Roots - why OOP? (1 Viewer)

[Haden]

Er.... maybe I'm not seeing the connection here, but what the hell does this have to do with Roots?

Guess I'll get the set at Target instead since its bonus disc seems more relevant to the product I'm purchasing.

 

[TonyD]

seemed odd to me too.
who is g. garvin

 

[ScottR]

What they should have offered for the bonus disc is the 25th Anniversary documentary that aired on NBC in 2002. It was pretty good.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yeah, I kinda wondered that myself!

 

[Jeff Willis]

Went to Target (my 1st local-store buy in a long time) and got the Roots release today. Here's some info:
Price excluding tax is $39.99 (DDD's price is $39.73). I might have to visit my local stores more often I still prefer online since they have the lowest pricing most of the time, except for a Walmart "sale" bin, etc.

Slimpacks - 2 discs per pack.
Discs 1,2,3 are the miniseries. Flippers.
Disc 4 is the "Extra" disc with the 2007 Documentary "Crossing Over: How Roots captivated an entire nation", with Alex Haley's son, William, and LeVar Burton discussing the impact of the book and miniseries over the past 30 yrs.
Also in the Extras is the 2002 Documentary, "Remembering Roots", "Roots: 1 Year Later" hosted by Louis Gossett, Jr.

Disc 1 & 2 pack: Inside the cover sleeves is a listing in diagram format of Alex Haley's family tree.
Disc 3 & 4 pack: Inside this cover is the cast listing of the miniseries. All discs have commentaries included. Among the list is David L Wolper, John Amos, Beverly Todd, Gary Collins, Lawrence-Hilton-Jacobs, Leslie Uggams, Marvin Chomsky, Georg Stanford Brown, Lynne Moody, Sandy Duncan. The Cast/Crew Commentaries have a video option included.
Subtitles include English, Spanish, French for the miniseries episodes only.
The "Target-Exclusive" disc is housed in a single cardbd jacket, separated from the slimpack dics. This is the 90-min sample disc from "Roots: The Next Generation". On this cover, it says "Tune into TVONE this summer to watch Roots: Next Generation".
Inside the set, there is a flyer that confirms ScottR's post info, "Roots: Next Generation Coming this fall".

Since I've yet to see either of these series, the Target purchase was the one to get since I can see a sample of the "Next Gen" series.

This is one that's going to be unique for me since it's a first-time-view from an era when I rarely missed a show of this stature.

 

[Haden]

Oh good... TV One is going to show Next Gen this summer. Their airing of Roots last month prompted me to want to buy this DVD set. I'm glad I can view Next Gen on TV first before deciding if I want that series too, although from what I've read it sounds like the sequel series is as good if not better than the original.

 

[ScottR]

Fellas, Roots: The Next Generations is more of a continuation than a sequel. The same production stafff was there, and the first couple of episodes feature Georg Stanford Brown (Tom) and Lynne Moody (Irene) from the first series..so the transition is smooth. The lighting, cinematography, and writing are all very familiar to Roots viewers. So think of this as the second half of the story, not a sequel. I envy those of you who are viewing these for the first time...You will love them!

 

[Cheetah]

ScottR is absolutely correct. Roots: TNG completes the timeline and this epic story is cut short without it. That is why I am really looking forward to The Complete Collection. To have the entire saga under one uniform packaged set is something I thought should have been done a long time ago. From Kunta Kinte’s birth in 1750, through until Alex Haley’s arrival in Africa to meet his descendents, this full circle journey through the generations is utterly fascinating.

 

[ScottR]

For those of you who are getting the set, or for those already with it, I am posting the original airdates and how long each episode ran (with commercials.) You can then figure out how the episodes were divided up:

Sunday, January 23rd, 1977: Episode One (two hours)
Monday, January 24th, 1977: Episode Two (two hours)
Tuesday, January 25th, 1977: Episode Three (one hour)
Wednesday, January 26, 1977: Episode Four (one hour)
Thursday, January 27, 1977: Episode Five (one hour)
Friday, January 28, 1977: Episode Six (two hours)
Saturday, January 29, 1977: Episode Seven (one hour)
Sunday, January 30, 1977: Episode Eight (two hours)

...Each episode would have a complete opening credits sequence with cast and major crew. Each episode also contained a recap at the beginning and a teaser at the end. Also, every episode contained a closing credits sequence for that particular installment.


...Keep in mind when you watch the final episode of Roots that the entire country was anticipating how it would end. The ratings shot through the roof and the show became the most watched in television history. When Emmy nominations came out, entire categories were for Roots. This special week was one that would never happen again, and never will. A very special week for our country, and a tremendous success for everyone involved. In 1998, the Emmy Awards named Roots the 2nd most important event in the history of television, eclipsed only by man's first walk on the moon!

 

[David Coleman]

Agreed!! I'm anxiously awaiting this as i've not seen it in over a decade.

 

[ScottR]

I would like everyone who loves Roots to write to WB. Not to complain, but to thank them and ask them if there is anyway they can restore the film back to its original glory for any future releases on dvd and HD/Blu-Ray. I'm not giving up on them.

address: Warner Home Video
4000 Warner Blvd., Burbank, CA 91522

Roots seems to be selling well in my neck of the woods...all of the stores are sold out.

 

[Jeff Willis]

I've completed viewing the first 2 segments of this one (for the first time-view) and it's living up to its reputation. Great miniseries. Has anyone else noticed the picture-freezing during the first 30-45 min's on Disc's 1 & 2? This is the recently-released 30th Anniversary set. I'm noticing something that resembles layer-switching freezing lasting only about a second but occurring several times during the first part of each disc. These are "flippers" and I'm guessing that they're DVD-18's but not from Universal...WB.

 

[ScottR]

Hmm, this didn't happen on the 25th Anniversary discs, and supposedly these are the exact same discs with new box cover art. Just another reason why WB should have gone all out with the new version. It has sold very, very well. It even made EW's list of the top dvd's for two weeks straight...very uncommon for an older series.

 

[Haden]

Announcement for Roots: The Next Generations and the big Roots Collection box set...

http://tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7557

Looks like Roots:TNG will be sold seperately, but the only way to get Roots: The Gift and that exclusive bonus disc will be to buy the box set. I was hoping everything would be sold seperately and the box set just conveniently combined them all, but apparently the box set will have exclusive items. Now I regret buying Roots by itself last month. :frowning:

 

[Tom gre]

Hi
can anyone help with this? i pick up roots 30th anniversary edition dvd set my question is evening with commentary off i still get commentary on some scenes is this ok? or do i have a bad dvd set?

thank you

 

[ScottR]

No, it shouldn't do that. The only error with ALL copies is at the start of Episode Three, beginning with John Amos's credit...the music gets turned down, and you can actually hear the Spanish "narrator" speaking the cast names! The audio goes up and down throughout the credits sequence. I talked to WB in 2002 and they assured me they were correcting it, but they sent me another copy and it had the same mistake.

 

[Jeff Willis]

I'm about in the middle of this one for the first-time view (30th Anniversary set) and I'm still seeing the momentary picture-freezing during the first 30-45 min's on each disc so far. It resembles something like the layer-switching freezing lasting only about a second but occurring several times during the first part of each disc. These are "flippers" and I'm guessing that they're DVD-18's.

Anyone else seeing this problem? I haven't had any menu issues with commentary switching on/off.

I've decided to finish the viewing and then get the set exchanged from DDD. I wish I'd bought it at Amazon. Although it would have cost more, Amazon's exchange setup is better than DDD's unless DDD has changed to add no-cost postage for exchanges/returns.

 

[Scott_J]

Not to take this thread too far off-topic, but if you call DD and tell them you have a defective set, they will e-mail you a prepaid mailing label to return it.