WISEGUY release from VEI (1 Viewer)

[David Weicker]

Nights in White Satin is not included and the entire scene where Good Love was playing has been deleted. The episode is around 45 min instead of 47 min.

The scene is 'deleted'?

How?

In the prior releases, the music was replaced. Are you saying the story resolution is now missing?

 

[Al_D]

The scene is 'deleted'?

How?

In the prior releases, the music was replaced. Are you saying the story resolution is now missing?

The part where he is acting to Good Love is not there. Music replaced with something else for Nights in White Satin scene.

 

[Al_D]

The part where he is acting to Good Love is not there. Music replaced with something else for Nights in White Satin scene.

Peacock and Filmrise version on the net has the Good Love Scene but not Nights in White Satin playing next. Vei release has neither.

 

[Al_D]

Does the Millcreek version have the scene with Good Love playing?

 

[Jeff*H]

My WISEGUY set from VEI arrived today. Here are my initial observations based upon a brief glance at a few of the discs:

• “Good Lovin’ ” is now gone (was featured in the previous DVD releases), and that whole jukebox music scene has been removed from the song’s start up to the song’s end
• ”Nights in White Satin” is still gone, with the same replacement music as before
• Season 3 still has the wrong opening title sequence on the DC arc and the Lynchboro/Seattle arc
• The 7 Dead Dog Records episodes are now included, with their correct opening title sequence
• The Deborah Harry song ”Bright Side” from “Dead Dog Lives” is intact
  • So is “Someone to Watch Over Me”

Send me your questions….I’ll look at Dead Dog run times later on…

 

[Dave Lawrence]

My WISEGUY set from VEI arrived today. Here are my initial observations based upon a brief glance at a few of the discs:

• “Good Lovin’ ” is now gone (was featured in the previous DVD releases), and that whole jukebox music scene has been removed from the song’s start up to the song’s end
• ”Nights in White Satin” is still gone, with the same replacement music as before
• Season 3 still has the wrong opening title sequence on the DC arc and the Lynchboro/Seattle arc
• The 7 Dead Dog Records episodes are now included, with their correct opening title sequence
• The Deborah Harry song from “Dead Dog Lives” is intact

Send me your questions….I’ll look at Dead Dog run times later on…

Thanks so much, Jeff!

Too bad about Good Lovin’ but at least it was on the old release. I’m very disappointed about Nights in White Satin. I guess that one’s just never going to happen.

Despite that, I’m beyond happy to know that the Dead Dog Records episodes are in this set.

I’m definitely placing an order for this.

 

[Jeff*H]

Thanks so much, Jeff!

Too bad about Good Lovin’ but at least it was on the old release. I’m very disappointed about Nights in White Satin. I guess that one’s just never going to happen.

Despite that, I’m beyond happy to know that the Dead Dog Records episodes are in this set.

I’m definitely placing an order for this.

I think it’s worth it as well in order to have all of the episodes finally, after almost 20 years of DVD releases excluding Dead Dog. Save the Steelgrave episode though from the prior set!
I’m guessing that they spent the extra money on the Dead Dog songs at the expense of “Good Lovin”. (I edited my above post to note that the 2 Debbie Harry songs are in there).

One other note: these appear to be the same transfers as before. I had dared to hope that maybe new transfers had been struck for an eventual Blu-ray release. <sighs> Maybe some day we will get a perfect night-of-broadcast HD release, complete with The Rascals, Moody Blues, and Depeche Mode.

 

[Jeff*H]

A few more observations about the new VEI set:

• Season 3, Episode 7 (“People Do It All the Time”) is included in this set. It was previously included in the Studioworks set as a bonus episode, however it was NOT included in the Mill Creek 67-episode set for reasons unknown. Therefore, this VEI set contains ALL of the series’ episodes, which is a first for any WISEGUY home video release. Please note that it does not have the 1996 reunion movie, which has never had a home video release, nor does it have the bonus interviews that the original Studioworks releases had with Stephen Cannell, Kevin Spacey, Joan Severance, William Russ, Elsa Raven, producer David Burke, and Jonathan Banks. Those releases also had some Ken Wahl audio commentaries and a gag reel.
• The seven Dead Dog Records episodes‘ run times are all near the expected 48 minute run time, with one exception: “The Rip-Off Stick” (the arc’s third episode). That one clocks in around 46 minutes. However, my initial scan of the episode indicates that it appears to be complete. The only song featured in the episode as far as I know is Deborah Harry performing “Blind Side” at a party, and it’s on here. I compared it to a 25-year-old cable TV recording that had commercials. If anyone else spots an edit, please post about it in the thread.
• The pilot episode and the 4th season premiere are both broken into 2 parts (they were initially broadcast as 2-hour episodes), same as the previous release. The Studioworks set had the pilot in its 2-hour form.
• The individual discs for the first three seasons are each contained in a bound set of individual plastic/vinyl sleeves, like pages in a book (one per disc), inside a plastic case similar to the Mill Creek set, with a slipcover over the case. The fourth season’s 2 discs are in their own plastic sleeves underneath the others.
• The original song “Daddy’s Coming Home” by Walk the Moon that was featured in Season 1, Episode 12’s “Independent Operator” (when Roger Lococco and Vinnie arrive on Mel Profit’s yacht) is included here. It was replaced on one of the earlier releases.

 

[bmasters9]

The individual discs for the first three seasons are each contained in a bound set of individual plastic/vinyl sleeves, like pages in a book (one per disc), inside a plastic case similar to the Mill Creek set, with a slipcover over the case. The fourth season’s 2 discs are in their own plastic sleeves underneath the others.

On their Hunter all-in-one, the first five gos (1984-89, 20 discs) are in one set of sleeves, while the last two (1989-91 and the reunion, 8 discs) are in the other set of sleeves.

 

[David Weicker]

So, it sounds like the best alternative is the VEI set, but get a copy of 'No One Gets Out Of Here Alive' from one of the prior releases (and use off-air/youtube to watch the Nights In White Satin scene)

It also sounds like from a PQ / AQ standpoint, all of the releases are the same - VEI, Mill Creek, StudioWorks.

Is there a version that has Hit The Road, Jack?

 

[ScottRE]

So, it sounds like the best alternative is the VEI set,

Which is always a depressing statement. I'm glad the entire run is there, even with the music edits and it's cheap enough to take a chance on. I'm starting to get used to getting replacment cases for VEI releases, though. Those plastic "books" are just so "Dollar Tree."

 

[Al_D]

So, it sounds like the best alternative is the VEI set, but get a copy of 'No One Gets Out Of Here Alive' from one of the prior releases (and use off-air/youtube to watch the Nights In White Satin scene)

It also sounds like from a PQ / AQ standpoint, all of the releases are the same - VEI, Mill Creek, StudioWorks.

Is there a version that has Hit The Road, Jack?

I would love to find a version that has Hit The Road Jack but have not as of yet. It does not even look like it is on Youtube.

 

[Jeff*H]

So, it sounds like the best alternative is the VEI set, but get a copy of 'No One Gets Out Of Here Alive' from one of the prior releases (and use off-air/youtube to watch the Nights In White Satin scene)

It also sounds like from a PQ / AQ standpoint, all of the releases are the same - VEI, Mill Creek, StudioWorks.

Is there a version that has Hit The Road, Jack?

To have the most complete home video version, you are correct. It’s the VEI set combined with a Studioworks or Mill Creek copy of “No One Gets Out of Here Alive”.

From a PQ standpoint, all 3 releases are roughly the same (likely using the same transfers that Cannell Productions provided, music differences aside). The Studioworks set had the least file compression and a 5.1 audio mix. They promoted at the time that the episodes were remastered. There are HD versions streaming on Peacock.

I don’t recall offhand in what episode “Hit the Road, Jack” was used. I’ve not seen it in any home video version. The missing Depeche Mode song from Season 4, Episode 5 isn’t a biggie, but the only time that’s ever been seen was on TV broadcasts, and it doesn’t have the same impact to the scene as “Nights in White Satin” does, IMHO.

The only other thing missing is an official US release of the 1996 reunion movie. I recall reading that there was an international release of that at some point in time on VCD.

On a side note, for those who are curious about the Studioworks DVD releases from 2003-2005, they released 4 volumes out of a planned 6 volumes, based on story arcs. Volume 1 was Steelgrave, Volume 2 was Mel Profit, Volume 3 was White Supremacist and Garment Industry, and Volume 4 was Mafia Family and Washington DC arc. Each volume also contained a few “bonus episodes” that were stand-alone shows from the series in no particular order. Had the final two volumes been released, I think Volume 5 would have been the rest of Season 3 and Volume 6 would likely have been Season 4 (it’s unlikely they would have released the Dead Dog Records arc). Bonus features included interviews, Ken Wahl audio commentaries, booklets, and a gag reel. I’m assuming the final two volumes were never released due to poor sales. There’s a promo on the first volume that mentions the planned six volumes and shows clips spanning the first 3 seasons, including the Dead Dog arc. The fourth volume featured a serious authoring error on “How Will They Remember Me?”—it only had the Ken Wahl audio commentary track, and omitted the normal audio track without the commentary! Additionally, disc one of Volume 4 had a serious frame rate authoring error that the studio eventually issued a replacement disc for.

 

[Al_D]

To have the most complete home video version, you are correct. It’s the VEI set combined with a Studioworks or Mill Creek copy of “No One Gets Out of Here Alive”.

From a PQ standpoint, all 3 releases are roughly the same (likely using the same transfers that Cannell Productions provided, music differences aside). The Studioworks set had the least file compression and a 5.1 audio mix. They promoted at the time that the episodes were remastered. There are HD versions streaming on Peacock.

I don’t recall offhand in what episode “Hit the Road, Jack” was used. I’ve not seen it in any home video version. The missing Depeche Mode song from Season 4, Episode 5 isn’t a biggie, but the only time that’s ever been seen was on TV broadcasts, and it doesn’t have the same impact to the scene as “Nights in White Satin” does, IMHO.

The only other thing missing is an official US release of the 1996 reunion movie. I recall reading that there was an international release of that at some point in time on VCD.

On a side note, for those who are curious about the Studioworks DVD releases from 2003-2004, they released 4 volumes out of a planned 6 volumes, based on story arcs. Volume 1 was Steelgrave, Volume 2 was Mel Profit, Volume 3 was White Supremacist and Garment Industry, and Volume 4 was Mafia Family and Washington DC arc. Each volume also contained a few “bonus episodes” that were stand-alone shows from the series. Had the final two volumes been released, I think Volume 5 would have been the rest of Season 3 and Volume 6 would likely have been Season 4 (it’s unlikely they would have released the Dead Dog Records arc). Bonus features included interviews, Ken Wahl audio commentaries, and a gag reel. I’m assuming the final two volumes were never released due to poor sales. There’s a promo on the first volume that mentions the planned six volumes and shows clips spanning the first 3 seasons, including the Dead Dog arc. The fourth volume featured a serious authoring error on “How Will They Remember Me?”—it only had the Ken Wahl audio commentary track, and omitted the normal audio track without the commentary! Additionally, disc one of Volume 4 had a serious frame rate authoring error that the studio eventually issued a replacement disc for.

Hit the Road Jack was at the end of Stairway to Heaven. I think that the Studioworks Season 1 part 1 should also provide the pilot in 1 part instead of 2.

 

[jayembee]

On a side note, for those who are curious about the Studioworks DVD releases from 2003-2004, they released 4 volumes out of a planned 6 volumes, based on story arcs. Volume 1 was Steelgrave, Volume 2 was Mel Profit, Volume 3 was White Supremacist and Garment Industry, and Volume 4 was Mafia Family and Washington DC arc. Each volume also contained a few “bonus episodes” that were stand-alone shows from the series.

I assume that these releases that you're talking about are the ones titled:

(1) Sonny Steelgrave and the Mob
(2) Mel Profitt / Drug Ring
(3) Prey for the City
(4) Between the Mob and a Hard Place

I ask because in my spreadsheet, I have these down as being released by "Ventura" rather than "Studioworks". I have their street dates as being 2003 08 06, 2003 12 30, 2004 07 06, 2005 01 11. I'll have to dig my copies out.

 

[Jeff*H]

Hit the Road Jack was at the end of Stairway to Heaven. I think that the Studioworks Season 1 part 1 should also provide the pilot in 1 part instead of 2.

Thanks, I had forgotten about “Hit the Road, Jack”!

You are correct, the Studioworks volume had the pilot in its original format, running about 95 minutes. The liner notes incorrectly state that it’s in 2 parts.

 

[Jeff*H]

I assume that these releases that you're talking about are the ones titled:

(1) Sonny Steelgrave and the Mob
(2) Mel Profitt / Drug Ring
(3) Prey for the City
(4) Between the Mob and a Hard Place

I ask because in my spreadsheet, I have these down as being released by "Ventura" rather than "Studioworks". I have their street dates as being 2003 08 06, 2003 12 30, 2004 07 06, 2005 01 11. I'll have to dig my copies out.

Yes, those are the volume “titles” that each was released under between 2003-2005. Ventura Distribution owned the Studioworks Entertainment DVD label.

 

[David Weicker]

Do we know if the two-parters vary from their movie-length versions? (footage missing/added).

I know with Rockford Files, when an originally movie length episode was converted to two episodes, extra footage was inserted to make each single episode match the runtimes of a normal episode (normally adding more 'chase' footage - this lead to the somewhat laughable car model change within the same chase.)

 

[Al_D]

Do we know if the two-parters vary from their movie-length versions? (footage missing/added).

I know with Rockford Files, when an originally movie length episode was converted to two episodes, extra footage was inserted to make each single episode match the runtimes of a normal episode (normally adding more 'chase' footage - this lead to the somewhat laughable car model change within the same chase.)

The season 4 two parter episodes are short, about 44 min each. They are also that way on Peacock.

 

[David Weicker]

The season 4 two parter episodes are short, about 44 min each. They are also that way on Peacock.

so most likely just the original cut in half