Homicide Life on the Street - Megaset (1 Viewer)

[Tony Kwong]

I've been out of the forum a while and I did a quick search and didnt see much mentioned.. Just wondering anyone else a bit PO about this set? I bought the previous editions and I have no problem with that or the price. but the new mega set seems to have to Law and Order crossover episodes... included as well. That kinda sucks. Will be nice if previous buyers will be allowed to aquire the Law and order episodes as well.

In light of all this it's a Great way for people to get into the show with the megaset because of the much lower price.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Awww nuts. I recently completed buying all the season sets, but still haven't watched past disc 1 season 3 (which you lot would know isn't much since S1&2 are really short). If I'd held off I could've bought this instead...

And yes, knowing about the crossovers is really bugging me, in the same way that watching just one half of the story on L&O:SVU (which is broadcast here) bugged the hell out of me when I first saw it.

Edit: just saw it on Amazon. Dang, much cheaper than what I paid for my sets, even though I only paid around US$37 each for S5&6. The 3 cross-over L&O eps and the Movie make this a really good deal. Urgh, I'm tempted to see if I can flog off my season sets now, especially since at least 3 of them are still sealed...

 

[MarkHarrison]

According to the Homicide: Life on the Street Video FAQ, the lady who runs the site says she contacted A&E about those of us who already own the series getting the crossover disc. There's no word yet, but at least there's hope.

 

[Mary_P]

That would be great news. I've already bought all seven seasons plus the movie, and much as I like the series, I don't have any great desire to shell out another coupla hundred to get the missing L&O episodes.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Oooo.. if it happens, outstanding!

A&E does have a reasonably good record of "doing the right thing", e.g. with Space: 1999 when they finally managed to secure rights to "Message From Moonbase Alpha", the fan-made coda, and remastered some rather dodgy-looking S1 eps, they put it on a bonus disc included in the mega-set, but also made it available separately online for those who had already collected the individual releases. But this one may be complicated by the fact that someone else owns the rights to the L&O eps.

 

[Tony Kwong]

That bonus disc for space 1999 was $15 from aetv.com. So if it were similar I'd go for it.

 

[Ruz-El]

I hope it's available seperately as well. It's a real burn to those of us who supported the series previously if it's not. Homicide is easilly my number 1 show of all time, but I'm not buying twice in order to get content I should of had the first time around.

 

[Doug Wallen]

AMEN

I do hope the extra's are made available separately. I have missed those "other" episodes when I go thru this set. Will even catch them when TNT plays them.

 

[Ric Easton]

Luckily, I only bought the first release and the movie. Looks like I'll be heading to eBay.

 

[Gord Lacey]

I brought this up with A&E in July when I saw the big set (it's nice). The problem could be the contract that A&E signed with Universal in order to get the cross-over episodes. There may be something in there that say they can't sell them on their own (since A&E doesn't own the episodes), so that may be a hurdle that prevents them from releasing the disc separately.

Gord

 

[Ruz-El]

Probably will be. If that's the case, {edtied as in reflection it completly violates the HTF charter, despite it's complete relevance to the issue at hand.}

Sorry about that Mods, it's a frustrating, frustrating time in DVD/HTF land to be a fan of any format these days.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

Couldn't people prevail upon Universal to make the crossover episodes available somehow. It seems like it would make their life easier for future L&O sets as well. Maybe a 2-disc joint release with all 6 crossover episodes of both series.

Regards,

 

[MarkHarrison]

I can't believe what I just read. You should be ashamed of yourself for posting this here at HTF. And can you put me on your list please?

Seriously, I'd do just about anything to get this episodes legally for reasonable compensation. Homicide is probably my second favorite show ever, but rebuying all 7 seasons when I already own them (and the movie) is not what I'd call "reasonable" compensation.

I was never a big Law & Order fan, so I don't believe I've ever seen these episodes properly and would love be able to. Hopfully they can work something out. I'd even be willing to buy a stand alone disc directly from Universal. Best case scenario, it converts a few Homicide fans like myself. Worst case scenario, they make a few buck out of the deal. It seems to be like it would be a great promotional tool for Universal.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Let me record (in case some studio exec actually reads this) that I too would happily stump up and buy such a compilation (even if I already have the Homicide eps in my season sets). So it could be a nice little earner, no remastering or any fancy artwork required in this instance.

Heck, just sell the bonus disc as a standalone, please! And if I have to pay $15-20 for it, so be it.

 

[Yee-Ming]

Let me record (in case some studio exec actually reads this) that I too would happily stump up and buy such a compilation (even if I already have the Homicide eps in my season sets). So it could be a nice little earner, no remastering or any fancy artwork required in this instance.

Heck, just sell the bonus disc as a standalone, please! And if I have to pay $15-20 for it, so be it.

 

[MarkHarrison]

There's a review of the megaset here. As expected, there's nothing new or interesting beyond the newer packaging and inclusion of the Law & Order episodes.

Of interest to those who already have the sets and movie, the review mentions that there will not be any other way to obtain this Law & Order episodes outside of this set. That's not really a surprise. I'd have been way more surprised if there was another option to legally obtain that disc.

Russell, if you're still thinking of plan B, let me know.

I'd Netflix the disc, but I don't believe it's customary for them to pick stuff like this up just to get the bonus disc in their library. Still, I'll have to check from time to time.

 

[Ken_McAlinden]

I have a copy of this set now. The packaging is pretty nifty. They did not just package the previous slip-cover editions inside the file cabinet box. Each season (1 & 2 are still packaged together) set comes in "fatboy" double amaray style case. The inside of the case has hinged panes that hold discs on either side. (i.e. - There is a disc on each side of each hinged pane, so there are no overlapping disc annoyances with which to deal.) There is a tab for each season that you can insert between the cases to complete the file cabinet effect. The movie and crossover episodes are all contained on a single disc packaged in a standard Amaray case.

I was debating whether or not to get this, but Costco had a really good price that was less than it would have cost me to get the three seasons I had not yet purchased, so it became a no-brainer.

Regards,

 

[jdee28]

I just went through Season 1-4 of this, and I must say, the picture quality is truly atrocious. No digital remastering was done; rather these sets were done by transferring video masters. The same kind of quality can be seen in the Have Gun-Will Travel and the original Twilight Zone DVD releases. The picture looks clearer when it runs as reruns on television than it does on the DVD releases. With the high price A&E was charging for these, they could have done much, much better.

 

[JoshuaB.]

Considering the series was shot on 16 mm film, I think the picture quality on the DVDs is reasonably good.

I've heard the Complete Series set is now OOP, so I'm guessing it's going for a lot of coin on amazon and ebay (I was lucky enough to get the set for $100 CAD).

 

[David Levine]

I guess it doesn't bother me because it "feels right". It's a bit gritty and imperfect and seems to fit the show perfectly.