HTF REVIEW: Golden Girls, Season Five (1 Viewer)

[DanielHEN]

I just finished watching the DVD episode that Matthew mentioned being cut. Here's some dialogue from later in that episode that is supposed to be funny given the (cut) scene before it, but now it doesn't make any sense:

16:24 (Blanche) - "Oh, I don't care about that anymore. I don't care about anything anymore. Life has no meaning."

16:28 (Sophia) - "So, who's for popcorn?"

[Audience laughter]

 

[MichaelFA]

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, I had just always assumed these sets were the original airings.

 

[Jason_V]

Amen.

Now, the dilemma. What to do? Mine was shipped on Monday. Keep it? Return it? Keep it without opening? I'm not terribly happy right now...

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Jason,

if you're on the fence don't open it yet. Wait to open it until after you're sure you're going to keep/watch it.

Everyone, there is a little 1-800 number on the back of your Disney DVD packaging. Dial it and voice your concerns...politely but clearly. Don't come across like die-hard HT enthusiasts who only represent a small percentage of the DVD market...try to sound like the "average" consumer who would have interest in buying this DVD television series.

Please share any information you find with us here. I'm bummed by the possibility that this set has edited shows and will update my review accordingly.

-dave

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Jason,

if you're on the fence don't open it yet. Wait to open it until after you're sure you're going to keep/watch it.

Everyone, there is a little 1-800 number on the back of your Disney DVD packaging. Dial it and voice your concerns...politely but clearly. Don't come across like die-hard HT enthusiasts who only represent a small percentage of the DVD market...try to sound like the "average" consumer who would have interest in buying this DVD television series.

Please share any information you find with us here. I'm bummed by the possibility that this set has edited shows and will update my review accordingly.

-dave

 

[MatthewA]

Just wait until they sell us the full stereo, 100% uncut versions in Blu-Ray!

/cynic

 

[RoryR]

Blu-ray? Yeah right.

 

[Jason_V]

DaViD,

There is zero doubt in my mind that I need this. And there is zero doubt I would watch it. I just hate supporting false advertising...if this is indeed the case.

 

[MatthewA]

BTW, the next scheduled Lifetime airing of the episode in question is Monday, May 22 at 11:30 AM. I'll be looking to compare it.

 

[MatthewA]

Sorry to hog the thread, but there is one thing that makes me curious:

The syndication and Lifetime versions of the show turned it from a 2-act format to a 3-act format by adding another commercial break in the middle of one of the acts, even dubbing in a different musical cue. This is not the case on the DVD version of "Like the Beep..." Nor has it been the case on any of the DVD versions so far.

 

[DaViD Boulet]

Jason,

buy it. Enjoy it as you can. And call Disney and tell them how much it bothers you that the shows are edited.


MatthewA,

Allow me to speak for everyone reading the thread to say how much we appreciate your dilligence in ferreting out the details on these issues.

 

[MatthewA]

You're welcome.

 

[Josh_HI]

It stinks to find out that they have things cut out of them....Disney always does that...They did it worse with Avonlea...But I don't regret buying S5. It is totally worth having even if it had some scenes cut here and there. Atleast it's out on dvd.

I just hope on Season 6 & 7 they have some commentaries with the 3 girls together watching the episodes....I think it'd be really awesome to hear them talk about the episodes together.

 

[MatthewA]

But with Avonlea (where the pilot was missing a whopping 11 minutes) you can get the uncut version from Canada. No such luck in this case.

Luckily most of the other episodes are the uncut versions, but if one or two cuts get tolerated, how many more cuts can be tolerated before we shriek "No more!" to no avail? It's best to nip these in the bud.

 

[Demis G]

well? do we have an update? are the episodes indeed edited?

 

[RobertSiegel]

These are indeed edited from the original airings. I have many of them, borrowed my friends new set and compared, Everything being said is tru. Sorry Buena Vista, I'll listen to the commentaries on my friends set, but I will not spend money in the amount of over 30.00 for a program that runs on tv 5 times a day unless it is a complete version. Disney will never correct it either. Did they replace seasons 1 and 2 after their "mono" mistake? never:frowning:

 

[DaViD Boulet]

call call call.

 

[MatthewA]

Are any episodes other than the ones I mentioned edited, too?

 

[MichaelFA]

Are ALL the episodes edited, or just certain ones?

And are they the Lifetime prints, or prints that are still edited, but don't have as many edits as the Lifetime prints?

 

[Norm_A]

Well, I'm glad I found this forum via "@cess The Golden Girls" website.

I was shocked to read that some episodes have missing scenes - and key scenes at that. I'm glad I didn't get season 5 yet and for this reason I won't be getting it. For me, this ruins the "Golden Girls" DVD franchise. Buena Vista had been doing so well so far releasing seasons 1-4 in a simple, no-nonsense way (with the complete network episodes intact), but unfortunately, someone wasn't paying attention when they put season 5 together, and as we know, fans notice what's missing.

I've noticed that, as wonderful as DVD has become in recent years, some companies just don't pay attention to detail, and in the end this hinders them because it disappoints the consumer and avid fan. Other examples of botched DVD sets are the recent "Red + Hot + Blue" CD/DVD release. Reviews suggest the video quality is so bad, it's worse than the original VHS release. Plus it seems credits are cut off mid-way and parts of the DVD menu are cut off. This was a release I was planning on buying, but I'm going to hold off in case it gets fixed. This also happened with an ABBA DVD release in 2002, "The Definitive Collection": Some videos were of poor quality, even one of the song titles was spelt incorrectly. Luckily the company who produced the DVD heard fans' outrage and recalled the DVD and corrected it.

Well, I don't want to babble on too much, but I'm just disappointed that this happened to one of the most brilliant sitcoms in TV history. I hope there will be enough outcry that Buena Vista will acknowledge fans' disappointment and correct the discs and ensure the complete episodes are restored. "The Golden Girls" deserve better than this.

Norm :frowning: