"The Wonder Years" on DVD (1 Viewer)

[AnthonyC]

How about Fox just releases everything intact without clearing anything and uses the profits for the lawsuits? They might still pull in a profit.

 

[TonyD]

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

i dont think so.

 

[JM Productions]

Here's a Wonder Years-related current day tidbit:

Cute Danica McKellar, who once played Kevin's girlfriend Winnie is also a mathematician, and she's promoting her new book about math at a Borders bookstore here in San Diego on Tuesday night.

 

[murphyfan98]

I love this show to death, but if music is unclearable, what else are we gonna do about it? This really is a no-win situation. But, if your a sensible person who knows how good a show this is, even without the music, you'd buy it on DVD anyway. I hate music replacements as much as the next guy, but there's really nothing we can do about it.

 

[TravisR]

But, if your a sensible person who knows how good a show this is, even without the music, you'd buy it on DVD anyway.

The thing is that the show wouldn't be as good if alot of music was removed. Music was like a character on the show and used to great effect and IF they had to replace certain songs (and there's lots that could fall into the 'too expensive' or 'unclearble' categories), it would mangle the show and the intent of everyone involved with it.

 

[cafink]

How about Fox just releases everything intact without clearing anything and uses the profits for the lawsuits? They might still pull in a profit.

Heh, this is definitely my favorite suggestion so far.

 

[RoryR]

I think Fox should perhaps focus on the important music that couldn't possibly be changed, ones so memorable or integral to the plot, and ignore songs which might be less important if needed.

 

[MatthewA]

How about Fox just releases everything intact without clearing anything and uses the profits for the lawsuits? They might still pull in a profit.

I know you're joking about this, but such a lawsuit could at least attract the media attention that this issue deserves, and possibly spark action to be done about it.

 

[Radioman970]

In my perfect world, the dialogue is isolated without any backing music and when you buy the DVD set you get a script that indicates where a certain song goes. You could buy the song yourself on iTunes or whatever and edit the episode using your favorite app, author it on DVD and you're good to go.
BUt I like the lawsuit suggestion better myself. Come on!! We'll all band together and help pay the lawsuits!! Plus have our beloved show complete!
o/ Weeeelll weee aaaaalll shiiiine ooooon!! In the moooon the staaars and the suuuuun.... Welll we aaaall shiiiiine oooooon...... o/
*waits to be sued by Lennon's people*

 

[Gary OS]

Music was like a character on the show and used to great effect...

That's a perfect analogy, Travis. Taking the music (even just a little of it) out of this particular show would be like editing out one of the regulars in some other well known series. It just can't be done without severely altering the show.
Gary "better fire up the recorders while it's running on ION right now" O.

 

[Mary_P]

Gary "better fire up the recorders while it's running on ION right now" O.

Yep, that's what I'm doing, and should have been doing all summer. The airings are far from perfect, but it's probably the best we're going to get for a long while, and I'd rather have something than nothing.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Unfortunately music replacement is something we have to deal with these days, and while I'd certainly prefer to have all the music intact, I'm not so sure the show would suffer as badly as some believe. Universal released Northern Exposure with a lot of replaced music, and although there are times when it is noticeable, the strength of the show carries it anyway. Of course this also depends on how well the job is done, and in particular keeping pivotal tracks intact, and it pays to be somewhat forgetful when comparing the original vs changed version.

 

[Anthony Hom]

Seeing it again recently, much of the music used (lyrically and musically) to enhance the scene.
The people that put DVDs together are not usually fans of the shows they release. They are people that sit in offices and count beans for the cost and profit of a show. They put almost no emotion in deciding a show unless the fan request is so enormous. I'd rather see it in syndicated form with the music intact than in DVD with all the music replaced.

 

[Gary OS]

Unfortunately music replacement is something we have to deal with these days, and while I'd certainly prefer to have all the music intact, I'm not so sure the show would suffer as badly as some believe.

I don't think anyone is making the argument that music replacement always damages every show. Certainly there are times that it's at least "acceptable". But not in the case of this show. Like Travis said, the music in this particular series is literally like an additional character. Can you imagine watching, let's say, "LEAVE IT TO BEAVER" without Eddie Haskel? Every time a scene with him came up it was skipped over or replaced with some other kid? No way! That's how it would be if any of the music in this show was replaced because the music was carefully inserted at crucial moments to begin with.
Gary "I would flatly reject any attempt to release this particular series with even partial music replacements - it's just not acceptable in this case" O.

 

[Marty M]

The thing is that the show wouldn't be as good if alot of music was removed. Music was like a character on the show and used to great effect and IF they had to replace certain songs (and there's lots that could fall into the 'too expensive' or 'unclearble' categories), it would mangle the show and the intent of everyone involved with it.

I mentioned something similar to this a couple of pages ago. Certain songs were chosen to serve a purpose and to move the storyline. It would be impossible to even watch this show with replaced music.
On that note, (no pun intended), I remember watching a rerun of Freaks & Geeks on ABC Family Channel. There was replacement music in a scene, but the closed captioning was showing the original Who song that was used. A very interesting situation. Thankfully, those producers were able to get all the music, but of course it was for a much smaller amount of episodes.

 

[Hank Dearborn]

Well, it's just a fact of life in the DVD age that music replacement will happen. I'm sorry that many people here apparently only just started collecting in this decade when DVD came about. It's kind of like showing up to buy tickets to a game 3 months after they went on sale. You won't get a to choose where you sit, if you can get in at all. I learned long ago that any show I was interested in keeping (or might be interested in keeping) would be recorded. Better to have it and get rid of it than to not record it and be sorry afterwards. I didn't get the Wonder Years pilot on it's first airing but after watching it and seeing how great the show was I recorded every episode after that, picking up the pilot when it reran. Would I like to see an unedited release, sure. But if not I know I have the show complete and uncut, as I have dozens of other series from the 80s and 90s. DVD quality, maybe not but also not butchered either. Just like my Married with Children episodes have the right theme song. Just like I don't have to worry about getting the remaining 9 seasons of Murphy Brown that Warner will never release.

 

[Bryan^H]

Ok, so the entire series is available through Netflix(streaming). The music has been altered The original intro song is no longer the Joe Cocker version. And there are other scenes I noticed that seem(although I'm not certain) to be filler instrumental music instead of actual songs.
So what does this mean for a possible dvd release?

 

[Gary OS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan^H /t/258414/the-wonder-years-on-dvd/60#post_3857673
Ok, so the entire series is available through Netflix(streaming). The music has been altered The original intro song is no longer the Joe Cocker version. And there are other scenes I noticed that seem(although I'm not certain) to be filler instrumental music instead of actual songs.
So what does this mean for a possible dvd release?

I checked out about a dozen or so episodes that I'd consider really important ones, and while there are some music replacements that bug me, the really important ones seem to be intact. All the ending scenes that have music use the original songs, and most of the others do to. For instance, in the final ep of Season One, I only found four replacements out of nine songs total, but two of those four were very short as they were in a compilation piece as Kevin and Paul were getting dance lessons from the family. So those were not important even though I like "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Louie, Louie." I did miss "There's a Kind of Hush" when Paul starts dancing with Carla at the dance, but after that all the other original songs up through the end are used so it's not too bad. The only really egregious substitution for me came early in the episode when Kevin was writing notes with Lisa in class. Not having Joe Cocker's "The Letter" playing really took me out of the scene, even though I give them credit for trying to find a similar sounding song as a replacement. But overall I've found that most of what I'd consider the critical songs are there.

I have no idea on what this would mean for an actual dvd release. I'm sure the contracts are different for streaming versus physical media, so I doubt we could look at the Netflix model as anything definitive for a potential dvd release down the road. Personally I'm still of the opinion that I'll believe it when I see it, and not a moment before.


Gary "while this is okay for streaming, I'd still be hard-nosed about wanting all the original music for a dvd release" O.

 

[vnisanian2001]

     Quote:
I checked out about a dozen or so episodes that I'd consider really important ones, and while there are some music replacements that bug me, the really important ones seem to be intact.  All the ending scenes that have music use the original songs, and most of the others do to.  For instance, in the final ep of Season One, I only found four replacements out of nine songs total, but two of those four were very short as they were in a compilation piece as Kevin and Paul were getting dance lessons from the family.  So those were not important even though I like "The Girl from Ipanema" and "Louie, Louie."  I did miss "There's a Kind of Hush" when Paul starts dancing with Carla at the dance, but after that all the other original songs up through the end are used so it's not too bad.  The only really egregious substitution for me came early in the episode when Kevin was writing notes with Lisa in class.  Not having Joe Cocker's "The Letter" playing really took me out of the scene, even though I give them credit for trying to find a similar sounding song as a replacement.  But overall I've found that most of what I'd consider the critical songs are there. 
 
I have no idea on what this would mean for an actual dvd release.  I'm sure the contracts are different for streaming versus physical media, so I doubt we could look at the Netflix model as anything definitive for a potential dvd release down the road.  Personally I'm still of the opinion that I'll believe it when I see it, and not a moment before. 
 
 
Gary "while this is okay for streaming, I'd still be hard-nosed about wanting all the original music for a dvd release" O.

If I were you, I would just look for original ABC broadcast copies. It's no use waiting for a complete series set with music edits galore. It is, after all, Fox, and right now, I just can't decide between which of these two studios is the worst in securing music rights: Fox or CBS.

 

[Gary OS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vnisanian2001 /t/258414/the-wonder-years-on-dvd/60#post_3857729
If I were you, I would just look for original ABC broadcast copies. It's no use waiting for a complete series set with music edits galore. It is, after all, Fox, and right now, I just can't decide between which of these two studios is the worst in securing music rights: Fox or CBS?

Trust me, I'm not all that interested or concerned. I've got what I want from off the air recordings, but I'd still rather have uncut, pristine copies from an official release. But the music in each episode is far too important for me to accept substitutes in most cases. I've made my peace with this show a long time ago.


Gary "I don't believe there's a more complicated, music filled show (and that includes WKRP) than this series - I don't think it will ever see an unedited commercial dvd release" O.