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It seems Happy Days, American Dreams & Wonder Years have something in common. (1 Viewer)

Tom_mkfty

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Alterations:
Altered Music - Pending
Most, if not all, of the original soundtrack has been changed to either covers or generic music.
**********Alteration mentioned on package? No
**********Alteration viewed as: Negative
 

JeffWld

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I can't say that I noticed any alterations either. In fact there was some information floating around that Paramount had shelled out a substantial amount of money to get the music clearances for the Happy Days set. It's probably part of the reason that there has been relative silence about any release dates for subsequent Happy Days seasons.
 

Carlos Garcia

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I wonder how well season 1 sold...Maybe that's the delay. Let's hope it doesn't become another Mary Tyler Moore Show debacle on DVD.
 

Richard_D_Ramirez

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I can understand the music rights issue with Happy Days and Wonder Years, but American Dreams? I thought AD premiered on a network recently. I would have thought most new shows would have worked out some sort of DVD music rights contract before it even airs...

8^B
 

AnthonyC

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I thought that AD actually had more music in there (in addition to the original music), but I don't watch the show so I don't know.

As for Wonder Years, those are unlicensed releases from a third-rate company and they aren't season sets. I'm sure that when Fox gets around to releasing it, we'll have all of the original music.
 

Dax P

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I understood that the American Dreams 1 box contained all of the music that originally aired in the episodes.
 

Scott Kimball

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If there were music changes on Happy Days, and there wasn't a notice on the box, it would be an unusual move for Paramount. What's your source?

-Scott
 

Dane Marvin

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Per Gord on the alterations list, American Dreams has some music replaced. I never watched the shows as they originally aired, but I was impressed with the overwhelming number of songs that were cleared. The first season alone featured sequences that used about 5 or 6 Bob Dylan songs in their entirety during various montages, including "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'". And the Bandstand sequences that featured musicians of today impersonating those of yesterday did feature longer cuts of the songs that what originally aired.

I would like to know what didn't get cleared -- it can't be too much. I remember the music being my favorite part of the first season, which I didn't see until I blind bought the DVD. Songs like Petula Clark's "Downtown", the Beach Boys "Don't Worry, Baby" and I believe I remember some Simon & Garfunkel tunes in there (not surprising since Art himself made a couple appearances that season).

Would love to have a chance to see the second season of this show that probably ended before its time.
 

Dave Farley

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I don't know of any music changes on the Happy Days set. In fact, wasn't there a WSJ article that made mention of Paramount spending almost one million dollars to license all the music for that set?

Where did you hear this?

Considering the length of time since Season 1's release, I'd be shocked if we see a musically complete Season 2 set. They didn't promote Season 1 very well and sales probably suffered for it.
 

Jay_B!

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well, season 2 is the only other "authentic" 50's season, JUST RELEASE THE DAMN THING. Seasons 3-11 didn't use music (except for Potsie's godawful songs) to the extent as seasons 1 and 2 did.

Paramount, this show ran 11 seasons, it's not something to take your time on
 

Carlos Garcia

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Shhhhhh! If Paramount realizes the majority of the fans are only going to buy seasons 1 and 2 of Happy Days, they may never release season 2, let alone the rest of the series.
 

Gary OS

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I love the optimism, Anthony, but I don't share it. IMHO, the chances of us getting the entire run of "THE WONDER YEARS" without any music changes is about 1,000,000,000 to 1. Seriously.

Gary "especially with Fox controlling this line, I have zero confidence in us seeing the full run of this show without major music changes - which would be a no sale for me because the music is way too important in this show" O.
 

AnthonyC

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I'm not sure if we'll be getting the complete series, but Fox is planning to release it, but they have some "hurdles to jump" (music clearances) before they can. So from the sound of it, they are making an effort to make the set as unaltered as possible.
 

Gary OS

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Well, I know the rumors have been that FOX is planning a release, and I've thought for a while that they might give us the 6 episode 1st Season with all the songs intact. But I just can't believe we will ever see every season with all the original music. No way - unfortunately.

Gary "I still say the chances are a billion to one that we'd ever see the entire series with all the original music" O.
 

Dane Marvin

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Agree on that one because I'm pretty sure they used some Beatles songs (ones actually performed by The Beatles themselves), which are nearly impossible to clear for a non-Beatles title. But if most of the important music remains (like the brilliant use of Joni Mitchell's "The Circle Game" in one episode that stands out in my mind) intact, I'm buying this. It was an excellent show and I miss it. Can't find it anywhere in reruns.

The thing about "The Wonder Years" is that the first season was very short (maybe 7 or 8 episodes?). They could clear this music for the first season and use it as a test balloon for sales before they take on future seasons.

This is one show where I'd buy anything I could get without complaining, provided most of the music is intact. If it takes forever to get season 2, so be it!
 

AnthonyC

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I don't remember any actual Beatles recordings...but I know there were a few covers. I remember the episode where Kevin goes to his dad's office (episode 3 I believe) has a cover version of "Blackbird" that sounds a little like the original though.
 

Linda Thompson

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Check this out:

http://tinyurl.com/eyolo

This is one of those shows in which the music is (pretty universally) considered to be an absolutely essential element -- it is inextricably woven into key scenes, and it helps to deliver the intended emotional impact and payoff of those scenes. I simply can't imagine the show without it.

Unfortunately, I can see some definite "hurdles" in trying to get ALL of those cleared.
 

Marty M

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You can't really put Wonder Years in this group because the series hasn't even been announced to be released on DVD. I didn't realize music had been changed in American Dreams, but I haven't watch the entire series on DVD yet.

The kig of altered music with mentioning it on the cover is Quantum Leap. Seasons 1 and 2 are filled with episodes with altered music. It wasn't until the 3rd season that they actually put a warning on the cover about altered music. Of course, QL has been discussed extensively in other threads.
 

Linda Thompson

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Marty...this discussion is in reference to a 3-episode "Best Of" disc of TWY which was released a few years ago:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releaseI...?ReleaseID=178

The music alterations have been reported to TSoD by a member, but the report is still classified as "pending", which (by TS0D's definitions of their reporting system) means that the report has not yet been independently confirmed by a total of 5 different individuals.

And, regarding QL: Season 1 was released with all music intact and unaltered. Seasons 2 and 3, however, each had very extensive music changes. As for what is or is not noted on those packages, I don't own the second or third season, so I'll assume that you are correct about only the third season carrying the disclaimer.

Here's the TSoD entry for "American Dreams", noting the music changes (classified as "confirmed"):

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releaseI...ReleaseID=3749
 

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