If you have Punky Brewster Season 1, can you confirm an error on the first disc? (1 Viewer)

[Tory]

My copy of Punky Brewster Season 1 Disc 1 seems to be missing the end of Glomer's Story, the bonus cartoon on disc 1. Is this mistake universal or is my DVD solely flawed and should I return it? If it is universal I shall keep it but I need to know if it is a unique case where in I need to return and exchange as soon as possible.

If you have it, can you check? Thanks in advance.

 

[Randy Gray]

Hey Tory. I just finished watching the first disc on my copy and Glomer's Story is incomplete on mine too. I guess it's Universal...Bummer!

Randy

 

[Tory]

Thanks Randy, I've been going buggy about it for a while. Now to complain to Shout, Sony, and NBC...

 

[Josh_HI]

That really stinks!I wanted the Punky dvd.But now that I am hearing about all the problems.....I'm not sure I want to buy it.Especially if they don't plan on making the other seasons.....Maybe I should wait til they announce season 2.

 

[Joe.S]

It doesn't make any sense to release season 1 if they don't release the rest. They have to release them.

 

[LanieParker]

I have only watched disc 1 so far and not even the whole disc. I noticed an error during the episode in which Henry and Punky are in court for him to get custody. The screen gets these red lines through it. Has anyone else got this or is it just a defective disc?

I'm going to watch the other disc tonight to make sure none of the other discs do this.

 

[MatthewA]

I noticed all these, but one must understand that tape does not age well. As far as permanence, it is worse than film. This show having premiered 20 years ago, it is not unreasonable to expect the tapes to show early signs of deterioration (but I highly doubt Shout! Factory would be handed delicate originals). I have no idea what generation the tapes they received are, but they obviously aren't first generation. I would guess (totally out of the blue) they were sent 3/4" umatic dubs.

On the other hand, the episodes are uncut; I assumed Columbia TriStar held the home video rights as they held the US syndication rights. They would have had zero extras and probably a few cut episodes had the Torch Lady handled it. Shout! Factory is to be commended for their effort, but when a small company licenses from another one they do not exactly get to pick and choose their masters. Still, it is a little disturbing to see what flaws actually made it into mastering. Hopefully they will be more careful with the remaining 3 seasons.

I watched the whole set and a few glitches do show up, but most of it looks adequate. Remember this is analog tape, not dye-transfer Technicolor. It's about what I expected it to be, and I'm mostly satisfied.

 

[Josh_HI]

Well look at what happened with Once & Again & Malcolm in the middle....Anyway I just couldn't help myself, my cuz and I bought the only 2 copies of Punky today at Hastings.:b

 

[Tory]

I think more will come for this series. Malcolm too...

 

[MatthewA]

Well it's been less than a week since the release, therefore a little early to speculate about the show's future on disc.

 

[JustinCleveland]

I reviewed this set over at DVDTown.com and also noticed the short-nature of Glomer's Story but thought it was just a fast ending to the story itself, like so many cartoons of that era had. She buys him a hot dog, they live happily ever after.

As for the scene in the court, it's a source problem. This show is 20 years old, shot on video tape, and probably wasn't kept in the best conditions. I'm grateful it looks as good as it does!

 

[Tory]

Well, I do understand what you say but it would make little sense. By odd coincidence I had the short on VHS from a random Saturday morning recording. Due to unfortunate circumstances my video recordings are lost to me now, but when I had it I watched everything on that tape frequently enough to know it ended with Glomer being stranded missing his chance to return home.

 

[JustinCleveland]

Tory,

That's how it ended on my set. The rainbow disapeared as he was diving toward it, he stole the hot dog, and they went home.

I don't know, but it looks fine to me. But again, as you say, you've seen the original and I haven't.

 

[John*P]

IMO, if you loved Punky Brewster in the 80s, you can't go wrong with this DVD set. All 22 episodes from Season 1, with cast and crew interviews, and episodes of the Punky Cartoon...all for approximately $25. I can't wait for the remaining three seasons to be released!

 

[Tory]

That does not sound right. Glomer and Punky meet while the Rainbow is there and Glomer has time to look around the city, he is on vacation and is exploring. Punky decides to show him around as well as hide him as she fears some would do him harm. When Glomer steals the Hot Dog, the Rainbow is still there. Glomer is still hungry after the hot dog and since he has time, Punky knows just what to do then fade to black on the DVD and it is over. This was a commercial break mark. The series featured two shorts each episode and they are presented here as they aired within five chapters 1 is opening credits, 2 and 3 are the first cartoon and 4 and 5 are the last cartoon with 5 containing the end credits, also missing from this episode. The runtime is shorter too. On Disc two we see Glomer diving for the rainbow in another episode but missing it, the end credits show for this episode.

I believe Punky's idea leads her to a fast food joint with a giant chef statue outside the door. This is a hangout in the series. There is a mishap there and due to circumstances Glomer misses his chance to return home. The other kids may have been there, I think he did something to Margeaux.

Despite this error, the DVD is worth getting because some is better than none.

 

[Tory]

Shout just set me a DVD with only Glomer's Story on it as a replacement in a small cardboard disc sized envelope.

GREAT NEWS:

In their letter they said to expect more intact episodes of It's Punky Brewster in future Punky Brewster Sets. They also stated that Punky Brewster Season 2 should be released either in February or March of 2005.

 

[MatthewA]

How exactly did you get the replacement disc?

 

[Tory]

I complained to them and they responded, asked for my address and sent it to me. I contacted tvshowsondvd about this and they are looking into a set standard about how people should go about obtaining them. It is not really a replacement disc though, it is just a single Glomer's Story disc, no menu, no frills, just Glomer's story and the end credits. The bottom of the disc is purple and you can clearly see where the data is stored.

 

[John*P]

Sheesh, that's a long time from now...I was hoping we'd see Punky S2 no later than December. That way, if they released a season every 6 months, we'd have the whole series in 2 years. Ah well, there will be other shows on DVD to keep me occupied in the meantime...(hey Shout!, how 'bout some Small Wonder season sets?)

Troy, did you complain to them via the e-mail address posted on their site?

 

[Tory]

Yes, I went to Shout! Factory went down to contact us and e-mailed info.