Never thought I’d see this but one show I loved as a kid will finally make it to DVD.
https://www.visualentertainment.tv/collections/new-release/products/the-powers-of-matthew-star-7071
I just wonder what the quality will be like.
Published by
68 Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
It might be a decent release by VEI standards. I don't recall if there was ever a syndication package for this show, as it only aired for one season. Could be original length network prints if that's all CBS Television has available.
That's what I'm thinking too. Since it was only one season doubt there were any syndication prints made. I just wonder what shape the original prints are in.
And I wonder if this release will have Paramount Television's normal and tall-peaked Blue Mountains, as were on the original NBC broadcasts in 1982-83 (given VEI's track record with Petrocelli and The Magician, among others, I would expect nothing less).
I, too, am excited about this one; never thought I'd ever see it again (on DVD, at least).
I have vivid memories from when I was 7 years old that fall of '82, watching Powers of Matthew Star & Knight Rider back-to-back – both brand new shows that fall.
Never thought it would get a release. I loved the show and often think of it when I see Peter Barton in Friday the 13th 4. Day one pick up for me.
I think it did run once or twice on SciFi. It might have run once on USA.
Cool! I've been waiting for this one, too!
Knowing VEI, I know the Blue Mountain logos at the end will be intact… both the normal peak used on the 1982-aired episodes and the taller one on the '83 episodes. It is the latter one that is quite rare on DVD as up until now, Webster was the only TV show on DVD to keep it (look for it on seasons 2 and 4).
Sometime in the future, they may work on The Renegades and Ryan's Four as well, two other Paramount TV shows from '83 to use the taller-peak Blue Mountain.
~Ben
That latter one (Ryan's), I'm definitely looking forward to– I've never seen it before; I've only read things about it!
It also had a run on TVLand, and those were chopped to 44 minutes
Ah yes… the thing I Am Number Four shamelessly ripped off.
In this year, any "classic" tv release is a good one. Thank goodness.
James
And unless that is TV Land Canada, the original Blue Mountain logos may have been replaced by the 1995 CGI Mountain (of Monotony).
~Ben
It definitely ran on Sci-Fi Channel in the '90s (probably as part of their "Series Collection" of short-run shows), but I definitely remember seeing reruns earlier than that, sometime around 1985-86, I think, on one of the basic cable stations (maybe USA, CBN or Nick).
USA Network, probably, as other lesser-known Paramount series like Petrocelli, The Associates and Bosom Buddies had been reran on that channel, too.
~Ben
Indeed– in fact, here are two Petrocelli promos on USA, one from 1985, the other from 1986:
I have them all from the original network run. Looks like VEI is still scouring the CBS vaults for shows that have been remastered to tape in a modern format. There's still a bunch that got sold to TV Land or SciFi, although I don't think they are going to be bothering with Me and the Chimp or Goodtime Girls, to name some of the really bad shows that CBS remastered.
Hopefully those that you mention will be released by CBS DVD itself through its MOD channel (Amazon CreateSpace), like they did with The Young Lawyers and Best of the West, even though the former did get re-ran on TV Land once. They did leave the original Paramount logos alone (except for the pilot movie on The Young Lawyers).
~Ben
I checked out VEI's front page recently and the status of this release now says "Available Now."
~Ben
I got an email from VEI saying the set is now available. Can anyone who picks this up post on the quality and runtimes of the set? Want to see if it's worth getting. Thanks!
I just picked up on that "Available Now" blurb regarding this series when I most recently visited the main page at VEI!
~Ben
I wonder how long it will take for it to be available on amazon.
Probably not too long now…
~Ben
I've read that, in 2002, this show was actually ranked number 22 on TV Guide's list of the 50 worst TV shows of all time!
~Ben
Was it any worse than any other 1980s sci-fi/fantasy/gimmick show that failed to catch on with the public? Quite frankly, Friends should be at the top of any such list, then they'd have two Matthews for the price of one. You can also take Hogan's Heroes off that stupid list and replace it with Full House. They were right about Barney the Dinosaur, though. Some things from the 1990s should have stayed there.
But as for this show, it was supposed to air a year earlier. The pilot was shot in 1981, and the lead character was supposed to be named Daniel (originally it was David), but a serious accident put Peter Barton in the hospital; when they came back, they had The Dukes of Hazzard (the season without its two stars), Benson, and The New Odd Couple as competition. The other shows that premiered that season Fridays on NBC, Knight Rider and Remington Steele, were hits despite having Dallas and Falcon Crest to contend with. Louis Gossett, Jr. still won the Oscar for An Officer and a Gentleman nonetheless.
As for the episode running times? I'm not terribly optimistic. The one thing I thought VEI could be counted on to get right, and they haven't. After the Angie set that called it "the complete collection" despite being anything but, notice they changed the wording to "All the episodes on DVD." They're not even trying to pass them off as complete here.
IMO, that's a lot better than saying "complete" when it obviously wouldn't be. After all, if you say "complete," and the purchaser of your release discovers that one or more of the episodes are edited/otherwise adulterated, would that not be somewhat of a half-truth?
Well, I guess they could say "depends on what you mean by complete. They could say complete means every episode, even if some are edited."
I'm wary of such notations, unless they say "complete and unedited" or something like that.
That's definitely where I remember it running, then, as I also remember the rerun cycle of Bosom Buddies from that same year (I do remember on-air promos for Petrocelli, but it wasn't something I would have watched).
My set arrived today. Just had time to pop in the first disc to see how it looks. The picture is pretty sharp and the colors are vivid (aside from some minor "scratches" in the opening credits in the second episode). Episodes 1 and 2 run about 48 minutes apiece, so I don't think they're syndication edits.
I'm not crazy about the packaging – it was difficult for me to get the first disc out (it's on the inside front cover), and there's no episode guide on the flip side of the discs artwork, which is disappointing. I might repackage the whole thing. But each disc does include a list of episode titles, so that's something.
Frank thanks for sharing that. That's certainly good news. I hope the other runtimes are similar. Please let us know. Does the pilot "Star Knight" appear at the beginning or end of the set as it should?
The two episodes' worth you've seen so far– do they have Paramount Television's normal-peaked Blue Mtn. of that time?
What to look for…
1982 version:
(on the Harve Bennett co-produced episodes)
1982 (alternate):
(on the Bruce Lansbury co-produced episodes)
1981 version:
(possibly on the pilot?)
~Ben
When and if I get that release, that's what I'll be looking for!
Me, too!
~Ben
"Starr Knight" is the final episode in the set (at the end of disc 4).
The pilot has the "short-peaked" blue mountain logo, with the word "television" sliding in from the right. I think it's the last one in your post. I haven't watched any of the episodes all the way through yet, so I don't know if it's a consistent feature from episode to episode.
Just popped in the first disc to see how the show looks and flipped through the first two episodes. I'm not sure if they're all the same quality. We shall see…
Also, the edges of the discs are strangely sticky. I'm unsure why. Maybe it's the imprinting of the disc art, but it's quite noticeable.
Just what I wanted to know!
Here’s something that may not make it onto the DVDs. According to Nat Segaloff’s biography of Harlan Ellison, this show ripped off a treatment and show Bible Ellison had written for Paramount, titled _The Other Place_. According to Ellison, he didn’t even have to bring a lawsuit: he sent the relevant materials to Paramount’s lawyer, who settled in the six figures.
I wonder which of the 1983 episodes (the Bruce Lansbury co-produced period) have this version of the tall-peaked logo, with the 1979 theme?
~Ben
Harlan Ellison also sued Paramount over Future Cop shortly after its 1977 broadcast run; in that case, he and Ben Bova sued not only Paramount, but also former Paramount exec Terry Keegan and ABC claiming that that series ripped off their own pitch for a TV series that was based on the 1970 short-story Brillo.
~Ben
That's a good question! Best way to find out the answer is to get the release (I'd like for it to be on Amazon ASAP so I can get it for my top-of-August mini-shop [I do that at the top of every month]).
TRIVIA: Episode 10, "Mother" (November 19, 1982), was written by Walter Koenig of Star Trek (TOS) fame! Not only that, but another TOS alumnus, Leonard Nimoy, was the director for the episode before that, "The Triangle" (November 12, 1982).
~Ben
I just received & started watching this series and thought I'd check in.
So far, I've just watched the first episode (which, as has been explained, was the first proper episode and not the pilot, which aired as the series finale).
This episode ("Jackal") runs just over 48 minutes. Picture quality looked great on my circa 2000 CRT, which is how I watch SD discs of old shows.
I haven't watch the second episode yet, but it clocks in at a few seconds under 48 minutes according to my DVD player, so it times out similarly.
Oddly, I spotted two typos on the back cover, one referring to series creator Steven E. de Souza as having written the film "28 Hours". 🙄
(EDIT: I inadvertently skipped Page 2 of this thread ; I see Frank already passed along some of this info.)
Here's a look at the Paramount logo at the end of the first episode, for those who are curious about those things (snapshot of the TV screen with my phone).
View attachment 51462
Just what I wanted to see– glad this Matthew Star release has that!
Just as I expected it!
I know on later episodes, this Paramount logo will have a taller peak. I want to think "Matthew Star, D.O.A." was the first episode in that case; correct me if I am wrong.
~Ben
I have just now ordered my copy of this series on DVD. I am keeping my fingers crossed all will go well with the delivery!
~Ben
I thought it might, too– unfortunately, I just researched that one on YouTube, and there is no evidence pro-or-con, as the credits are cut off before we see which version of the Blue Mtn. this episode has. I guess you'll have to wait for your receipt of VEI's all-in-one to know for sure!
I do know the others in 1982 cut off at the end, too… so I want to think it may be on one of those, too (particularly the November/December ones). I know the last 1982-aired episode, "Fugitives" (12/17/82, episode 12), had the normal peak version.
Some other episodes, such as "Winning" (11/5/82) and "Experiments" (12/10/82), even ended with what looked like the videotaped version.
~Ben
Not just that, but the credits looked chyroned on that "Winning" episode (even the Paramount copyright card and Daniel Wilson and Harve Bennett cards seemed chyroned), and also, the screen faded quickly from the Bennett card to the normal-peak Mtn., with only a split-second of black in between the two (on a set of credits I saw before where the taller Mtn. was in play [perhaps from '83], there was more than a second [perhaps two] between the Bruce Lansbury card and the tall Mtn.).
Do you think that the way it was on that "Winners" episode will be the way it's presented on VEI's all-in-one, or do you think it'll be different?
I'd have to see it on the DVD set to really know.
~Ben
Good news: my DVD has now been shipped!
~Ben
Glad to hear! Did they say when you'd get it?
Should be the end of this week.
~Ben
Oops, double-posted… admins, please delete this particular reply.
~Ben
Looking forward to your receipt of it! You and me both would like to know the straight dope about how Paramount identified themselves on The Powers of Matthew Star (Blue Mtns., that is).
Well, my shipment is in town already… so I should have the DVD tomorrow!
~Ben
I bet you're excited about that! So am I for you.
Regarding "Winning," I just viewed that episode on the VEI set & the first two things I noticed was that it: a) looked like a video transfer (unlike the previous episodes), and b) the credits looked chryon'd.
Just passing along since it was mentioned. It still timed out properly (48 mins or so) according to my dvd player.
Just watched the 1st episode ("The Jackal") and yes… I spotted the Blue Mountain with the 1981 music!
UPDATE, 6:25 PM: Episode 2 finished: Blue Mountain with 1982 music.
~Ben
Normal version, of course, early in the series?
Yes, indeed.
Here's all my DVD grabs from this series so far:
(yes, episode 13 does have the tall-peak version)
~Ben
Noticed that you answered, and loved, my comment on that "1982 1/2 version"; that considered, it's good to see that VEI has come through yet again. This will definitely be a purchase sooner or later!
I have a slight update now regarding this logo comp (now with the videotaped version from "Winning" and "Experiment"), so the old one will be deleted soon.
~Ben
Looking forward to seeing! What I wonder is why that one was videotaped, as usually (at least from what I recall; I may be incorrect) when that kind of a logo was shown, it was from syndie reruns.
I would guess for these two episodes it was probably an experiment to see if Paramount could have post-production work done on videotape instead of film, as they did successfully with both MacGyver and (starting with season 4) Cheers.
This exact logo from these 2 episodes (with the 1982 music) was also seen on Madame's Place (starting with episode 16) and on 1985-87 episodes of Solid Gold and Entertainment Tonight. It might also have turned up on Star of the Family.
~Ben
Here's the updated version now (go to the 0:09 mark to see the videotaped version):
You are right. Usually, the 3rd logo that you see in this updated comp was seen in syndication, if on videotaped stock (Solid Gold, Entertainment Tonight, and Madame's Place), but a few network TV shows also did (Bosom Buddies among them). Some off-network reruns did as well, but as you and a few others had mentioned to me before, and that I already witnessed, these two episodes of Matthew Star with this variation of the logo also had a different text style for the end credits (chyroned in); MacGyver and Friday the 13th: The Series, among others, also had similar post-production treatments then.
~Ben
Good observations (and I'm glad that VEI's all-in-one is confirming what we have discovered about Paramount's logo presentation here, among other things)! One other thing: not only were the closing credits seemingly chyroned, but the guest star and creative credits at the top were also so done; the only thing that wasn't was the title sequence.
Here is an example of these chyroned credits on the first scene of that "Experiments" outing (OAD Fri. Dec. 10, 1982 on NBC):
View attachment 52015
And speaking of that episode you mention, I find it funny that there is a running gag involving Matthew and a baby dolphin (Susie) would think of Matthew as her master after he first encountered her. That's like the episode of Scooby-Doo ("Jeepers, It's the Creeper!") where at one point Scooby pretends to be a hen and then one of the baby chicks believes him to be his mother.
~Ben