My Three Sons: Season 1, Vol. 1 (2 Viewers)

[Tom.W]

TVLand aired the b/w episodes in the fall of 2000 for a few months. I don't think they got past the first season though. My recollection is that they were cut down to about 23 minutes, not as badly as the syndicated color eps. I will check my tapes. The complete eps which ran on Nick at Nite clocked at about 25:30.

But as Randy mentioned, the eps on the dvd run between 25 and 26 minutes, so evidently they had access to the original masters.

For me, the music replacement would make them unwatchable. The simple instrumentation characteristic of early sixties soundtracks is so strongly identified with M3S that to mess with it totally changes the mood of the show. There were several episodes in which music is a plot theme, eg. the eps about Robbie's band. Even if that is unaltered, the surrounding replacement cues would seem to clash with the authentic stuff.

 

[Elena S]

I remember seeing them in syndication long before Nick at Nite was even thought of.

 

[Brian Himes]

It's a shame that CBS has gone and done it again. I would've thought after the Fugitive mess they would have rethought their entire process. Hmm. Guess not.

There are only 4 series that I'm currently collecting from them. Hawaii Five-O, Streets of San Francisco, The Mod Squad and The Odd Couple. I'm aware of the cuts to The Odd Couple but I'm going to go ahead and finish the series. I was collecting Love American Style, but I think that the 1st season is just about all that we are going to get. As for Mod Squad, Streets of San Francisco and Hawaii Five-O, I haven't noticed any large music replacements so I'm hoping that these remain intact for the rest of the run for those shows.

But, who knows? CBS just might get cheap on me and start to chop those shows up as well.

 

[jdee28]

It's a month of its release, and still no explanation why there was music replacement and why 2 of the episodes were presented with music intact. I guess people just don't care.

What I was wondering, are some of the music replacement cues heard on this dvd also heard in the Fugitive Season 2, Volume 1? Is CBS/Paramount really building a music replacement library? Are they going to use the same or similiar cues for all the shows they musically replace? I guess it would give them the most bang for their buck.

 

[Gary OS]

I wouldn't assume that, John. Although I can't speak for anyone, I will say that I'm personally very confident that some of our friends on the "inside" have tried to get answers for us. My best bet is a simple one: CBS/Paramount isn't answering. I'm sure people are asking, they just aren't getting responses. If I'm wrong, I hope someone will correct the record on that point. But until I hear otherwise, I'm going to believe the problem is with CBS/P clamming up.

If that is the case, then my next point is (and I've maintained this since day one) that this was another example of CBS/P refusing to go the extra mile for the fans by searching for and securing the rights to music they aren't sure about. Probably something that could have been accomplished if they had been willing, but music replacement was just easier for them so they went that route. I'm sticking to that theory (which I believe was verified beyond a shadow of a doubt with THE FUGITIVE debacle) until someone presents cold, hard facts to the contrary. Like I've said, if my theory is wrong then CBS/P are fools for taking all these hits to their reputation by not correcting the stories that are out there. If they are not to blame, then tell us! If this is because a person or estate has held you hostage by asking for too much money, CBS/P, then simply tell us that and allow us to be mad at the greedy goons that are behind this. But I'm betting that has nothing to do with this problem, so they (CBS/P) aren't talking.

Gary "just my two cents" O.

 

[Stephen Bowie]

Well, for what it's worth, I've heard that (predictably) the Capitol Music library was again the culprit. From an informed source, although not an "inside" one.

Of course, the more times CBS does this, the more it works in their favor, as it will only be the diehards who keep complaining about it. It's not going to rate a reaming in VARIETY each and every time a different TV show is gutted.

 

[jdee28]

So I guess it's safe to say, if it's CBS/Paramount, and the show has Capitol Music cues, expect wholesale music replacements?

What other classic shows that CBS/Paramount has the rights to have Capitol Music cues?

 

[Gary OS]

I'm not sure. Did RAWHIDE or PERRY MASON make use of some of the Capitol cues?

Your comments seem like a reasonable assumption to me. A real shame if it works out that way, but very reasonable to assume. We probably should prepare for even more subs on subsequent releases. I'm not sure what shows this would apply to though.

Also, maybe your first post about no one caring is true. I thought we'd get at least an acknowledgment by now from someone seeing as how a good bit of time has passed by without a word. But maybe in the final analysis this show just doesn't merit any advocacy, in some people's minds, because it wasn't/isn't popular enough to demand that sort of time and energy. I hope that's not the case. Don't know. But the silence certainly is deafening.

Gary "still very much bummed out about the horrible music subs in this show" O.

 

[jdee28]

I guess then where CBS/Paramount goofed in terms of the music replacements was to do it to a show like The Fugitive, which still has a sizeable amount of fans, not to mention respect from critics and other quarters. Had they just confined it to more obscure or niche shows like My Three Sons, they would have gotten probably less than ten percent the negative publicity or criticism they got for doing it to the Fugitive.

 

[Steve...O]

I can't speak for RAWHIDE, but I don't believe PERRY MASON is impacted by music replacement. CBS owned the show outright and perhaps the records for the music are much more clearly documented or perhaps CBS just used cues they owned outright.

For the 3 seasons of releases to date the only real edit appears to be 72 seconds missing in TCOT FANCY FIGURES in S2. This appears to be mere human error as the same episode was complete on the Columbia House version.

 

[Gary OS]

John, again I have to say that what you've postulated seems like a very reasonable assumption to me. I think CBS/P can count their lucky stars that apparently no one is going to hold their feet to the fire again with M3S like they did with THE FUGITIVE. It's a shame really, because I feel the show deserved some kind of advocacy, but after over a month it seems like the trail has gone cold and no one in a position of influence is giving it much thought. Too bad.

Gary "I thought this second debacle from CBS/P would have been a perfect chance to really, really hold them accountable and let them know how much we disagreed with this decision - but it takes more than just a few posts on an internet message board to do that, IMHO" O.

 

[Ron Lee Green]

I just received disc 2 from Netflix and I watched the Lady Engineer episode. There is this long sequence where Mr. Douglas is searching for this Lady Engineer in the office hallways and the background music is so awful its annoying. I've never even heard the original but it HAS to be better than this!

 

[Jim B.]

Lady Engineer had a fantastic score. Classic west coast jazz, Had to be Bud Shanks group. Mark Heyes pathetic attempt at jazz is a real bad joke. I have seen some pictures of Mark Heyes in his studio. It is a huge room with a movie screen at one end and his mixing console and synthesizer at the the other end. He looks like one of these new age types, wears black, the pony tail and earings, the whole image thing, style over substance. He has the ultimate studio but can't play any music. Just another Hollywood phoney. Ron Komie is the same. I cannot understand how those guys can sit in that studio and listen to the beautiful original music they are getting ready to try and rework and not feel 1 foot tall in the midst of the awesome skills of real musicians like Alexander, DeVol, Rugolo, Morton, etc.

 

[Jim B.]

Oh, I was going to mention that I have been watching Ozzie & Harriet on a local station and am hearing some of the same music as M3S.
I also do not believe the Capitol library excuse. I think Paramount simply does not want to pay for the quality shows music. I am disgusted that an idiotic show like The Beverley Hillbillies is released intact while shows with a lot of depth like M3S or the Fugitive are destroyed.

 

[TravisR]

So Paramount decides which shows are good, they change the music on those shows, anger the fans of those shows and lose sales that they otherwise would have had AND at the same time, they decide to keep the shows that you and they have decided are bad and they keep music intact on those shows? That's not a very good plan.

 

[Bert Greene]

I want to echo Jim's assessment of the marvelous cool-jazz score on the "Lady Engineer" episode, which so beautifully evokes the era (1960) it was from. It's the highlight of the episode. Knowing that the dvd-set replaced it makes me ill. I've not necessarily been a stickler when it comes to cut scenes, minor music replacements, original aspect ratios, and I even accepted (albeit NOT happily) occasional syndication prints, like on the "Real McCoys" sets. But, wholescale underscore replacement is just hugely unacceptable, to put it mildly. It's akin to colorization. In some ways, it's even worse. I'm just glad I still have my 22-year-old videotape recordings of the 1st-season of "My Three Sons," from back when it appeared on Nick-at-Night.

Plus, I'm still furious at Paramount for doing all this. I've passed on several of their recent releases, which had been sure-fire purchases for me, owing to my disgust over their "M3S" abomination. In a way, it's even dimmed my enthusiasm for the whole tv-on-dvd trend, and is undoubtedly part of the reason I hardly even post here anymore. Oh, well. There's still a lot of interesting items coming out this month (M Squad, Mr. Peepers, etc.), and maybe they'll re-charge my batteries, hobby-wise.

 

[Bob Hug]

Bert, I for one, enjoy your posts and hope you'll continue despite your profound disappointment in this release. I have a suspicion that once you have some of these other vintage releases in hand, we'll be able to look forward to more posts from you.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Now, just a minute! "The Beverly Hillbillies" was actually a very cleverly written show. I would say it had better scripts than "My Three Sons" -- they were certainly funnier.

I think a lot of critics at the time, and some people even today, think that because the characters were stupid (or uneducated and naive ...well, ok, Jethro was stupid), therefore the show was stupid. But the stories and the lines were cleverly written, if you ask me (which, of course, you didn't.)

 

[Carabimero]

If you watch the Beverly Hillbillies and you're awake at all, the Clampetts (and possibly Miss Hathaway) are the only intelligent people on the show.

 

[Gary OS]

Just had to say "amen" to this post from my good buddy, Bert. I feel just like you do on all points, and have definitely scaled back many of my CBS/Paramount purchases. I used to buy almost any series from the 50's through the 70's that they released, and even some from the 80's on up just because I wanted to say "thanks" to them in a tangible way. But no more.

Gary "it's just such a shame they went this route" O.