Syndicated Alf in better condition - Lion's Gate is FOS (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Jacobson]

Well said. Unfortunately, most of the people buying these DVDs probably aren't aware of this. Actually, since most people don't read sites like this one, they probably don't even realize that anything has been cut and are going to keep buying these things.

Has anyone tried writing to newspapers or TV stations about this?

 

[TravisR]

Lion's Gate is probably still doing this because most people don't care if a few minutes are missing.

They SHOULD care but I doubt the average person buying ALF (or anything else) gives a damn if they are edited for syndication. If they found out, their response would be "Oh well, it's only a three minutes."

Once again, they should care but I doubt most people do which is why Lion's Gate is doing it again.

 

[Pavan_P]

It's fishy because Lions Gate also put out syndicated copies of Will & Grace and Saved by the Bell as well...

 

[Mark To]

That's really a shame. So I guess The Champions won't be seeing a US release? And what about the last few episodes of The Avengers from 1962 that still haven't come out?

I really don't know if the reason for what these companies do is apathy, negligence or ignorance. Obviously the concept of these companies having any kind of pride in their product is a foreign concept so I won't talk about that. And I've spoken to people at many of these places and the stupidity factor is very high. So it's probably a combination of all 3. They are too stupid to know anything about the shows they are releasing, don't particularly care what condition they are in, and wouldn't go through the effort of picking up a phone to do something about it. Hey, that whole making a telephone call thing is sooooo much work and soooo strenuous.

 

[Juan Books]

You know what, if regular people do any research at all before buying a DVD, they will be looking at the DVD reviews at Amazon.com. Maybe we should all write eloquent reviews there alerting people to what kind of product they'd be getting.

 

[Gord Lacey]

James, who is the new management? Everyone I've worked with from A&E is still there, and I haven't heard of any changes at all.

I don't think there's much left from the ITC catalog to release, is there?

Gord

 

[Tory]

I don't know about Ellen but Benny Hill is considered Cult in this day and age and the coming Tomorrow People make me love A&E all the more.

 

[James Landau]

I composed a detailed and somewhat lengthy response to the above questions. As the reply really has nothing to do with ALF, I felt posting it here would constitute thread hijacking. I also felt that my reply might generate additional discussion about A&E and their ITC TV show releases. I have therefore made my reply in a separate thread. Anyone who is interested, go here.

 

[Walt Riarson]

This is truly pathetic. I held out on Season 1 and I shall hold out on Season 2 as well.

Absolutely no sale here.

 

[Malcolm R]

If they see it as such a selling point, why don't they make big red stickers for the outside promoting "HIGHER QUALITY EDITED EPISODES!!"

But I'm sure their hypocrisy will prevent such.

 

[SeanC]

Lions Gate, and before them Artisan, has a habit of not bothering to remaster anything. They released many DVDs of LIVE, IVE, Vestron, and Lightning Video titles (Fright Night Part II, Repossessed, Chopping Mall, Waxwork) that they acquired that are simply copies of the original VHS versions!

 

[MatthewA]

No sale for season 2.

No sale for me of ANYTHING by Lion's Gate as a matter of fact.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Don't forget that Lions Gate also releases the excellent "Dead Zone" sets....and you never know what else they may acquire. "Moonlighting" sounds like it'll be a good set.

Gord

 

[Ravi K]

The outcry may have been huge on the net, but think of all the people who don't visit HTF or similar sites and picked up ALF because they liked it as a kid.

BTW, is it more expensive for them to get the uncut episodes? Surely these are readily available in the NBC archives.

 

[MatthewA]

No. Unless they own the copyright, NBC gives the tapes of the shows back to the copyright holder once the show goes off the air.

But Odyssey (now Hallmark) showed UNCUT ALF about six years ago, and it looked fine. So someone is telling a big fat fib.

I have actually never seen Moonlighting; as good as it sounds I will not buy it in protest.

 

[TravisR]

"I have actually never seen Moonlighting; as good as it sounds I will not buy it in protest."

You showed them.

 

[AnthonyC]

"I have actually never seen Moonlighting; as good as it sounds I will not buy it in protest."

I believe Gord posted back when we learned of Alf S1 being syndicated episodes that if studios make mistakes, it's ok to make a stand and show how you feel. But when studios correct mistakes, you need to show them that they got it right, instead of making them think that their efforts to make a correction were wasted.

I'm not interested in either show, but I've been keeping up with this story...Lions Gate may suck with Alf, but that doesn't mean that their other products suck.

 

[LindseyS]

Does anyone know if Lion's Gate contracts for any of their shows they're releasing will be expired? I didn't realize that Saved by the Bell was syndicated until long after I bought it, but lo and behold, the SBTB College Years set is wonderful and uncut (it was released by Image). Is it possible that Image will eventually obtain the rights for the original series?

 

[MatthewA]

I think they are, for legal purposes, two separate series. Image licensed the sequel series separately.

Eventually the contract will expire. Hopefully sooner and not later.

In fact, rather than wait for the contract to run out, I wish someone would BUY OUT Lion's Gate's contract with the series, demand uncut copies and release it properly (Image? Shout Factory? Anyone?) In fact, I'd do it myself if I had the money. What would it cost to draw up a business plan and raise some venture capital?