Universal Studios & Warner Brothers Reissued DVD Sets (2 Viewers)

[jcroy]

IIRC, I think you also said that Shout! would probably have their own redos of the first two seasons' worth of Hart to Hart (1979-81; Sony had originally done those) in their upcoming May all-in-one of that 1979-84 ABC series.

In the case of Hart to Hart seasons 1 and 2, most likely Shout will take the lazy way out and just repress the old discs again without any reauthoring changes, other than the silkscreened label side of disc mentioning "Shout Factory".

Shout did this in the Barney Miller complete series set, where the earlier Sony released seasons appear to be straight duplicates of the old Sony versions from the mid->late 2000s.

 

[jcroy]

One case where Shout indeed did reauthor the discs (of a season set that was previously released by somebody else), is seasons 1 and 2 of Hill Street Blues.

In the case of seasons 1 and 2 of Hill Street Blues, they were originally released as double-sided DVD14 style flipper discs. Typically one side had four episodes (the dual-layer face), while the other side had two episodes (the single-layer face).

Most likely Shout felt it was less expensive to reauthor the discs with four episodes per single-side disc, instead of taking the lazy way out and just replicating the flipper disc sides into single-sided discs.

 

[bmasters9]

Shout did this in the Barney Miller complete series set, where the earlier Sony released seasons appear to be straight duplicates of the old Sony versions from the mid->late 2000s.

Right down to the menus, it seems (it wasn't until Shout! did the final five seasons [1977-82] in that all-in-one that there were original Shout! menus).

 

[jcroy]

If Shout were to release a complete series set for NYPD Blue, most likely they would also reauthor the season 3 and 4 sets too.

Fox originally released seasons 3 and 4 as sets of double-sided DVD14 flipper discs, with four episodes on one side and two episodes on the other side.

 

[LeoA]

I'm still confused about Emergency! and the October 2016 four disc season one release that's $13.99 on Amazon compared to $34.98 for the upcoming May 9th release.

What's different here? Why would anyone buy the May release for well over twice as much, if they're both four disc single sided releases instead of the original's two flippers? And if this already was available as single sided discs outside of the complete series release from a while back, how'd it fly under the radar?

Never saw a post about this last October.

 

[jcroy]

I'm still confused about Emergency! and the October 2016 four disc season one release that's $13.99 on Amazon compared to $34.98 for the upcoming May 9th release.

What's different here? Why would anyone buy the May release for well over twice as much, if they're both four disc single sided releases instead of the original's two flippers? And if this already was available as single sided discs outside of the complete series release from a while back, how'd it fly under the radar?

Never saw a post about this last October.

The amazon listing for the Oct 2016 version, asserts it is originally from region 4.

IIRC, region 4 is Australia, New Zealand, and South America?

 

[LeoA]

Sort of odd if true, given that it appears to be sold directly by Amazon.com.

Usually it's 3rd party sellers you have to be wary about buying out of region releases from.

 

[jcroy]

(A flipper set which was quietly re-released under the radar).

Recently I saw an older second handed copy of Oz season 4 at a thrift shop, and noticed it was three double-sided flipper discs in the old bulky digipack style packaging. I didn't buy it largely because the discs were not in very good condition, in spite of only being $3.

Just noticed this Oz season 4 set was re-released as six single sided discs over a year ago.

https://www.amazon.com/Oz-Complete-Fourth-Kirk-Acevedo/dp/B018V54MBI/

 

[mattfire64]

Another set that was quietly re-released on single sided discs about a year ago was the complete series set of "American Gothic" (The mid-90s series).

https://www.amazon.com/American-Gothic-Complete-Gary-Cole/dp/B01CE8QRW0/

 

[jcroy]

Recently I was thinking about picking up one of the original Roots miniseries dvd sets. I watched the Roots remake awhile ago and really liked it. I wanted to see the original, which I don't really remember seeing back in the day. (I was probably still in my cartoon phase in those days).

Either taking my chances on the complete collection 10-disc flipper dvd set, or the first Roots miniseries set re-released as 7 single-sided discs. (Judging by the length of the episodes, I was guessing the flippers were most likely DVD10 type flippers where each face was a single-layer. Not as problematic as DVD18 and DVD14 type flippers, but still annoying). Some of the local Wallyworld and Bestbuy outlets had them in stock recently.

Though fortunately earlier today at lunch, I dropped by Costco to order some food, and ended up checking out the dvd/bluray section where they just happened to have the original Roots bluray set for around $20. (It was just a few dollars more than the single-sided 7-discs re-release version).

When I got home, I put the bluray on immediately where there were no playback problems (so far). It is definitely better than wasting time and dealing with the headaches with the dvd / flipper versions. Decent picture quality is a bonus on the bluray.


(I noticed one of the lead roles had a familiar sounding voice. I realized it was the actor who played Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation).

 

[bmasters9]

(I noticed one of the lead roles had a familiar sounding voice. I realized it was the actor who played Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation).

And was on Reading Rainbow on PBS for many years as well-- the great LeVar Burton.

 

[jcroy]

Noticed another Warner set that was released as double-sided flipper discs back in 2009: The Powerpuff Girls complete series. (The original late-1990s -> early-mid 2000s era show).

This show use to be on the tv all the time, when I use to babysit my nieces back in the day. It was actually a decent cartoon show.

Thought about picking this set up, until I noticed it appeared to be out-of-print and there were numerous complaints about it being a double-sided flipper discs.


If this set is indeed out of print, then perhaps Warner might re-release it as 12 single-sided discs. Even if only to cash in on the recently rebooted Powerpuff Girls 2016 cartoon.

 

[Mr. Handley]

I'm still waiting for Roots: The Next Generations to be re-released as either single-sided DVDs or (preferably) on Blu.

 

[jcroy]

I'm still waiting for Roots: The Next Generations to be re-released as either single-sided DVDs or (preferably) on Blu.

How does Roots: The Next Generations compare to the first Roots miniseries, in terms of story and production? I don't remember seeing it back in the day.

So far I've been finding the original Roots much more captivating than the remake version.

 

[Mr. Handley]

The Next Generations isn't quite up to the original (how could it be?), but I find it very enjoyable on it's own terms. I remember eagerly looking forward to each episode when it first aired in 1979. Terrific casting and the production values are outstanding (in fact, I believe it cost way more to produce than the original series). The last episode really packs an emotional wallop as Alex Haley (James Earl Jones) travels to Africa and "finds" Kunta Kinte. Highly recommended. Now, we just need to get it out on non-flippers!

 

[jcroy]

The Next Generations isn't quite up to the original (how could it be?), but I find it very enjoyable on it's own terms.

....

Highly recommended. Now, we just need to get it out on non-flippers!

At this point I would be inclined to just wait for a possible bluray version, instead of wasting further time and headaches with the dvd versions (whether flippers or a re-released single-sided 8-disc version).

 

[Mr. Handley]

Yeah, I'm probably holding out for the Blu-rays myself.

 

[jcroy]

Baa Baa Black Sheep being re-released.

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Baa-Baa-Black-Sheep-Season-1/23155

My guess is that Universal reauthored the vol 1 and 2 sets, into a season 1 set consisting of five single-sided discs.

(Vol 3 was season 2).

 

[jcroy]

IIRC, the original vol 1 flipper set of Baa Baa Black Sheep had two dvd14 type flippers, where each flipper had 4 episodes lengths on one side and 2 episodes on the other side..

 

[jcroy]

Thinking about it more, I can't think of any obvious lazy-ass way of reauthoring the Baa Baa Black Sheep vol 1+2 discs into a 5-disc season 1 set.

If the order of the episodes is preserved from the old vol 1 and 2 sets, then Universal would have to completely reauthor everything into 5 episodes per disc. They can't simply duplicate any of the old discs with minimal changes (such as changing side1B to "disc 2", side2B to "disc 4", etc ...).

There would have to be a complete overhaul, like what was done for the single-sided discs re-released versions of seasons 1 to 7 of The Waltons (for example).