Your Thoughts: TMS Season 1 DVD

[Exatron]

I find it hard to believe that Disney, one of the biggest media giants can't get the rights to release the episodes without edits. What makes it worse is that they lied and said that the set was completely restored. As it stands now, I don't care if it bankrupts the company, Disney is obligated to fix the omissions by whatever means necessary.

Revolution is an appropriate course of action. If they can't do this set right, they'll just botch the other seasons unless we tell them how to get it right. Buying an inferior product just for the sake of getting future sets is completely inappropriate because it sends the message that we will buy whatever they release, regardless of the quality.

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

But Most peopl here didn't i was -2 when TMS Started and 3 when it Ended

 

[Sean Gaffney]

While I appreciate the disappointment, I think people are not understanding the difficulty of getting rights to music these days - especially for songs that are covers by other artists such as the Muppets. Rights change hands, and it might not just be that the song is too expensive. It could be that when the rights were given in 1976, the handler didn't know what it was being used for, and they object to it being done by Muppets.

And yes, some songs are just prohibitively expensive, even for Disney. It's not a case of 'pay whatever it takes'. If the rights make it so expensive that the set cannot possibly make a profit no matter how many buy it, they have to take the decision to exclude it from the set. This isn't a service to fans, it's a product that needs to sell $$$.

That's also why I can see, although I am annoyed a bit, why they didn't advertise this. The cuts are not great in number, as Disney likely felt it was better to annoy a few hardcore Muppet fans and have casual viewers not know anything was missing than say the sets were incomplete and have sales drop. It's business, like all DVDs are. This is why WKRP in Cincinnati is not on DVD, and likely never will be.

That being said, perhaps the Muppet Research fans can dig in and finds who owns the rights to the missing songs. That way we might know what episodes are in jeopardy on future sets. Also, I want to note that if Season 1 sells really well, Disney will have more impetus to pay a bit more for rights to Seasons 2-5.

 

[That Announcer]

I find it hard to believe that Disney, one of the biggest media giants can't get the rights to release the episodes without edits. What makes it worse is that they lied and said that the set was completely restored. As it stands now, I don't care if it bankrupts the company, Disney is obligated to fix the omissions by whatever means necessary.

Revolution is an appropriate course of action. If they can't do this set right, they'll just botch the other seasons unless we tell them how to get it right. Buying an inferior product just for the sake of getting future sets is completely inappropriate because it sends the message that we will buy whatever they release, regardless of the quality.

Being a purist really can tear down your enjoyment of the Muppets, can't it? The set will be awesome. Also, if you buy this set but you complain about it, there is a high possibility they'll listen to you. I'll now quote from Sean Gaffney:

While I appreciate the disappointment, I think people are not understanding the difficulty of getting rights to music these days - especially for songs that are covers by other artists such as the Muppets. Rights change hands, and it might not just be that the song is too expensive. It could be that when the rights were given in 1976, the handler didn't know what it was being used for, and they object to it being done by Muppets.

And yes, some songs are just prohibitively expensive, even for Disney. It's not a case of 'pay whatever it takes'. If the rights make it so expensive that the set cannot possibly make a profit no matter how many buy it, they have to take the decision to exclude it from the set. This isn't a service to fans, it's a product that needs to sell $$$.

That's also why I can see, although I am annoyed a bit, why they didn't advertise this. The cuts are not great in number, as Disney likely felt it was better to annoy a few hardcore Muppet fans and have casual viewers not know anything was missing than say the sets were incomplete and have sales drop. It's business, like all DVDs are. This is why WKRP in Cincinnati is not on DVD, and likely never will be.

He's right. There are five cuts in the set, amounting to probably about 25 minutes of material gone altogether. Now, if 25 minutes of material is the point at which you decide whether or not to like a DVD set, I'm afraid I don't understand your reasoning. Which would you rather have: a 95% complete DVD set that is reasonably priced, or a fully complete DVD set that is priced VERY high, as profit must be made on it? And if the price on a complete set is that high, Disney would probably make very few of them, knowing that only truly hardcore individuals like yourself would buy it. The rights are prohibitive.

I am against pan-and-scan only DVD releases, as up to 30% of the picture could be lost in the cropping process. However, on this set, maybe 5% of the material is gone over... let me see here... around 11 hours of material! Wow! That's barely anything to complain about. I honestly do not see the problem here. Tremendous value, a great television show, quality bonus materials, all on an official release that you can buy at a very reasonable price? Why bother complaining?

 

[anathema]

A few things to consider...

- Some music rights are not available at any price. You may have Bill Gates' bank balance behind you, but if the rights holder refuses to grant you a licence, there's nothing you can do. So it may not be Disney's fault.

- It's not exactly difficult to get hold of these shows uncut anyway. The only tricky part is getting hold of certain of the original openings, but most of them are in general circulation if you know where to look.

- Did anyone really expect anything better from Disney? I don't know about the US, but their track record with home video releases in the UK is less than stellar...


For myself, I'll buy it if they release a decent PAL boxset.

 

[Movies205]

Did anyone really expect anything better from Disney?

***? This is uncalled for since a lot of time and effort went into this set and sometimes it's unavoidable the only thing I'd be annoyed at is the cutting of the original pilot but really that's something I'd watch once so I don't really care.

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

SideNote TMS Season One is the pick of the Week @ TVSHOWSONDVD.COM


http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/


BOttom Left

 

[MrsPepper]

Well, I haven't received my set yet, I get to pick it up at futureshop on tuesday. But a few general comments:

1. As I haven't had a chance to see most of these episodes, knowing I'm missing a few scenes is a little disconcerting. (just a little). The excitement of being able to see them at all, however, is much, much greater than the dissapointment.

2. Very excited to hear that original openings are intact, as again I haven't had a chance to see these. So that's a plus for me.

3. Glad about pitch reel, sad about the last line being cut. But I can get over it. I mean, it's got the logo of a rival company (as we all know Disney has ABC, not CBS) so it's perfectly understandable. The only reason that this point, and number 1 bother me is that I most likely won't get a chance to see it in full. Otherwise, I'm not gonna lose sleep over it.

4. Really excited to see Sex and Violence!!! (Haha, out of context, that's an amusing sentence) And all the other extras, like the muppet morsels.

 

[wembleyfraggle]

Somtimes people are not pleaed with anything, and I think that is so stupid, just be happy that we are even getting the episodes, even if there are 5 freakin songs deleted, for crying out loud, they are just a little part of the magic!

 

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

Somtimes people are not pleaed with anything, and I think that is so stupid, just be happy that we are even getting the episodes, even if there are 5 freakin songs deleted, for crying out loud, they are just a little part of the magic!

Ha... i got your back on that brother! why cry?