know, in these matters, language is often carefully chosen to either be accurately descriptive, or intentionally vague.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

TIME LIFE ANNOUNCES THE LONG-AWAITED

RETAIL DVD RELEASE OF

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW





THIS MUCH-BELOVED

25-TIME EMMY AWARD WINNING SHOW

WILL BE RELEASED IN MULTIPLE CONFIGURATIONS,

WITH ALL EPISODES PERSONALLY SELECTED

BY CAROL BURNETT





CAROL BURNETT JOINS CO-STARS

TIM CONWAY, VICKI LAWRENCE AND LYLE WAGGONER

IN NEW INTERVIEWS AND TEN HOURS OF

NEVER-SEEN-BEFORE EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES





AVAILABLE ON DVD SEPTEMBER 25





FAIRFAX, VA – April 19, 2012 – Time Life – the home of classic TV, including GET SMART, THE DEAN MARTIN VARIETY SHOW, THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN and THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR– will release on DVD one of the most beloved and acclaimed series in the history of television—THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW. The series, considered by many to be the greatest comedy-variety show ever produced, will be made available in several DVD configurations beginning September 25th, featuring episodes hand-selected by Carol Burnett. Time Life’s release of THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW marks the first time the show has been available in retail stores. “It will be wonderful to see DVD’s of my show in stores…” said Burnett.



Time Life’s initial release of THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW will come in four different configurations:

• 
  THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW—CAROL’S FAVORITES: A 6-DVD set boasting 18 complete, unedited episodes featuring the most popular and hilarious sketches and characters from the long-running series. Included: Starlet O’Hara in “Went with the Wind”, The Family, Tudball & Wiggins, The Oldest Man and additional movie parodies. Also featured in this jam-packed set are guest appearances by Carl Reiner, Steve Martin, Betty White, George Carlin, Shirley MacLaine, The Jackson 5, and many more.

• 
  THE BEST OF THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: 2-DVD set with 6 all-time classic episodes chosen by Carol Burnett.

• 
  THE BEST OF THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW: Single-DVD with “Went with the Wind,” classic sketches of The Family, Tudball & Wiggins, and others.

• 
  For the ultimate collector—the long-awaited 20-DVD boxed set THE CAROL BURNETT SHOWULTIMATE COLLECTION. This incredible package contains 50 episodes and more than ten hours of new, never-before-seen bonus features. The unprecedented collection comes in a creatively-designed collector’s box.

All configurations will feature detailed and generous bonus features, specially produced for this historic release, including:

• 
  A laugh-filled roundtable discussion with Carol Burnett, Tim Conway, Vicki Lawrence and Lyle Waggoner, reminiscing about 11 years of fun and entertainment they created.

• 
  A personal tribute from the cast honoring the much-beloved fellow cast member Harvey Korman.

• 
  Multiple featurettes on the history of the show, the genesis of key characters and sketches, Carol’s fans, and the influence Carol and the show have had on several generations of comedians and television hosts.

• 
  New and exclusive interviews with fellow entertainers and guests on the show, including Carl Reiner, Ken Berry, Betty White, Florence Henderson and others.

THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW debuted on CBS in 1967 and ran for 11 years, receiving 25 Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes, making it one of the most honored shows in television history. TIME Magazine named THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW one of the “100 Best Television Shows of all Time” and Carol Burnett has been honored with more People’s Choice Awards than any other actress.



Carol Burnett, Tim Conway and Vicki Lawrence will make several national TV appearances to celebrate the DVD release of THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW.

 

[David Lambert]

I have to commend David Lambert (as well as Gord Lacey) over at tvshowsondvd.com.....They do wonderful job getting "the scoop" on DVD releases related to T.V. shows. ... Thank you again David, for all the hard work you and Gordy do at tvshowsondvd.com!!!

Thank you for that, Scott.

David: sorry if I came across as demanding an explanation, I was just curious if you remembered how specific they were, because as we all know, in these matters, language is often carefully chosen to either be accurately descriptive, or intentionally vague.

Andy, there's no doubt that my contact at Time Life was being intentionally vague, simply because things haven't been finalized yet. You can't be sure of what a finished item will be, until it's finished.
In any case, there is more news today, with my contact at TL keeping his promise to get back to me and answer as many of the reader questions as he could, if I would only pass them on to him. I passed on many more than he was able to answer...but again, nothing's completely finalized yet. Keep in mind that the releases are still 5 months away, and the DVDs are not fully produced yet at. At all.
Note that some of what I've previously said/interpreted/assumed was corrected by my contact: although Blu-ray doesn't seem like it would be likely, the studio hasn't ruled them out yet. Interesting that. All 4 releases will be "episodes"; the 1-disc title isn't strung-together sketches as I previously thought (it's actually 3 episodes). I would have sworn pre-'72 episodes were indicated to be in there, but obviously I got that part wrong. But that doesn't rule them out for future releases, apparently. And the "big" release won't be in stores, like I thought: it's only available from TimeLife.com (but the other 3 sets will be sold in stores).

So can we dream about the idea that all 50 eps will be previously unreleased ones ? I'm guessing not.

David (Rain), absolutely not: one thing I HAVE been correct on, all along, is that all 4 titles from Time Life will be a mix of new-to-DVD episodes, and previously-on-DVD episodes. TL has been very clear about that from day one.
More to come. Literally more to come, both about these releases and future rounds of releases, which ARE being planned. Will we eventually get the entire run of the show? TL can't commit to that, obviously, since there are numerous rights issues in play: music rights, other related rights, and of course ownership rights on the four "Burngood" seasons. The latter makes sense as to why there won't be season sets...TL isn't the sort of studio to do season sets if they have to start with the fifth season! But maybe we can see those episodes on future rounds of DVDs. Let's see. For now, I think the studio is doing their best to craft a bunch of stuff that will make fans happy. I think they'll succeed, personally, but I'm also well aware that they can't please everyone. We'll see what happens.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Dave,
Want to thank you for your contributions to this thread.

Very much appreciate the information. Keep us posted, please.

 

[NY2LA]

David Lambert said:
- All 4 titles from Time Life will be a mix of new-to-DVD episodes, and previously-on-DVD episodes.
- future rounds of releases... ARE being planned.
- maybe we can see those (first 4 season) episodes on future rounds of DVDs.
Wow. Excellent!
I find those points in particular very encouraging, especially in the details you mention on your site, like if BluRay CAN present the material at its best it's not off the table yet. That shows me a commitment to quality and builds up some confidence in how well the series is to be handled.
I'm a little surprised to see so many different sales options for the same show. Is this common? I'm all for TL taking every opportunity to market this on every level possible, and if this helps get the product to people with different levels of interest and therefore affords the rest of the opportunity to buy further episodes, I'm all for it.
So as I mentioned earlier, what I was hoping for was the possibility to eventually have all episodes previously released plus a few more. Now that you've been confirmed that's being planned, I can happily sit back and try to figure out how the hell I can afford to buy them all!
So thanks for the followup, and please relay to your TL contact that the new details have sparked a lot of appreciative excitement. (roaring/applause here) And...
That I hope each disc will have several play options, including: Play Episode, Play All Episodes, Play Episode with related Extras, and Play All Episodes with related Extras)
Goodnight Dave (Tugging on ear) I'm so glad we've had this time together!

 

[Albert71292]

If I can afford it, I'll probably wind up buying the big set of this. Won't mind "repeat" episodes from the Columbia House sets, because I purchased them on VHS instead of DVD (they weren't on DVD yet when I started getting them), so I'd consider the DVD a definite upgrade in quality to the tapes.
As for Blu-ray, this was posted on TVShowsOnDVD's Facebook post...
"Jim, the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) will only sell a studio a license to produce Blu-ray Discs if the agree that they will not put featured content onto a BD in anything other than a high-def video format. "Bonus Material" can be standard-def, but whatever the main show/film is on the title HAS to be in high def. The reason for this stipulation is because Blu-ray is sold/advertised as a high-def (HD) media, and if some studios put standard-def (SD) content onto some Blu-ray releases just for storage reasons, it will confuse people and give them examples of items to point to and say "see, Blu-ray quality isn't so great!" So its disallowed."
"The Carol Burnett Show" was no where near high def, being shot on videotape, so I'm fairly certain you'll never see it on Blu-ray, as you'll never see "All In The Family", "Sanford & Son", "Fawlty Towers", "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Soap", etc. on Blu-ray.
However, that said... always a POSSIBILITY that more older filmed shows like "Star Trek" and "The Twilight Zone" might hit Blu-ray in the future, like "Gilligan's Island", "The Brady Bunch", "I Dream of Jeannie", etc. (Tried to single out what classic filmed series did well in DVD sales in the past).

 

[NY2LA]

"The Carol Burnett Show" was no where near high def, being shot on videotape, so I'm fairly certain you'll never see it on Blu-ray, as you'll never see "All In The Family", "Sanford & Son", "Fawlty Towers", "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "Soap", etc. on Blu-ray.

Have you viewed the Carol Burnett Show master tapes yourself? HiDef doesn't just mean 1080p. Time Life has reportedly been said to be taking into consideration whether those master tapes can provide more resolution than we can get on compressed lowres standard DVD. If the issue were as simple as you suggest, TL would have already taken that possibility off the table. Let's give them a chance to evaluate the actual material and see how good it is.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Have you viewed the Carol Burnett Show master tapes yourself? HiDef doesn't just mean 1080p. Time Life has reportedly been said to be taking into consideration whether those master tapes can provide more resolution than we can get on compressed lowres standard DVD. If the issue were as simple as you suggest, TL would have already taken that possibility off the table. Let's give them a chance to evaluate the actual material and see how good it is.

He doesn't have to see them. Shows shot on videotape in the USA are NTSC/525 and are "locked" at 480 useable lines of resolution, which is nowhere near HD (which starts at a minimum of 720 lines). So, if the statement Albert quoted is true, then there's no way a videotaped show from the 70s would qualify as high-def.
That said, I must say I've never heard that statement before. I wonder if there's any truth to it, or if it's just a load of old rubbish. Either that statement is very old, or the person making it missed the Blu-Ray releases of Trek and Twillight Zone.

 

[Albert71292]

Think my wording might have been a tad off last night when I posted (darn bourbon!). I OWN the Star Trek and Twilight Zone Blus, I was trying to say because those were successful, you might see other older FILMED series that sold well on DVD re-released on Blu in the future.
Nothing shot on videotape prior to high-def will ever see the light of day as a Blu-ray release, because it doesn't fit the specs for Blu, which require the MAIN content to be HD.