"The Wonder Years" on DVD (1 Viewer)

[Mary_P]

Don't waste your money on the LaserLight releases, especially at the inflated OOP prices. They are legit, but the video on it is atrocious, looks like a really bad VHS.

I dug out the "Best of" disc and gave bits and pieces (plus the whole last episode) a listen this afternoon -- I'd say there's been a lot of music replacement. As far as I can tell, the Snuffy Walden score seems to be intact, but there was no other licensed music in it, so I'd guess that's all been wiped. There were definitely a few scenes that seemed like they *needed* music, that just seem like the scene is really missing something with nothing at all playing on the soundtrack and that the scene was probably designed to have music under it. The theme song sounded like it was "done in the style of" Joe Cocker, and not the actual Cocker recording.

The show is running on ION right now, and while the episodes are probably trimmed a little to allow more commercial time, I've heard quite a bit of licensed music in the episodes I've caught. There may have been some substitutions, but it doesn't seem as severe as with this LaserLight disc.

Mary

 

[TonyD]

AB doesnt exist anymore.
hopefully Starz home video will take care of it though.

 

[Sam E. Torres]

i just wish that shout! would get the rights to this thing and release it ala "freaks and geeks"--i think we'd all be willing to fork over a little more in order to get all the rights to the music...i can't believe i am saying that as a college student in desperate need for a job at the moment...haha. THAT is how much i love "the wonder years."

 

[Radioman970]

Sam, there's a big group of fans who are right with you. I was a student in the late 80s and early 90s and Wonder Years is the single best show that helped me cope through tough times in college. It's something special.

 

[David Levine]

i just wish that shout! would get the rights to this thing and release it ala "freaks and geeks"--i think we'd all be willing to fork over a little more in order to get all the rights to the music...i can't believe i am saying that as a college student in desperate need for a job at the moment...haha. THAT is how much i love "the wonder years."

Honestly, I think The Wonder Years is going to be considerably more expensive to clear than Freaks. Especially when you figure that they'd have to clear each season knowing that each one is going to sell considerably less than the previous one.
I'm also not sure the current landscape would allow for a smaller company to spend as much as they did for Freaks.

 

[Gary OS]

Honestly, I think The Wonder Years is going to be considerably more expensive to clear than Freaks. Especially when you figure that they'd have to clear each season knowing that each one is going to sell considerably less than the previous one.
I'm also not sure the current landscape would allow for a smaller company to spend as much as they did for Freaks.

Mr. Levine is definitely correct on this one. The Wonder Years is almost assuredly the "big daddy" of music clearance. No way is a smaller company going to be able to deal with all the songs in that show. Heck, I don't think Fox can deal with it. Almost every single episode would feature at least a couple of classic songs, and some episodes would feature as many as a half dozen classics. I think we should all just lay this show to rest as far as a dvd release goes. There's basically no way it's every going to be released intact.
Gary "and releasing it with any music replacements ISN'T an option - the songs are essential to the scenes" O.

 

[Anthony Hom]

For sure, here is one example: When Kevin joins a garage band (the Electric Shoes), the soundtrack includes: Beatles - I want to hold your hand, The Who - My Generation, Byrds - Rock and Roll Star, snippet of Jimi Hendrix - Foxy Lady. You could also include Mitch Miller - Paddlin' Madeline home.

 

[Radioman970]

This has probably already been asked, but has anyone done a close approximation what it would cost per season if all the music rights were cleared? $70? $170? $270? I'd be real interested.

 

[TravisR]

This has probably already been asked, but has anyone done a close approximation what it would cost per season if all the music rights were cleared?

With the amount of songs and rights holders that Fox would be dealing with, no one would know. I'm sure people could guess but it wouldn't be much more than that.

 

[varybarry]

That's a good point. There are so many musicians that would need to be paid it would be impossible to estimate.

 

[Radioman970]

Just bad news across the board.
Well, times change quickly so you never can tell. Things like this tend to get worked out somehow. It might be our grandchildren enjoying this great show complete...but....

 

[murphyfan98]

Just found this thread, and I've been reading through. I've known for years that music has been holding this show up. IT really seems, though, like FOX isn't working too hard on clearning up music. They could have at least cleared the music for the first 2 seasons, released those in one set, then use the money from that set for the music for rest of the seasons.

You guys have to remember to that FOX originally had no intention of releasing this show. Previosuly Warner Bros. owned it, then sold it to FOX, who wanted to release it.

 

[David Levine]

They could have at least cleared the music for the first 2 seasons, released those in one set, then use the money from that set for the music for rest of the seasons.

That's a good idea in theory, but there are 2 problems.
1. It's very debatable if The Wonder Years would sell enough to recoup the music clearance (let alone pay for subsequent seasons).
2. It's also very likely that some of the songs are "unclearable". Meaning that their rights are not available at any price. There are some bands/artists (mostly 60s and 70s) that will not allow their songs to be used in consumer products that are not 100% their own.

 

[murphyfan98]

That's a good idea in theory, but there are 2 problems.
1. It's very debatable if The Wonder Years would sell enough to recoup the music clearance (let alone pay for subsequent seasons).
2. It's also very likely that some of the songs are "unclearable". Meaning that their rights are not available at any price. There are some bands/artists (mostly 60s and 70s) that will not allow their songs to be used in consumer products that are not 100% their own.

It's pretty reassuring that the first 3 or so seasons will sell phenomenally well. The show is the most requested show at TV Shows on DVD, and FOX knows people want to buy this show on DVD.
If the songs are unclearable, replace them. What else are you going to do about it? If a song is clearable, then clear it. They can do it. We want them to do it.

 

[Gary OS]

If the songs are unclearable, replace them. What else are you going to do about it? If a song is clearable, then clear it. They can do it. We want them to do it.

Well, I can't speak for every WY fan but I can tell you that I'm pretty sure that would be unacceptable to most. I know there's no way I'd put up with music replacements on this show. I'm not aware of any show that's ever been created where the music was more important to the show. You just can't replace music with this series. People aren't going to buy it if you do that.
This one is just a no-win, not gonna happen in a million years situation. As Mr. Levine has already pointed out, there's surely going to be numerous music from this show that is literally unclearable. So we can all just flat out give up on this show ever being released intact. It's not going to happen.
Gary "sorry, but I can't summon any Pollyanna vibes when it comes to this show being released uncut and unchanged" O.

 

[TravisR]

Well, I can't speak for every WY fan but I can tell you that I'm pretty sure that would be unacceptable to most. I know there's no way I'd put up with music replacements on this show. I'm not aware of any show that's ever been created where the music was more important to the show. You just can't replace music with this series. People aren't going to buy it if you do that.

Yeah, I'm not a guy that goes crazy when there is music replacement in a TV DVD set but I doubt that I would end up buying whatever Fox could manage to release. I would imagine that there could be multiple songs per episode that would be replaced in The Wonder Years due to all the issues surrounding it.
If it was a pop song on a radio that was replaced, I wouldn't mind much but it would be songs that were deliberately put into the show to enhance the scene and changing them would really destroy the scene and the mood that was created by the song.

 

[Hank Dearborn]

Thankfully I, along with at least 2-3 other people I know, loved this show from the beginning and recorded every episode in beautiful quality at the time. So getting this released in butchered form, which is the only way it will happen, is a non-issue for me. For people who just starting collecting in the last few years it's a problem but for those folks who've been at it for a long time it's not.

 

[Radioman970]

I've mentioned this before...and it could come to pass. You never know. My idea was this: release the show without the unclearable music and using current technology, fans can buy the songs in question and reinsert them themselves.

 

[TonyD]

and how would you insert the songs?

 

[RoryR]

Put a CD player in the background When the Fox-y music comes on, start playing your CD colletion