sr75
Auditioning
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2007
- Messages
- 3
- Real Name
- Stephen Rowley
All I know is that the news of edited episodes for this particular show came as a major disappointment to me yesterday - particularly because this show is so unique and so important in TV history, and people deserve to be able to see it as it was intended to be seen.
Missing content is sometimes understandable, but I see absolutely no justification whatsoever for a set in which two episodes contain the exact same content. How any quality control unit (assuming the studio has one) could ignore or miss such an obvious, egregious error is beyond my comprehension. It's probably the sloppiest error I've ever seen yet on a DVD release.
It's also ironic that such an error would be made on this particular show, because Norman Lear was quoted as having said that one of the things he hates the most about seeing Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in syndication is the fact that inevitably, either (1) content is edited or otherwise compromised and (2) the shows are often shown out of order. If Sony, with their buckets of money to spare, had taken the least bit of concern and consulted ANY of the show's stars or creators (Lear, Joan Darling, Jim Drake, Ann Marcus, Louise Lasser, or a host of other people), they might have prevented such an error from occurring. But then, that would have required that the studio actually demonstrate some level of care regarding the buyer.
Regarding the edited content - it can be seen and/or downloaded by following these steps (I would post a link, but I don't have ten posts yet):
1. Do a Google Search for the "Mary Kay Place Place."
2. Go to the site, then click on "Links"
3. Scroll Down and click on the "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Video Clip Site"
From there, you can download the short clips for episodes 22 and 24 and see the portions when Charlie and Loretta meet the hillbillies and their later conversation in the car before the accident (I have no idea if these scenes are complete; each of these clips appear to be only about 5 or so minutes).
I also know that between edited releases (Mama's Family, Roseanne, The Cosby Show, Everybody Loves Raymond season 7, now this one), defective discs (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, I Love Lucy, Dallas), and shows that get pulled mid-run (Mary Tyler Moore, King of the Hill), I've pretty much had as much as I can take from the studios and their jerking the public around. This release basically confirmed to me that the studios care not one whit what they give us so long as they get our money. It's going to take some kind of major class-action lawsuit for there to be any change, and the sad fact is that I don't think there's anybody out there who cares so much about these releases that they could take the time and effort to launch such a thing. I'm about ready to keep my money from now on and just use NetFlix. I think the only companies that can be trusted these days is Criterion/Image, for those that can afford their prices.
It's things like this that make me laugh whenever I hear studios complain about "piracy." There's a great way to stop it: try striving for superior quality.
Missing content is sometimes understandable, but I see absolutely no justification whatsoever for a set in which two episodes contain the exact same content. How any quality control unit (assuming the studio has one) could ignore or miss such an obvious, egregious error is beyond my comprehension. It's probably the sloppiest error I've ever seen yet on a DVD release.
It's also ironic that such an error would be made on this particular show, because Norman Lear was quoted as having said that one of the things he hates the most about seeing Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in syndication is the fact that inevitably, either (1) content is edited or otherwise compromised and (2) the shows are often shown out of order. If Sony, with their buckets of money to spare, had taken the least bit of concern and consulted ANY of the show's stars or creators (Lear, Joan Darling, Jim Drake, Ann Marcus, Louise Lasser, or a host of other people), they might have prevented such an error from occurring. But then, that would have required that the studio actually demonstrate some level of care regarding the buyer.
Regarding the edited content - it can be seen and/or downloaded by following these steps (I would post a link, but I don't have ten posts yet):
1. Do a Google Search for the "Mary Kay Place Place."
2. Go to the site, then click on "Links"
3. Scroll Down and click on the "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Video Clip Site"
From there, you can download the short clips for episodes 22 and 24 and see the portions when Charlie and Loretta meet the hillbillies and their later conversation in the car before the accident (I have no idea if these scenes are complete; each of these clips appear to be only about 5 or so minutes).
I also know that between edited releases (Mama's Family, Roseanne, The Cosby Show, Everybody Loves Raymond season 7, now this one), defective discs (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, I Love Lucy, Dallas), and shows that get pulled mid-run (Mary Tyler Moore, King of the Hill), I've pretty much had as much as I can take from the studios and their jerking the public around. This release basically confirmed to me that the studios care not one whit what they give us so long as they get our money. It's going to take some kind of major class-action lawsuit for there to be any change, and the sad fact is that I don't think there's anybody out there who cares so much about these releases that they could take the time and effort to launch such a thing. I'm about ready to keep my money from now on and just use NetFlix. I think the only companies that can be trusted these days is Criterion/Image, for those that can afford their prices.
It's things like this that make me laugh whenever I hear studios complain about "piracy." There's a great way to stop it: try striving for superior quality.