Questions about anything

[minor muppetz]

When the Muppets appeared on Saturday Night Live, why did the announcer have to list the performers? Couldn't the performers names just be listed in the end credits, as opposed to announced? In fact why doesn't Saturday Night Live (and most variety/talk shows) list guests in the end credits? It seems they always have to either list them in the opening credits or not at all. Surely the unannounced surprise guests could be listed in the end credits.

And do all of the Muppets appearances on SNL have the performers announced? For years I had thought they hadn't been announced in the credits. I'd seen the E! reruns and had rented the George Carlin episode on VHS and don't recall the Muppet performers being listed, yet in recent years, after downloading a few episodes on iTunes and watching some on Netflix, I was surprised to hear the announcer say "the Muppets were Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Jerry Nelson...", and so on. I figured this might have happened later in the season, as I thought the first episode didn't (back when Tough Pigs did the Gorch anthology, Danny Horn didn't know the name of the performer who performed Vash in the first episode, if it was announced in the credits then he should have known if he'd checked), but then I recently saw the second episode for the first time and the performers were announced there.

 

[D'Snowth]

Because the performers weren't seen on-screen, but still deserve credit anyway. They did the same thing on those Krofft-produced variety shows like DONNY AND MARIE or THE BRADY BUNCH VARIETY HOUR, whenever their costumed/puppet characters would make appearances: "Also appearing in tonight's cast were Larry Larsen, Patty Maloney, and Van Snowden".

 

[D'Snowth]

Do live action TV shows ever go through song-replacements on DVD like animated series seem to?

 

[Mo Frackle]

Do live action TV shows ever go through song-replacements on DVD like animated series seem to?

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomeVersionSoundtrackReplacement

 

[D'Snowth]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HomeVersionSoundtrackReplacement

Hmm. The only one that strikes me odd is HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER... you'd think with it still being a current show that it wouldn't run into problems like that.

Can you imagine what would happen if DVDs of GLEE were put off for years and years and years from now?

 

[Drtooth]

Hmm. The only one that strikes me odd is HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER... you'd think with it still being a current show that it wouldn't run into problems like that.

And it's FREAKING Chumbawumba. I mean, really... how greedy are you to refuse to license out a song of a band that no one cares about anymore?

 

[minor muppetz]

Do live action TV shows ever go through song-replacements on DVD like animated series seem to?

The Muppet Show and Sesame Street are both live-action and DVDs of those had songs edited.

Additionally, the SCTV DVDs had song edits and music replacements. Of course for that show, for the original broadcasts they never even bothered to get music rights cleared in the first place.

And the theme songs for Married... with Children and Life Goes On were replaced on DVD (the Married... with Children theme was included on the first DVD set and then replaced for future seasons, I find it odd that when they negotiated for the first season set they didn't just get it cleared for all releases of the show).

I'm surprised when I heard about How I Met Your Mother. That show began long after TV shows on DVD took off. I would think by the time that went on the air all TV shows would clear music for all possible releases.

 

[D'Snowth]

Additionally, the SCTV DVDs had song edits and music replacements. Of course for that show, for the original broadcasts they never even bothered to get music rights cleared in the first place.

I wonder what happens in cases like that... I know when some found out about Jim and Jane using their record for SAM AND FRIENDS, without permissions, they were annoyed at first, but either couldn't resisit Jim and/or Jane's charming personalities, or were so impressed with the show they changed their minds and didn't care... of course, back then, music rights and clearences, in addition to royalites or licensing fees weren't even taken into consideration.

Of course, I just now remember, Jim Martin has said music is one of the problems preventing THE GREAT SPACE COASTER from being released on DVD (they can't even clear their own theme song), and the show can't be shown on TV either, because the performers will require residuals for their work on the show.

Gosh, television production is so complicated.

 

[minor muppetz]

And I wonder why music rights should be cleared again. I would have thought that, whether the concept of home video was heard of or not, if the music was cleared in the first place, it should remain for all releases in whatever country.

I know that music rights are what's keeping The Wonder Years from being released on DVD (the show is available on Netflix, though, but for some reason the theme song is replaced with a different version of the song). But it was also common for that show to show existing footage from other productions, sometimes on the characters television sets, sometimes in montages at the beginning of episodes. I wonder if the various copyrighted footage would also be a problem in addition to music rights.

In fact, on a similar note, I mentioned how the producers of SCTV used songs and music without obtaining permission in the first place (I guess they got permission from the musical guests, since as far as I know none of the music guests performances were cut on DVD), but then there's one sketch where a character is watching a Looney Tunes short, and I've read that the familiar ending music was replaced on the DVD. It makes me wonder if they obtained permission for any footage used on the show (and it wasn't that common for the show to use existing outside footage, at least in the episodes I've seen), or if they later got the footage cleared for the DVD but not the music.... Warner Bros. owns the music as well as the shorts so I would have expected them to clear both footage and music or none at all. Maybe this is something for the "what's the deal?" thread, but it is something I've always wondered since seeing it.

Of course, I just now remember, Jim Martin has said music is one of the problems preventing THE GREAT SPACE COASTER from being released on DVD (they can't even clear their own theme song), and the show can't be shown on TV either, because the performers will require residuals for their work on the show.

I wonder how many shows don't require performers residuals, or where it's not a problem. It's rare for me to hear anything about shows not being in reruns or on DVD due to performers residuals issues (or maybe it's more common but either easier to clear or not something companies bring up often). I think I've heard that residuals for various Muppet productions are limited (I know Terry Angus has said that his residuals from The Jim Henson Company expired a long time ago, but maybe that's different since he was usually a background performer), though I've also heard that everybody who worked on Sesame Street is entitled to residuals for any appearances that get aired or released on DVD. I get the feeling that The Great Space Coaster was a low-budget show, so I would think they wouldn't need to pay residuals anymore (or could it be from such a low-budget studio that they don't think they can afford performers residuals for reruns?).

Though according to TV Tropes, You Can't Do That on Televison hasn't been released on DVD or even rebroadcast in years because various paperwork was lost, resulting in the producers being unaware of who gets paid what for rebroadcasts and such. I wonder if that's the case for The Great Space Coaster.

 

[D'Snowth]

And I wonder why music rights should be cleared again. I would have thought that, whether the concept of home video was heard of or not, if the music was cleared in the first place, it should remain for all releases in whatever country.

You kind of answered your own question there... especially back in the old days, when home video releases weren't available, the only clearence needed to be done was for the television broadcasts. When you factor in home video releases, those have to be purchased by consumers, so of course, the music would have to be cleared again, so whoever owns the rights to the songs can receive their fair share of the profits. I assume.

Somehow, this seems to only apply to DVD. I don't think VHS releases of the 80s ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS ever had issues with songs, but I know a few episodes did when released on DVD.