Wiseguy-Vol. 4 Question (1 Viewer)

Has anyone purchased the new set today, titled "Between the Mob and a Hard Place"? I went to my local Best Buy and neither that nor "Gilligan" Season 2 were on the shelves at all!
This worked in my favor, however. The previous "Wiseguy" sets retail around $60, and sell at Best Buy for $46.99. Since they didn't have the new set, I went home to order it from their website, which had the new set for an amazing price of only $26.99. This is an absolutely incredible price, considering Amazon has it for $44.99. Needless to say, I ordered one right away, and am wondering if that price was a mistake and meant to be $46.99.

Looking forward to this set; it includes the first half of season 3. (For some reason, they have skipped the last half of season 2, which was the Music Industry Arc--perhaps they had trouble licensing music rights for that run of shows).

If anyone has further information on the pricing, or the set itself, please share...

Almost certainly not the reason since the producers of these dvds don't give a damn about the music. They replaced music on the first and second volumes of Wiseguy (which made those non-buys for me), so there's no reason to believe they wouldn't just replace the music on that arc. Cmon, if they're not willing to pay for one damn song (Nights in White Satin) of vital importance to the first arc, then there's sure as hell no hope that they're going to pay for multiple songs for another arc.

Got mine off the BB shelf yesterday for that same ($26.99) price (saw Gilligan 2, too). I was going to wait on it, but that price (saw it in Sunday's Weekly Roundup) made me change my mind...

Don't know why it was so much cheaper than the others, but I'm glad it was, of course. These have been overpriced at half-seasons and with replacement music...

Yeah, they said from the start that the music arc would be in the sixth/final volume... I don't like all this jumping around from broadcast order, but the idea was that this was SO they could use all the right music when they get to it (they would better be able to afford it, after...).

Just think it's a shame that new viewers will be meeting Vinnie's girlfriend Amber (Patti D'Arbanville)
in this set and NOT see her introduction in the earlier storyline, still awaiting release.


Remaining episodes to be released, then:

The eight episode music arc from Season Two.

"To Die In Bettendorf", a stand-alone from Season Three, with the return of a character from the Steelgrave arc.

The last seven episodes of Season Three, which have two overlapping storylines between them.

The nine (or 'eight'- first two aired as a two-hour premiere) episodes from Season Four (the last three of which didn't air until syndication). I wasn't sure they were going to put these out, since Ken Wahl isn't in the cast- but knowing that they plan to produce two more sets and counting episodes... I figure they ARE to be included. And since Frank and Lifeguard ARE in them (and I've never seen them, and would like to...), I hope 'completeness' wins out.

The 1996 reunion movie (didn't see that when it aired, either).

Glad to hear they are going to get to ALL of the episodes, minus the reunion movie (which I fortunately managed to record back in 1996, at least).
The pricing issue and the music rights issue have me very curious; as angry as I was with "Nights in White Satin" being replaced in volume 1, I still bought the show, and play a CD of the song during the key scene, which alleviated my anger a little. I don't remember what key songs there are in the music arc, other than a tune or 2 by Debbie Harry, but hopefully these will be intact. I even enjoyed the Ken Wahl-less fourth season somewhat (mainly because of McPike), so I look forward to those as well...

I was speculating, I'm not SURE the Steven Bauer episodes are a done deal...

But if there are 8 Season 2 shows left, and 8 Season 3 shows left... and each package has had 11-13 shows so far... definitely hope (and figure that they will) flesh out their last two releases with the 8 (or 9, if you prefer to count that way) from Season 4 (and the movie, too).

Yeah, the Deborah Harry character's 'single' they record is the only one I really remember.

Nights In White Satin- that was unforgivable... but I wanted to have them on disc, regardless. And my old vhs tapes of the first season were lent out and unreturned...

They cheaped out on an insert pamphlet in this fourth box... it's just a single sheet now. Well, better than nothing...

Releasing the episodes out of order? That's nice. I bought the first two releases. I missed the first season when it was broacast. I think I'll skip the others. When should I cue up Nights in White Satin?



You didn't miss much. Did it even explain Vinnie's disappearance from the final season?

Ric

It's been a few years since I watched the 1996 movie, but I remember it briefly, and indirectly, alluded to him having disappeared for a time, more or less as a throway comment. It was not explained further than that. As a long-time fan, I interpreted it to mean that he left the OCB for awhile and let everyone go on believing he was dead while he put his life back together, because prior to his "murder" in season 4, he was a real @#%@$#% mess at the end of season 3. In reality, the writers of the TV movie, including producer Stephen Cannell, ignored the events of the 4th season as if they never occurred. Kinda like in "Star Trek" when the Klingons appeared with bumpy heads, and no one explained why they had smooth heads during the 60s, when the reality was that they simply didn't have the budget back then.

Hope this helps!

It plays after Good Lovin' in the final controntation between Vinnie and Sonny.
In its place now is some generic instrumental score (and they trimmed some seconds from the video, too).

I don't think the reunion movie did (resolve where Vinnie was during Season 4), and yeah, I've heard it wasn't all that great, but still... last opportunity to see those characters together, I'd like to see it, too (but if it doesn't make it to disc, my parents probably have it on tape... 'somewhere'...).

The first season was the best, but I enjoyed the Jerry Lewis/Ron Silver and music industry arcs a great deal, too.

Got busy way back then and never got around to seeing the end of 2 and all of season 3... It'll be fun to do so, I think (even if- true to reputation- the show doesn't retain the high quality of its first year).

The music arc from the end of season 2 started off great, but fizzled, as it seemed to lose focus by the final few episodes.

The opening arc of season 3 (which was also the finale to season 2, and the first arc on the vol. 4 DVD set) featured the mob control of the garbage industry, and was pretty good, but again, it fizzled after a great start.

The second arc of season 3 (and included in vol. 4) is excellent, on par with the first season Mel Profitt shows, and is, in fact, a sequel of sorts to those episodes, as the events of the Mel Profitt arc directly cause the events of this new arc.

Finally, the third and final arc of season 3 was a grand failure. It started off strong, and was very "Twin Peaks"-ish, yet it predated that show by a year. Vinnie investigates a rich lunatic who runs an old mining town called Lynchboro in the Pacific Northwest. He goes undercover as a deputy in the local police force. However, Ken Wahl suffered another injury during filming, and was replaced about 3 or 4 shows in by William Russ as Roger Lococco, while the character of Vinnie is lamely written out. Russ was trapped by a miserable wrap-up to the storyline, but is great in every scene he's in, even though Lococco seems out of character in a few spots. Obviously the character mellowed between appearances.
While the Lynchboro arc with Lococco wraps up, Vinnie ends up in Seattle contemplating suicide after dealing with some low-lifes involved in a medical waste scam. A major event happens to one of the supporting characters in the finale, as well.
With regards to the final 2 DVD sets, I suspect that Vol. 5 will feature the 7 or so Lynchboro/Seattle episodes, and the 2 or so single-parters that remain, along with the opening 4-parter of season 4. Vol. 6 would then feature the Music arc, along with the remaining single part episodes from season 4. Unfortunately, this will confuse the heck out of those who never has seen the show prior to the DVDs, as Vol. 5 will feature
the "murder" of Vinnie, then Vol. 6 will feature him reappearing to investigate the music industry, then back to his replacement.
If Studioworks cares enough, they should consider using the music arc and Lynchboro for vol. 5 instead. The remaining season 3 single-part shows, and the complete, 9 hour 4th season should then comprise Vol. 6., along with the 1996 movie. This would be of greater value to the fans who have never seen the show before...
I'm betting that the movie won't be included on any set, since they may not have licensed the rights to it. The movie never showed up on Court TV when they reran the series a few years back.

Just an FYI ...

I watched Disc 4 (the standalone episodes) and I regret to report that there's a commentary track with Ken Wahl but no option for show only audio.

VERY Strange indeed!

Ken Wahl, in his commentary, compared his current physical looks to a gray bearded paunchy homeless man that appeared in one of the disc 4 episodes.

I know he didnt want photos of himself shown in the Entertainment Weekly article that came out a little while back, and he made mention in the audio commentary that he doesnt want any video footage taken of him for inclusion in the Wiseguy dvd sets.

Very sad ... still a relatively young man (50ish) ... his poor health obviously doesnt help.

I just got my vol. 4 set and sat down to watch it tonight, and I am VERY DISAPPOINTED with Studioworks and Cannell Productions over the quality!!

As mentioned above, disc 4's standalone episodes ONLY have the audio commentary track--there is no option for the episodes without it! This is very upsetting and I am going to call the studio today to see if there will be replacement discs issued that will fix the problem!

Also, on disc 1, the 3rd episode has absolutely horrible video quality--it is constantly jumpy and blurry, almost like the episode has been slightly slowed down in speed; the other 2 episodes are fine. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

Finally, the opening song on that same 3rd episode from disc 1 has been replaced with (surprise!) bland generic instrumental garbage...

What a major disappointment--does Studioworks have anybody doing quality control there, or do they just not care? And why would Cannell Productions not get upset over the shoddy product?

Hopefully these are just part of a defective batch; I'll let you know what I find out when I call...

I dont think the Disc 4 Audio Commentary Only Discs are defects ....

It seems like they intended to have no option on the main menu to select show only audio.

One more problem I noticed, and this is most likely Cannell Productions' fault, who provided Studioworks with the episode masters:

The show credit intros for the 4 Washington, DC episodes features the opening for the Mafia arc set, showing the characters from that particular storyline instead! I remember while watching the series on CBS's original broadcasts that the DC arc had its own special opening featuring that storyline's characters; apparently no one wanted to go through the effort to put the correct opening on! Very disappointing...

Just a follow-up to my last post:

I spoke to a very nice woman at Studioworks/Ventura Distribution's customer service department, and mentioned the audio commentary problem on disc 4, and the video quality of the "Rightful Place" episode on disc 1, and she wasn't aware of these issues, but assured me that she herself would pull one of the sets and take a look. If their sets are good, she said they would issue me a replacement. She indicated she would let me know by the end of the day...

Freaky- no show audio on disc 4. That is, um... a very big deal, yes. Commentaries are all well and good, but.. hey, shut up, Ken, I wanna watch this...

When we're talking about configuring the final two sets- agree Dead Dog + rest of 3 would be the best and least confusing to new viewers, but from a marketing standpoint, splitting up the Vinnie-less shows makes more sense, of course... Also, there's only ONE stand-alone (Season 3) episode remaining, not two or three (well, I guess NOW there are three left, if the two on Disc 4 of Volume 4 aren't viewable-with-audio...).

Agree the reunion movie might be omitted. Still hoping it won't be.

The Lynchboro story in Wiseguy didn't predate Twin Peaks by a year. It did start airing first (2/90- TP didn't start until 4/90), but the 'homage' is intentional, and the TP pilot was around for awhile before it aired, so...

I've never seen the storyline, but I was very excited that Lococco returned (even if it was a last-minute subbing for Wahl, like Dennison was during the Garment Trade story). Loved William Russ/Roger in the Profitt story...

Bummer about the wrong opening credits on an arc.

Third episode of disc one- do you remember what the music should have been? I'll check out the blurry (and jumpy? eek!) video on that today, see HOW bad it is...

Yeah, they've really botched these, haven't they? Not all that excited (or surprised) about the $27 'bargain' we got, now... Studioworks wasn't aware of these issues yet? Are you (R. Kay and Jeff) the FIRST people to open your sets and stick them in your players?...

I received my set Thursday from Bestbuy.com and started watching it late Thursday evening. I was so flabbergasted by discs 1 and 4 that I tried them on 2 DVD players to make sure; the CSR I spoke to with Ventura Distribution/Studioworks hasn't called me back yet, but she sounded like she was unaware of the problem. I have a difficult time believing they would have just discovered it today because of my phone call, though, given that there must have been review copies circulating for at least a week already. Hopefully they can repress these discs with the corrections and recall the old ones, but that will cost lots of $$, so who knows? I am still looking forward to the next 2 volumes, so I hope this doesn't diminish the chances of those sets making it to DVD.

Hey guys,
Just got back from vacation and planned on decompressing by watching this - my absolute favorite tv series of all time.

I'm having the same problems that you have mentioned here - bad video on disc 1 and can't watch the shows on disc 4 without the commentary.

I'm going to search the web for a contact number about this, but if one of you who has called the company about this would let me know the number, I would really appreciate it. I'd like to call too. Thanks!

Brian

PS - Never mind, I found the site. TOo late to call, but I fired off a friendly email. I hope they get back to me.

Good luck hearing back from them; let us know if you do. The lady I spoke with has yet to call or email me. Having realized they have a serious problem, they are probably trying to decide how to respond to this matter, and may only do so through their publicists with some type of statement to come. What I hope DOESN'T happen is that they receive too few complaints and decide to not do anything about it at all. So if anyone of you have the same problems with this set, I would encourage you to politely call or email Ventura Distribution, of which Studioworks is a subsidiary, the company that releases the "Wiseguy" DVDs. Also, a polite call or email to Cannell Productions may help, too.
Here are the links to their websites:

http://www.venturadistribution.com/c.../contact.phtml
http://www.cannell.com/contactus.htm

It's hard for me to believe Cannell had anything to do with these DVD's. The whole set is a serious disappointment. No season sets. No closed captions or English subs. Bad video. Audio mixups. Surely this show deserved a better release. I was elated to hear it would come out on DVD -- elation that quickly evaporated.

Glad some of you enjoy the set, but I just couldn't invest in it as currently released.