A lot of companies have released older TV show’s through the MOD process (where the discs are burnt on DVD-R or BD-R), as they don’t think they would sell well through regular channels, and Amazon seems to be the main distributor.
TV shows that STILL aren't available on DVD!?!?
- Thread starter The Borgified Corpse
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Which I think is a great boon for people looking to collect or just have a nostalgia trip. I found lots of old movies I have wanted to see that way.
The only downside is that a lot of these releases are mastered from sources that are of mixed quality. I remember getting “The Jetsons” Season 2 Volume 2 and Season 3, and really wishing that Warner Brothers had rescanned they film masters for the episodes, since it was clear that some episodes had been transferred to tape in the 80’s with the telecine slightly out of focus, so there were episodes that were soft. And then the episodes seemed to come from a composite source like U-Matic, but a few looked even softer, as if they had used a SP VHS recording (there didn’t seem to be anything of lower quality like a SLP VHS recording). Of course Season 2 Volume 1 seemed to exhibit the same telecine effects, but Warner’s seemed to use the 80’s composite U-Matic broadcast masters for all the episodes, with the only difference being that Volume 1 was released through normal channels. Whereas the Jetson’s Season 1 seemed to be remastered in 2004/05 for the DVD right from the film masters, so by comparison, Season 1 looks very crisp and there are no signs of composite video artifacts.
I mentioned earlier that I got When Things Were Rotten that way, through Amazon on-demand. Nice to have it however it's available.
Oh for sure, I have had some truly terrible transfers but because they didn't seem that expensive in comparison to what they'd be had they been a proper full release I was happy just to see some old movies.
I did have one truly terrible one. I can't recall the site I bought this from but was after a copy of the movie "The Private Lives Of Adam And Eve" which had Mikey Rooney in it and the transfer was absolutely shithouse... Half the movie turned out the other half was a mess and it was clearly a transfer off VHS right down to that logo being used in the recording, but still it was a cheap trip down memory lane for a movie I have wanted to see for decades.
I've generally been happy with stuff I've ordered through Warner Archive; the movies that are supposed to be in widescreen they've at least bothered to do a proper anamorphic transfer so it looks halfway decent on a 16:9 TV.
MGM's MOD service I was sorely disappointed in, though. A couple years ago, I ordered the film Cold Turkey only to discover that it's letterboxed in 4:3, so the viewable picture is just the center of your TV screen. Then you get into games trying to stretch the image and not make it look like shit, and it's just uuuuuuuugh, MGM, are you really THAT goddamned cheap and lazy? It's not like a proper 16:9 transfer doesn't exist; I DVR'd it off Turner Classic earlier this year and what they showed looked great.
MGM's MOD service I was sorely disappointed in, though. A couple years ago, I ordered the film Cold Turkey only to discover that it's letterboxed in 4:3, so the viewable picture is just the center of your TV screen. Then you get into games trying to stretch the image and not make it look like shit, and it's just uuuuuuuugh, MGM, are you really THAT goddamned cheap and lazy? It's not like a proper 16:9 transfer doesn't exist; I DVR'd it off Turner Classic earlier this year and what they showed looked great.
I keep hoping for The Cape (1996) to be released, whether it be digitally or mod. It's probably not how I remember it, but I'd like to see it again
It's funny you say that. A lot of the films I have wanted to see again seem different to how I remember them, or events in them seem to play out much different to how I remember them. I still enjoy them but yeah. Funny how time does that.
Maybe the film has fallen into the public domain. In cases like that, the quality could vary wildly.
I think it has..... Not sure who owns the official rights to it. It wasn't a hit movie or anything just a campy film made in 1960 with Mikey Rooney, Fay Spain, Paul Anka, and Mamie Van Doren
If you want to see it it's on the NBC app which you can download for free. Maybe also on Peacock but don't know about that one.
Jason
I think that's the 2011 Cape (I've got that on dvd) - the superhero one? The 1996 (astronaut) one was syndicated but here was on itv. - I think I've spotted it on youtube, but it's vhs quality at best
I am still waiting for Third Watch, damn I miss that show. I am against illegal downloading, but It is tempting
That was a good series...... And Hill Street Blues
I like that MOD has expanded the range of things that are available on DVD. Unfortunately, Amazon listings aren't always forthcoming with telling you that you're buying an MOD. It's especially annoying with the CDs, where you get the front art on the case but the back art is replaced with a simple track listing of white text on a black background and there's no booklet with the lyrics or anything. I had a helluva time even getting them to understand what my complaint was when I bought a bunch of K's Choice albums a while back and they were all Amazon MOD reprints like that. They sent me replacements but it was still all the same stuff. More recently, when I was ordering the movie Below Her Mouth, I decided to get the DVD version because they said that the blu-ray was MOD. Turns out that the DVD was MOD too, they just don't tell you that.
"'Dear Mr. Floppy, Your show is nothing but a rip-off of Taming of the Shrew.' Woah, oh no, we have nothing to do with Shakespeare here. His play is in English and is full of sexual innuendo and codpieces. There are no codpieces on this show!"
"'Dear Mr. Floppy, Your show is nothing but a rip-off of Taming of the Shrew.' Woah, oh no, we have nothing to do with Shakespeare here. His play is in English and is full of sexual innuendo and codpieces. There are no codpieces on this show!"
Shout Factory picked up the rights to Hill Street Blues and released the seasons that Fox hadn't, along with a big box set of all seven seasons.
I loved Benson as a little kid.
Not sure about the others but I've heard that the music rights for The Drew Carey Show are pretty expensive. Expensive music rights are also what scuttled further DVD releases of Malcolm in the Middle and Murphy Brown, among others.
I wonder if music rights are also part of the stumbling block for Unhappily Ever After too thanks to using "Hit the Road Jack" as the theme song. Perhaps that combined with the fact that it seems that very few people seem to remember that show. I think a lot of people dismissed it as a Married with Children ripoff but I really liked it, if only for the Mr. Floppy segments. And then that one episode where they go to a fancy restaurant and meet Erik Estrada, who is really miffed that they don't recognize him, so he keeps dropping hints about his motorcycle, etc. Eventually, he dresses up in his full CHiPs uniform, they finally recognize him, and he berates them for bothering him in public and that he just wants to dine in peace!
BTW, after a quick search on Amazon, I found a couple listings for The Drew Carey Show. There's a 6-episode Best Of DVD that's out of print and really expensive but the complete 1st season seems to be available for a reasonable price considering it came out back in 2007. It's nowhere near the complete series but it's a start.
https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Carey-S...ZNQS0F27K7X&psc=1&refRID=8JR7P52WWZNQS0F27K7X
Sadly, when I searched for Unhappily Ever After on DVD, it just gave me a bunch of listings for Married with Children and Roseanne.
if you are ever wondering why it took forever for 7 Days to get even a DVD release it was music rights.
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