"The Dick Van Dyke Show Season 4" -- A Personal Review (1 Viewer)

[David*P]

I should've made myself clearer considering this thread should mainly be about s.4....sorry. I was talking about s.1, which I just got. I only found one Emmy clip on s.1, yet the box says "Emmy Clips".

As for Laura's little "scene" I'll have to watch that episode again

Cool vintage TV Guide covers! As per the change in the listings going to Sunday, that just happened a couple weeks ago.

 

[David Von Pein]

Well, I'll be sheep-dipped!
No kidding?
Had no idea.
Funny coincidence I even brought it up.
Starting them on Sunday makes more sense though, IMO.

 

[David Von Pein]

I'd love to see this full January 1964 TV Guide article eluded to on the cover below (re. showing "half the picture"). Almost sounds like a 1960's pre-DVD variation of the old "WS vs. FF" debate. Wonder what it does refer to? Sounds like it just might be
an argument in favor of showing movies in "Widescreen" (OAR) even back 40 years ago. ........

 

[David Von Pein]

Another "TV Guide" notation (if I may be allowed please) ......

I noticed in the 05/09/2004 issue that there are several advertisements for DVDs. In fact, there's apparently a recurring column featured, called "TV on DVD", which features the latest DVD products on the market.

Good to see that DVDs are being given some ad exposure somewhere on the planet ..... besides HTF.

 

[Larry Geller]

deleted

 

[ScottR]

So how is the video quality on all these sets? Are the film elements in good condition? Anything missing?

 

[Jay*W]

Scott,

Read the first posts in each thread by David VP. By and large, the quality of the transfers are excellent. The film elements seem to be in remarkably good shape. A very small number of shows exhibit some periods of blurriness/fuzziness for undetermined reasons, but overall they are extremely well done transfers.

I don't recall any problems noted with missing footage, but David is the expert!

 

[Jon_Are]

I've seen a handful of articles w/photos about the new DVD episode, and in every photo of Dick, I am amazed at how much he is starting to resemble brother Jerry (at first I thought one shot was JVD). Anyone else notice this?

Wow, Mel and Buddy made a TV Guide cover?!? I think Richard Deacon is underrated and underappreciated. For a man with such a distinctive look, he did an incredible job of creating two wonderful characters (Mel Cooley and Fred Rutherford) who looked identical yet conveyed unique and distinct personalities.


Geez, you guys are SO juvenile! (I shout over my shoulder as I race for the disc).

Jon

 

[David Von Pein]

What Jay*W said (above)...re. the PQ. Top notch, except for those occasional, random few minutes in a handful of episodes that exhibit some "blurring"/"fluttering".

And no ... there's definitely NO missing footage on these DvD eps. (based on the fact each show runs for more than 25 minutes total on the discs).

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

The Garry Marshall commentary on "Baby Fat" is by far the best commentary I've heard on these sets. He leaves almost no dead air, tells lots of good stories (in fact, he has so many anecdotes he keeps on talking for five minutes after the show is over and the screen fades to black), and has a lot of very specific information to give about the writing process on the show and the process of writing this episode in particular. He covers everything from clothes (he comments at one point that he thinks Buddy's plaid vest and Sally's striped dress detract from the comedy of the scene) to names (why "Buck Brown" is a funny name for a gay costume designer). If Paramount ever gets around to Marshall's own shows they definitely need to get him in to do some commentary.

This is IMO the best season of the show: with Reiner finally making Alan Brady an onscreen character, the cast achieved perfection, and the writing reached its best level with Reiner still writing scripts and producing, Persky and Denoff handling the story editing, and Garry Marshall and Jerry Belson as staff writers. (Belson and Marshall wrote the craziest stories and, IMO, many of the funniest episodes, like "Dear Mrs. Petrie Your Husband is in Jail," "Baby Fat," and "4 1/2".)

 

[David Von Pein]

I couldn't agree more.
I loved this guy in about everything.
Ever see his (semi-)recurring role in "The Jack Benny Program", where he played a barber who desperately didn't want to wait on the penny-pinching TV star??

Richard had a great line after telling everyone in the barber shop that he actually got a large tip from Benny on a previous occasion: "Yeah -- spin that man around in the chair a couple of times, and he doesn't know what he's doing!"

I, too, am always amazed when watching "Fred Rutherford" vs. "Mel Cooley", who look, dress, and sound exactly the same. But it's like watching two totally different actors on screen. (Of course, the writing of each character is markedly different, with Fred being quite a bit more of a "stuffed shirt" and snobbish.)

Another one of these type of "actor" comparisons that always strikes me as impressive is Mary Tyler Moore's "Laura Petrie" vs. "Mary Richards". Hard to believe it's the same actress playing both parts.

 

[David Von Pein]

BULLETIN RE. DVD-ON-DVD "FUZZY"/"BLURRY" DEFECTS
IN SOME EPISODES -----------

I e-mailed Image directly a few days ago, and asked about this "fuzzy scene" difficulty some of us DVD-On-DVD purchasers have noticed during a few of the episodes (mostly in season one).

I was kind of surprised (happily so) to find a return e-mail on this subject in my mailbox today. .......

>> "Dear David,

The “blurriness” apparent during sections of these episodes is the result of damaged source material; more specifically this problem is caused by warped film. Image Entertainment has done all it can do to eliminate this problem using the technology on hand and hopefully new technological advances in editing will allow this problem to be corrected completely at some point in the future.

Thank you."

 

[DanFe]

Ya, David, but I don't want to go back and buy these again.

 

[David Von Pein]

True.
I don't relish the thought of doing that either.

It's possible (although not probable I suppose) that Image might replace/exchange any defective/blurry-ized discs free of charge.

Also -- It might also be possible in future months to buy just ONE disc by itself from the dvd-on-dvd.com site. They claim buyers will be able to do just that at some point. .........

>> "You will be able to purchase one disk, a boxed season, or the whole collection. For serious collectors, we will offer a limited edition consisting of all the disks,
special material, and some personally autographed items, all encased in a "flip-top" ottoman, just like the one DVD trips over in the opening credits."

 

[JasonPW]

Wanna see something that will leave you enraged? Here's what critic Tom Shales thinks of the Van Dyke reunion show airing tonight--AND the original series:



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2004May10.html


Guuurruruhuhuhurrr.....

Doc

 

[Carlos Garcia]

Oh I don't buy that for one minute. Warped film has absolutely nothing to do with this problem. If it did, then these same episodes airing on TVLand (which look flawless) would experience the same problems. I stand by my original theory that someone was asleep at the wheel when they were transferring the episodes in question. On the other hand, if they at least acknowledge there is a problem, maybe when they fix it they can re-release just those badly transferred episodes. I'm not sure just how many episodes are affected in the entire series, but it sure would be alot cheaper to buy a disc or 2 of the "fixed" episodes, than it would be to buy each "newly fixed" season all over again!

 

[Carlos Garcia]

Here are more unflattering reviews:

http://www.tricityherald.com/24hour/...-8542510c.html

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr..._id=1000506979

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/8610758.htm?1c


Ok we get the message, the show sucks and you can't go home again...Now shut the F*** up so we can enjoy the people we grew up with! Thank you.

Now, here's another opinion:

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Ottawa...09/452278.html

Thank you

 

[JasonPW]

It's about 90 minutes later and I've read about 11 other reviews of the "Revisited" special, all of them primarily negative.

See, here's the thing.

If you measure a reunion special--taped 40 years after-the-fact, with 3 of the principal cast gone--against the original show, you're gonna be disapointed.

If you think Carl Reiner, who hasn't written a half-hour TV script of any kind in decades, is gonna crank out something to match his best work, you're an idiot.

If you go into this viewing experience with the idea of "Hey, it'll be nice to see Rob and Laura again!" you should have a good time, and maybe not be as let-down.

As far as Tom Shales--a critic I have usually found to be on the mark-- where this is concerned, he's an ass.

Doc

 

[David Von Pein]

Now please feel free to slap me with a flounder if it turns out that I'm wrong about what I'm going to say...but.....

I think you're dead wrong here (re. the TV Land prints).

These DVDs were made directly from the original 35mm prints, being kept in storage in Hollywood vaults.

The shows we see on TV-Land surely are NOT from these "Orig. Prints". They are taken, I would imagine, from second- or third-generation "taped" master prints (or even copies of same), done many moons ago.

The DVD sets were all done fairly recently (2000-2003).

So, if my above analysis is accurate, I think Image's "warped film" mail to me seems VERY reasonable. In fact, the more I think about it...the "warped film" explanation seems much MORE logical than just some DVD transfer technician "falling asleep" and not doing his/her job in the transfer room. (Which, of course, ALSO has to mean that some other people at Image/Brownstein are also "asleep" at the same time -- because, surely, somebody looked at the DVD Master Discs at some point after transfer occurred.)

What we see (damage-wise) is very helter-skelter and willy-nilly. It's all over the
map -- meaning: in different episodes, from different seasons, and miles apart from one another (so to speak).

What are the odds of a "sleeping tech man" proving to be the answer on multiple episodes, and on multiple season sets. Which would mean he/they were "sleeping" on numerous days at work.

I, too, was like Carlos initially, in believing these slight "fuzzies" HAD to be from the DVD transfer. Now, after getting that e-mail directly from the distributor's mouth, I'm inclined to agree with Image's explanation completely. Because it makes more sense. Seems logical to think that this 40-year-old, long-stored-away film might just have a few "crimps" or defects that couldn't be fixed/ironed-out for these transfers. Hence, we get a video hiccup.

I'm just glad the hiccups weren't widespread. Seems mainly confined to Season 1, from what I can see. (BTW--another S.1 episode with some "blurs" is "44 Tickets".)

End -- My two-hundredths of one dollar.

 

[David Von Pein]

I refuse to read those awful reviews on the Reunion episode until after I watch the show myself. I want to go into it untainted. (Well, now, "semi"-untainted by other's opinions. )