What DVD release of a classic series has most disappointed you? (1 Viewer)

[jperez]

Of course, everybody has had the experience of having warm feelings about a series last viewed decades ago, and then being disappointed by the experience of watching it again after a DVD release with grown up eyes.
Fortunately, I haven't had that experience very often, and have just been disappointed mildly when it has happened.
Two xaples: the second season of Laredo is almost unwatchable for me because of its heavyhanded campiness, after a completely enjoyable first season.
And I could say the same for I Spy, a series I loved in my youth and now, particularly after the first season, I find just too geared to the banter and camaraderie of Bill Cosby and Robert Culp to the point that it often loses its sense of drama.
Of course, I've avoided buying the old series I didn't care much for the first time around, so I haven't been disappointed by them: Bonanza, Lost in Space, The FBI, Perry Mason among them.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Well I have no Problem with the Show but the release that most disapointed me is Lost in Space, there was a show that could've looked fabulous, but looked horrible due to the use of non remastered prints. I'd jettison the DVD's in a minute for a remastered set or god for bid a blu ray edition, properly remastered that is.

 

[MatthewA]

WKRP in Cincinnati: They said they would at least make an effort to make the music replacements better. They couldn't even clear Jennifer's doorbell, which even the legendarily bad music-replaced versions, which have been in syndication for about 20 years now, managed to keep. Now that Shout and Fox are doing business again, I hold out a glimmer of hope for an actually good release.

 

[JohnMor]

Hazel. I loved it as a kid, but now I find most of the characters more annoying than charming, which surprised me. Another one I loved as a kid, but knew would disappoint me as an adult is The Flying Nun. I was right: it definitely disappointed me as an adult.

 

[jcroy]

No tv series in particular.

Most of my disappointment is from watching dvd sets of tv shows I liked as a teenager, but 25-35+ years later through the eyes of a middle aged adult.

If I had never watched these shows when I was a teenager, I would have thought they were really awful tv shows.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour.

After pulling out all the stops for I Love Lucy proper, the Comedy Hours were hacked and edited syndication crap.

 

[TravisR]

As a child of the 1980's, two beloved childhood series for me were The Transformers and GI Joe and watching them on DVD, I thought they were awful. Not bad from an adult perspective but so bad that I wonder why I even liked them at 6 years old.

 

[jcroy]

As a child of the 1980's, two beloved childhood series for me were The Transformers and GI Joe and watching them on DVD, I thought they were awful. Not bad from an adult perspective but so bad that I wonder why I even liked them at 6 years old.

I watched these two cartoons too. (Though I was somewhat older than 6).

The only one I could still watch, was the season 1 dvd set of the Transformers cartoon. I found I just couldn't get into the dvd sets of GI Joe and the later seasons of Tranformers.

 

[TravisR]

^ Both series certainly have many fans and I was really excited to see them again but they ended up being lessons in "You can't go home again" for me.

 

[Roy Wall]

You know...I wonder if streaming would be the overall best option for me. There are so many shows that I would prefer to just have my favorite episodes from each series rather than collect the entire series. I think that'll be an option to think about and just let friends and family members have my DVD sets. It's just there's so much to watch...but when your time is limited by other aspects of life...it might be best served by just simply limiting your video library to the best episodes of each show. I realize the greater majority of you probably would disagree with this library plan...but I'm thinking it's the best plan for me.

 

[Matt Hough]

The Odd Couple: so many episodes revolved around or at least contained music, and the episodes are hacked to pieces to get rid of songs they didn't have rights clearances for.

 

[jcroy]

^ Both series certainly have many fans and I was really excited to see them again but they ended up being lessons in "You can't go home again" for me.

In my case I've found that many tv shows of my youth end up in the "you can't go home again" category.

** Going on a slight tangent. **

Though in contrast, I find that I can still listen to a lot of music from my teenage years. I can still listen to albums from my youth over and over again without ever tiring of them. For example, stuff like:

- the first Boston album
- Ozzy Osbourne "Blizzard of Ozz" and "Diary of a Madman"
- Iron Maiden "The Number of the Beast"
- Black Sabbath "Heaven and Hell"
- Van Halen 1
- Kiss Alive 1
- Saturday Night Fever soundtrack
- Starship "No Protection"
- etc ...

 

[Ron1973]

A good TV show never gets old BUT:

The "classic" CBS Friday night lineup I now find halfway boring with the exception of Dallas.

The Dukes of Hazzard just doesn't get it done anymore. I grant you it's been a long time since I've saw the full episodes and only remember the cut versions offered on CMT/TNN. For someone who loves the rural comedy aspect, I just can't bring myself to watch it for an extended period of time anymore. On the other hand, I clamor for Warner Archives to do Enos, the one season spin-off.

The Incredible Hulk is okay but not what it was when I was 7 or 8 years old. I had all the seasons at one point and I still like it better than The Dukes of Hazzard but there's a "campy" feel to it now. I don't remember it being so "dated" I guess. It now seems such a product of its time to me.

 

[schan1269]

I watched anything with a car...Starsky & Hutch, A-Team, Daisy Du...I mean Dukes of Hazard...

I was never into cartoons. Why I don't care much for animation now...unless it is Manga.

 

[Roy Wall]

Ooops....wrong thread.

 

[JohnMor]

Another one: The Bionic Woman. It doesn't hold up nearly as well as I remembered.

 

[Bryan^H]

As a child of the 1980's, two beloved childhood series for me were The Transformers and GI Joe and watching them on DVD, I thought they were awful. Not bad from an adult perspective but so bad that I wonder why I even liked them at 6 years old.

That is a shame. I bought these years ago when they were released on dvd(Rhino) and finished the G.I Joe series from Shout when the final set was released.
When the dvd sets for Thundercats was released, I made a retro schedule of the year 1985. Monday through Friday as the series original aired together and watched them just like I did when I was 12 everyday afterschool(Thundercats, then, G.I. Joe, and Transformers.) My experience watching them together again was a great one, and the sense of Nostalgia was more than any other tv set I own.

Lots of action, and while some episodes were absolutely terrible(Transformers:The girl who loved Powerglide) overall I found the episodes of the shows fun, and certainly a trip back down memory lane.

Show that disappoints me on dvd:

Remington Steele-I got the whole series on sale a few years ago as I loved this show as a kid. As an adult I found it to be absolutely bad, and uninteresting. Moonlighting and the A-Team didn't fare much better. I'll probably finish watching them and get rid of them.

 

[Bryan^H]

A good TV show never gets old BUT:

The "classic" CBS Friday night lineup I now find halfway boring with the exception of Dallas.

The Dukes of Hazzard just doesn't get it done anymore. I grant you it's been a long time since I've saw the full episodes and only remember the cut versions offered on CMT/TNN. For someone who loves the rural comedy aspect, I just can't bring myself to watch it for an extended period of time anymore. On the other hand, I clamor for Warner Archives to do Enos, the one season spin-off.

The Incredible Hulk is okay but not what it was when I was 7 or 8 years old. I had all the seasons at one point and I still like it better than The Dukes of Hazzard but there's a "campy" feel to it now. I don't remember it being so "dated" I guess. It now seems such a product of its time to me.

Just like you I skipped Dallas. But I loved Dukes, and The Hulk. Watching them now on dvd still makes me happy, and I count the two series as really good "escapist tv". Tv that is a bit goofy, and unrealistic but takes me out of the confides of the real world when I watch.

 

[MarkA]

I got tired of "The Mothers-In Law" pretty quick.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

You know...I wonder if streaming would be the overall best option for me. There are so many shows that I would prefer to just have my favorite episodes from each series rather than collect the entire series. I think that'll be an option to think about and just let friends and family members have my DVD sets. It's just there's so much to watch...but when your time is limited by other aspects of life...it might be best served by just simply limiting your video library to the best episodes of each show. I realize the greater majority of you probably would disagree with this library plan...but I'm thinking it's the best plan for me.

Ooops....wrong thread.

What thread were you thinking of? Because I pretty much agree with you. I'm not Burgess Meredith and this isn't The Twilight Zone, but there isn't "Time Enough At Last" for me to ever see every episode of the shows I currently have, and all I really need is a sampling. That's why I got the Best of set for Naked City instead of the Complete Series.

My son's (18) generation has no interest in collecting, just viewing, and I'm slipping more into that paradigm of just viewing an episode of a series I like when I want, but not going through the whole thing. So the library exists to just dip into here and there and not to ever comprehensively re-view.

Disappointing shows? Most any sitcom. I just can't tolerate them anymore. I bought a few, but they were good when I was 10, not now. "Get Smart," "I Dream of Jeannie," "F Troop," etc. I'm one and done. "M*A*S*H" is SO much better without the laugh track. Love that you can turn that off on DVD. It makes it easily re-watchable. But laugh track shows. MM-no. Can't do 'em.

I like "I Spy" re-viewing especially just for the Culp-Cosby chemistry. The plots are suitably adult-oriented and not comic books. It holds up so much better than "Man from U.N.C.L.E" which was so juvenile-oriented and based more on dated gimmicks than human spy stuff in "I Spy." I couldn't make it through the set. Most of the dramas I have I'm enjoying better than the first time around because I appreciate the storytelling now. So, to summarize - anything with a laugh track...Bye bye. One hour adult dramas, glad to see you again.