Murphy Brown Problem (1 Viewer)

[LeonaB]

I just finished watching the Pilot episode of Murphy Brown ("Respect") and noticed vertical blue lines going through my picture towards the end of the episode when Murphy is singing "Natural Woman." Does anyone else have this problem?

 

[David Lambert]

Yes. I'm looking right at it. It's an artifact from the videotape masters.

 

[RossRoc]

I noticed the same thing on mine while watching it last night

 

[Mark Silver]

You beat me to the forum. My set has it too.

 

[Mike Williams]

This has been mentioned in EVERY SINGLE Murphy Brown Review all over the net. I read about it first and then watched it and found it to be far worse than I imagined. Strangely enough, the problem is with only one camera and not the other. As they switch from one camera to the next, one has the blue lines in it and the other does not. Fortunately, the pilot episode seems to be the only one to have this problem. Aside from that the Image Quality is GREAT!!!

 

[R. Kay]

Blue lines on 30 seconds of Murphy Brown set = No Sale.

 

[Doug^Ch]

Blue lines on 30 seconds of Murphy Brown. Who Cares? I sure don't. For the price and quality of the rest of the set, I won't lose much sleep over it.

 

[RossRoc]

I did some debating to myself about picking up this disc and I'm glad I talked myself into it. There is the few seconds of the 5 or so vertical blue lines in the pilot episode but thats nothing compared to the rest of the set. I just finished the 2nd disc today and have enjoyed every minute of it. The show is over 10 years old but its still funny. The music is also great, I'm suprised it didnt cost more. I hope we get more season sets of the series.

 

[MattHR]

Aside from the small flaw, I also think the set is great. I noticed the flaw, but could tell it was based on the source material. In cases like this, it might be wise for the studios to place a small-print disclaimer on the package. The disclaimer would serve as an explanation of the flaw, so consumers wouldn't think their copy has an isolated defect and try to exchange their set for another.

I'd guess there have been many unnecessary exchanges of various DVDs over the years for similar problems. Those making the exchange are undoubtedly upset to find the replacement copy has the same "defect".

 

[RandyAW]

Those few seconds of blue lines havent ruined my enjoyment of this set. Except for the fashions the show holds up really well.
I look forward to more seasons as the show got even better as it went along.

 

[LeonaB]

I figured it was the transfer and not my particular DVD having the problem, but just wanted to be sure.

I agree that the blue lines don't ruin the rest of the set for me. I still love the show and will gladly buy future sets.

 

[Michael.J.Hayde]

Wasn't "Murphy Brown" a filmed sitcom? Why would there be a videotape problem? Are they not transferring from the film master materials?

Michael

 

[David Lambert]

I thought it was a completely taped show, so my mistake. Gord did too, because he said this in his review:



Post #5 of this thread states that it was a camera problem rather than a masters problem. That could make some sense, too. I don't know much about what kind of problems a camera malfunction can cause, so I can't really speak well to this.

The bottom line is that it's not an error on the DVDs; it's a problem that was probably seen on the original broadcast. I never saw the first episode until this set, having come into the series around the 3rd or 4th episode and never having caught it in reruns. So someone else will have to discuss that!

 

[Terri_E]

Thanks for the great information on this problem! I was a bit dismayed to see the blue lines, but I would rather see a few of them than see syndicated/cut eppy's, which other distributors have said, for their own shows, have a better VQ. (Even though, in this case, it seems to be a camera thing.) So, Warner Bros....bring on the rest! I will definitely be purchasing further sets, especially after Season 1 selling pretty well, as least from what I saw on Amazon. (I am especially hoping for the rest of the seasons to be released now that Nick-at-Nite has pushed Murphy, The Cos, and other greats back several hours in order to show 2-hour and 2 1/2-hour blocks of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" and "Roseanne." They're good shows, but that's overkill, in my opinion. :frowning: )

 

[Mike Williams]

To really get a good idea of just how great these episodes on DVD look, compare the episodes themselves to the clips featured in the retrospective. The retrospective clips looks like they were taken from someone's VHS tapes -- very soft and almost blurry. They really did a great job on this set.

 

[TimTV]

Well the pilot is 27min+ in length, maybe those are deleted scenes integrated into the episode.

 

[NeilO]

I'm glad to find here that those blue lines was a camera problem and not something wrong with my DVD. When it happened right when the music started I got loads of other fears as well.

I also didn't start watching the series until a few episodes into it, though I did see the first episode in syndication once.

I just picked it up today for $13.99 at BJs. I couldn't resist at that price. I am quite happy to see how satisfied people are about the set.

Neil

 

[ElijahS]

Yeah, it's a great set. If only Season 2 would be released...

 

[Mike*SC]

I've obviously come to this quite late. Contrary to Gord's assumption, many, many, many sitcoms have been shot on film, from "Mary Tyler Moore" to "Cheers" to "3rd Rock" and on and on and on. In fact, in the mid-'90s, video virtually disappeared, except for the rare "Married... with Children" and "Cosby." This held true until about three years ago, when 24p (a hi-def video system that looks just like film except to true videophiles) pretty much put film out of the sitcom business.

But by the mid-80s, shows shot on film have been transferred to tape and edited exclusively on tape (or, more recently, on hard drive based systems). Once the film is telecined (transferred to video), usually the day after the film is shot, the show never returns to film. The film itself is stored in a salt mine somewhere, unlikely to ever be recovered. There is no completed film master, only the raw footage. The only edited, mixed, color-corrected, and titled versions of any of the material exists solely on videotape/disc.

(Incidentally, none of this explains those blue lies. Perhaps the master was simply damaged.)