Mama's Family - Season 2? (1 Viewer)

[Greg Madsen]

It hasn't even been out a year yet. (September 26, 2006)

 

[shuckyducky]

If I had the choice between a DVD of Season 2 with the edited shows or running the risk of Season 2 and all subsequent seasons never being released on DVD, then give me the edited shows, please! I really miss Mama's Family, especially now that ION TV has deleted it from it's lineup. I'll take the Mama's Family seasons on DVD anyway I can get them. I haven't seen the unedited shows from Season 1 and 2 since they first aired back in the early 80s so I don't remember any of the parts that were cut so I'm really not missing anything. Amazon has had Season 2 listed as a future release for several months now with no definate release date. I hope Warner Brothers will have mercy on the folks that want Season 2 on DVD (edited or unedited) and release it soon.

 

[Ethan Riley]

No. What they did with season one was totally unforgiveable. That set is a complete train wreck. It's the Holy Fail of tv-on-dvd. And what do you mean you're "really not missing anything?" You're missing a LOT. You're missing fine, funny intros with the late, great Harvey Korman as the pompous Alistair Quince. You're missing probably a good two minutes of each show. You're missing higher quality prints of each episode. If you bought and enjoyed season one, that's great. But you were cheated out of the full experience. You say you liked the season one dvd? Great; you'd have liked it twice as much if they'd gotten it right.

 

[Wesley Ray]

I've been waiting on this one as well. Hopefully it will come sooner rather than later.

 

[Jason_V]

And here I hoped the resurrection of this thread meant there was some news...good, bad or indifferent. It goes without saying I'm with Ethan Riley: either do the release right or don't bother doing it at all.

 

[chadHobbick]

I think this is one of those decisions that comes down to do we want the unedited episodes which we may very well never get, or get the edited episodes and get all of the seasons out on a consistent basis. I choose the latter as all i'm used to is the edited episodes. I would love to get all the seasons for this show and if they are edited or unedited I don't care, I just want the show.

 

[Jason_V]

So, by that logic, fullscreen movies are A-OK because those mutilated versions are what the public has seen on TV until very recently, what they're "used to"? Sorry, don't buy it. It's like saying certain people are used to driving a car with a cracked windshield, so all new cars should have one cracked and consumers pay regular price for it.

Um....no.

 

[Robert13]

I agree. I'll take edited ones if that's what they release. As long as it comes out on dvd. Right now, we're getting nothing on dvd from "Mama's Family". So...let's see...continue getting nothing? Get something? I'll take getting something. Besides, after Season 2, the first-run syndicated episodes being which means nothing gets cut. I know a lot of people don't agree with me but where estates and other entities are involved, rights issues get tied up and it really is beyond Warner's control. And I'll probably get slammed for this. But classic tv on dvd isn't huge in the news these days. So if Warner picks it up again with "Mama's Family: Season 2", then I'm all for it.

 

[MatthewA]

I'd rather get nothing. I wouldn't buy edited anything if my life depended on it.

If they continue down this path then this show is still not on DVD as far as I am concerned.

 

[chadHobbick]

So you wouldn't buy a dvd that is edited even though you never saw first run episodes that are uncut? In essence you wouldn't know what has been cut or what hasn't. It's not like it would effect the viewing of the show since you never knew something wasn't there.

When I first watched MF on tv I didn't know that for the first season there were scenes cut, the Harvey Korman opening and closings. Does it affect me due to these not being there, not in the slightest. Now if we were missing crucial footage that helped the plot along or resolved the plot it would be different, but in this case, not to me.

 

[MatthewA]

I never saw them uncut because I was a baby when they aired. I don't need to have seen them to know something is missing, I just need to look at the running time. No network sitcom in 1993 would run 21:30, let alone 1983. I refuse to watch any edited reruns of any show on TV. I don't watch movies on TV unless they are OAR and uncut, which limits me to Turner Classic Movies and HDNet Movies. I have no such outlet for TV shows other than DVD.

Likewise, I would never buy edited versions of shows that aired before I was born either. I don't care if they haven't been shown that way in 40 years, that's how I want to see them. The way they were originally seen.

By your logic, we shouldn't complain about pan and scan or, God forbid, edited versions of movies on DVD. You're watching a bastardization.

 

[Jason_V]

That about sums it up. The minute I see music replacement or modified aspect ratio or edits, I don't buy the disc. Period. I refuse to buy the old 90210 for that reason. To the best of my knowledge, everything in my collection is OAR or unedited or as the director/producer wanted.

Would you buy a music cd that contained radio cuts, instead of the original composition even if you'd never heard the original? I've never seen the Mona Lisa in person, so does that mean some hack can lop off the top third and I should be okay with it because I "don't" know any better?

Similarly, one of my biggest pet peeves are director's or extended cuts of a movie when the original theatrical poduction is not included on the disc, too.

(MatthewA...thank you for showing up. Thought I was fighting a battle all by myself for a while! )

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I've noticed in life that everyone will eventually draw the line, except in different places.

Those of you who don't care that these are edited episodes: Would it upset you if they cut out, say, 15 minutes of each episode? I bet it would. Or 10 ... 8 ... 6? Probably.

Well, I'm in the group that gets upset at 2 or 3 minutes being cut. In fact, I get upset if even three seconds are cut, so, yes -- I'm an extremist.

But -- as we say -- it's the principle of the thing, because the great thing about TV on DVD was that, after years of seeing cut prints in syndication, we could at long last see the complete versions of shows again.

That, far and away, is the great attraction of TV on DVD to me (with good prints being second.)

So, losing that, I become an "all or nothing" guy, and if we can't get it all, I'll take nothing.

It's also interesting how the bigger the show, the lower the chance of cut prints being used. If "I Love Lucy" or "M*A*S*H," for instance, had done this, it would be almost inconceivable. I don't want to see "Mama's Family" treated as a "lower class" show!

 

[MatthewA]

To Warner, "lower class" means any sitcom other than Friends. They don't remaster (except for animated properties), and they let cuts occasionally slip by. This show was not a critical success but it was an audience favorite and one of the the top rated syndicated sitcoms in the late 1980s.

Of course, even with a mega-biggie like "Star Trek," there were supporters here of the CGI alterations and the re-recorded theme song.

Once, there was someone here who said they bought the edited season 1 release of "The Cosby Show" and used it as background noise.

I naturally assumed the mission statement of HTF regarding movies applied to TV shows as well, since they are basically an offshoot of movies.

In addition to the edits is the fact that the syndicated copies are several generations removed from the originals. Other shows from the same era look as good as the original broadcasts.