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Is the b&w era of TV on DVD slowly coming to an end? (3 Viewers)

Flashgear

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Can anyone who has the Timeless release of Richard Boone's 1954-56 TV series Medic tell me what the video and audio quality is of the episodes, and if the "Blue Star" theme music is intact? I'm assuming highly variable quality from mostly collector 16 mm film prints? I just want a heads up, as I will be buying it regardless, as it's very affordable anyway...and hoping for the best...
 

LouA

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Can anyone who has the Timeless release of Richard Boone's 1954-56 TV series Medic tell me what the video and audio quality is of the episodes, and if the "Blue Star" theme music is intact? I'm assuming highly variable quality from mostly collector 16 mm film prints? I just want a heads up, as I will be buying it regardless, as it's very affordable anyway...and hoping for the best...
I haven't watched these in a couple of years , but I'm pretty sure the theme is there. The episodes for the most part look good , but not fantastic . Incidentally this is not the entire series , only the episodes they could find decent sources for . Still, it's nice to have this show on DVD.
 
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Flashgear

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Thanks Lou! Yes, I recently received the Timeless set and am happy with it...I guess that the 44 episodes here are the most ever presented on DVD of this Public Domain show...what an amazing format for a "Doctor" show...filmed in a real working big city Hospital (LA County) and utilizing real physicians, nurses, surgeons and therapists on the hospital staff who are fully credited along with the cast...fascinating insight to medical technology, techniques and social attitudes of the '50s...some very fine drama too...I continue to be grateful retroactively to Timeless, and Shout's continuing efforts as well...
 

LouA

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Thanks Lou! Yes, I recently received the Timeless set and am happy with it...I guess that the 44 episodes here are the most ever presented on DVD of this Public Domain show...what an amazing format for a "Doctor" show...filmed in a real working big city Hospital (LA County) and utilizing real physicians, nurses, surgeons and therapists on the hospital staff who are fully credited along with the cast...fascinating insight to medical technology, techniques and social attitudes of the '50s...some very fine drama too...I continue to be grateful retroactively to Timeless, and Shout's continuing efforts as well...
Yes, anyone interested in "older" TV shows is indebted to SF / Timeless. Everyone points to the westerns , but they've given us shows like Medic , Johnny Staccato, Dobie Gillis , M Squad , Patty Duke, West Point, Sgt Bilko, etc. Let's hope they're able to continue to give us the occasional rare program!
 

Richard V

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As an aside, enjoying DVRing The Californians, Laramie, and Zane Grey Theatre from GRIT. The Californians was one of my Grail shows, had given up hope of ever seeing more than the 5 or so bootleg episodes drifting around on the internet. The Laramie shows are of WAY better quality than those faded prints that Timeless released, and easier to DVR Over the Air and transfer, than satellite or cable episodes showing on Encore Westerns.

On Edit, also capturing Trackdown as well.
 

smithbrad

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The Laramie shows are of WAY better quality than those faded prints that Timeless released, and easier to DVR Over the Air and transfer, than satellite or cable episodes showing on Encore Westerns.

What is it about OTA transfers that you find makes it easier than cable? I would think the approach would be the same. I captured all of Laramie off cable from Encore Western. One of the advantages I found with Encore is no commercials to strip out during the broadcast. Stripping out commercials I always found to be one of the more tedious aspects of capturing.
 

Richard V

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What is it about OTA transfers that you find makes it easier than cable? I would think the approach would be the same. I captured all of Laramie off cable from Encore Western. One of the advantages I found with Encore is no commercials to strip out during the broadcast. Stripping out commercials I always found to be one of the more tedious aspects of capturing.

Yes, I used to be able to transfer my Encore Western programs from my U verse and DirectV DVR to my DVD Recorder, but my current DVR from DirectV will not allow me to transfer programs, there are no AV out jacks or S-video out connections. The USB ports don't allow you to access the hard drive either, and there are certainly no HDMI access to the hard drive either. I was forced to go to OTA Tivo DVR which works great and allows me to directly transfer my OTA programs to my computer hard drive wirelessly. Not every program can be transferred, but essentially all of the older shows from the 50's-80's that were on Network programming can be. The Tivo allows me to record on Demand, but I don't think any of those movies and TV series can be transferred due to Digital Rights. I am very happy with my current arrangement. Plus the OTA digital substations show old programming that you really can't find anywhere else except maybe on Encore Westerns. In addition to Laramie, The Californians, and Zane Grey, I have found Trackdown, The Danny Thomas Show, Perry Mason, Burns and Allen, Our Miss Brooks, Men Into Space, The Wild Wild West and many others.
 

smithbrad

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I see. My cable DVR still has s-video and analog audio outs, so there is no way to prevent me from capturing any SD program i have recorded. I connect the DVR outputs to an old Sony DV camcorder that happens to have analog inputs and a firewire output that i connect to a computer. Basically, the camcorder just acts as a pass through to connect the DVR to a computer. From the computer there are various capture programs one can use. I capture to AVI to get the best quality during the playback and then convert to mpeg for final storage. Sometimes having dated equipment is an advantage since there tends to be better access to older connections one can manipulate better. So in a sense easier and better are most likely relative to what one has to work with. I assume the wireless connection is what is enabling rights protection.
 
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LeoA

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I see. My cable DVR still has s-video and analog audio outs, so there is no way to prevent me from capturing any SD program i have recorded.

They still can stop you.

I just encountered this within the past week. Had to replace my cable box recently and tried to record something off Fox Sports 1 on my DVR to my Panasonic combination DVD/VHS recorder that hasn't failed me in 10 years of use, via the usual S-Video connection.

Gave me an error about copy once or something of the like, and a Google search brought up threads, including one here, that confirmed that copy protection was preventing me from playing this show back as I burned it to DVD. Not only does it do this for anything recorded to the cable box hdd from FS1, but it also happens via live content on FS1, too.

I don't know if it's the newer cable box with different software, or if FS1 always did this since I don't think I ever tried to record to a DVD from this channel in the past. But thankfully other channels I regularly record off of seem to work as they always did with my DVD recorder (Although Turner Classic Movies is no longer full screen 4:3 like it was on my old cable box, but instead is fully letterboxed which means that Academy Ratio content is all windowed. :().

But it proves they can still stop you, even though it's connected via an analog method.
 
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Richard V

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They still can stop you.

I just encountered this within the past week. Had to replace my cable box recently and tried to record something off Fox Sports 1 on my DVR to my Panasonic combination DVD/VHS recorder that hasn't failed me in 10 years of use, via the usual S-Video connection.

Gave me an error about copy once or something of the like, and a Google search brought up threads, including one here, that confirmed that copy protection was preventing me from playing this show back as I burned it to DVD. Not only does it do this for anything recorded to the cable box hdd from FS1, but it also happens via live content on FS1, too.

I don't know if it's the newer cable box with different software, or if FS1 always did this since I don't think I ever tried to record to a DVD from this channel in the past. But thankfully other channels I regularly record off of seem to work as they always did with my DVD recorder (Although Turner Classic Movies is no longer full screen 4:3 like it was on my old cable box, but instead is fully letterboxed which means that Academy Ratio content is all windowed. :().

But it proves they can still stop you, even though it's connected via an analog method.


Years ago, it was no problem to directly hook up my DVD recorder to my cable/satellite box and make direct recordings. Then DirectV started blocking digital signals to the DVD recorder, so I purchased a pass through device that allowed the recording. But since the companies added a DVR to the cable box, they can completely block the digital signals by either changing the software, or just not providing any digital or analog out jacks.
 

smithbrad

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But it proves they can still stop you, even though it's connected via an analog method.

That's interesting...I hadn't heard about that before. I wonder if it is related to the old days of Macrovision protection in commercial VHS recordings that didn't allow a clean copy. Analog doesn't support built-in copy protection like HDMI, but it doesn't stop a coded flag from being passed in the content. And since a DVD recorder is basically marketed for burning recordings, it would make sense that some protection could be built in for even an analog signal. Possibly some broadcasters are starting to take advantage of it by embedding the flag in the signal. Just a guess on my part. Since my Sony camcorder approach wasn't really designed for the same use as a DVD recorder, it may not be subject to the same issues. I bought it back in 2003. In any case, I gave up on cable and as a result, capturing. Otherwise, i might try FS1 just to see if i ran into any issues. Now a days my kids stream Hulu and i just stream from my own NAS.
 

smithbrad

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Years ago, it was no problem to directly hook up my DVD recorder to my cable/satellite box and make direct recordings. Then DirectV started blocking digital signals to the DVD recorder, so I purchased a pass through device that allowed the recording. But since the companies added a DVR to the cable box, they can completely block the digital signals by either changing the software, or just not providing any digital or analog out jacks.

I borrowed an old Roku several years back to capture content from the Warner Archives site as a test when it was free using the analog outputs. I believe all Roku's are HDMI only now. Removing the analog capabilities seems the easiest way to stop capturing.
 

Silverking

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In case anyone missed it I note that Classic Flix are to release S1 of the old ZIV show 'Lock-Up' this Spring. Not clear if it will only be available from them or will have wider distribution.

I've only seen a couple of episodes & have to say it would be about 101st. on my list of black & white shows to get, still a small puddle in the desert is always welcome.
 

Flashgear

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For me, anything ZIV is very welcome...ZIV was a high value, fearless and pioneering Television production company that provided a wealth of syndicated shows for early TV...the location work alone was stunning, even if the show's were often typically formulaic...just check out Highway Patrol, Harbor Command, West Point, Science Fiction Theatre, Sea Hunt, Rip Cord, Tombstone Territory, Mackenzie's Raiders, etc...good and sometimes great action shows, with a lot of famous stars to be...Frederick Ziv deserves to be mentioned among the greatest television pioneers...I only have seen about 20 of the episodes of Lock Up, and they are representative of the ZIV quality...Macdonald Carey is of course, a solid lead character...I hope ClassicFlix has success with these TV series...and thus hope for more...
 

LouA

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For me, anything ZIV is very welcome...ZIV was a high value, fearless and pioneering Television production company that provided a wealth of syndicated shows for early TV...the location work alone was stunning, even if the show's were often typically formulaic...just check out Highway Patrol, Harbor Command, West Point, Science Fiction Theatre, Sea Hunt, Rip Cord, Tombstone Territory, Mackenzie's Raiders, etc...good and sometimes great action shows, with a lot of famous stars to be...Frederick Ziv deserves to be mentioned among the greatest television pioneers...I only have seen about 20 of the episodes of Lock Up, and they are representative of the ZIV quality...Macdonald Carey is of course, a solid lead character...I hope ClassicFlix has success with these TV series...and thus hope for more...
I have all of the shows you mentioned , and I'll continue to buy ZIV offerings as long as they are being released . So many good programs yet to be released: Rough Riders , World Of Giants , Everglades , Harbor Master , Men Into Space , Men Of Annapolis, The Aquanauts , and more .So I too am hoping that Lock Up and It's About Time sell, encouraging Classic Flix to release other vintage TV shows .
It would be nice to see complete seasons of some of the Roland Reed shows like Beulah, Trouble With father , and My Little Margie .
 

Richard V

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I have all of the shows you mentioned , and I'll continue to buy ZIV offerings as long as they are being released . So many good programs yet to be released: Rough Riders , World Of Giants , Everglades , Harbor Master , Men Into Space , Men Of Annapolis, The Aquanauts , and more .So I too am hoping that Lock Up and It's About Time sell, encouraging Classic Flix to release other vintage TV shows .
It would be nice to see complete seasons of some of the Roland Reed shows like Beulah, Trouble With father , and My Little Margie .

Men Into Space showing on Comet, it is quite good. Have seen 2 episodes of WOG, and easy to see how Irwin Allen pilfered the inspiration for Land of the Giants. Men of Annapolis is incredibly rare, have only seen one episode and have been searching for it forever.
 

RBailey

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For me, anything ZIV is very welcome...ZIV was a high value, fearless and pioneering Television production company that provided a wealth of syndicated shows for early TV...the location work alone was stunning, even if the show's were often typically formulaic...just check out Highway Patrol, Harbor Command, West Point, Science Fiction Theatre, Sea Hunt, Rip Cord, Tombstone Territory, Mackenzie's Raiders, etc...good and sometimes great action shows, with a lot of famous stars to be...Frederick Ziv deserves to be mentioned among the greatest television pioneers...I only have seen about 20 of the episodes of Lock Up, and they are representative of the ZIV quality...Macdonald Carey is of course, a solid lead character...I hope ClassicFlix has success with these TV series...and thus hope for more...


The BOSTON BLACKIE series is one I'd love to see released. Fabulous location work in almost every episode with action sequences filmed at Angel's Flight, on lift bridges and Pacific Ocean Park just to name a few. And, as you mentioned, very formulaic but also containing some noir-like atmosphere.
 

Neil Brock

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It would be nice to see complete seasons of some of the Roland Reed shows like Beulah, Trouble With father , and My Little Margie .

The Roland Reed shows are either PD or Orphan shows, which basically means like with MLM, he renewed the copyrights when they came due but he's been dead for decades and left no heirs to his estate. MLM has long been treated as PD and the last legitimate syndicator was Weiss Global, which ceased operations when Adrian Weiss died in the 80s. I seriously doubt that anyone could even cobble together a full set of 16mm prints of any of these shows, let alone 35's.
 

LouA

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The Roland Reed shows are either PD or Orphan shows, which basically means like with MLM, he renewed the copyrights when they came due but he's been dead for decades and left no heirs to his estate. MLM has long been treated as PD and the last legitimate syndicator was Weiss Global, which ceased operations when Adrian Weiss died in the 80s. I seriously doubt that anyone could even cobble together a full set of 16mm prints of any of these shows, let alone 35's.
Interesting . You have to wonder what happened to the negatives , 35 MM , promo material etc. for these 6 or 7 shows , when Reed died .Could it be that they were considered of no value and discarded ?
 

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