CBS Status Report (1 Viewer)

[FanCollector]

Updated to reflect today's Dynasty announcement.Continuing: Rawhide (1 season)Becker (1 season) Laverne and Shirley (1 season)Dynasty (1 season; 2 releases)Cannon (2 seasons)Petticoat Junction (4 seasons)The Beverly Hillbillies (5 seasons)Bonanza (8 seasons; 16 releases) Gunsmoke (11 seasons; 22 releases) Stalled: Mork and Mindy (1 season) Dave's World (1 season)Caroline in the City (2 seasons) One Step Beyond (2 seasons) Matt Houston (2 seasons) Early Edition (2 seasons) The Phil Silvers Show (3 seasons) Nash Bridges (3 seasons) Evening Shade (3 seasons) Jake and the Fatman (3 seasons; 6 releases) Hotel (4 seasons) Sister, Sister (4 seasons)Love, American Style (4 seasons; 8 releases) Moesha (5 seasons) Happy Days (7 seasons) Barnaby Jones (7 seasons; 14 releases) The Love Boat (7 seasons; 14 releases) My Three Sons (10 seasons; 20 releases) Licensed:Webster (2 seasons)

 

[Ron1973]

I know a lot of people have issues with the CBS release schedule. What they seem to be doing is waiting as seasons of various series are remastered into HD before just throwing stuff out there. That takes time. Just look at the long stall until the latest Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction sets came out. I never dreamed those shows could ever look so good. Worth the wait, if you ask me.

I know S2 and S3 of The Beverly Hillbillies were remastered for HD and while the b&w episodes do look good, I wasn't prepared for just how good S4 would be. It seemed to me that the transfers on S2 and S3 were a bit grainy BUT I've upgraded from a 32" Toshiba LCD to a 55" LG LED since then and they might look better on the newer TV. I mean, you can literally see the 5 o'clock shadow on Jethro's face and Jed's stubble. Quite the upgrade over the 16mm films I saw on TV growing up that were faded out with lines running through them and even an upgrade over the Columbia House VHS tapes I own of the shows.

 

[Tooncy]

I think it's the fact that they were black and white that make seasons two and three look grainy. Color obscures that better.

 

[Ron1973]

I think it's the fact that they were black and white that make seasons two and three look grainy. Color obscures that better.

It could be. Sort of like when I upgraded my cartridge I could hear tape hiss from where the masters were recorded on tape. In the process of upgrading to something better, you also bring the imperfections to the surface also.

 

[Tooncy]

Yes. In adding more detail, you have to take the bad with the good.

 

[John Hermes]

There must be a purpose behind every remaster I'd say, either a broadcast or DVD release, other studios don't care much for their archives (too expensive or see no reason to bother) but CBS is a top serious studio for this task. As comparison take Universal, their Six Million Dollar Man remasters aren't too hot looking, in my opinion, but it also depends on the state of the source material of course. It's hopefully a good sign, when a show gets the HD treatment and I'd pick up Barbary Coast right away. Seems to me they're doing this to many titles now, it's just never known until after the fact.

Me, too, on Barbary Coast. I can still hear the theme song in my head.

 

[Tooncy]

Never seen or heard of it before. I guess there were never reruns considering it was a 13 episode show.

 

[FanCollector]

Updated to reflect announcements of the end of Laverne & Shirley and the continuation of Happy Days. Also, I reluctantly acknowledge the stalled status of Cannon after 12 months without a release.Continuing: Rawhide (1 season)Becker (1 season) Dynasty (1 season; 2 releases)Petticoat Junction (4 seasons)The Beverly Hillbillies (5 seasons)Happy Days (6 seasons)Bonanza (8 seasons; 16 releases) Gunsmoke (11 seasons; 22 releases) Stalled: Mork and Mindy (1 season) Dave's World (1 season)Cannon (2 seasons)Caroline in the City (2 seasons) One Step Beyond (2 seasons) Matt Houston (2 seasons) Early Edition (2 seasons) The Phil Silvers Show (3 seasons) Nash Bridges (3 seasons) Evening Shade (3 seasons) Jake and the Fatman (3 seasons; 6 releases) Hotel (4 seasons) Sister, Sister (4 seasons)Love, American Style (4 seasons; 8 releases) Moesha (5 seasons) Barnaby Jones (7 seasons; 14 releases) The Love Boat (7 seasons; 14 releases) My Three Sons (10 seasons; 20 releases) Licensed:Webster (2 seasons)

 

[Tooncy]

They also licensed The Ellen Show to Mill Creek. Wal-Mart had it, I saw it yesterday.

 

[FanCollector]

I think Sony had the home video distribution rights for The Ellen Show, so it went with their mass of needless Mill Creek rereleases. If the studios are in the mood to license out low budget releases, they have so many unissued shows with lower quality but still usable elements that would lend themselves to such releases. (Sorry for going off on a tangent from your relevant comment!)

 

[Tooncy]

No problem. I wonder could they maybe pick up some shows we haven't seen or are stalled? I'm not ready to count them out.

 

[Tooncy]

The Drew Carey Show? Cybill?

 

[The Obsolete Man]

The Drew Carey Show?

WB, Music rights issues.

 

[Tooncy]

Speaking of WB, they have been stepping up releases via Archive, but there are still plenty that are MIA.

 

[Ron1973]

I wish CBS would start a MOD/Archive system going full force.

 

[Tooncy]

Me too. Kind of. It's just that DVD-Rs don't hold up for very long. A couple of years, on average.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Actually thats just an unsupported Myth or urban legend. I have many WA titles from almost 5 years ago that all play fine. People have MOD discs 10-12 years old that play fine. As long as the media used is good quality then they should last just as long as any DVD. They will scratch easier so you have to be careful with them. That said: No disc will last forever

 

[Tooncy]

But aren't DVD-Rs based on vegetable dyes rather than actually pressed? I know the ones I've burned at home don't last very long, and I've used pretty much every brand of disc.

 

[Randy Korstick]

The pressing is just a coating to the disc to add extra protection from dirt/dust and help against scratching. The equipment its burned on and using high quality discs makes the difference. This has really improved over the last 5-6 years. Many DVD-R's from before that did not last very long which is where the myth started.

 

[John Hermes]

But aren't DVD-Rs based on vegetable dyes rather than actually pressed? I know the ones I've burned at home don't last very long, and I've used pretty much every brand of disc.

My mantra: use high quality discs (I like Taiyo-Yuden), burn at the slowest speed you can, NEVER put paper labels on your burnt discs. I have been a videographer for about thirty years and started making DVDs shortly after it was first possible. These rules have helped me. Pressed discs are just that - pressed out similarly to phonograph records. A die is pressed into the plastic creating tiny pits which are read by the laser. A protective coating is then put over this. I would take a quality pressed disc over a burnt one any day, but it is just not economically feasible in low volume, plus you couldn't do it at home anyway.