What the heck is up with Smallville Season 1? Major mastering error (1 Viewer)

[Christian Preischl]

Hi,

I just got my Canadian set today (should be the same as the US version as it has the NOT RATED printed on it in addition to the Canadian rating). I did check the scenes in question and could find no fault with the video. For people with DVD-ROM drives there's a way to check if there are indeed different sets available for some reason.

In the Video_ts folder of my first disc, the VOB files have the date of 07/17/03, time between 8:18 pm and 8:25 pm. Exception: VTS_01_0.VOB which has a date of 07/18/03, time 1:37 am. All the other files have the date of 07/18/03, time 9:09 pm. Marc, what about your set?

Chris

 

[Jimmy M]

Marc,

Do your discs appear to be legitimate (ie silkscreening, lettering on the hub, etc...)?

Jimmy!

 

[Dane Marvin]

So I ended up buying it today because everyone here told me $45 was a great price. I've watched the first three episodes so far and the video is beautiful.

I'm diggin' the first season. The "monster-of-the-week" thing isn't really bothersome to me since I know the concept doesn't plague the whole series (I jumped in at season 2, which mainly centers on relationships and Clark's origin).

 

[Marc Carra]

I"ve definitely got some sort of bootleg. I bought another one at Walmart and the picture looks WAY better. I gave the other one back to my sister in hopes she can get her money back. I think she got it in downtown Toronto.

Marc.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I'm diggin' the first season. The "monster-of-the-week" thing isn't really bothersome to me since I know the concept doesn't plague the whole series (I jumped in at season 2, which mainly centers on relationships and Clark's origin).

It doesn't stop me from enjoying the show, but it is a bit much. I've seen the first four episodes so far, and they all have a "monster."

I guess this'll just be a DVD series for me. I caught a couple of season 2 episodes, which is what convinced me to pick up this set. But, season 3 has already started, and I don't want to watch it without having first seen seasons 1 and 2. I hate not being able to watch it "live," though. Does anyone know the release schedule? If they would release season 2 soon and season 3 next summer, I'd be all caught up by the time season 4 started. I'm betting they won't be released that quickly, though. I'm spoiled by the Star Trek release schedule.

I could always begin taping the show, and watch this season as soon as season 2 is released and watched. I missed the season premiere, but I'm sure they'll run it again at some point.

 

[RafaelB]

Actually, Greg, the new season begins *next* Wednesday, October 1st, so you still have a chance to record it!

Rafael

 

[Bill Williams]

I had a chance to check out each disc of the set, and I have to agree with Marc's comment at the beginning of this thread: the Smallville Season 1 set suffers from mastering problems.

If you do a title search on each disc, you'll find that the first episode of each disc has been duplicated. It's on Titles 1 and 3 on each disc. Title 2 is the WB logo intro. Titles 4-6 are the remaining episodes. Title 7 is the murky looking FBI logo, which still appears to have been lifted off a second or third generation VHS tape - why the WB won't clean this up is beyond me.

Interestingly enough, Titles 8-10 are set up as FBI-style warnings to Chinese, Asian, and Hispanic markets, respectively. Title 9 is a warning to Hong Kong, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand that the set would be distributed only to WB-approved sublicensees. Title 10 says the same thing to Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean markets. (Just a little fun bit to add for those who want to know every last little bit on the disc.)

But to echo Marc's initial comment, the WB fumbled the ball in the DVD mastering. If you go to the episode menu screen and choose the first episode on the list, the DVD accesses the episode under Title 3. If you press Play on the main screen, it defaults to the episode under Title 3. If you do a search and access Title 1, then you can get that first episode under Title 1.

One question now to direct to the WB: what gives here? And why only Dolby 2.0 sound on the box set, yet 5.1 on the Canadian single disc release last year? To quote the great theologian Ricky Ricardo, you got some 'splainin' to do.

 

[Marc Carra]

Bill, I picked up another set yesterday, at Walmart, and it seems to look noticeably better. I'm thinking maybe there's two versions floating around. The original version I had definitely had dulicate episodes, as you have found out with your copy. There must be a 'good' and a 'bad' set that was mastered.

Marc.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Actually, Greg, the new season begins *next* Wednesday, October 1st, so you still have a chance to record it!

Thanks, Rafael! I was confused by the fact that my local paper ran a fall preview, and they had Smallville listed for Wednesday night. Looking closer, it doesn't say it was airing that night. They just had to include it to make their preview complete.

 

[Grant H]

Just got mine yesterday in the mail from Amazon.ca. If it's one of the screwed-up ones I'll be "Super"-pissed.

And, it does suck that we get Dolby 2.0 instead of 5.1 like I have on the pilot and 2nd episode. Still, I've found Prologic II quite enjoyable for all my Dolby 2.0 shows.

 

[Dane Marvin]

But, season 3 has already started, and I don't want to watch it without having first seen seasons 1 and 2.

As much as I would love to watch season 3 episodes on the first-run, the DVDs will probably be my first exposure to them due to the fact that the boneheads at WB thought it would be great to schedule it this year against my current favorite show, "The West Wing", on Wednesday nights.

 

[Andrew D F]

Is the scheduling of Smallville opposite The West Wing specific to your town/region?

I'm just curious, as I know that in the Eastern and Pacific time zones Smallville is on at 8pm and The West Wing is on at 9pm.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

No problems here either. After experiencing the show primarily on my local WB Affliate (motto: "We MAKE it look crappy!"), the Season 1 set is a revelation. I'm still keeping my Canadian disc for the first two episodes, as the presentation there is far less awkward (though I'm glad to have the original TV cut as well for posterity.)

The only thing I'm not so thrilled with is the framing. While the first two episodes looked absolutely stunning in 16x9, Episode 3 ("Hothead") suffers from dead side space syndrome. I'm guessing that this will be a problem to varying degrees depending on the episode. Overall, though, a really great set. The casing's fairly durable too.

Let's hope that Season Two's coming down the pipeline soon, and that they have commentary for "Rosetta" at the bare minimum. And wouldn't it be awesome if they could get Christopher Reeve to talk on the track for that?

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm just really glad to have this series on my shelf.

 

[John Simon]

Adam, I'm not sure what you mean here. I've never seen the series before, and I bought the first season sight unseen. Is the pilot included on the DVD not the same as the one that originally aired? What differences are there? Thanks!

 

[Greg_S_H]

John, you have the pilot as it was originally presented. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Canadian disc merged episodes 1 and 2 into one feature-length movie.

 

[Dane Marvin]

I'm just curious, as I know that in the Eastern and Pacific time zones Smallville is on at 8pm and The West Wing is on at 9pm.

Wow, you're right! I'm in Central Time and I was thinking that Smallville is usually on at 8:00 here -- the same time as The West Wing. But it isn't... it's on at 7:00, so I'll be able to watch both.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

John, you have the pilot as it was originally presented. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Canadian disc merged episodes 1 and 2 into one feature-length movie.

Nope, you hit the nail on the head.

The version on the DVD is the one which originally aired. There is nothing wrong, cut or ommitted from the Season One set. The Canadian pilot release merged the first two episodes into a TV movie format. I personally like this format better for those particular episodes. But as they appear on this set is the way they were originally intended.

But don't worry, John, you aren't missing anything content wise.

As for the framing issue, I just watched "Hourglass" and the framing was great there. So I'm guessing the framing's really is going to be an episode-by-episode issue.

 

[Greg_S_H]

I can see where those episodes could be seamlessly merged, but I like them separate for one reason: they serve as a prime example of the show's respect for continuity. I'm no expert on the show, having only seen a couple of season 2 episodes before buying the box set, but I always like it when events that happen in one episode are referred to in the next or future episodes. In the six I've watched so far, that seems to be the case. The only weakness there is the fate of the "monsters of the week." If they imply these people are taken off somewhere at all, it isn't clear where that is. Hopefully to whatever the Superman equivalent of Arkham Asylum would be.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Wait until you get to Jitter and Rogue respectively. They are good examples of Season 1 episodes that don't rely on a straight up monster of the week (and serve as some of the high points of the season to boot.)

 

[Dane Marvin]

Wait until you get to Jitter and Rogue respectively. They are good examples of Season 1 episodes that don't rely on a straight up monster of the week

Both good examples of episodes that broke away from the formula. In the booklet included in the set, the creators even name "Rogue" as a favorite for the very reason that it gave them a new way to branch the series out. And actually, from that point forward, the monster-of-the-week episodes become less and less. In fact, the last three episodes I've treated myself to in this set ("Zero", "Nicodemus" and "Stray") do not fit the formula.