Emergency! Season #6 and beyond (1 Viewer)

[Jeff*H]

Oddly enough, the Emergency Season 6 episodes available for instant viewing on Netflix are the crappy quality versions like the season 4 and 5 shows. Obviously Universal wanted to please the fans with this new DVD release and went back to remaster them.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Originally Posted by Jeff*H

Oddly enough, the Emergency Season 6 episodes available for instant viewing on Netflix are the crappy quality versions like the season 4 and 5 shows. Obviously Universal wanted to please the fans with this new DVD release and went back to remaster them.

How long have the Netflix versions been up?

As was said earlier on, maybe the DVD versions of Emergency S6 is the first (and only, for Emergency) season to benefit from a new transfer because of the vault fire.

If the Netflix versions have been around for a while, they could have been using older versions of the episodes.

 

[Jack P]

Could someone confirm if the S1-3 episodes that contain the original opening are by any chance the same episodes that were released on VHS by Columbia House? I would presume that those episodes only might have received a remastering that restored the original opening and thus account for why they would look better than the subsequent seasons.

 

[Jeff*H]

Originally Posted by The Obsolete Man




How long have the Netflix versions been up?

As was said earlier on, maybe the DVD versions of Emergency S6 is the first (and only, for Emergency) season to benefit from a new transfer because of the vault fire.

If the Netflix versions have been around for a while, they could have been using older versions of the episodes.

I know the Season 6 Emergency! shows on Netflix have been available for viewing for well over a year, maybe even closer to 2 years. It's definitely possible that the vault fire had something to do with them creating new transfers recently (I know for a fact from a contact at Universal that the vault fire did a LOT more damage than they publicly admitted). I also know Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman, also Universal shows, have recently had new hi-def remastered transfers as well.

 

[Lecagr]

Originally Posted by Jeff*H

Oddly enough, the Emergency Season 6 episodes available for instant viewing on Netflix are the crappy quality versions like the season 4 and 5 shows. Obviously Universal wanted to please the fans with this new DVD release and went back to remaster them.

A handful of episodes on the season 3 DVD are the lesser quality (syndicated) versions. Then seasons 4 and 5 DVD had the lesser quality episodes thruout the sets. I'm thinking it was strictly a cost cutting move. Universal probably got a number of complaints regarding the 4th & 5th seasons, so perhaps they figured they should make it right for season 6. I think Universal could also have done right with seasons 3, 4, & 5 if they really wanted to.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Originally Posted by Lecagr




A handful of episodes on the season 3 DVD are the lesser quality (syndicated) versions. Then seasons 4 and 5 DVD had the lesser quality episodes thruout the sets. I'm thinking it was strictly a cost cutting move. Universal probably got a number of complaints regarding the 4th & 5th seasons, so perhaps they figured they should make it right for season 6. I think Universal could also have done right with seasons 3, 4, & 5 if they really wanted to.

That's a very optimistic view to take.

I mean, the lesser picture quality of seasons 4 and 5 didn't hurt sales enough to discontinue the series, so why would Universal make season 6, the final season of the series, look better unless they had to?

And no, I don't think a few letters from fans would make them go back and remaster the final season. Only something like that vault fire would do that. Like I said, lesser picture quality didn't hurt sales for s4 or s5, so they had no reason to remaster 6 just because of a few fans complaining. They're in this to make money. Pleasing fans is just a byproduct. They made enough money with lesser prints, and no work on S4 and S5. So, by all rights, S6 should have been the same. My conclusion is that the fire made 'em have to remaster old shows, and S6 of Emergency benefited.

 

[LeoA]

I agree with The Obsolete Man's theory.

And I also think it explains what some have noticed in the past, many episodes from seasons 4 and 5 uploaded after the DVD releases at Hulu and Netflix for online viewing have a superior picture then the earlier DVD releases.

Clearly, they were doing remastering even after the DVD releases and they caught up in time for remastered season 6 episodes to benefit the DVD release. It's the only way I can understand why superior transfers of episodes are appearing for digital viewing then what they're selling to consumers. So I think his theory makes a lot of sense.

Originally Posted by Jeff*H

know for a fact from a contact at Universal that the vault fire did a LOT more damage than they publicly admitted).

Was anything lost?

I thought it was well understood that they have two vaults in different locations with duplicated material in each for just such an event so nothing could be permanently lost. And I thought it was publically understood that the vault having the fire was a complete loss.

Are you hinting that wasn't the case and there was unique material in that vault that was destroyed and is lost forever? That's the only way I can understand your comment that the fire did more damage then they publically stated...

 

[Jeff*H]

I remember that in several of their early public statements after the fire, they said that the fire didn't do too much damage; they seemed to really be downplaying things. The person I talked with at Universal a year ago or so didn't go into specifics, but basically told me that a lot of stuff was destroyed (although she didn't indicate it was irreplaceable).

 

[LeoA]

That's good to know

Thanks for the clarification.

 

[Lecagr]

I still think it was a cost cutting move. Nothing else makes any sense. Companies do pay attention to complaints from their customers, I imagine Universal received quite a few complaints about Emergency! seasons 4 and 5. Whatever the reason for the reduced quality, the syndicated masters used for the season 4 & 5 DVD don't bother me too much. The picture and color quality is fine, maybe the image is a little soft, not quite as sharp as what we see in seasons 1, 2, 6, and most of season 3. What's problematic for me is the poor audio in some season 4 episodes. "Gossip" and "Quicker Than The Eye" have especially bad audio. It is so low you have to crank up the volume on the TV to hear what the actors are saying. Then when the sirens kick in, it's so loud it nearly knocks you out of your chair. Horrible job with the audio on those two episodes. I haven't noticed any serious audio troubles on the season 5 set, although the audio on that set is also rather soft and muddy.

But I'm glad season 6 turned out so well. Did anyone else notice the goof- the Santa Rosa County episode starts off with the opening credits instead of the beginning teaser scene. What happened there? An authoring gaffe on the DVD perhaps?

 

[younger1968]

i notice the santa rosa county episode as well.

The overall quality of this set was very good. If you did not look at the cars and/or the clothes then you would think it was something from this time.

I love the re-mastered stuff!!!

 

[Lecagr]

"Firehouse Quintet" is one of my favorite 6th season episodes. The basketball game is funny, but why does the opposing team play no defense on Chet, leaving him wide open while he makes basket after basket? LOL

A couple other things to look for in this episode: The part where Gage and DeSoto tend to the gymnast who took a fall, when the "on duty" paramedics come in and take over, the scene quickly ends and fades to black. It was like, "These guys aren't the stars of the show, no need to see THEM in action." LOL

And look at the rescue where the guy is stuck in the ceiling on the rafters. The first guy with the broken wrist that DeSoto tends to, he ends up putting a splint on the guy's entire forearm up to the elbow. After DeSoto leaves to help out Gage, the poor guy is sitting there looking at his arm, it's like he was thinking, "O.K. I've only got a busted wrist, why is this splint all the way up my forearm?" LOL this is classic stuff.

The next episode- "The Boat" is pretty good too. Some exciting rescues in that episode.

 

[LeoA]

One thing that I never thought about before that would make for a nice bonus on the movie set would be a bonus clip of the "Emergency! One" syndication opening used for a couple of years when the program first was syndicated.

Many people, including myself, have never seen it.

 

[Lecagr]

Since the season 6 DVD turned out so nicely, would be great if Universal went back and remaster/reissue the season 4 and 5 DVD. The season 4 quality is especially poor, with some episodes having a very low audio track. But I doubt they will remaster/reissue these, we will have to live with what they gave us.

 

[LeoA]

They have nicer transfers for many (If not all) of those episodes that have been done since the DVD releases, so you never know.


Maybe we'll see improvements if they do a complete series release like season 1 saw for the I Love Lucy complete set.


Wonder why DVDTalk didn't review this set. Was curious to see if Paul Mavis would once again think the episodes are all cut short like he's thought with past Adam-12/Emergency sets (Which was never true).

 

[Lecagr]

I would not want to repurchase the entire series if Universal releases a complete series set with remastered episodes. If this would happen, they should also offer remastered episodes of seasons 4 and 5 only for those who already bought the season sets. That I would go for. I know the 3rd season DVD also contains a few episodes from unrestored, syndicated masters, but I'm willing to live with that.


The episodes are uncut on the DVD's, but due to increasing TV advertising time the lengths of the episodes gradually got shorter as the seasons progressed. In seasons 1, 2, & 3 the episodes are mostly around 50 minutes. Season 4 episodes average about 49 minutes, season 5 episodes average about 48 minutes, and season 6 episodes average about 47 minutes.

 

[LeoA]

I'd go for a complete set to get single sided disc for season 1 & 2 and more restored episodes.

 

[Lecagr]

I'm not fond either of the double sided discs in seasons 1 and 2, but again it's something I can live with. The substandard video/audio quality in seasons 4 and 5 irritate me the most.

 

[younger1968]

The sixth season by far was the best one for pictures. I hope they re-mastered the movies, especially the greatest rescues for Emergency! I love to see that episode again when Gage and DeSoto get promoted to captain.


i hope they also bring out Sierra, but, i am not holding my breath.

 

[Statskeeper]

There may be some hope for the movies. RTV is right now airing "The Steel Infirno", the first of the movies. I was shocked when I put it on - I haven't seen any of the movies in rotation in the last year that I've been watching. Perhaps this means they are testing the waters. Or, since it's RTV someone just grabbed the next tape in line.