Tony Bensley
Senior HTF Member
THE MONKEES - Seasons 1 And 2 DVD Sets:
Though there are a few HTF Threads that relate to THE MONKEES DVD Sets, it appears that they died without there having been very much discussion. The one Thread dating from 2003, the "Here we come...Monkees Season 1 DVD Box Set" that mysteriously was never archived (Meaning that new posts can still be made!), had stopped after THE MONKEES SEASON 1 DVD set's release date had been announced on March 18, 2003!
While I've made a few relevant posts on the aforementioned "Here we come...Monkees Season 1 DVD Box Set" Thread, it occurs to me that a new one might be in order for this underrated and heretofore, under documented (On HTF, at least!) Television Series.
A Few Fun Facts About THE MONKEES TV Series/DVD Sets:
- A total of 58 Episodes, originally broadcast on NBC from September 12, 1966 to March 25, 1968.
- In subsequent CBS Saturday Morning and later ABC Syndicated Broadcasts, some Episodes utilized Song Substitutions (IE. Episode 58, "Mijacageo" used "I Never Thought It Peculiar" in place of the original "Zor & Zam."). In at least some cases, these were meant to promote their latest Record releases. THE MONKEES Season Sets have the Original Songs. Some Consumers (Who presumably, only viewed the Series in Syndication!) actually complained that a number of the Songs weren't as originally presented!
- As alluded to above, ALL of the Original Songs are included on the DVD Season Sets. This is, in my opinion, an aspect to be appreciated, especially given the challenges of clearing copyrighted Music these days!
- To date, there have been two DVD releases of the 2 separate Season Sets. The first, in 2003, consisted of Casing shaped like a Record Player, with the discs being individually housed inside Cardboard Record Style Sleeves. The subsequent 2011 Reissued Season Sets are a more compact, Fold Out Style in which the discs snap into place in an overlapping fashion. The DVD's themselves are identical to the 2003 Release, in terms of content.
Having just given a handful of Season 1 Episodes a fresh viewing, I've made the following observations:
- The 2.0 Dolby Digital Audio is just fine. It should be remembered that this TV series was made almost 20 years before TV Stereo even started to come into play! As it is, I've found the sound to be clean, crisp and clear, and in my opinion, that is all we can really ask from a show of this vintage!
- The Visuals, on the other hand, while likely just about as good as can be reasonably expected of an early 2000's Pre HD era Digital Transfer, could benefit from a new 2 or 4K HD Digital Transfer for Blu-Ray! Perhaps an in time for 50th Anniversary Release is in order?
- I think it's really cool that these sets include Original Kellogg's/Yardley's Of London Commercial spots! For a guy who was a bit too young to remember the Original Broadcasts, this is a real treat!
- It's a small thing, but I would have loved it if the originally aired "Screen Gems" Logo (OK, I remember these solely from the 1970's Syndicated Broadcasts, but I'm sure these ARE original!) had been included to follow the end of each Episode!
A Few Suggestions For Future Series Releases:
- A "Play All" feature, or at least the ability to click just once (As opposed to the current two times!) to play each Episode would in my opinion, eliminate what is now a minor annoyance.
- English Subtitles, or at least Closed Captioning would be a useful feature, especially for the Songs!
- If feasible, to satisfy Viewers of the Syndicated Broadcasts who have fond memories of the Substituted Songs (Though frankly, I prefer to have the Originals!), perhaps some Episodes could include an alternate Audio track that features the Song Substitutions from the initial Saturday Morning and Weekday Syndicated Reruns? In my opinion, the Dolby Digital Surround Track could also be eliminated to simplify the Audio options.
- As THE MONKEES only ran 2 Seasons, how about offering up a Complete Blu-Ray Series Set, rather than having to buy them individually? A less expensive DVD Series Set could also be offered as an alternative for the budget conscious Consumer!
Further Discussion:
A Complete listing of Songs performed comes to mind. Sure, all of the Songs performed by THE MONKEES are well documented, but there are also Songs performed by (Or with.) Guest Stars that are not listed anywhere, to my knowledge. Thus, it is my desire to document a Complete Listing for ALL of the Songs that were performed on each Episode throughout THE MONKEES Original Series run! Any contributions by other HTF Members would be most welcome and appreciated!
CHEERS!
Anthony Bensley
Though there are a few HTF Threads that relate to THE MONKEES DVD Sets, it appears that they died without there having been very much discussion. The one Thread dating from 2003, the "Here we come...Monkees Season 1 DVD Box Set" that mysteriously was never archived (Meaning that new posts can still be made!), had stopped after THE MONKEES SEASON 1 DVD set's release date had been announced on March 18, 2003!
While I've made a few relevant posts on the aforementioned "Here we come...Monkees Season 1 DVD Box Set" Thread, it occurs to me that a new one might be in order for this underrated and heretofore, under documented (On HTF, at least!) Television Series.
A Few Fun Facts About THE MONKEES TV Series/DVD Sets:
- A total of 58 Episodes, originally broadcast on NBC from September 12, 1966 to March 25, 1968.
- In subsequent CBS Saturday Morning and later ABC Syndicated Broadcasts, some Episodes utilized Song Substitutions (IE. Episode 58, "Mijacageo" used "I Never Thought It Peculiar" in place of the original "Zor & Zam."). In at least some cases, these were meant to promote their latest Record releases. THE MONKEES Season Sets have the Original Songs. Some Consumers (Who presumably, only viewed the Series in Syndication!) actually complained that a number of the Songs weren't as originally presented!
- As alluded to above, ALL of the Original Songs are included on the DVD Season Sets. This is, in my opinion, an aspect to be appreciated, especially given the challenges of clearing copyrighted Music these days!
- To date, there have been two DVD releases of the 2 separate Season Sets. The first, in 2003, consisted of Casing shaped like a Record Player, with the discs being individually housed inside Cardboard Record Style Sleeves. The subsequent 2011 Reissued Season Sets are a more compact, Fold Out Style in which the discs snap into place in an overlapping fashion. The DVD's themselves are identical to the 2003 Release, in terms of content.
Having just given a handful of Season 1 Episodes a fresh viewing, I've made the following observations:
- The 2.0 Dolby Digital Audio is just fine. It should be remembered that this TV series was made almost 20 years before TV Stereo even started to come into play! As it is, I've found the sound to be clean, crisp and clear, and in my opinion, that is all we can really ask from a show of this vintage!
- The Visuals, on the other hand, while likely just about as good as can be reasonably expected of an early 2000's Pre HD era Digital Transfer, could benefit from a new 2 or 4K HD Digital Transfer for Blu-Ray! Perhaps an in time for 50th Anniversary Release is in order?
- I think it's really cool that these sets include Original Kellogg's/Yardley's Of London Commercial spots! For a guy who was a bit too young to remember the Original Broadcasts, this is a real treat!
- It's a small thing, but I would have loved it if the originally aired "Screen Gems" Logo (OK, I remember these solely from the 1970's Syndicated Broadcasts, but I'm sure these ARE original!) had been included to follow the end of each Episode!
A Few Suggestions For Future Series Releases:
- A "Play All" feature, or at least the ability to click just once (As opposed to the current two times!) to play each Episode would in my opinion, eliminate what is now a minor annoyance.
- English Subtitles, or at least Closed Captioning would be a useful feature, especially for the Songs!
- If feasible, to satisfy Viewers of the Syndicated Broadcasts who have fond memories of the Substituted Songs (Though frankly, I prefer to have the Originals!), perhaps some Episodes could include an alternate Audio track that features the Song Substitutions from the initial Saturday Morning and Weekday Syndicated Reruns? In my opinion, the Dolby Digital Surround Track could also be eliminated to simplify the Audio options.
- As THE MONKEES only ran 2 Seasons, how about offering up a Complete Blu-Ray Series Set, rather than having to buy them individually? A less expensive DVD Series Set could also be offered as an alternative for the budget conscious Consumer!
Further Discussion:
A Complete listing of Songs performed comes to mind. Sure, all of the Songs performed by THE MONKEES are well documented, but there are also Songs performed by (Or with.) Guest Stars that are not listed anywhere, to my knowledge. Thus, it is my desire to document a Complete Listing for ALL of the Songs that were performed on each Episode throughout THE MONKEES Original Series run! Any contributions by other HTF Members would be most welcome and appreciated!
CHEERS!
Anthony Bensley