Grace Under Fire complete series (1 Viewer)

[KPmusmag]

Has anyone picked up the complete series set of Grace Under Fire? I have been waiting for it and love the show, but I am curious about the quality. Some reviews on amazon reference defective discs, although I am more curious about the audio/video quality of the shows themselves. I have never heard of Visual Entertainment Inc.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B014L2YKMG/ref=pd_luc_rh_top_sim_04_03_t_img_lh?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Peter McM]

I loved this show, too! My main concern would be whether they are complete or syndicate episodes.

 

[BobO'Link]

I own this, and several other series which were released by VEI. Their releases are pretty "bare boned" type with no special features with average to good video/audio quality. They don't appear do any remastering themselves but simply transfer to disc whatever prints are provided by the distributor/licensor of the programs. I purchased Grace Under Fire in late December 2015 from Amazon after waiting for the inevitable price drop (most VEI product drops in price, sometimes significantly, within about 6 months of release).

The series comes in 5 keep cases inside a fairly sturdy paperboard box. Seasons 1-4 have 3 discs each with only 2 for the short season 5. The discs are arranged with 1 on the inner left side and 2 overlapping on the inner right side - no "page" for that 3rd disc (bummer). The cases are the clear/translucent plastic type with episodes listed on the reverse of the outer wrap and visible once the disc(s) are removed. While the low disc count puts as many as 9 episodes per disc on some seasons the bit rates are consistently good, running 4-6Mbps - generally consistent with other TV product. The menu has a "Play All" and a "Episodes" selection which takes you to a episode list. Episodes have chapter stops where commercials would have been during original air.

Video quality is what you'd expect for a program produced on video tape (which I believe this was). It's overall pretty good video with stereo audio. Not "reference quality" but no obvious issues with either. There are *no* subtitles of any type (typical of VEI releases).

My player did a bit of head thrashing/searching when starting each episode (something that's fairly typical of many releases) but all have played without issue so far. There are no obvious manufacturing defects on the surface of any of the discs. I've watched all of S1-S4 at this point.

Running times are consistently 22:30-23:00. If these *are* edited syndicated versions the edits are well done. I didn't notice anything out of place or episodes that seemed to be missing any dialog or action. Of course it's from Carsey-Werner, who supplied syndicated cuts of *many* of their programs which have seen DVD release, so it's quite possible these *are* the syndicated cuts. However, I'd hope they learned their lesson with Cosby, Roseanne, Third Rock, and That 70's Show and got this one right.

The original theme song, Lady Madonna, has been replaced with a theme written for the show. I really didn't miss it too much, after all - it was only used on the open, and the replacement is OK. Even though I watched this one during first run I don't remember if they used "Lady Madonna" for the entire run. Part of me seems to recall it was changed beginning with S2 or S3. Still, the rest of the music in the show appears unchanged, but it's not one which had a soundtrack of old(er) pop/rock tunes. I *do* vaguely remember hearing a pop song or two in various episodes but I couldn't say just which ones (songs or episodes) without a full reviewing. I normally don't pay much attention to such trifles unless the songs are integral to the plot/series (like with WKRP or The Wonder Years).

Considering the new single season releases are currently going for ~$30 each, the better value is purchasing the entire series for the current ~$61 (from VEI and fulfilled by Amazon).

 

[KPmusmag]

Thank you so much, BobOlink, for taking the time to write such a comprehensive review; much appreciated. I am going to go ahead and order this one.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Aretha Franklin's Lady Madonna cover is the only theme that I recall being used for GRACE UNDER FIRE, although I was barely watching the show by the 5th and last season, While not integral to the episodes per se, for me the opening lyrics set the tone for the series premise of a struggling single mom. That it was sung by a female singer known for her recordings of empowering songs (IE. R-E-S-P-E-C-T; Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves,) makes this one of the most apropos '90s TV sitcom themes, and I would miss it very much!

Of course, money for including original theme songs isn't heaven sent!

CHEERS!

P.S. Here's s link to the 5th season theme, which all due respect, just doesn't work for me! No wonder I'd forgotten it:

Here's the Aretha Franklin sung "Lady Madonna" Theme from Season 1, which for me, was a much better fit for the show!:

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I don't know when the theme (and title sequence) was changed, given I was not a fan of the show, but I do remember that sometime during the original network run that the theme/title sequence was changed (which I felt was an improvement, actually). My girlfriend (and later, wife) liked the show, so I did end up seeing bits and pieces occasionally.

I'm fairly certain that when the show went into syndication that the season(s) with the earlier theme/titles got them switched out with the later version. Probably so everything would be "uniform" (unless there was some sort of rights payment issue, which seems doubtful for broadcasts, but maybe it was a problem).

 

[Tony Bensley]

I just find the later theme sounds so generic, whereas Aretha Franklin's cover version of The Beatles' "Lady Madonna" (Which to me, doesn't sound like a cover version at all, the way Aretha sings it!), in my opinion, set the proper tone for the show!

Ironically, as Dave Thomas was on both GRACE UNDER FIRE, and SCTV, it was the same deal when due to rights issues, the latter show had to drop the Spike Jone's manic sounding "William Tell Overture" in favor of a profoundly generic to the point of annoyingly sanitary sounding theme (Although the dropping TVs from the balcony visuals did somewhat compensate!), that wasn't at all in tune with the often brilliant comedy this otherwise classic satirical sketch based variety series delivered! For me, both shows later themes just basically hang there, if that makes any sense!

Anyway, that's my opinion, and welcome to it!

CHEERS!

 

[Dave Lawrence]

Aretha's theme was used for the 1st 3 seasons. The opening used in syndication (and on the DVDs) comes from the final 2 seasons. I agree with Tony that the later theme sounds generic. Very dull and low-energy (IMO). In a way, the change seems fitting as the show as a whole was beginning to change that year.

 

[David Rain]

If you watched the entire run of the series when it first aired (as I did) you'll know this show's quality & ratings success took a sharp nosedive as series star Brett Butler became undone by alcohol in real life. IIRC, it barely got renewed it's last season & was quickly cancelled as Brett became unmanageable.

You'll also recall that two of the show's actors (the oldest son & the best friend) quit the show, necessitating new opening credits.AFAIK, the newer, more generic theme has always been used in syndication & never the Aretha version.

 

[classicmovieguy]

I remember this show playing back-to-back with "The Mommies" when it originally aired prime time here in Australia. This, along with "Blossom", "Home Improvement", "Family Matters", "Full House", "Hangin' with Mr Cooper", "The Golden Girls" and "Empty Nest" were all on Channel 7 at roughly the same time. Must see TV.

 

[buddybluray]

I found The Complete Series at Walmart for $24.95 with different packaging. The ten discs are packaged in two keepcases with seasons 1-3 in one and 4-5 in the second. They include clear cases, but no printing on the inside sleeves. The box art is fairy different. I didn't see a listing at Walmart's website when I bought it, but happened to find it in store.

There's a disclaimer before the menu loads claiming that there may be visual defects throughout due to the age of the program. It seems like they tried to clean it up, but weren't able to. So far, these look pretty good with a few of the episodes having some edging problems, but nothing irritating.

 

[buddybluray]

I saw the same set at a local Walmart store last week and for that price, it's not a bad deal, so long as it's the same content as the other complete series version that's currently available.

I would assume it is, but I wouldn't know since I never bought the Amazon version. I'm still on S1, but so far all episodes are about 23 minutes each, which would make me believe they're the first run episodes. I can't figure out why Amazon's is much pricier either. I've bought numerous complete series sets over the past year for $29-25 each.

 

[Brent Reid]

As stated above, when first released, the Grace... Complete Collection totalled 14 discs and consisted of five individual season sets (3/3/3/3/2 discs) in a slipcase. Those same sets are also available individually. VEI then reissued The Complete Collection in more basic packaging last October. This time the disc count was reduced to only 10. The previous 14 was a bit of a stretch, compression-wise, but 10 pushes it well over the edge, averaging around 260min of content per disc.

Note that VEI are selling off a limited quantity of the original sets via their website for only $44. Though it started off mighty powerfully, the show had all but imploded by season 4. Consequently, the first three are the only ones really worth owning. Having said that though, VEI's complete set price is still much less than the current cost of buying those three individually. The choice is yours!

 

[bmasters9]

There's a disclaimer before the menu loads claiming that there may be visual defects throughout due to the age of the program. It seems like they tried to clean it up, but weren't able to.

I've seen that on VEI's releases of Hotel and Hardcastle and McCormick as well; I think it's also on the all-in-one of Petrocelli (albeit I don't have that one).