It's been a few years ago, so I forgot the source. Pretty sure it's not a reliable one either.
I do believe they should still have the 35mm prints and do believe they should remaster them for HD and 4K. But, I do know during the show's original run on ABC that it got mainly critical reviews and was never in the Top 30 (season 3 came closest, ranking at number 31, but you know what I mean).
a) should definitely be included. c) is a maybe but it should be moved away from the episode itself and included as an extra on the episode it previewed (such as on the original Hawaii Five-0).
You know, what you say about both b) and c) may also be the reason why certain similar mid-show bumpers and closing previews are also missing from many DVD releases of cartoon series (1970s-'80s Hanna-Barbera, for example). That was especially the case for such cartoons like The Perils of Penelope Pitstop since that series did not use a conventional next-week preview bumper but rather a "cliffhanger." I know Jonny Quest has its mid-show bumpers intact on the Blu-Ray re-release (just not the original commercials after the opening credits).
In case you didn't know, not only is it at amazon streaming with 1080p, but it's also on METV OTA at 1080p right NOW (sundays anyway). I didn't start recording it till S2E8, so I'm unclear whether they had the whole series done or not. Normally, you would expect so, but I was recording Happy Days in 720p, then it shifted to 1080p (broadcast signal anyway) and somewhere around S6 or S7 it went to the 480p look. And I can tell you, to be recording it, lose track of it, and then see it in 480p again, it hurts the eyes BAD.
You have to have experienced that situation I spoke of to know. One day you're recording 1080p, the next day 480p on the very same program - it's devastating. It's like putting on a pair of glasses that aren't right for you. Your eye has become accustomed to the 1080p. You switch the station to see a 480i for Have Gun Will Travel, and it doesn't bother you at all there, since it's always that way. I guess it's the reverse of somebody seeing something always in 480i or 480p, and suddenly it's in 1080p. The impact is more acute, I would imagine, if like me, you had no idea it was going to occur. I mean, you would think with Gilligan's Island seasons 2-3 done in 1080p, surely they did S1 one too, right? But to make it perhaps even worse, this was a "colorized" 480i they are doing for S1, and believe me, there's good 480p, and there's bad 480p, and that colorizing made it lose more clarity, if that's even possible, and it's definitely eyesore territory given the situation.
Well I would say it's more of seeing the same program go from excellent 1080p, to suddenly 480i at the drop of a hat than anything else. I think most people would say GI first season looks pretty good in it's native resolution in b/w, but that colorizing just destroys it. So, IOW, while switching on the same program to go half resolution is bad enough, the colorizing just makes it worse. If I had seen the original b/w, it wouldn't has been so bad. And to think, I used to somewhat like that GI colorizing due to getting something of a glimpse into seeing what that season would like like in color, but this switch I did really more emphasized how much duller it makes the images look. Frankly, I've probably seen better looking 360p in real color.
Don’t forget Bonanza , My Three Sons, and Ben Casey.
Speaking of My Three Sons, I hope they will do the color years on CBS (1965-72), which consisted of 196 episodes and breaks down as:
I'm not so sure anymore, since they started releasing complete series on blu-ray recently. MTS has not been transferred to HD, except for the first two seasons, so no blu-ray release likely. However, I think CBS may have come to the conclusion that the high priced days of individual seasons sets are done and that the best bet is cheap complete series sets based on whatever masters are floating around. In this case, if they are to continue with MTS they may just create three large volume sets, one for the B/W years and two more for the Color years. Just a feeling...
At least Bonanza is up to Season 11 I believe. Sure wish the rest of these would get more releases.
Yes, it looked like Bonanza would end with season 9, but CBS surprised us and we’re up to 11. With only three seasons to go , I hope CBS /Paramount will give us the final three!
I'm glad they got through the Candy years (up to season 11), which is as far as I need to go. I recall watching the finals years during broadcasts back in the early nineties. I didn't seem to mind them so much back then, but recently tried viewing them again and I'll pass. Too many changes, different intro and music, everyone getting a bit too old, too much Jaime as the seasons go on.
