Time/Life Press Release: Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In: The Complete Series (1 Viewer)

[MartinP.]

Gordiac, thanks for your opinions and observations on the series! I enjoyed reading them.

A few responses to some of them:

Dated? yes.

Anything labeled "dated" isn't a criticism in my book!

On the technical side - as one who counts on subtitles because English isn't his native language, I feel obligated to ask: was the person responsible to the subtitles hard of hearing himself? it seemed so at least half the time.

After watching an episode I would sometimes go back and watch the musical numbers and use the subtitle function to see what the lyrics were, sometimes one misses some of them when watching a song number. That's when I discovered the subtitles were sometimes inaccurate, especially when it had to do with someone's name or often an idiom or expression from the time period.

I don't know the process for subtitling anything, but I know sometimes it's left to a computer program to figure it out. I wonder if that's the case here. I don't condone inaccurate subtitling if it could be avoided, but I wouldn't envy that job when it came to Laugh-In, either.

If there were questions, couldn't someone (George Schlatter?) been used for a reference point to eliminate some of the egregious mistakes. I, and another person or two, have commented on this previously. It doesn't really affect me, personally, but for those like you that it does, that's another issue.

The Lisa Farringer sketches - obsolete would be the best word for those. For some reason IMDB credits her with 60 appearances, even though I doubt she's gone beyond 7-8 of those.

I wonder if she was a background dancer or party guest that we never noticed and that's what some of those 60 appearances account for?

Lily Tomlin's "rambling and getting to nowhere" character - while being decent to very good at anything else, this character simply shouldn't have been created.

I wonder if you didn't like this character for the reason you stated above...that you needed the subtitles for clarity. I'm sure it would be strange to read subtitles of this fast-talker character.

On the other hand, I always really liked this character right from the beginning. I tried to do it myself a lot and realized how hard it was. You really did have to make it into a point and not just a non-sensical rambling. Having said that, I have a couple friends who didn't like that character, either.

Perhaps it's just me, yet I've also loved the outside Gorilla sketches.

It's certainly not me! Heh!
___

Again, thanks for your thoughts and for watching the entire series!

 

[Gordiac]

I'm glad you've enjoyed the reading. I didn't count on getting any replies, actually, and I'm glad to read the ones replying to me.

Regarding subtitles - I could understand a mistake here or there when it comes to lyrics, but when you can bet there'd be several of those in each show...

I doubt, for instance, if the news' subtitles were transcribed properly more than 5 or 6 times.

As for the rambling character - I don't think it has anything to do with subtitles this time around. While I agree it takes talent to ramble this way on purpose and could imagine how difficult it must be, I think it's got a short-life span to begin with and seems like a time-filler to begin with.[/QUOTE]

 

[Regulus]

The big question now is when I will get this series. I am saving like a miser. If I have enough cash I'll buy it on April, If I don/t have enough I will purchase it on August 19.

 

[BobO'Link]

The big question now is when I will get this series. I am saving like a miser. If I have enough cash I'll buy it on April, If I don/t have enough I will purchase it on August 19.

I've not checked to see if there are any exclusives in the TL release so take this with that in mind...

I've been purchasing the individual seasons as they've been released. So far I've spent ~$45 for seasons 1-3 (S1 for ~$8, S2 - ~$17, and S3 - ~$20). Right now they're ~$60 from Amazon. I have S4 on pre-order at $39.95 but expect it to drop to at least $19.95 by the release date. By the time it's all out I expect to have spent ~$110 for the whole series, much less than the current TL selling price.

 

[Regulus]

I've not checked to see if there are any exclusives in the TL release so take this with that in mind...

I've been purchasing the individual seasons as they've been released. So far I've spent ~$45 for seasons 1-3 (S1 for ~$8, S2 - ~$17, and S3 - ~$20). Right now they're ~$60 from Amazon. I have S4 on pre-order at $39.95 but expect it to drop to at least $19.95 by the release date. By the time it's all out I expect to have spent ~$110 for the whole series, much less than the current TL selling price.

Thanks for the tip , I will purchase this series in either August 19 or January 6. It would be quite embarrassing to fork over almost $250.00 then discover you could have had it for half price if you waited. I'll use the money I save to purchase a couple of TV shows and some serials, both of which will be gleaning off the bargain bins.

 

[Ron Lee Green]

I've not checked to see if there are any exclusives in the TL release so take this with that in mind...

I've been purchasing the individual seasons as they've been released. So far I've spent ~$45 for seasons 1-3 (S1 for ~$8, S2 - ~$17, and S3 - ~$20). Right now they're ~$60 from Amazon. I have S4 on pre-order at $39.95 but expect it to drop to at least $19.95 by the release date. By the time it's all out I expect to have spent ~$110 for the whole series, much less than the current TL selling price.

That is a smart way of buying it. I paid nearly $200.00 for the Time Life Six Million Dollar Man Complete Series set. A few months later, Target was selling the individual seasons for $15. Minus the special features, but still.

 

[Tony Bensley]

I've not checked to see if there are any exclusives in the TL release so take this with that in mind...

I've been purchasing the individual seasons as they've been released. So far I've spent ~$45 for seasons 1-3 (S1 for ~$8, S2 - ~$17, and S3 - ~$20). Right now they're ~$60 from Amazon. I have S4 on pre-order at $39.95 but expect it to drop to at least $19.95 by the release date. By the time it's all out I expect to have spent ~$110 for the whole series, much less than the current TL selling price.

I'm not sure how it'll translate for Canadian orders, but buying the seasons individually is pretty much the only viable way for me to get this series, which I may start doing after we move. The first two seasons might make for a nice Christmas gift!

CHEERS!

 

[BobO'Link]

Thanks for the tip , I will purchase this series in either August 19 or January 6. It would be quite embarrassing to fork over almost $250.00 then discover you could have had it for half price if you waited. I'll use the money I save to purchase a couple of TV shows and some serials, both of which will be gleaning off the bargain bins.

That is a smart way of buying it. I paid nearly $200.00 for the Time Life Six Million Dollar Man Complete Series set. A few months later, Target was selling the individual seasons for $15. Minus the special features, but still.

I learned my lesson with Get Smart. TL had it for ~$250 (been a long time so I might be a bit off) and it was supposed to be receiving a "wide release" at some point. After 12-14 months I grew tired of waiting so when they had a sale and a coupon that would work with the sale I bit. I paid ~$150 for the series, which I felt was a bit high but much better than the normal ~$250 asking price. Three months(!) later that wide release came out at ~$20/season (less if you shopped around a bit) and within 6 months you could pick it up for $10/season. I've never watched the bonus material discs and very much dislike the convoluted box it came in (don't get me wrong, it's very clever and cool but absolutely impractical). In addition, the individual sets came in normal size multi-disc keep cases which would be an inch or two smaller on the shelf.

I also purchased S1 of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. direct from TL (on sale at the same time as Get Smart using another coupon) thinking I'd be able to purchase the rest individually along the line. I never was able to make that happen which worked out great as I purchased the WB version, in the same briefcase box, when it came out for just a few $$ more than that individual S1 set. Even with the double-dip on that season it was still less than half the price TL was asking.

And I've purchased the multi-disc individual releases from the various Carol Burnett box sets for less than half their TL asking price.

Get Smart was my wake-up call... I don't plan to make that mistake again.

**EDIT**
I looked up the exclusive items just because. It consists of a booklet with photos, etc. (looks more like a pamphlet sized affair), a bonus disc which has some bloopers, a reunion show, comments/interviews with some of the actors and principal participants, and a largesh looking box that won't fit on a shelf well. I'd pay $5-$6 for the bonus disc (and would likely watch it only once), but have no interest in the rest. I'd look at the booklet once and put the box in storage.

 

[MartinP.]

An oversight on my part made an extra viewing treat for me last night. I thought I had watched all of the extras on the set, but I discovered last night I had failed to view the "Still Laugh-In" segment on the 3rd Season volume. This was an event celebrating George Schlatter and the donation of his memorabilia and the like to his alma mater, Pepperdine University. It was held at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. It's a 50 minute edited segment from that evening that includes tributes from those who've worked with him, mostly from Laugh-In, and film clips from the show, some of which were segments edited together, like many "What's the News..." intros and comedy inserts into the "Cuckoo Laugh-In World" song number. As a fan I would like to have seen the entire evening, which some guests commented on being what seemed like several hours long, and the editing is a bit rough on this extra, but I found it quite entertaining, especially the segments with Lily Tomlin and Shirley MacLaine.

I was just going to ask if anyone knew when this event was held, because it doesn't say on the content, but I did a little searching and found out that it was held on September 25, 2013. Right around my birthday. I'm a little sorry I looked it up because if I had known about this I could've gone! It was open to the public and one could get tickets. Dagnabbit!

From the Goldstar ticket website they have this blurb:

Still Laugh-In: A Toast to George Schlatter
Former cast members Lily Tomlin, Arte Johnson and JoAnne Worley are set to be on hand, along with Shirley MacLaine, Fred Willard, Kirk Douglas, Tim Conway and others to sock it to Emmy-winning TV producer George Schlatter, creator of the ground-breaking sketch show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. Larry King hosts this evening of live comedy and classic clips, with a video tribute from Goldie Hawn, who first gained fame as a ditzy go-go dancer on the show. The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate points directly at Schlatter for this Pepperdine University event, which is also scheduled to feature Bruce Vilanch, Jerry Weintraub, David Foster, Joan Collins, Ruta Lee and Sidney Poitier.

You can read what a few commenters had to say about the evening at this website:
https://www.goldstar.com/events/beverly-hills-ca/still-laugh-in-a-toast-to-george-schlatter

On the TIme Life extra of this event, George Schlatter hints at a biography that he's writing, also titled "Still Laugh-In". On his website it is still listed as "In Progress."

Youtube has a 3 minute segment showing all of the people who appeared in the tribute. (Music, but no talking.)


The Pepperdine website links a 3:20 segment on Vimeo: "highlighting Pepperdine University's pre-show gala." (w/music and some interviews)
It's not embedding this into the post, so I put a space after the h - (h ttps). To go to it remove the space in your browser.
h ttps://vimeo.com/77947145

 

[nobajoba]

I watched this Special Feature on the TL dvd set. It was such a PERFECT extra to include. I loved seeing Shirley MacLaine introduce Lily Tomlin. I'd always wondered if the two ever met or had done any kind of work together. From her introduction, it seems Shirley does indeed hold great respect for Ms Tomlin. That makes me happy. I loved watching the segments included and would have LOVED to have attended that night in person.

 

[MartinP.]

^^^

My thoughts exactly! I would have gone with you!

Lily Tomlin and Shirley MacLaine have always been two of my favorites. Since Shirley had worked with George Schlatter it made me wonder why she never appeared or did any cameos on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In? I had the opportunity to see An Evening with Shirley MacLaine at the Segerstrom Center in 2014, which was wonderful, as well as one of her stage shows long ago (1990's?) at the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood.

It seems you would know this, has Lily Tomlin done any stage performances recently? Do you know if she's ever appeared in a play that wasn't of her (or Jane Wagner's) own devising? Thanks.

 

[nobajoba]

I never realized that Shirley had worked with George Schlatter. I have never had the opportunity to see Shirley MacLaine live. I can only imagine what an amazing night of entertainment that would be. Alas I probably will never get that opportunity now. But SM has always been on the top of my list as well. SO multi-talented-she can sing, dance, act, be funny, write. THE BEST.

To the best of my Lily fandom, she has not appeared in any plays on stage of traditional theater. Perhaps when she was an unknown starting out in NY. But since becoming famous in all of her diverse body of work I've never seen that she has. Her and Jane Wagner write, direct and produce their own one-woman Broadway shows for LT. Then she goes on to win every award ever given for the stage

 

[MartinP.]

I was flipping by the DECADES channel last night and they were airing a program of the BEST CELEBRITY COMMERCIALS. I stopped and watched a few minutes and there was Lily Tomlin doing a Kellogg's Special K commercial. I wonder how many commercials she did? Is there an ICDB site? Heh!

In this commercial she and her husband are walking toward the camera and the "camera" POV is a woman Lily knows. She makes some remark about how she looks and the woman talks about her Special K diet or something. Then Lily walks away but has to pry her husband to come as he keeps looking at the woman. Or something like that; I wasn't really paying attention, I was just looking at Lily Tomlin and wished I'd recorded this. While I watched I did recognize most of the "celebrity" actors in the commercials, but there were some I didn't and wished I knew who they were. Others were hard to see as the celebrity factor wasn't why they were doing the commercial originally.

 

[nobajoba]

Oh yes I've seen that Kellogg's commercial. Even from that short bit when she was unknown you could tell she was great. Lily actually did a few commercials in New York before she moved out to Cali. and started on Laugh In. In NY she did theater, commercials and appeared on the Merv Griffin Show and the Gary Moore Show. George Schlatter had seen her on her appearances she had made on the Merv Griffin show and he fell in love with her.

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Watching season 3 and the frame rate IS seriously messed up. It looks like EVERY episode is like this. What were they thinking and how in the world did this get past quality control? I was going to buy the whole series but not if all of it looks like this.

 

[MartinP.]

^^^

...forest for the trees...I say...

As I wrote previously at one time: "Since I've watched [...] all of the Time-Life series release and have been perfectly happy with it, I don't really have any interest in looking for something to be annoyed about it on hindsight when it comes right down to it." I watched the entire series. I think it looks great. I'll watch it again.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

^^^

...forest for the trees...I say...

As I wrote previously at one time: "Since I've watched [...] all of the Time-Life series release and have been perfectly happy with it, I don't really have any interest in looking for something to be annoyed about it on hindsight when it comes right down to it." I watched the entire series. I think it looks great. I'll watch it again.

Sorry, but I'm with Jesse on this. Stuff that's supposed to look like video that doesn't is just as annoying as trying to watch a film on a HDTV that has the "soap-opera-effect" settings turned on.

You seem to think we're nitpicking, but let me ask you this...if they had accidentally released this in black-and-white, would it still be something minor? What if 20 or so consecutive episodes of Dark Shadows got released using scratchy old (film) kinescopes, when the original studio videotapes existed for all those episodes?

Plenty of people complained about the similarly botched Password DVD release from BCI years ago. Why should this release get a pass?

The fact that this was an expensive set makes this worse. If this had been Mill Creek I might have been able to understand.

It's nice for you that this doesn't bother you, but you shouldn't dismiss this as a valid concern for others. That would be like me going into the Fugitive thread and telling people that they were just "looking for things to nitpick about" when complaining about the music replacements.

 

[Tony Bensley]

Could it be that any video related anomalies are more obvious on some Televisions than others? I ask this with the mindset that any not original to broadcast jerky movements would be most bothersome to me, whereas, I could probably live with the reported film like appearance by itself.

CHEERS!

 

[Jesse Skeen]

Frame rates are like night and day to me- I can even spot proper or messed-up video frame rates on still shots with little to nothing going on! My biggest complaint about online video since it started was that it could never do a proper TV-like frame rate, but that's finally being fixed at least on a few platforms. I've been upconverting my old video clips to HD on YouTube and those now play at the intended frame rate. At the risk of going off-topic, I'll demonstrate the same commercial at the 'wrong' frame rate that was typical of online video before, followed by the correct frame rate (not all computers may be able to play the full frame rate clip correctly.)

WRONG:


RIGHT:


There's simply NO excuse for how these discs turned out, especially having the ENTIRE set like that. I could tell from the first minute that it wasn't right. Makes me wonder how hard it really is to get a job doing this.

 

[MartinP.]

(not all computers may be able to play the full frame rate clip correctly.)

So you wouldn't notice any difference?