Bill Williams
Screenwriter
- Joined
- May 28, 2003
- Messages
- 1,697
A couple of more things I noticed with the Smallville DVD set:
If you notice the start-up menu of shots from the pilot, they have thrown in two clips from the original version of the pilot. The opening shot of Kal-El's starship partially breaks apart as it begins to enter into Earth's atmosphere. This effects shot is from the original pilot, yet for the final telecast version they use something similar though set at a different angle before Kal-El's ship enters into the atmosphere.
Even moreso, pay attention to the Kents' truck accident. Look past Jonathan to Martha. Her face has been deliberately airbrushed out of the scene. This clip with Cynthia Ettinger was part of the original pilot as well. And yet if you go back to look at the final broadcast version, you can just make out the scenes in which Ms. Ettinger's scenes were incorporated into the episode before it cuts to Annette O'Toole's footage.
My question is, where did the DVD producers acquire the footage from the original pilot? Why include it in the DVD set if they had no intention of using Ms. Ettinger for the series? That's like saying the original pilot exists but then they turn around and say, "But don't talk about it."
One classy thing I noticed about the Season 1 set of The Dead Zone is that they gave fans and owners the opportunity to get a licensed DVD of that series' original pilot. The WB should have done the same thing for Smallville. And ditto for whenever they decide to release Birds of Prey on DVD.
And I had a chance to re-check Title 1 on discs 1-5 last night, and Marc, you're right on the money with this one. Each episode is duplicated twice on the disc. Title 1 has all four episodes in a continuous play totalling 3 hours, while each episode individually takes up Titles 3, 4, 5, and 6, respectively. The WB should have mentioned this option clearly on its packaging to select between continuous play or individual episode selection, but didn't.
If you notice the start-up menu of shots from the pilot, they have thrown in two clips from the original version of the pilot. The opening shot of Kal-El's starship partially breaks apart as it begins to enter into Earth's atmosphere. This effects shot is from the original pilot, yet for the final telecast version they use something similar though set at a different angle before Kal-El's ship enters into the atmosphere.
Even moreso, pay attention to the Kents' truck accident. Look past Jonathan to Martha. Her face has been deliberately airbrushed out of the scene. This clip with Cynthia Ettinger was part of the original pilot as well. And yet if you go back to look at the final broadcast version, you can just make out the scenes in which Ms. Ettinger's scenes were incorporated into the episode before it cuts to Annette O'Toole's footage.
My question is, where did the DVD producers acquire the footage from the original pilot? Why include it in the DVD set if they had no intention of using Ms. Ettinger for the series? That's like saying the original pilot exists but then they turn around and say, "But don't talk about it."
One classy thing I noticed about the Season 1 set of The Dead Zone is that they gave fans and owners the opportunity to get a licensed DVD of that series' original pilot. The WB should have done the same thing for Smallville. And ditto for whenever they decide to release Birds of Prey on DVD.
And I had a chance to re-check Title 1 on discs 1-5 last night, and Marc, you're right on the money with this one. Each episode is duplicated twice on the disc. Title 1 has all four episodes in a continuous play totalling 3 hours, while each episode individually takes up Titles 3, 4, 5, and 6, respectively. The WB should have mentioned this option clearly on its packaging to select between continuous play or individual episode selection, but didn't.
