Press Release MPI Press Release: The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet Seasons 1 & 2 (DVD) (1 Viewer)

[smithbrad]

Having compared the season 1 HD episodes on Amazon Prime against the DVD SD versions, I'd have to say the HD upgrade is more significant than I imagined based on earlier posts. There are a few that show only minor improvement, but the vast majority are significantly better. Yes, any print damage is still there, but there is definitely more detail, IMO. Where it really shows a difference is in the texture of the clothing. There appears to be a high use of patterned clothing that within the SD shows up as moire type pattern in many cases that is completely missing from the HD versions. The Dental Receptionist episode has a lot of examples.

Also, I noticed some duplicate episodes in season 1. While Amazon Prime shows 39 episodes, the following are missing because they are actually dups of other episodes:
- The Rivals
- Harriet's Hairdo
- Newspaper Write-up
- Who's Walter

Hopefully, Amazon will fix these sooner than later.

 

[smithbrad]

Here is an example of what I was discussing. Not the exact same shot but close enough.

SD Version

HD Version

 

[DaveM4964]

Pre-orders for Season 7 and Season 8 are up at Bull Moose. Just $19.97 and free shipping if you buy them both at the same time. Less than $40 is a great deal.


Gary "Keep 'em coming MPI" O.

I checked for that a few days ago and had no luck. Thanks for the update, heading there now to preorder!

 

[DaveM4964]

How soon from release date does Bull Moose get it to your doorstep? I might go with them as well.

I ordered 3 and 4 from them. They are excellent! My preorder arrived before the estimated date.

 

[BobO'Link]

Here is an example of what I was discussing. Not the exact same shot but close enough.

SD Version
View attachment 151419

HD Version
View attachment 151420

Which episode is that still from?

 

[smithbrad]

Which episode is that still from?

The beginning of the Dental Receptionist. I took the screen captures from my computer screen. I will say the issues with the textured patterns is going to appear worse on a static screen capture then in motion when the image is in continuous flux, and some players may compensate for it better than others.

My intent wasn't to deter anyone from the SD DVD releases. The issue with the textured patterns is not uncommon in other SD releases where such patterns are used. It was more to show that the additional resolution available to HD tends to better resolve such issues, so if some are on the fence about whether to go digital HD or physical media SD and they don't have an issue collecting digital/streaming content, this is additional food for thought in making that decision.

 

[John Hermes]

The beginning of the Dental Receptionist. I took the screen captures from my computer screen. I will say the issues with the textured patterns is going to appear worse on a static screen capture then in motion when the image is in continuous flux, and some players may compensate for it better than others.

My intent wasn't to deter anyone from the SD DVD releases. The issue with the textured patterns is not uncommon in other SD releases where such patterns are used. It was more to show that the additional resolution available to HD tends to better resolve such issues, so if some are on the fence about whether to go digital HD or physical media SD and they don't have an issue collecting digital/streaming content, this is additional food for thought in making that decision.

I looked at the Amazon Prime O&H stream last night - quite impressive.

 

[smithbrad]

As for Amazon Prime, season 2 is missing the episode "Birds Nest", which appears as a duplicate of another season 2 episode. I already contacted Amazon about the 4 missing episodes from season 1. They said it should be corrected in 48 hours. Will have to wait and see.

 

[Jeff*H]

I ordered 3 and 4 from them. They are excellent! My preorder arrived before the estimated date.

Thanks for the positive Bull Moose feedback, everyone! I am not only ordering seasons 7 & 8 from them, I also cancelled my Amazon order for seasons 5 & 6 and switched it to Bull Moose. A combined savings of around $47!

 

[BobO'Link]

I'm waiting for the next Target B2G1 sale for S5-S8...

 

[The 1960's]

As I was searching YouTube tonight for a Don DeFore commercial I stumbled on some great stuff featuring Mr. Defore and his family.

Don DeFore (1913–1993)

This Is Your Life (1950-1987)
Stars Ralph Edwards Bob Warren Eddie Cantor​

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Each week, an unsuspecting celebrity would be lured by some ruse to a location near the studio. The celebrity would then be surprised with the news that they are to be the featured guest. Next, the celebrity was escorted into the studio, and one by one, people who were significant in the guest's life would be brought out to offer anecdotes. At the end of the show, fam... Read all

S01E31 Don DeFore (May.06.1953)
Stars Ralph Edwards Don DeFore Marilyn Beers​

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Don DeFore's wife Marion Holmes, and four children appear, as well as other friends and relatives from his home town of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ralph Edwards is the host. Broadcast from the El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, CA.​

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The Home Team (1960) Unsold Pilot (Segment)​

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Can't find anything about this!​

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Here's Hollywood (1960-1962)
Stars Dean Miller Helen O'Connell Jack Linkletter​

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Hollywood celebrities are interviewed, often at their homes. This series had a whopping 571 episodes.

S02E141 Don DeFore Family (Mar.22.1962)
Stars Don DeFore Autumn Defore David DeFore Dawn DeFore​

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Host Helen O'Connell interviews the Don DeFore Family and tours their home at 1707 Mandeville Lane in Brentwood (west Los Angeles suburb). This is from the Ron Defore YouTube channel, the son of Don Defore.

Chris Sheehan 3 years ago: Do you still have the house, and most of the stuff?

Ron Defore 1 year ago: No, long gone - sold in 1968. Currently owned by Trent Reznor who bought it for more than $16 million about five years ago.​

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Don Defore Drives his Oldsmobile Rocket 8 (1951)​

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This was a year before he accepted Ozzie Nelson's offer to be "Thorny" on the TV edition of "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.​

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[seanrt]

As I was searching YouTube tonight for a Don DeFore commercial I stumbled on some great stuff featuring Mr. Defore and his family.

Don DeFore (1913–1993)

This Is Your Life (1950-1987)
Stars Ralph Edwards Bob Warren Eddie Cantor​

---

Each week, an unsuspecting celebrity would be lured by some ruse to a location near the studio. The celebrity would then be surprised with the news that they are to be the featured guest. Next, the celebrity was escorted into the studio, and one by one, people who were significant in the guest's life would be brought out to offer anecdotes. At the end of the show, fam... Read all

S01E31 Don DeFore (May.06.1953)
Stars Ralph Edwards Don DeFore Marilyn Beers​

---

Don DeFore's wife Marion Holmes, and four children appear, as well as other friends and relatives from his home town of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ralph Edwards is the host. Broadcast from the El Capitan Theatre, Hollywood, CA.​

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​

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The Home Team (1960) Unsold Pilot (Segment)​

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Can't find anything about this!​

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​

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Here's Hollywood (1960-1962)
Stars Dean Miller Helen O'Connell Jack Linkletter​

---

Hollywood celebrities are interviewed, often at their homes. This series had a whopping 571 episodes.

S02E141 Don DeFore Family (Mar.22.1962)
Stars Don DeFore Autumn Defore David DeFore Dawn DeFore​

---

Host Helen O'Connell interviews the Don DeFore Family and tours their home at 1707 Mandeville Lane in Brentwood (west Los Angeles suburb). This is from the Ron Defore YouTube channel, the son of Don Defore.

Chris Sheehan 3 years ago: Do you still have the house, and most of the stuff?

Ron Defore 1 year ago: No, long gone - sold in 1968. Currently owned by Trent Reznor who bought it for more than $16 million about five years ago.​

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Don Defore Drives his Oldsmobile Rocket 8 (1951)​

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This was a year before he accepted Ozzie Nelson's offer to be "Thorny" on the TV edition of "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.​

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Did I read that right? Trent Rezner now owns the DeFore home? cool

 

[timk1041]

Did I read that right? Trent Rezner now owns the DeFore home? cool

Who is Trent Rezner?

 

[LeoA]

Alas that moire pattern probably isn't helped by how they encoded the discs.

While I didn't share the disdain another member here had with how MPI handled it, I bet a full screen 4:3 release without baked-in pillarboxing would've helped lessen that if the full 480p resolution potential could've gone to the picture itself.

Small cost to pay though considering what MPI is delivering to us. I always hoped this would happen, but I don't think I ever actually believed we'd be here fast approaching passing the halfway mark to a full release of the entire series.

 

[The 1960's]

Did I read that right? Trent Rezner now owns the DeFore home? cool

Yes if you look under the Here's Hollywood TV Show Don DeFore Family 1962 video you'll see that Q&A at the bottom of the comments.

Who is Trent Rezner?

Tim.

 

[BobO'Link]

Alas that moire pattern probably isn't helped by how they encoded the discs.

While I didn't share the disdain another member here had with how MPI handled it, I bet a full screen 4:3 release without baked-in pillarboxing would've helped lessen that if the full 480p resolution potential could've gone to the picture itself.

Small cost to pay though considering what MPI is delivering to us. I always hoped this would happen, but I don't think I ever actually believed we'd be here fast approaching passing the halfway mark to a full release of the entire series.

You don't lose a single thing from the "480" scan lines (vertical resolution) with that formatting... no matter if it's a 4:3 or 16:9 display. And you lose *very* little to nothing horizontally because black, especially pillarboxing black, takes *very* little to nothing away from the # of horizontal pixels in the 4:3 image when displayed on a modern 16:9 display as it's negligible to encode.

 

[Purple Wig]

Who is Trent Rezner?

If more people today knew who Don DeFore was than Trent Rezner the world would be a better place.

 

[timk1041]

Yes if you look under the Here's Hollywood TV Show Don DeFore Family 1962 video you'll see that Q&A at the bottom of the comments.

Tim. View attachment 151932

Thanks. I didn't see all of that.

 

[LeoA]

You don't lose a single thing from the "480" scan lines (vertical resolution) with that formatting... no matter if it's a 4:3 or 16:9 display. And you lose *very* little to nothing horizontally because black, especially pillarboxing black, takes *very* little to nothing away from the # of horizontal pixels in the 4:3 image when displayed on a modern 16:9 display as it's negligible to encode.

While it's true that the pillarboxing doesn't take up much space on the disc thanks to how compression works, it does take away resolution. 480 x 640 only goes so far.

You're not magically gaining horizontal resolution by encoding it in widescreen since modern widescreen DVD's are anamorphic widescreen. You get widescreen by your DVD/Blu-Ray player or HDTV re-expanding to 16:9 your widescreen picture that's been stored compressed within the confines of a 480 x 640 4:3 frame.

By including the pillarboxing in the picture that's encoded on the disc, you're allocating a good chunk of those 640 lines to the pillarboxing with this route which isn't ideal for picture quality in general (Including moire patterns).

Ideally for picture quality they'd be encoded at 4:3 full screen with the full 480 x 640 dedicated to the picture itself, with the player or tv handling the framing duties on its own in order to achieve the proper aspect ratio presentation (Like has been traditional practice for classic tv releases on DVD).

I'm really not sure why MPI went this route. While it helps ensure that the content is viewed at the correct aspect ratio on modern display technology, the vast majority of players in use today are smart enough to recognize if a disc is meant to be viewed in pillarboxed 4:3 or stretched to 16:9 and handle the appropriate scaling automatically without any user intervention.

Lastly, I'm not actually complaining. While I'm indeed slightly puzzled by this choice, it's a quibble at worst that I'm presenting and isn't a significant problem detracting from these releases in my view (With a lengthy post, I'm afraid it will be misconstrued as criticism of MPI where as I'm actually thrilled by these sets in every way).

 

[timk1041]

Did anyone notice in at least a couple Season 2 episodes, "Ozzie's Night Out" and "Too Many Children", Helen Parrish had a small part as Helen. Other than the one time she appeared as Geraldine Rutherford on Leave It To Beaver, I didn't know she appeared on any other shows. She was always a favourite of mine in a number of Universal films.