Rich Man, Poor Man-cut? (1 Viewer)

According to reviewers on Amazon, there was a nude scene with Robert Reed that is on the Region 2 dvds that is cut from this release. In episode 2 there is a shot of Reed pouring a glass of liquor in the nude. That shot is on the dvd. But the reviewers claim that the shot continued with Reed walking by a table and going up the stairs. I find it hard to believe that would have gotten past the censors in 1976. Also, the way the room is arranged, it would have had to have been a full on frontal almost. Does anyone know if this is the case, or maybe the shot did air in the UK.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

First semi-nudity I saw on U.S. network television was Holocaust in 1978. There's no way there was male full-frontal nudity on U.S. network television in 1976. There may be a different cut in the U.K.

 

I don't think they are saying it was full frontal. They are saying you can see part of his backside and if you look closely maybe make out something else. But I don't think they would have even shown that.

 

Also, while I'm grateful that the series is presented in its original format with the one hour episodes their correct length (unlike Roots), it's a pity that this has obviously been taken from tape and not film. There are drop outs in the form of black lines and rolling lines (sometimes bad).

 

[Jeff Willis]

Originally Posted by Eric Scott Richard but here's his comment on the video Q:



Quote from DVDTalk Review / Paul Mavis:

The Video:
Not bad. The full-screen, 1.33:1 video transfer for Rich Man, Poor Man: The Complete Collection isn't on a par with say, a Paramount vintage TV release (complete with restoration), but it's reasonably clean, with okay color and a medium-sharp image.

Does anyone here have both releases so they can give us a comparison between the 2 video transfer Q's? From reading Paul's review, the video Q sounds like it's gone through some cleanup vs the R2 Book 1 release.


Some not so great news in Paul's review regarding some possible music substitutions in the "Book II" part of the set:


Quote from DVDTalk Review / Paul Mavis

The Audio:
Just as a warning: on the backs of the slimcases for Book II, in small print there is a warning that the music may differ from the televised version. I don't have a photographic memory of the original airing, so I can't say what's been altered; I leave that up to the Rich Man, Poor Man: The Complete Collection experts. Otherwise, the Dolby Digital English split 2.0 stereo mix is adequate, but bland. Recording level is decent. Close-captions and subtitles are not available.

There are numerous music tracks in Book II so that sounds like there's some edits in those songs. That's a bummer if it's true.

 

Also, the final episode of Book One runs like 42:00 with opening credits (which wouldn't have been shown because this was hour 2 of a 2-hour episode.)

 

[RobinO]

There was a cut to the final hour of book one which annoys me greatly. It was a scene showing Rudy and Julie at the ranch (Rudy alluded to them going there on the boat after Julie got drunk again) where one of his politician friends came to visit to see if he might want to get back into politics.

It was cut on the VHS tapes released years ago but I was hoping they would put it back in for the DVD release.

I thought it was an important scene.


Robin

 

I knew something had to be cut. This release is a fail in my eyes. The transfers range from fair to poor, some episodes appear to be from syndication including some shots cut because of content, and no extras other than the commentary on the first episode. I'm glad to be able to see the show finally, but I hope this isn't the final word on a true television pioneer and classic.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Originally Posted by RobinO
There was a cut to the final hour of book one which annoys me greatly. It was a scene showing Rudy and Julie at the ranch (Rudy alluded to them going there on the boat after Julie got drunk again) where one of his politician friends came to visit to see if he might want to get back into politics.

It was cut on the VHS tapes released years ago but I was hoping they would put it back in for the DVD release.

I thought it was an important scene.


Robin

If I recall, that scene was included in the R2 release (U.K. '02). That's disappointing that this wasn't included in the R1 release.

 

[RobinO]

This may be the push I need to get a converter for my DVD so I can watch releases from other countries.


Eric you are right about the quality of the release - it was greatly disappointing. Hopefully another release will come out sometime in the future.


Robin