PAL Muppet Season One - Also cut

[anathema]

I've now had a closer look at the first couple of shows

For those of you who don't know me, I'm a video engineer, so I've been able to throw the picture up on a professional-grade video monitor and engineering scopes and make a proper examination of it.

First up: yes, these are original PAL recordings, the format the show was taped in As such, I would recommend fans in PAL countries to go for this set (or your local equivalent over an NTSC release since the picture quality will be higher as it hasn't had to be converted from PAL to NTSC. The flip side of this is that of course 'Sex & Violence' on this set is an NTSC->PAL conversion, so the US release will offer a better picture for that programme.

Anyway The picture is good - certainly better than the Columbia/HMV DVDs that were released in the UK a couple of years ago. It appears to have undergone some noise-reduction, which is a good thing, and possibly some edge-enhancement, which is not. However, this latter is fairly minimal and won't detract from the viewing experience

Picture levels are accurate: blacks are black and whites are white, and the colour looks good. There is some dropout, so if the shows were restored prior to release, some things were missed (this is not a criticism: from long experience I am all too well aware of how difficult it is to catch every single tiny glitch...) Again, unless you're actually looking for it, you probably won't even notice them, and most of the ones I spotted are in fact in an area of the picture that won't be visible on the average TV screen anyway.

Running times for the shows are as follows:

Juliet Prowse 25'36"
Connie Stevens 25'38"
Joel Grey 24'35"
Ruth Buzzi 25'28"
Rita Moreno 25'43"
Jim Nabors 21'11"
Florence Henderson 25'33"
Paul Williams 23'21"
Charles Aznavour 22'26"
Harvey Korman 25'39"
Lena Horne 25'38"
Peter Ustinov 25'39"
Bruce Forsyth 25'37"
Sandy Duncan 25'39"
Candice Bergen 25'37"
Avery Schreiber 25'39"
Ben Vereen 25'36"
Phyllis Diller 25'31"
Vincent Price 22'49"
Valerie Harper 25'33"
Twiggy 25'39"
Ethel Merman 25'38"
Kaye Ballard 25'40"
Mummenschanz 25'39"


The shows are split between the discs as follows: Disc 1 contains shows 1-6; disc 2 contains shows 7-13; disc 3 contains shows 14-19; disc 4 contains shows 20-24 and the extras.

 

[Kermieuk]

Hi Anathema.

What are the menu screens like? Are they the same colored blocks just like the US release? Where did you manage to get your box set from before the official release on Monday?? I am so glad it has all 24 epsiodes, although I have R1 of this set I will also be buying this set on Monday. Are there any adverts, paper inserts about new product/DVD releases in UK on the Set?

Has anyone done any research about what stores are offering? Is there any exclusive offers with any stores, I have not seen any. Then again I have not seen ANY advertising anywhere for Muppet Show or Xmas Carol. By searching various sites I have so far seen that HMV is offering the best price on S1 Set. I have not yet seen anything listed about the set on the Disney Store UK site? Do they have a special offer at all?

I'll probably drive the 40 miles from Wellington to Bristol on Monday night to the Mall to buy the DVD's and see if Disney store has an offer on, if not at least I can get it at HMV cheaper. Got to pick up Madonna's new album too, although Im more a Kylie fan!! lol But her DVD is out the Monday after. What an expensive time it is running up to Xmas!!

Chris

 

[anathema]

Many online retailers ship ahead of the official release date to ensure that their customers receive their discs on that date. Obviously they have no control over exactly when the Royal Mail will make delivery... Play.co.uk shipped my discs on Thursday; they reached me this morning.

It appears that the discs are effectively PAL clones of the US release. I have not seen the US discs myself, but from other peoples' descriptions on this board, I would say that the UK set is identical in all respects apart from video format.

There are two flyers packed in the set: one advertising other DVD releases, including the four forthcoming Muppet movies. This information is obviously a bit out of date, as it lists them all as being due out on Monday, whereas all bar Christmas Carol have now been postponed to next year. The other flyer is advertising Muppet ringtones for your phone.

On the subject of advertising, there is at least one radio ad for this set, which I heard on Thursday. It features Kermit, Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo and Mahna Mahna

 

[MuppetDanny]

Thanks anathema for the info, after you description on the packaging I'm still tempted to buy the R1 DVD set. Are the shows have original ATV endings (credits on the left on the screen than centre credits) on this UK set?

 

[anathema]

Thanks anathema for the info, after you description on the packaging I'm still tempted to buy the R1 DVD set. Are the shows have original ATV endings (credits on the left on the screen than centre credits) on this UK set?

It's a mixture, the same as the US set.

 

[gooball]

Sorry guys, looks like the runtimes are the same as those on the BBFC (but the speculation, based on the runtimes on the BBFC, that the set was uncut is obviously incorrect).

I couldn't find the listing and was just going by memory with my original post (last time I do that ). I had thought that on the BBFC all were 25 minutes, and then when I loaded the Vincent Price one and saw the 22 minutes runtime, I thought the BBFCs times were wrong. But now it turns out Vincent Price was actually 22 minutes on the site. Sorry for the misinformation, and thanks for correcting it anathema.

P.S. The Australian packaging is pretty crappy. It's in a fairly unattractive four-dvd case (rather than four thinkpaks w/extra artwork), and we have the huge ratings logo tarnishing the cover. The region 2 artwork seems much nicer, but the region 4 just worked out much cheaper (and more convenient) for me.

 

[anathema]

Sorry guys, looks like the runtimes are the same as those on the BBFC (but the speculation, based on the runtimes on the BBFC, that the set was uncut is obviously incorrect).

I couldn't find the listing and was just going by memory with my original post (last time I do that ). I had thought that on the BBFC all were 25 minutes, and then when I loaded the Vincent Price one and saw the 22 minutes runtime, I thought the BBFCs times were wrong. But now it turns out Vincent Price was actually 22 minutes on the site. Sorry for the misinformation, and thanks for correcting it anathema.

No, you were correct the first time ;-) I've just looked at the BBFC listings. The times they give do not match the times on the discs - all the BBFC listings are around the 25 minute mark. Vincent Price, for example, is listed as running to 24'59".

Presumably Disney resubmitted the shows at some point, and the BBFC site needs updating.

 

[Kermieuk]

I have used Play.com before. I bought the new Fraggle DVD's they arrived on Saturday before there official Monday rrelease, which is great. I was however a bit concerned with the Muppet Show Box set about the box survivng the Postal trip without getting dented. I suppose I could have ordered MCC from there though.

Chris

 

[gooball]

No, you were correct the first time ;-) I've just looked at the BBFC listings. The times they give do not match the times on the discs - all the BBFC listings are around the 25 minute mark. Vincent Price, for example, is listed as running to 24'59".

Presumably Disney resubmitted the shows at some point, and the BBFC site needs updating.

Cool, thanks for the re-clarification . I got a bit confused when I saw your last post with all the runtimes... For some reason I thought it was a re-post of the bbfc times, rather than a list you compiled). I blame it on the fact that I've been working non-stop the last few days .

 

[anathema]

Cool, thanks for the re-clarification . I got a bit confused when I saw your last post with all the runtimes... For some reason I thought it was a re-post of the bbfc times, rather than a list you compiled). I blame it on the fact that I've been working non-stop the last few days .

Nah, those times were taken directly from the DVDs

The BBFC times strongly imply what I originally speculated in the other thread: all shows uncut but with replacement opening titles. Since this is clearly not the case, I can only conclude that Disney paid to have the shows classified twice...!