HTF DVD REVIEW: My Three Sons: The First Season, Volume Two (1 Viewer)

[Joe Lugoff]

We've debated this a lot here. But I still think if we accept what's substandard, that's all we'll get. If sales aren't decreased by these cheap music substitutions, then what will inspire the companies that spend more NOT to do it to keep doing it right? They might end up saying, "Why should we spend money on music rights when we'll sell just as many DVDs without spending the money?"

 

[Bill Parisho]

Joe: I couldn't have said it better, myself.

 

[Gary OS]

I completely agree with Joe's comments above.

Gary "buying this set sends the wrong message to CBS/P, in my humble opinion" O.

 

[danielmartin]

I too agree with Joe. The wait to have these shows burned to DVD has been long but none of us wanted to have pieces of it excised and faux-muzic tagged on. Perhaps its unrealistic to expect the 100 per cent original, in top-notch condition; however, it isn't unrealistic to have the company be honest with its customers. That's what peeves me most of all.
What it's going to require is a change at the top, I think. Who ever greenlighted the Heyes job thinks that the loss of a few buyers will not stop this from being profitable. In this economy I can't envision many people, at least those who know about this, will eagerly buy this (especially at near-full or full-price).

 

[Steve...O]

I also agree with Joe that consumers need to send a strong message regarding the needless, unnecessary, and undisclosed replacement of underscores. If it were a situation like WKRP were licensing specific songs is cost prohibitive that's one thing, but replacing an entire underscore smacks of laziness and carelessness for reasons previously published vis a vis THE FUGITIVE.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

And in case CBS/Paramount reads this Forum (and if they don't, they should!), I want to say I've been looking forward to "The Lucy Show, Season 1" for many years, but if you release it with music substitution, I won't get it, because every time I hear "wrong" music I'll feel gypped, saddened and angry, and who needs that?

Can you imagine the uproar if a classic movie like "Gone With the Wind" or "The Wizard of Oz" were released with different music substituted? It's unthinkable, actually. I wish classic TV series were given the same respect as movies. The true fans of a TV series want to see it as it was originally shown, not cut, not "time compressed," and with the original music. If you lose the "true fans," I suspect you're losing the biggest percentage of your potential sales.

 

[Bill Parisho]

Right on Joe! Keep up the good threads!

 

[LeoA]

I think someone not familiar with a show can review it, but they should provide a notice to inform people of that. Someone new to it could do a pretty nice job informing someone unfamiliar with the subject matter, rather than a biased fan like myself. Which I think was accomplished in the original review.


But for a fan like myself, its almost useless. Fans familiar with the show care more about things like deleted scenes, how good of a restoration was done (If any), and music substitutions, imo. I think everyone familiar with My Three Sons knows what to expect with things like visual quality and such, plus its very nearly 50 years old, so I'm not sure what the point is of rating its visuals and such. Makes about as much sense to me as if I was reviewing some classic Atari 2600 game and rating its visuals compared to the latest and greatest thing running off some $10,000 computer. Just my opinion, thanks for the effort reviewing one of my favorite shows. I hope you do accept my criticism and consider informing people your familiarity with the subject matter, since it could make for a pretty drastic difference in a review.

As for the pont Doug^Ch made, I disagree. If they see a massive drop in sales compared to volume 1, I think that would indicate to them that we're not pleased with the effort they made with volume 1 and that they need to do better. Of course, they may think that no one wants it, but that's a danger worth taking. They won't do anything to possibly improve future releases if we keep buying them. I'd rather watch my personal recordings of these episodes on DVD's I made from tv broadcast of it with commercials and such, than the butchered versions of it. As a long time fan of this show, it gets a failing grade with the butchering they did with the audio.

As a big fan of My Three Sons (Its my favorite show and I waited for these DVD's for years), I don't think we should accept a substandard product that destroys the quality of this show.

 

[Jim B.]

So where is the reviewer MattH.? He apparently has a copy of this current release so he could check it out again and answer the questions we have asked. If you are there MattH., help us out with some more info from this set, Thanks

 

[Carabimero]

It might be a good idea if reviewers had at least a general knowledge of board history in this category (i.e. knowing season one was altered by reading previous posts, if nothing else, and anticipating fans would want to know in a review whether season two was). That seems reasonable to me.

Simply familiarizing oneself with the extant SDVD threads here can go a long way toward educating a board reviewer.

 

[Doug^Ch]

The DVD presentation of this show is in no way substandard, nor has it destroyed the quality; it is merely different, but no less a great product.

 

[Gary OS]

We will have to agree to disagree on this point. I too think the new releases can and should be considered "substandard" and that the quality of the series has been greatly damaged by the replacement music.

Gary "I'm a bit surprised at the number of people that seemingly don't care about this development of removing entire underscores from a classic TV show" O.

 

[pitchman]

And, unfortunately, isn't that exactly what CBS/Paramount is banking on? I agree with you 100% on this issue. It appears that the only recourse we have is to vote with our wallet, and that is why I now spend my money elsewhere.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Which would mean no My Three Sons on DVD at all since they have already decided that paying Capitol Music a high amount of money for the original score is out of the budget for this show. I agree it is bad to replace the music and I certainly would have been willing to pay a little more for to have it but the show is still very enjoyable as is and is better than no My Three Sons at all.

 

[Stephen Bowie]

Yep. That's exactly the viewpoint that I've come to hold on this issue: if a copyright holder can't release a property intact and in its original form, don't bother. I'd rather do without.

Everybody has their own set of standards, but the music excisions we're discussing are so radical that I'm surprised there's not more of a consensus on this point. A I mean, if a fruit vendor says, sorry, the only apples we have are full of worms, are you going to tell yourself, "Mmmm ... worms, YUMMY!" Or maybe try a pear instead?

 

[Jeff Willis]

Stephen, I'm also somewhat suprised but imo, the reason that this seems to be so is that we on this Bd represent a small % of the sales with these sets, at least that's what I think. Where would you all guess that we at HTF represent as a % of the buying public with these these pre-70's sets? Without data, my guess is at most, we probably buy 5% of these units in sales.

I respect Randy's & Doug's viewpoints on this issue. I'm just on the other side of it

But I also think that a no-sale stance by HTF'ers wouldn't be large enough to register with the studios. I think that with some indy's, like Shout or Infinity, it's different since we have some avenues there that imo, are rare with the majors.

Bottom line to me is that for those here that buy M3S, enjoy. I'll pass due to the underscore removal.

I posted something similar to this on the Fugitive thread but it's always seemed to me that TV/DVD is viewed a lot differently than film DVD releases. ie, if a complete score had been removed and substituted in a popular film DVD release, would you guys think that the reaction would be the same as with M3S or the Fugitive? Granted, the Fugitive issue received more attention than I'd have guessed, but the result is (from CBS/P) more of the same.

I can't help but believe that it should be "apples & apples" instead of "apples & oranges" when we look at a wholesale underscore change with a TV/DVD release and a film DVD release. I realize that comparisons due to copyright reasons are a moot point. Just my "2 cents" as Gary would say

I think that what's bothered us most here at HTF with these wholesale underscore removals, is that it set a precedent that, to my knowledge, hadn't occured previously with TV/DVD. Now we have a repeat release with the original score removed. In addition, considering how it was first done with the Fugitive S2V1 release, that probably altered our perception of the studio and put us in a different frame of mind for upcoming pre-70's releases.

 

[Garysb]

I would not buy a TV DVD with the complete underscore changed. That My Three Sons will only be released that way means I will not buy it. However if people are willing to purchase a show in this condition I don't think I have any right to tell them, no you shouldn't buy this.

I think low sales will only result in the show being discontinued. I don't think it will result in CBS giving us the uncut version. I think CBS has already decided that the only way to release this show is by changing the music. That the reviewer here did not notice the music changes kind of shows that CBS is correct in saving money by changing the music. The majority of people who will buy the DVD will not know what they are missing.

I am sure CBS makes decisions on what music to cut or replace on a show by show basis. As far as I know there were no music cuts on " I Love Lucy". Gomer Pyle had music cuts but I don't think Andy Griffith Show did. Dick Van Dyke was uncut but not released by CBS.

CBS should be more upfront about changes to the broadcast version of their shows. It should not be necessary to wait for a review to make an informed decision.

 

[TravisR]

That's my view. I don't like someone telling everyone to just buy it (because the music doesn't matter and they can just buy the CD) so I'm not going to tell anyone else that they can't buy it.

 

[pitchman]

If exorbitant music licensing is truly the case, then CBS/Paramount should be saving a lot by using these horrid (IMO) synth sound tracks. How then do they justify splitting season sets in half and charging a premium price for each volume? I respect your opinion regarding the buying decision you've made, but as for me, I'll pass. There are too many other companies out there doing a better job with vintage TV releases and I would rather support them. In fact, many of the other guys have far less in the way of resources at their disposal than CBS/Paramount, yet they still manage to give fans more content and better quality for less. CBS/Paramount has gone from first to worst in my book and I can't in good conscience support their shoddy releases that seem to smack of a "cash grab" mentality. If that means no My Three Sons for me, then so be it...

 

[DeWilson]

That's a good attitude.