The Monkees TV Series & 33⅓ Revolutions per Monkee + "Head" (1968) movie, coming to Blu (1 Viewer)

[davidmatychuk]

I made my own.

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The rare Monkees 45 I'm holding is "D.W. Washburn/It's Nice To Be With You".

 

[Tony J Case]

I was AAAAAAAlmost about to bite last night, even at 200 bones. And then I got to the shipping - which throws another 16 on the total. And then at the checkout, there's tax - another 15 or so bucks. So yeah, 200 bucks for the Monkees. . . . maybe. 230 bucks? Hell and No.

 

[Tony Bensley]

I was AAAAAAAlmost about to bite last night, even at 200 bones. And then I got to the shipping - which throws another 16 on the total. And then at the checkout, there's tax - another 15 or so bucks. So yeah, 200 bucks for the Monkees. . . . maybe. 230 bucks? Hell and No.

Hi Tony C!


As I suspected, the extra costs would put me north of $300 CDN!


CHEERS!


Tony B.

 

[Tony J Case]

Ouch - you have my sympathies, my overseasboarder friend!

 

[Tony Bensley]

Realistically speaking, $100 U.S. is probably about my limit at present, and that would likely involve unloading both of my Monkees Season DVD sets!


$200 U.S. is unfortunately, so far out of my "Pull the Trigger" range!


CHEERS!

 

[bigshot]

They seem to think that The Monkees is in the 60s Batman league. But 60s Batman was a holy grail for a long time. The Monkees has always been in circulation.

 

[Tony Bensley]

BATMAN also ran for 120 ½ Hour Episodes, Vs. THE MONKEES 58 ½ Hour Episode run. Even with all of the extras, it doesn't really add up!


CHEERS!

 

[Tony J Case]

I think I would unhesitatingly pull the trigger at 100 bucks. At 150 is the "Oooooh, I'll have to think on it. Oh, fine." and clearly the 200 is the "Unnnnnnngh. . . .maybe" breakpoint.

 

[Radioman970]

$100 would be sweet... at that it would depend on how much money I had to spend vs the $200 which depends on how drunk i am.

 

[Mr. Handley]

I'm in the same boat...$100 (no brainer), $150 (serious consideration), $200 (not a chance).

 

[BobO'Link]

I like The Monkees but apparently not as much as you guys.


I realize music licensing is a huge cost factor for this series but for me it'd have to be $75 for a no brainer purchase, $100 would be tops for serious consideration, and not a chance for anything over $100. For the current asking price I can easily live with my DVD sets.


Of course the prices I'd pay would be for a "plan bones" release with zero extras. I quit purchasing stuff with tchotchke type extras and/or oddly designed packaging long ago as they usually wind up in storage after being looked at once.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I like The Monkees but apparently not as much as you guys.


I realize music licensing is a huge cost factor for this series but for me it'd have to be $75 for a no brainer purchase, $100 would be tops for serious consideration, and not a chance for anything over $100. For the current asking price I can easily live with my DVD sets.


Of course the prices I'd pay would be for a "plan bones" release with zero extras. I quit purchasing stuff with tchotchke type extras and/or oddly designed packaging long ago as they usually wind up in storage after being looked at once.

I don't think music licensing is a factor here, other than that chunk of The Beatles' "Good Morning, Good Morning". Rhino owns The Monkees. They own the music, the TV shows, everything. They would literally be licensing the bulk of the music from themselves.


I think the price is due to the limited edition factor. No different than Twilight Time, or Shout Select.

 

[Tony Bensley]

In my case, CDN/U.S. rate of exchange is also a factor with THE MONKEES Blu-ray Set's exclusive U.S. based monkees.com availability!


Our dollar currently sits below 76 cents U.S, and isn't projected to rise significantly any time soon, if at all!


Ah, the good old days of the pre-autumn of 2014, before our Canadian Dollar began a-falling!


CHEERS!

 

[Mark Y]

I got the VHS limited edition set when it came out ($399 at the time, mid-1990s). When the first DVD sets came out they were a lot cheaper than the VHS, but I still held off for quite some time. If I hadn't bought them on VHS first, it would have been easier for me to convince myself. By the time I eventually got them, they were becoming difficult to find, with prices jumping up and down for the two season sets. I am definitely interested in this new Bluray set (I don't have a player and this may be the catalyst for me to finally get one) since they say they are remastering the shows from the original negatives for the first time ever. It's a long story, but Sony owns TV and theatrical rights, Rhino owns all other rights, and it seems since "HEAD" was licensed for the "America Lost And Found" set, the two companies are playing nicer with each other -- the recent 3-CD limited edition box set for the first album included some previously unreleased TV mixes which were obtained from Sony, for instance. Anyway, what would push this into "must have" territory (for me) would be if they managed to include the alternate audio tracks for the episodes with revised music scores -- new songs were dubbed in the first season shows for the summer 1967 reruns to promote their current releases, and the same thing was done again in 1969-70 for the Saturday morning reruns -- for a good number of years, some of the redubbed songs for the Saturday morning reruns were either unreleased altogether, or were significantly different mixes of the songs. Most of it's been covered via the various archival Rhino CD releases, but it would still be really nice to have the different versions of the soundtracks. Also, I can think of two episodes where content was changed between first run and repeat showings -- the "Captain Crocodile" episode had a line redubbed ("Kirshner" changed to "Schneider") and the "Too Many Girls/Davy And Fern" had the infamous "blurred cleavage" and a shot or two that was actually either refilmed or replaced with an alternate take, with some minor difference in dialogue. Now, whether there is room for all this alongside the various audio commentary tracks being carried over from the previous DVD releases (including all four Monkees and various songwriters, screenwriters, producers and/or directors) remains to be seen. Maybe that could account for the seemingly high number of discs. We know they unearthed another vintage NBC promo that wasn't on the DVD sets, and a really nice copy of the "Oh My My" promo film showed up recently -- I hope that makes it as an extra. (I wonder if it's too much to ask for the Screen Gems "S from Hell" toilet paper logo at the end of the shows?)

 

[davidmatychuk]

I got the VHS limited edition set when it came out ($399 at the time, mid-1990s). When the first DVD sets came out they were a lot cheaper than the VHS, but I still held off for quite some time. If I hadn't bought them on VHS first, it would have been easier for me to convince myself. By the time I eventually got them, they were becoming difficult to find, with prices jumping up and down for the two season sets. I am definitely interested in this new Bluray set (I don't have a player and this may be the catalyst for me to finally get one) since they say they are remastering the shows from the original negatives for the first time ever. It's a long story, but Sony owns TV and theatrical rights, Rhino owns all other rights, and it seems since "HEAD" was licensed for the "America Lost And Found" set, the two companies are playing nicer with each other -- the recent 3-CD limited edition box set for the first album included some previously unreleased TV mixes which were obtained from Sony, for instance. Anyway, what would push this into "must have" territory (for me) would be if they managed to include the alternate audio tracks for the episodes with revised music scores -- new songs were dubbed in the first season shows for the summer 1967 reruns to promote their current releases, and the same thing was done again in 1969-70 for the Saturday morning reruns -- for a good number of years, some of the redubbed songs for the Saturday morning reruns were either unreleased altogether, or were significantly different mixes of the songs. Most of it's been covered via the various archival Rhino CD releases, but it would still be really nice to have the different versions of the soundtracks. Also, I can think of two episodes where content was changed between first run and repeat showings -- the "Captain Crocodile" episode had a line redubbed ("Kirshner" changed to "Schneider") and the "Too Many Girls/Davy And Fern" had the infamous "blurred cleavage" and a shot or two that was actually either refilmed or replaced with an alternate take, with some minor difference in dialogue. Now, whether there is room for all this alongside the various audio commentary tracks being carried over from the previous DVD releases (including all four Monkees and various songwriters, screenwriters, producers and/or directors) remains to be seen. Maybe that could account for the seemingly high number of discs. We know they unearthed another vintage NBC promo that wasn't on the DVD sets, and a really nice copy of the "Oh My My" promo film showed up recently -- I hope that makes it as an extra. (I wonder if it's too much to ask for the Screen Gems "S from Hell" toilet paper logo at the end of the shows?)

I think Home Theatre Forum just found its Monkees Blu-Ray Box Set vetting expert! Welcome aboard, and please hold nothing back!

 

[Oliver Ravencrest]

I don't necessarily think it would be sold out by the time you saved up for it.


First off, look at how long the limited to 3000 copies Twilight Time titles last.


Second, look at the Monkees Deluxe box sets from Rhino Handmade. Instant Replay and The Monkees Present are still available, and they were limited to, what, 3,000 copies? 4,000 copies?


So, unless something really weird happens, I'd expect these to last a while. Hell, even Batman '66 "limited edition" sets didn't sell out.

Good point. The price is still an issue, I'm still trying to save up for the Dark Shadows complete series, been trying for about 6 months but unexpected expenses keep popping up. Not sure if the Monkees are worth $200 on Blu, didn't even buy the cheaper DVDs. I would love to see the show re-mastered on Blu, hopefully it looks as great as Batman does. The LE Batman box was a splurge buy, never bought and box set that expensive before. I'm going to wait and see if the price drops or if a non-LE comes out.

 

[Mark Y]

I think Home Theatre Forum just found its Monkees Blu-Ray Box Set vetting expert! Welcome aboard, and please hold nothing back!

 

[Mark Y]

I think Home Theatre Forum just found its Monkees Blu-Ray Box Set vetting expert! Welcome aboard, and please hold nothing back!

Thanks for the kind words. Although I am much more a fan of the Monkees' music than the TV series. I am reasonably confident that as long as Andrew Sandoval is involved in this project, a serious effort will be made to include what serious Monkees fans want (see, or hear, his work on the Monkees' audio catalog). Fans have been asking for the alternate soundtracks for many years, and if they're ever going to come out anywhere, it would be here. Say 25 years ago or so, I never would have dreamed the Monkees' music would have been archived so well and so thoroughly. I guess the TV series deserves the same.

 

[davidmatychuk]

It looks like the main attraction of the Blu-Ray set will be the quality of the restoration, but the other little improvements, additions, and alterations (if any) will be the true indication of the value of this Monkees box. Do they mean to offer the definitive TV series package, or is this just one more kick at the can? Expert opinions will be the key, I think.

 

[Sam Favate]

I'd really like to get this on blu-ray, but two things are stopping me: 1) the price ($200 for 58 half-hours? Come on), and 2) I really like the packaging the show originally came in, with the mock turntables and the picture sleeves for each disc based on old 45s. If I had the blu-ray, I'd never watch the DVDs again, but also can't bear to part with those. But as the price is too high, I don't have to make that choice just yet.