Is the b&w era of TV on DVD slowly coming to an end? (8 Viewers)

[Ron1973]

Jeff:

Agreed and don't get me started on on how Fabulous Films released all 7 seasons of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (both individually and as a complete series) on 10/25/15 and all 3 seasons of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (again both individually and as a complete series) on 1/11/16 in Region 2 (Madman Entertainment did similar releases in Region 4) and yet somehow that feat cannot be duplicated here in Region 1.

It's the same way with music. Germany's Bear Family does beautiful box sets on major American artists, yet all we get here in the USA is greatest hits type stuff. England's Ace Records has done marvelous by Ricky Nelson's stuff. I had at one point to go through a French company to find an OOP Jan and Dean release, which did eventually get released in the US again. Even Japan sometimes does better by American music! At least CD's are region free!

 

[Neil Brock]

Re Ironside - the full eight seasons are out in Region 4 (Australia) - with BOTH parts of the 'crossover' Bold Ones story; 'Five Days in The Death of Sgt Brown'

I have it in full and the episodes I have watched look great - so if you have a multi region player try that...!

this region coding thing is a joke ! - and it's CRAZY that shows can be available in other countries...and NOT in the home country of origin !!

Considering the fact that it takes about 30 seconds to unlock the region code on most DVD players, these silly gripes over shows released in other countries is really unnecessary. I picked up several of the later Ironside seasons on sale when I was in Melbourne a few years ago and I'm quite content with them.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Well, then, tell us how to do it. I have 30 seconds with nothing to do right now.

 

[JoeDoakes]

CDs are not region locked, and just about all Bear Family titles are available from U.S. sellers. My biggest problem with availability in Austrailia is shipping. I have looked into ordering the seven seasons of McCloud from Madman and shipping would add about 50% to the already relatively high total cost. Deep Discount actually caries the final two Madman McCloud releases, but for some reason they have never carried the earlier ones

 

[Gary OS]

My biggest problem with availability in Austrailia is shipping. I have looked into ordering the seven seasons of McCloud from Madman and shipping would add about 50% to the already relatively high total cost.

Yep, that's the biggest downside. Not all of us take trips to Melbourne on a regular basis.


Gary "I don't know... I just don't know sometimes..." O.

 

[Jack P]

I see absolutely no meaningful tradeoff in replacing my Canadian cable recordings of Ironside S5-8 (and my original 1993 recording of the one reunion movie) for the R4 set. I went with Australia only for McCloud S1 (to get the original version episodes) and "Law And Harry McGraw" but that represents the limit for me (and if "Law" ever got a R1 release I would replace in an instant).

 

[ChrisALM]

I have picked up some Australian items from Amazon.uk. The shipping is not as expensive from the UK as it is from Australia. If you can catch something on a price drop when the exchange rate is favorable it's a good workaround.

Of course, the real solution is to have our American TV shows released here in R1.

 

[JamesSmith]

Of course, the real solution is to have our American TV shows released here in R1.[/QUOTE]

If you think about it, that's hillarious.

James

 

[Pathfiner]

They are not 'silly' gripes at all as I have heard of problems developing if you 'unlock' the region codings on some DVD players with some guys advising that their DVDs began 'freezing' thereafter....which always put me off ever 'fiddling about' in case a good DVD player went downhill after...and you would be left looking 'silly' if your reliable DVD player then became unplayable due to your own actions...

multi region DVD players are not expensive and the one I got plays the classic American Region one DVDs fine - and many of those shows will not see a UK region 2 release I'm sure...and the same may well apply to you guys in the States too, (even if they are USA shows you might be waiting a lifetime for any home region one release !) so I feel multi region players are the safest bet....

at least you can then see ALL the shows you want !

 

[Tony Bensley]

A 'silly' gripe of mine regarding the PAL format in general is the inevitable 4% speedup, although I'll tolerate it if I'm desperate enough. Sure, playback software, such as VLC Player will allow for 4% slowdown, but my one attempt at this produced rather shabby audio playback results, after which I begrudgingly conceded the PAL speedup was less annoying! At least with Blu-ray, this isn't an issue unless the Digital Transfer is derived from a PAL master, at which point I'd be questioning the visual quality as the PAL format isn't HD capable, in terms of transmission, at least!

An example of which I might be desperate enough to dive into the PAL format, in terms of Black & White Television, would be if THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET series set for some reason, ended up only being released in PAL Region 2, although I wouldn't be very happy to have to listen to Rick Nelson's singing voice sped up, and in a different pitch! Perhaps, this could be construed as a subtle pitch for releasing that series in the Blu-ray format, no?

CHEERS!

 

[Harry-N]

Tony, I'm with you 100% on the 4% PAL speedup. For me, it's completely intolerable and the big reason why I never consider UK video releases. I have one cheap DVD player for which I found a hack to allow all regions, but I repeat, it's a cheap player and prone to all of the vagaries of cheap players. I only hook it up on those rare occasions when I have to have a movie or video that is PAL/region 2 in origin, and I can count on one hand the number of those I've ever gotten.

Most of my players are Sony brand, and any time I've attempted to search for a simple hack, it turns out to not work, so I've given up. Even if I did buy some kind of multi-region Blu-ray player, how long will it last? When it goes bad, then I'd have to invest in another. If I didn't, then any non-region-1 disc would be instantly unplayable, and I don't want to risk that.

I'm intrigued by this new release for THE DEFENDERS. It was a show that my family watched. I recall it airing on Saturday nights before the two big westerns, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL and GUNSMOKE. Even though the series was generally on in our house, I don't recall paying much attention to it. As a "tween" of that era, my tastes ran toward comedy and science fiction, so a socially-conscious drama didn't interest me then. Still I can recall watching the opening credits and hearing the theme song each week.

A TV series of that era with a classic guest-star list is sure to please me today, so I'll be looking forward to the Season One release, and I hope it gets further releases as well.

Harry

 

[Tony Bensley]

Tony, I'm with you 100% on the 4% PAL speedup. For me, it's completely intolerable and the big reason why I never consider UK video releases. I have one cheap DVD player for which I found a hack to allow all regions, but I repeat, it's a cheap player and prone to all of the vagaries of cheap players. I only hook it up on those rare occasions when I have to have a movie or video that is PAL/region 2 in origin, and I can count on one hand the number of those I've ever gotten.

Most of my players are Sony brand, and any time I've attempted to search for a simple hack, it turns out to not work, so I've given up. Even if I did buy some kind of multi-region Blu-ray player, how long will it last? When it goes bad, then I'd have to invest in another. If I didn't, then any non-region-1 disc would be instantly unplayable, and I don't want to risk that.

I'm intrigued by this new release for THE DEFENDERS. It was a show that my family watched. I recall it airing on Saturday nights before the two big westerns, HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL and GUNSMOKE. Even though the series was generally on in our house, I don't recall paying much attention to it. As a "tween" of that era, my tastes ran toward comedy and science fiction, so a socially-conscious drama didn't interest me then. Still I can recall watching the opening credits and hearing the theme song each week.

A TV series of that era with a classic guest-star list is sure to please me today, so I'll be looking forward to the Season One release, and I hope it gets further releases as well.

Harry

In my case, I have an Acer PC Laptop with an onboard DVD Burner, plus an external Pioneer Blu-ray Burner which I have set to Region 2 for European DVDs, even though my UK Universal SONS OF THE DESERT Laurel & Hardy DVD is the only one in my collection that requires this setting! There simply isn't a decent Region 1 DVD Transfer (Even the SOTD version that appears on the otherwise near excellent "Laurel And Hardy: The Essential Collection" set disappoints!) of this must have (For me!) title, and thus is a rare case of my tolerating the 4% PAL speedup, in favor of visual quality. Other than the aforementioned THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET, I'm loathe to think of any other Black & White TV series for which I might be willing to tolerate the PAL speedup issue!

CHEERS!

 

[Ron1973]

In my case, I have an Acer PC Laptop with an onboard DVD Burner, plus an external Pioneer Blu-ray Burner which I have set to Region 2 for European DVDs, even though my UK Universal SONS OF THE DESERT Laurel & Hardy DVD is the only one in my collection that requires this setting! There simply isn't a decent Region 1 DVD Transfer (Even the SOTD version that appears on the otherwise near excellent "Laurel And Hardy: The Essential Collection" set disappoints!) of this must have (For me!) title, and thus is a rare case of my tolerating the 4% PAL speedup, in favor of visual quality. Other than the aforementioned THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET, I'm loathe to think of any other Black & White TV series for which I might be willing to tolerate the PAL speedup issue!

CHEERS!

Can I pick your brain in regards to Laurel and Hardy? I watched it some as a small child back in the 70's, but I never watched it again until a month or two ago on TCM. They were showing the silent films, but the soundtrack was quite obviously "new" as it was playing in 5.1 surround on my home theater. Did these have an original soundtrack or was the music just played live in the theater? I must say that even though they were silent, I couldn't stop laughing!

 

[Neil Brock]

Well, then, tell us how to do it. I have 30 seconds with nothing to do right now.

Step one, look up your DVD player brand and model number
Step two, type in google.com
Step three, type the brand, model number and hack code
Step four, follow the instructions
Step five, if step four doesn't work, go to Crapmart and buy a brand X player which you can unlock the region code
Step six, order DVDs from overseas

 

[Neil Brock]

A 'silly' gripe of mine regarding the PAL format in general is the inevitable 4% speedup, although I'll tolerate it if I'm desperate enough. Sure, playback software, such as VLC Player will allow for 4% slowdown, but my one attempt at this produced rather shabby audio playback results, after which I begrudgingly conceded the PAL speedup was less annoying! At least with Blu-ray, this isn't an issue unless the Digital Transfer is derived from a PAL master, at which point I'd be questioning the visual quality as the PAL format isn't HD capable, in terms of transmission, at least!

An example of which I might be desperate enough to dive into the PAL format, in terms of Black & White Television, would be if THE ADVENTURES OF OZZIE AND HARRIET series set for some reason, ended up only being released in PAL Region 2, although I wouldn't be very happy to have to listen to Rick Nelson's singing voice sped up, and in a different pitch! Perhaps, this could be construed as a subtle pitch for releasing that series in the Blu-ray format, no?

CHEERS!

I hate to tell you but the U.S. Ironside releases are off of the Universal syndication tapes and are time sped to come in at 48 minutes. So, you are getting a speed up already.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Can I pick your brain in regards to Laurel and Hardy? I watched it some as a small child back in the 70's, but I never watched it again until a month or two ago on TCM. They were showing the silent films, but the soundtrack was quite obviously "new" as it was playing in 5.1 surround on my home theater. Did these have an original soundtrack or was the music just played live in the theater? I must say that even though they were silent, I couldn't stop laughing!

Hi Ron!

Both, actually. Some of the later 1928 and all of the 1929 Laurel & Hardy silents included RCA Victor Music & Effects tracks (Some of which are considered lost!) that were on 16 inch Records. While I unfortunately haven't been able to hear the "new" soundtracks, I know from my participation in various Forums that these were prepared by Robert Israel, whose work I'm familiar enough with to know that they're top notch!

CHEERS!

Tony

 

[Tony Bensley]

I hate to tell you but the U.S. Ironside releases are off of the Universal syndication tapes and are time sped to come in at 48 minutes. So, you are getting a speed up already.

Hi Neil!

I've often noticed this with syndicated crime shows. Some of the A&E LAW AND ORDER presentations that I viewed some years back sounded (And at times, also looked!) like they suffered from 10% speed up (YEECH!), and yet some people apparently preferred that to having scenes edited out of the broadcasts!

IRONSIDE is currently airing on our Vision TV station, and I have at times noticed a slightly higher pitch in Raymond Burr's voice, so I do get what you're saying in regards to the Universal syndication tapes. At least it isn't the A&E LAW AND ORDER travesty!

CHEERS!

Tony

 

[John Hermes]

Hi Neil!

I've often noticed this with syndicated crime shows. Some of the A&E LAW AND ORDER presentations that I viewed some years back sounded (And at times, also looked!) like they suffered from 10% speed up (YEECH!), and yet some people apparently preferred that to having scenes edited out of the broadcasts!

IRONSIDE is currently airing on our Vision TV station, and I have at times noticed a slightly higher pitch in Raymond Burr's voice, so I do get what you're saying in regards to the Universal syndication tapes. At least it isn't the A&E LAW AND ORDER travesty!

CHEERS!

Tony

It's so dumb in this day and age of digital pitch shifters that the soundtracks are not corrected for the pitch difference during mastering.

 

[Ron1973]

Hi Ron!

Both, actually. Some of the later 1928 and all of the 1929 Laurel & Hardy silents included RCA Victor Music & Effects tracks (Some of which are considered lost!) that were on 16 inch Records. While I unfortunately haven't been able to hear the "new" soundtracks, I know from my participation in various Forums that these were prepared by Robert Israel, whose work I'm familiar enough with to know that they're top notch!

CHEERS!

Tony

Thanks, Tony. They were very fitting for the era in my opinion. I was just sort of taken aback at first to hear 5.1 on a late 20's film! Once I was past the initial shock, it fit very nicely.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Thanks, Tony. They were very fitting for the era in my opinion. I was just sort of taken aback at first to hear 5.1 on a late 20's film! Once I was past the initial shock, it fit very nicely.

Hi Ron!

I first heard Robert Israel's work on his score for the 1925 version of THE WIZARD OF OZ that was included on a 3 DVD 2005 release of THE WIZARD OF OZ (1939 version) set, and found it to be top notch!

Unfortunately, our current Cable Service provider does not offer TCM. Even if they did, I know for a fact the Laurel & Hardy silents are blocked from the Canadian feed, due to the broadcast rights for these not extending to our country, I'm sad to say! Frankly, both points are real sore spots for me, but so it goes!

Nevertheless, I'm really glad that you got to enjoy these!

CHEERS!

Tony