Fat Albert & The Cosby Kids (1 Viewer)

[Joshua Lane]

Here's my logic about what the set contains...

The wording in the description specifically says "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" and doesn't mention the "New Fat Albert Show" (7 eps) at all, so I'm guessing they aren't included here. I could of course be wrong.

As for the runtime, each 30-min episode isn't really 30-minutes. You have to subtract the commercials and are left with usually about 20-25 minutes (depends on the series). I guessed 20 minutes because the math works out to include all 36 eps from the "Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids" run, making a nice "Ultimate Collection" as the description says. On the flip side, if each episode is 24 minutes, then the set could simply be a repackaging of the 3-ep Time Life volumes... making 30 eps in the set.

All of this is just a guesstimate though... until an episode list is obtained, there's just no way to know what set might include.

 

[derosa]

wow, this is a big surprise! Complete series!
http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Fat-Albert-Cosby-Kids-The-Complete-Series/16781

 

[vnisanian2001]

It will probably just be the same stupid PAL masters.

 

[derosa]

I already own the first two volumes and the specials that were released on DVD back almost 10 years ago.
Not sure yet what i'll do. If they aren't PAL i will order the set.

 

[DeWilson]

I already own the first two volumes and the specials that were released on DVD back almost 10 years ago.
Not sure yet what i'll do. If they aren't PAL i will order the set.

There's been a lot of conflicting reports of what elements exist in what form when it comes to the Filmation Library.
For years, it was believed the master tapes for THE GHOST BUSTERS were wiped - Even Co-star Bob Burns believed so,and mentioned it in several interviewers over the years - and they turned out to be safe and sound.
So who knows!

 

[younger1968]

I thought Fat Albert was released many years ago. am i wrong?
I remember the show as it taught life lessons and this is something lost on tv series today.

 

[derosa]

I thought Fat Albert was released many years ago. am i wrong?

A company called UrbanWorks licensed the series and started by releasing a 4 disc 'best of' set in 2004.
That set had episodes from across all the seasons of the show ranging from 1972 to 1984.
Then they followed up by starting from the beginning, and released two volumes, covering the first 24 episodes.
as well as several of the holiday specials, Halloween, Christmas, and Easter. A third Volume of the next 12
episodes was announced, but the company had troubles, and the rights lapsed, and the third volume never
made it to market.
So the first 24 shows have been available on dvd, (the first season, plus 2 episodes from the 1975 season,)
and the "best-of" set has quite a few episodes from the later seasons.
Some other studio had announced they were going to pick up where UrbanWorks left off a few years ago,
but no new episodes made it out, I think the holiday specials may have been re-released.
the dvd release history is here:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/shows/Fat-Albert-Cosby-Kids/1451
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
1972–73 (22 episodes),
1975–76 (14 episodes)
The New Fat Albert Show
1979–81 (24 episodes)
The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
1984–85 (50 episodes)
Total: 110 episodes
The Fat Albert Halloween Special – October 24, 1977
The Fat Albert Christmas Special – December 18, 1977
The Fat Albert Easter Special – April 3, 1982

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I already own the first two volumes and the specials that were released on DVD back almost 10 years ago.
Not sure yet what i'll do. If they aren't PAL i will order the set.

There's been a lot of conflicting reports of what elements exist in what form when it comes to the Filmation Library.
For years, it was believed the master tapes for THE GHOST BUSTERS were wiped - Even Co-star Bob Burns believed so,and mentioned it in several interviewers over the years - and they turned out to be safe and sound.
So who knows!

Well, technically the original mastertapes (the 2" NTSC quads) were wiped, as far as I've heard. I once corresponded with someone in the UK who worked for a company that transferred those episodes to PAL back in the '90s, and it was those PAL tapes that were used by BCI for the DVD release (there's no such thing as 'PAL speedup' on videotaped shows).
Now, if you happen to have a reliable source that knows for a fact that the original 2" NTSC quads do exist, are they with the rights-holders, or somewhere else? Despite the fact that Entertainment Rights (the rights-holder at the time of the Ghost Busters DVD release) sent PAL masters, I was told by someone in-the-know (Andy Mangles, I think) that even a year or two after acquiring the library, E-R still hadn't catalogued everything and didn't really know exactly what they had...

 

[younger1968]

Well, technically the original mastertapes (the 2" NTSC quads) were wiped, as far as I've heard. I once corresponded with someone in the UK who worked for a company that transferred those episodes to PAL back in the '90s, and it was those PAL tapes that were used by BCI for the DVD release (there's no such thing as 'PAL speedup' on videotaped shows).
Now, if you happen to have a reliable source that knows for a fact that the original 2" NTSC quads do exist, are they with the rights-holders, or somewhere else? Despite the fact that Entertainment Rights (the rights-holder at the time of the Ghost Busters DVD release) sent PAL masters, I was told by someone in-the-know (Andy Mangles, I think) that even a year or two after acquiring the library, E-R still hadn't catalogued everything and didn't really know exactly what they had...

You have to wonder with the improvements storage capacity, like cloud computing and/or server capacity that more films/tv series have not been converted from the originals to another medium.
I am still holding hope that all Filmation shows will see the light of day on dvd. I have the ghostbusters series with Larry Storch and quality is very poor. However, i will take what i can get at this point!!

 

[derosa]

(there's no such thing as 'PAL speedup' on videotaped shows)

Do you know if the Fat Albert sets have pal speed up?
I don't seem to be that sensitive to it, maybe due to lack of knowing the source material,
but I know that "The Archie's" filmation sets people complain about.
I guess these shows were made on film, and transferred at some point to tapes?

 

[DeWilson]

Well, technically the original mastertapes (the 2" NTSC quads) were wiped, as far as I've heard. I once corresponded with someone in the UK who worked for a company that transferred those episodes to PAL back in the '90s, and it was those PAL tapes that were used by BCI for the DVD release (there's no such thing as 'PAL speedup' on videotaped shows).
Now, if you happen to have a reliable source that knows for a fact that the original 2" NTSC quads do exist, are they with the rights-holders, or somewhere else? Despite the fact that Entertainment Rights (the rights-holder at the time of the Ghost Busters DVD release) sent PAL masters, I was told by someone in-the-know (Andy Mangles, I think) that even a year or two after acquiring the library, E-R still hadn't catalogued everything and didn't really know exactly what they had...

Perhaps I should have worded that "Wiped and Lost." - I know about the PAL set of masters regarding the "Safe and Sound Part"

 

[AndyMcKinney]

Do you know if the Fat Albert sets have pal speed up?

The UrbanWorks episodes (at least, the first volume, which is the one I purchased) does have PAL speedup, as it came from the Entertainment Rights masters. Also, the E.R. masters (at least the ones used by UrbanWorks) were a mixture of "vintage" episodes (with the 1970s opening/closing) and "syndication" versions (with the 1980s opening/closing used instead of the original version). Very annoying!
Also, on all the 'vintage' episodes, I think the 1976 closing was used, even on the earlier episodes (perhaps when this stuff was transferred from the original films, only one set of credits was cleaned up and cut/pasted onto each episode, like was done with other shows like "I Dream of Jeannie", etc.?).
The Time/Life discs, according to what I remember reading on forums at the time, are from either 16mm or NTSC tape sources, so they play at the correct speeds and are more the correct length. Also, most or all of the Time/Life ones have an additional "tag" scene (30 seconds or so) that was snipped out of the PAL syndication masters.

I guess these shows were made on film, and transferred at some point to tapes?

Yes, Fat Albert was produced 100% on film (both the animation and the live-action segments), and the CBS episodes certainly would have been broadcast from 16mm. The later '80s episodes were likely distributed on tape at the time of their original syndication, though that would have been on older analogue formats.
Hallmark (who owned most of the Filmation stuff prior to selling the archive to Entertainment Rights) transferred most of the films to digital tape in the 1990s to make them easier to sell into syndication (since the industry was moving away from using projectors, U-Matic and other earlier tape formats for broadcasting). However, they seem to have been focusing mainly on foreign distribution for many of these shows (particularly the live-action ones), so they only did PAL format tape masters of many, and their executives, seeing little artistic value in the materials, junked the original films, according to the stories.
Certain execs at Hallmark had a particular distaste for the Filmation library and were content to keep it out of US distribution (they also wrongly assumed that they'd be exempt from paying US Writer's Guild royalties for the foreign sales of these shows, a move that got them into a costly legal battle with the writers--which they lost, in no small part because of off-air videotapes from the UK which I provided to writer Russell Bates--a legal battle which led to them finally selling the archive shortly thereafter.

 

[derosa]

The UrbanWorks episodes (at least, the first volume, which is the one I purchased) does have PAL speedup, as it came from the Entertainment Rights masters. Also, the E.R. masters (at least the ones used by UrbanWorks) were a mixture of "vintage" episodes (with the 1970s opening/closing) and "syndication" versions (with the 1980s opening/closing used instead of the original version). Very annoying!
Also, on all the 'vintage' episodes, I think the 1976 closing was used, even on the earlier episodes (perhaps when this stuff was transferred from the original films, only one set of credits was cleaned up and cut/pasted onto each episode, like was done with other shows like "I Dream of Jeannie", etc.?).
The Time/Life discs, according to what I remember reading on forums at the time, are from either 16mm or NTSC tape sources, so they play at the correct speeds and are more the correct length. Also, most or all of the Time/Life ones have an additional "tag" scene (30 seconds or so) that was snipped out of the PAL syndication masters.

Wow. Ok, now i'm really curious to find out what the Shout! Factory set is going to use as a source!
It sounds like the UrbanWorks set left a lot of room for improvement.

 

[JMFabianoRPL]

I wonder...has any Fat Albert set thus far included "Busted" from the syndie, and if so, is it the uncensored version? (Still a pretty dark episode, but certain curse words from the OB have been since muted or changed in other airings)

I wonder if the original version will turn up on the complete series, or is this another "It's Your First Kiss, Charlie Brown" situation where the censored version is now the official one?

 

[Mr. Handley]

Really looking forward to this release as it was one of my favorites growing up.