The Andy Griffith Show: Missing Scenes, Laugh Tracks, And Other Issues (1 Viewer)

[Tony Bensley]

The main purpose of this topic relating to THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, is to not only sort out the issues relating to missing scenes and laugh tracks among the various Season, Series, and Best Of releases; but also to address any show opening and closing irregularities.

The following 2 appear to be across the board, in terms of the various CBS/Paramount releases:

Season 3:
Episode 06 - Barney Mends A Broken Heart (Epilogue missing!)2
Episode 25 - The Darlings Are Coming (Salty Dog Blues missing!)*

* Except for THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW 50TH ANNIVERSARY 17 Episode DVD set, the Epilogue, and a chunk of the episode's beginning are also missing! One 16 Episode Public Domain DVD release of THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW is reported to include a complete, 27 minute version of "The Darlings Are Coming" episode.

Episode 4 - Andy and Opie – Bachelors: While the Epilogue is reported missing on some versions, it is included on THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW SEASONS 1 - 5 Wal-Mart Exclusive DVD set (The version that I hold, and am referencing!), and appears to be otherwise complete, going by the 25:41 running time.

Season 4:
Missing Laugh Tracks for:

Episode 01 - Opie The Birdman
Episode 04 - The Sermon For Today
Episode 07 - A Black Day For Mayberry
Episode 08 - Opie's Ill Gotten Gain
Episode 10 - Up In Barney's Room

While all of the above Season 4 Episodes were affected on the initial Season DVD sets, these were mostly reportedly fixed on the subsequent Complete Series releases. although minor missing laugh track issues are reported to still exist for "The Sermon For Today" and "A Black Day For Mayberry" episodes.

Another possible issue that I wish to address, is I've noticed on the Season 1 DVDs that the closing music varies between matching the Season 1 opening music, and sounding more like the opening music used in subsequent seasons. My question is does anyone know whether this variance existed even on the original broadcasts, or are they, as I suspect, the byproduct of subsequent syndicated broadcast versions, for which were/are no longer partnered with the Season 1 closing music score? Perhaps, holders of the Season 1 Blu-ray set, that includes the Night of Broadcast versions, might be able to answer this one?

I also currently have the individual Season 4 and Season 7 DVD sets, should the need for comparison referencing arise!

Anthony Bensley

 

[LouA]

Hi Tony . Do you think there's any chance that CBS/Paramount would someday reissue the show , possibly on Blu-ray with the corrections you've pointed out ? Just wondering ...

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Hi Tony . Do you think there's any chance that CBS/Paramount would someday reissue the show , possibly on Blu-ray with the corrections you've pointed out ? Just wondering ...

Blu has already been attempted and abandoned by CBS/P, unfortunately.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Hi Tony . Do you think there's any chance that CBS/Paramount would someday reissue the show , possibly on Blu-ray with the corrections you've pointed out ? Just wondering ...

Based on CBS/Paramount's previous cancellation of any further Season Blu-ray releases of I LOVE LUCY and THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, there appears to be little to no cause for optimism on that front, I'm sad to say!

Regarding the lone Season 1 Blu-ray release of TAGS, my main questions relate to any differences between the opening and closing music for the so called syndicated, and night of broadcast versions. I've also noticed on the Season 1 DVDs through "The Christmas Story" Episode (#11) that Elinor Donahue's name is only mentioned in the opening credits for her debut appearance, which was the series' 4th episode. By contrast, Don Knotts is given verbal credit, except for the one episode that he does not appear in (#9 - "A Feud Is A Feud").

CHEERS!

 

[Ron1973]

It's a shame. We have quality blu releases of The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Twilight Zone from independent companies. The Rockford Files is coming out to blu at a very decent price. What CBS was expecting for one season of I Love Lucy or The Andy Griffith Show is what you can a complete series set of other shows!

 

[Tony Bensley]

It's a shame. We have quality blu releases of The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Twilight Zone from independent companies. The Rockford Files is coming out to blu at a very decent price. What CBS was expecting for one season of I Love Lucy or The Andy Griffith Show is what you can a complete series set of other shows!

It's been stated before, but no doubt it was severely unrealistic expectations that these shows would sell in sufficient quantities at such a high price point that helped doom these releases to failure. Yes, the upgraded Blu-ray versions should have come at a higher premium, but NOT at a price that was higher (Or almost higher, at least!) for a single season than what the Complete Series DVD versions often cost! In my opinion, $75 was simply way too high a starting price point, no matter how nice these Season sets were! It's as though they were priced to fail, but who knows what CBS/Paramount was actually thinking, regarding that?

CHEERS!

 

[The Obsolete Man]

It was nice that they did the "night of broadcast" stuff, but wholly unnecessary.

The only thing that really needs restoring is some mistakes in the middle seasons of Andy and The Lucy/Desi Comedy Hour, but we'll never get that far.

 

[Ron1973]

I can't figure out CBS. They made a debacle of S4 of The Beverly Hillbillies after doing so well with S2 and S3. They replaced incidental music that shouldn't have been replaced (see "Jethro Goes to College" for instance). No cast commercials as in prior seasons either. All of a sudden they decide to do S1 last year, a PD season at that, and it has all the bells and whistles. No music replaced, night of broadcast cast commercials, no cheap appearance. Now here we sit again with the show stalled out, yet CBS updates the Facebook page for the show religiously as if they're still trying to sell it.

 

[Ron1973]

Okay, a stupid question I suppose, but is there a CBS rep that visits here or that we know reads anything we post? I know some other companies have did that in the past. CBS has me blocked from posting on their Facebook page (I guess pointing out their shoddy practices wasn't welcome; I'm not the only one they've blocked), but if someone could post on their Facebook page and invite them to talk to us maybe.

 

[Gary16]

It's been stated before, but no doubt it was severely unrealistic expectations that these shows would sell in sufficient quantities at such a high price point that helped doom these releases to failure. Yes, the upgraded Blu-ray versions should have come at a higher premium, but NOT at a price that was higher (Or almost higher, at least!) for a single season than what the Complete Series DVD versions often cost! In my opinion, $75 was simply way too high a starting price point, no matter how nice these Season sets were! It's as though they were priced to fail, but who knows what CBS/Paramount was actually thinking, regarding that?

CHEERS!

I really don't think they priced these to fail intentionally. I believe they just misread the interest level. They went to a lot of expense to put together those night of broadcast episodes and did a great job -- something I gladly paid a premium for. It's just a shame we'll likely never see the remaining seasons of Lucy or Andy on bluray unless they sublicense them.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I really don't think they priced these to fail intentionally. I believe they just misread the interest level. They went to a lot of expense to put together those night of broadcast episodes and did a great job -- something I gladly paid a premium for. It's just a shame we'll likely never see the remaining seasons of Lucy or Andy on bluray unless they sublicense them.

They expected Trek prices and a Trek audience for a non-Trek show.

There is an audience for older shows on Blu... but not a high dollar one. When everything from Miami Vice to X-Files has been available for roughly 10 bucks per season, and even shows like Dick Van Dyke and Twilight Zone have been available for reasonable prices, 70 per season was too much.

 

[bmasters9]

What CBS was expecting for one season of I Love Lucy or The Andy Griffith Show is what you can a complete series set of other shows!

Bullseye! I was at the Best Buy in Greenville a long time ago, and they wanted $100 for one season's worth (one season's worth!) of Star Trek: Voyager. $100 is what you'd pay nowadays for the all-in-one of a certain show (perhaps a good bit more for some shows), but for that to be the price for one season's worth?! Get real!

 

[Alf S]

I love watching the non-color seasons of Andy Griffith show and have been doing so mainly on METV, but I see it is also run on Netflix and maybe via other streaming methods(?). Do you think now that the world of media is changing rapidly, that's the reason many former DVD/Blu producers have wholly or partially given up putting their shows on physical media? Seems so much more cost effective to toss them over to streaming since the days of "movie collecting" is dying off day by day.

 

[Tony Bensley]

In viewing the second DVD from Season 1, I noticed a few things that I consider worth noting:

While Episode 12 "Stranger In Town" is the first to feature Floyd The Barber, the more familiar Howard McNear did not play him, but rather an actor named Walter Baldwin, who appeared in such classic films as THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES (1946). Howard McNear made his TAGS debut in the very next episode, "Mayberry Goes Hollywood," in which the sprightly music that was often used for effect in the show's early seasons, made its debut.

After being absent for 2 episodes, Elinor Donahue is back in "The Horse Trader" (#14). Perhaps not coincidentally, her name is mentioned in that episode's opening, after getting no mention since her debut TAGS appearance in Episode 4. The closing theme for this same episode starts a bit late, with a different set of notes preceding what sounds like the commonly played closing theme version of subsequent seasons.

CHEERS!

 

[LouA]

Blu has already been attempted and abandoned by CBS/P, unfortunately.

I have season one on Blu-ray which I waited for a long time to buy - until the price came down. I didn't realize CBS had abandoned the idea of future releases. If that's the case I'm guessing sales were poor and that the high price of season 1 ($125.00) had a lot to do with lackluster sales.

 

[Tony Bensley]

I have season one on Blu-ray which I waited for a long time to buy - until the price came down. I didn't realize CBS had abandoned the idea of future releases. If that's the case I'm guessing sales were poor and that the high price of season 1 ($125.00) had a lot to do with lackluster sales.

$125.00 for a single season, Lou?

Yep, these TV Blu-ray releases were doomed to failure at those prices! CBS/ Paramount shot themselves in the foot like Deputy Fife!

By the way, I noticed that despite Elinor Donahue not being in the previous "Those Gossipin' Men" episode, her name isn't mentioned in the show's opening for "The Beauty Pageant" episode, in which her Ellie Walker character does appear.

Sitting closer to our 32 inch screen this evening, I did notice what looked to me like moving grain. I believe this may be a somewhat a byproduct of DVD visual quality being set at maximum levels. I know that the 3 Stooges THE OUTLAWS IS COMING (1965) Sony DVD release also has this issue, but it's Blu-ray counterpart, does not and it's my guess that THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW Season 1 Blu-ray versions of these episodes don't have the moving grain, either!

CHEERS!

 

[The Obsolete Man]

$125.00 for a single season, Lou?

Yep, these TV Blu-ray releases were doomed to failure at those prices! CBS/ Paramount shot themselves in the foot like Deputy Fife!

Yep, the original MSRP was $129, $75 on release from Amazon.

That was restored, remastered, reedited Star Trek TNG prices.

Same for I Love Lucy, which is why it died, too.

I'd wager the majority of people finally bought when the prices were at $30ish. But when at the same time, you had a restored Little House On The Prairie being released to Blu for $20 a season, people had to think CBS was crazy.

 

[Matt Hough]

I happened on an Andy Griffith rerun tonight on ME-TV, and it had been reformatted for widescreen. Looked just fine, but is this typical with all older 4:3 shows which are presented on these cable channels?

 

[mattfire64]

Only Me-TV and sister station H&I reformat their image to a "mock" widescreen, which lops off a good portion of the top and bottom of the original image. The shows in their library which have been HD restored may look passable in this "fake" widescreen, but many of the shows which are still sourced from decades-old videotape transfers look absolutely abysmal, zooming in on an already blurry source doesn't do it any favors...

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Only Me-TV and sister station H&I reformat their image to a "mock" widescreen, which lops off a good portion of the top and bottom of the original image. The shows in their library which have been HD restored may look passable in this "fake" widescreen, but many of the shows which are still sourced from decades-old videotape transfers look absolutely abysmal, zooming in on an already blurry source doesn't do it any favors...

BBC America does that to seasons 3-7 of Star Trek TNG, which are unremastered and still the old videotapes from the 90s.

It looks horrible.

Do they also do credit and teaser crunches and all the other horrible things done to classic TV to get another 5 second commercial for enemas in?