Single episode Little House? (1 Viewer)

[Greg_S_H]

I got a number of e-mail updates from TVShowsOnDVD.com announcing some single episode Little House on the Prairie DVDs from the company putting out the first and second season sets next month. One is a two-parter from season 3, while another is a two-parter from season 2. According to an episode guide, they were aired as two-parters a week apart, and were not aired as TV movies like some of the longer stories originally were.

Is this reason for concern? Is it likely these are going to be put out for the more casual fan who doesn't want to invest in season sets, or can we expect these episodes to be left off future season sets? I realize anything would likely be speculation at this point, but I hope David Lambert can weigh in here. He seems to know a lot of the behind-the-scenes details on the various TV sets.

While we're at it, I've been running through the seasons one and two episode guides. There was a two hour episode called The Lord is My Shepherd that now airs as a two-parter in syndication. Do we have any details concerning the format this episode will take on the upcoming discs?

Reading the episode guide, I'm reminded what a treasure trove these first couple of seasons were. Can't wait for July 8. I only hope Goldhil does a good job with these. $37.49 seems a little light for a full season of hour-long drama.

 

[David Lambert]

I realize anything would likely be speculation at this point, but I hope David Lambert can weigh in here. He seems to know a lot of the behind-the-scenes details on the various TV sets.

Okay, I'm here (thanks for stroking the ol' ego!). Let me clear this up!

Last night, Gord (owner of TVShowsOnDVD) added the listings for The Pilot, Season 1, and Season 2. These are in-order, must-buy releases for intense fans of the show.

Goldhil also wants to draw in the more casual fan, apparently, by including releases for two of the best-loved storylines from future seasons, which haven't yet been on DVD from the previous Goodtimes lineup.

For that reason, they are releasing the Season 3 episode Journey Into Spring (both Part 1 and Part 2, which aired 11/15/76 and 11/22/76). TVTome.com describes the storyline: "Charles' father, Lansford Ingalls, doesn't want to live after his wife dies. Charles brings his father to Walnut Grove to help him out. When Laura's horse gets hurt, she blames her grandpa. Lansford leaves because he feels really bad. Once Laura realizes that her grandpa wasn't to blame for the accident, she looks for Lansford and convinces him to come back home."

Also being released is one of the most-loved episodes of all, Season 4's I'll Be Waving As You Drive Away. Better known as the episode where Mary goes blind, this two-part episode aired on 3/6/78 and 3/13/78, to finish out the 4th season.

Considering that Goodtimes released a LOT of the fan-favorite episodes already, this is a good move by Goldhil to attract the casual fan and show off what a (hopefully) better job of cleaning up these old episodes they can do. It should attract more buyers to the season sets, and therefore justify more season sets down the road.

About the 2-parters: I hope Goldhil has the sense of mind to release everything exactly as it aired: 2-hour-long episodes left in their original form with one set of credits, and week-apart-2-parters (like the S3 and S4 releases mentioned above) left in their original form as two separate episodes with a "To Be Continued..." in the right place. I have no idea what their plans are on that, though. Nor do I know what they are charging "light" prices. I hope this reflects a mass-market approach that doesn't give up on quality.

I guess we'll all know in about a month, eh? :wink:

 

[Chris_Morris]

can we expect these episodes to be left off future season sets

I wouldn't think so. It's like Warner release the "Best of Friends Season __" They would lose alot of business if they tried to pull incomplete seasons with the other episodes on seperate releases.


Chris

 

[DaViD Boulet]

So then the "safe" thing to do is get the new pilot and season 1/2 sets.

My sister in-law is a Little Prarie nut and I really want to make sure we "do right" by what we purchase for her.

 

[Chris_Morris]

Sounds ok. Though the pilot is already available through Goodtimes, as The Premier. Not sure what if any changes are made on this new release.


Chris

 

[David Lambert]

Should have better graphics on the new version of The Pilot. Since I already have the Goodtimes edition, I was thinking of getting the S1 and S2 sets, and then judging by the video quality of those whether to re-buy The Pilot.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Thanks for the response, David. I'll just ignore the single releases (except the pilot) and go full speed ahead into the season boxes.

1. A HARVEST OF FRIENDS September 11, 1974

"Home is the nicest word there is." The Ingalls settle on the banks of Plum Creek in Walnut Grove. Charles must work very hard in order to prepare the farm, and takes on three jobs. When he is injured after a fall from a tree, it looks as if they might lose everything. O'Neill goes to get the Ingalls Oxen, which Charles put up for collatoral, and Laura and Mary rush to his side to help him. The men of Walnut Grove come to his aid, after seeing how unfeeling O'Neill was.

Then, season two is said to have 21 episodes. According to this episode guide, season two had 22 episodes. One of them was a two-parter, spread over two weeks. If we had to guess, based on the numbers, that two-parter may be crunched into a single episode.

But, does that make sense? They take a long episode from season one and make it into a two-parter, and take a two-parter from season two and make it into a long episode? They would not be using standard syndication episodes if this was the case. As far as I know, no episode is longer than an hour in syndication. In fact, there were some medium-sized TV movies (about an hour and a half) that get passed up altogether in syndication. A few years back, I was watching the series in order (and following an episode guide), and those just didn't get aired. Maybe it was just the local station, or maybe there just wasn't an easy way to air those on subsequent days in syndication. Either way, I haven't seen those episodes in years.

 

[David Lambert]

The pilot is separate from Episode 1.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I may never have seen the pilot, then. That means the numbers for season one look solid as a rock and, if you read my last paragraph again (I edited it as you were posting), I think it's highly unlikely they'll merge the season two two-parter into one. So, the number's off by one, but I'm sure there's an explanation.

 

[Ben_D]

I e-mailed Imavision (the studio releasing through Goldhil) several weeks ago because I was worried that episodes would be included in their "edited for syndication" form, as several of the Goodtimes/Time-Life releases were. Their reply is troubling. They say:

"The episodes of "Little House on the Prairie" that are featured in the upcoming seasons are infact the cut versions. The NBC has told us that the cut versions are pretty much the same as the original, maybe a total of 1 minute is taken out of the network version. No full scenes and no dialogues have been taken out. The cut versions just go to commercial a few seconds earlier."

Don't know what to make of all this. My Time-Life edition of the episode "Country Girls" had whole lines removed, which stopped me from ordering any more VHS titles from the series (I was told other releases were also cut, but not all). I'm really curious to see just how "cut" these episodes are. (Imavision is a French Canadian company by the way, which is why the grammar in their post isn't perfect. They have been extremely customer-friendly in replying to every email I've sent, so I am hoping for the best.)

 

[Greg_S_H]

The directness of their response is pretty remarkable, but it's all very troubling. I think I'll wait for reviews now. This show plays every morning on my local station, so I don't know if I can justify buying them if they're cut. Argh!

 

[Chris_Morris]

Anyone know if Harvest is the pilot?

The name of the pilot is "The Premiere" which is ~2 hours. I don't think using the syndicated cuts is anything to get worked up about, as those may be the only surviving cuts of the shows left, or the only ones in presentable condition.

As to the episode discrepancy, it seems like they are counting "The Lord is my Shepard" as one episode (Both feature-length and two-part versions of this episode exist for syndication.) So it seems they are using the feature length, which makes sense since there are already masters of it from the GoodTimes release.
In Season Two, the same thing with "Remember Me". TV Tome counts is as 2 episodes (as it aired) but Imavision must be using the edited together master from the GoodTimes release, making 2 episodes into one, which is why there are only 21 episodes.
If this is in fact what they are doing, then Season Three could be listed as only 18 episodes, as there are 2 two-parters with 20 episodes total.

Chris

 

[Greg_S_H]

I guess I'll read some reviews and make my decision then. If it's all that survives, it's all that survives. No use getting worked up over something that won't ever be seen again. We shall see.