Blu-ray Review Blondie: The Complete 1957 Television Series Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

While Blondie won’t likely replace I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners in viewers’ minds as a supreme comedy classic of the 1950s, it’s still a pleasant and very faithful rendition of a much beloved comic strip.



Blondie (1957–)



Released: 04 Jan 1957
Rated: N/A
Runtime: 30 min




Director: N/A
Genre: Comedy, Family



Cast: Arthur Lake, Pamela Britton, Florenz Ames
Writer(s): Chic Young



Plot: Arthur Lake had played Dagwood in a long series of "Blondie" movies. This show, retelling stories and situations familiar to readers of the comic strip, lasted one year.



IMDB rating: 7.5
MetaScore: N/A





Disc Information



Studio: Other
Distributed By: ClassicFlix
Video Resolution: 1080P/AVC



Aspect...

Continue reading...

 

[John Sparks]

Just watched all the episodes on Decades TV and that was enough for me. Don't remember watching this show as a kid and I really didn't miss anything from what I saw.

 

[Sega]

Cheap put out. No CC are SDH.
PASS. I have watched them all on TV.

 

[Rodney]

Thanks for the review, Matt. This is a new one I'll be adding to my television collection.
I remember ClassicFlix unsuccessfully trying a Kickstarter back in 2018 to bring this to blu-ray. Judging from the two posts above mine it doesn't seem to garner much love. I hope it sells well, so we get further television releases from the 50's and 60's.

 

[BobO'Link]

I enjoyed watching the series - purchased it on DVD when it was originally released by ClassicFlix. I'm just trying to decide if the DVD is good enough... Guess I really need to dig it out and watch it again.

 

[smithbrad]

Cheap put out. No CC are SDH.
PASS. I have watched them all on TV.

I'm guessing they had to confine the cost to produce to the expected return in investment. Likely, this isn't going to have a high return, so to even release it they had to put constraints on the cost, even if that means some don't buy due to no subtitles.

 

[Sega]

I'm guessing they had to confine the cost to produce to the expected return in investment. Likely, this isn't going to have a high return, so to even release it they had to put constraints on the cost, even if that means some don't buy due to no subtitles.

 

[Sega]

I'm guessing they had to confine the cost to produce to the expected return in investment. Likely, this isn't going to have a high return, so to even release it they had to put constraints on the cost, even if that means some don't buy due to no subtitles.

True! It's all about money. And they are not thinking of the millions of people they are leaving out. There loss.

 

[smithbrad]

True! It's all about money. And they are not thinking of the millions of people they are leaving out. There loss.

I think they know their business model better than anyone else as to what it takes to turn a profit with the types of titles they are releasing. I'd even fair a guess that the majority of those interested in this title are much more willing to go without subtitles to support a release than those that will boycott it due to the lack thereof. The fact that you even use the phrase "millions of people" just shows how out of touch you are with the market for such a release.

To call them "cheap" would seem to indicate you know something to the contrary. So exactly how much do you think the licensing and transfer costs were? How much would it cost to create subtitles for the release? How many sales do you think such a release will attain to compensate for the production costs? Please, enlighten us.

It's so easy to criticize. Now show us you have the knowledge to justify the criticism.

 

[RBailey]

I think they know their business model better than anyone else as to what it takes to turn a profit with the types of titles they are releasing. I'd even fair a guess that the majority of those interested in this title are much more willing to go without subtitles to support a release than those that will boycott it due to the lack thereof. The fact that you even use the phrase "millions of people" just shows how out of touch you are with the market for such a release.

To call them "cheap" would seem to indicate you know something to the contrary. So exactly how much do you think the licensing and transfer costs were? How much would it cost to create subtitles for the release? How many sales do you think such a release will attain to compensate for the production costs? Please, enlighten us.

It's so easy to criticize. Now show us you have the knowledge to justify the criticism.

This is the reason why I use the "ignore" feature to not see the poster's content.

 

[dstrong]

I watched the entire series on tubitv and was unimpressed. I'm glad I didn't waste my money on buying the DVD set. The most annoying thing about the show was Arthur Lake's constant "Huuuuuuuhhh???" when somebody asked him something.

 

[ClassicFlix]

I think they know their business model better than anyone else as to what it takes to turn a profit with the types of titles they are releasing. I'd even fair a guess that the majority of those interested in this title are much more willing to go without subtitles to support a release than those that will boycott it due to the lack thereof. The fact that you even use the phrase "millions of people" just shows how out of touch you are with the market for such a release.

To call them "cheap" would seem to indicate you know something to the contrary. So exactly how much do you think the licensing and transfer costs were? How much would it cost to create subtitles for the release? How many sales do you think such a release will attain to compensate for the production costs? Please, enlighten us.

It's so easy to criticize. Now show us you have the knowledge to justify the criticism.

Exactly.

We are a tiny company in a subset of a shrinking physical media market and we'll be lucky to sell 3,000 units of this title on BD.

And while we put subtitles on our top line feature film releases, TV already takes several months or years to recoup costs (even then it's a risk to go in the black at all), so spending upward of $5K to do subtitles on a release like this is not realistic given the market that is in its sunset years.

- David
ClassicFlix Founder, Producer

 

[ClassicFlix]

Also, the reason this is available at all on TV or streaming is because we took the gamble in 2018 to license the series, pay an advance, pay tens of thousands of dollars to restore. If we hadn't taken that risk, the series would still be in the vaults deteriorating away...

Additionally, it is only because we eventually went into the black on the DVD release that we were able to release the BD. Is the DVD okay upscaled in HD? Maybe for some, but to my eyes and most viewers the BD is the way to go for the sharpest image.

- David
ClassicFlix Founder, Producer

 

[Gary OS]

Thanks so much for coming in here and explaining that to us, David.


Gary “we are really blessed to have a company like ClassicFlix come in here and engage with us regularly” O.

 

[GMBurns]

Exactly.

We are a tiny company in a subset of a shrinking physical media market and we'll be lucky to sell 3,000 units of this title on BD.

And while we put subtitles on our top line feature film releases, TV already takes several months or years to recoup costs (even then it's a risk to go in the black at all), so spending upward of $5K to do subtitles on a release like this is not realistic given the market that is in its sunset years.

- David
ClassicFlix Founder, Producer

David, thank you for giving us some context for how your company operates. It makes me more appreciative for what you are doing for the few of us still interested in classic tv on physical media. Thanks a lot!

 

[ClassicFlix]

David, thank you for giving us some context for how your company operates. It makes me more appreciative for what you are doing for the few of us still interested in classic tv on physical media. Thanks a lot!

Thank you to you both.

We restore and present classic TV on BD/DVD because we love these old shows (and because no one else is touching them!).

To give even more context, we released ABBOTT AND COSTELLO - SEASON 1 on Blu-ray a year and a half ago. Bob Furmanek and his team produced the restorations and the bonus content and did an phenomenal job with it, but to do a release as stellar as this costs a lot of money.

Bottom line, 18 months later and we still are in the red on it (without subtitles). This leaves less money for other projects and shrinks the pool of available classics on BD/DVD. If you wonder why other labels have stopped doing rare TV look no further than this example.

Having said that, we are excited to have started our new "RARE TELEVISION" line. It will bring to light of day many shows/programs which have never or rarely been seen.

We hope the line will be supported (in spite of no subs) and we have 3 releases that are definitely going to be released and several more planned, but the line can only continue with the support of fans spending their hard-earned money on them.

- David
ClassicFlix Founder, Producer

 

[Gary OS]

Thank you to you both.

We restore and present classic TV on BD/DVD because we love these old shows (and because no one else is touching them!).

To give even more context, we released ABBOTT AND COSTELLO - SEASON 1 on Blu-ray a year and a half ago. Bob Furmanek and his team produced the restorations and the bonus content and did an phenomenal job with it, but to do a release as stellar as this costs a lot of money.

Bottom line, 18 months later and we still are in the red on it (without subtitles). This leaves less money for other projects and shrinks the pool of available classics on BD/DVD. If you wonder why other labels have stopped doing rare TV look no further than this example.

Having said that, we are excited to have started our new "RARE TELEVISION" line. It will bring to light of day many shows/programs which have never or rarely been seen.

We hope the line will be supported (in spite of no subs) and we have 3 releases that are definitely going to be released and several more planned, but the line can only continue with the support of fans spending their hard-earned money on them.

- David
ClassicFlix Founder, Producer

Super-excited about this new line, David. Right up my alley. You'll get all the financial and vocal support I can muster.


Gary "can't wait for these new titles" O.

 

[bmasters9]

Having said that, we are excited to have started our new "RARE TELEVISION" line. It will bring to light of day many shows/programs which have never or rarely been seen.

Will the shows you present in that line be mostly from the 50s and 60s?

 

[Gary OS]

Will the shows you present in that line be mostly from the 50s and 60s?

I think David mentioned the one early 60's show that's already been alluded to, and everything else after that 50's material. And I'm personally really excited about that. 50's TV has been somewhat underrepresented when compared with 60's and 70's material, imho.

 

[The 1960's]

Having said that, we are excited to have started our new "RARE TELEVISION" line. It will bring to light of day many shows/programs which have never or rarely been seen.

We hope the line will be supported (in spite of no subs) and we have 3 releases that are definitely going to be released and several more planned, but the line can only continue with the support of fans spending their hard-earned money on them.

- David
ClassicFlix Founder, Producer

Super-excited about this new line, David. Right up my alley. You'll get all the financial and vocal support I can muster.


Gary "can't wait for these new titles" O.

Yes couldn't agree more. My physical media purchases are now just about non-existent. But your new line will keep me active as long as it lasts. In addition to 21 Beacon Street - The Complete Series, can you give us any teasers David? Thanks in advance!