Your Thoughts: TMS Season 1 DVD

[anathema]

Thanks to anathema and Sean for answering my questions earlier in the thread (page 4). I appreciate it .

I just have one last question.

anathema said that sometimes the U.S. version used a different take for Statler and Waldorf's final comments (along with the fact that the credits were slightly different). I was wondering if in the episodes themselves the same takes were used for all scenes when comparing the U.S. to U.K. versions (obviously disregarding those scenes which were only in the U.K. version).

Yes, so far as I'm aware, the episodes are otherwise identical.

Also, what approximate proportion of 'final comments' would you say used different takes?

I don't know - I only have a few shows in both UK and non-UK versions.

Finally, what do you guys think the chances of getting the original final shots (when they're not Zoot ones) in subsequent seasons? It would sucks to miss out on a heap of gags.

Zero.

Thanks for all your help. As I said, I haven't really seen much of the show for years, and I'm looking forward to seeing it again (in fact, I probably haven't seen the vast majority of episodes ever. I also don't remember much of those that I have seen). It's good to be getting my head around how the show was originally presented, and just how much of that the set will recreate.

edit:
Another thing. So, the episodes are the U.K. versions with the extra skits. Then how on earth do some of them then end up with the U.S. credits?

Ok, first up there is no such thing as the "US" version. There is the UK and the non-UK. All shows exist (or existed) in both versions. The differences between the two are:
- UK has a single commercial break in the middle; non-UK has three breaks
- UK has left-hand credits which include the guest star; non-UK has centered credits which do not
- UK carries the ATV logo/copyright at the end, since it was made by and for the ATV network; non-UK carries the ITC logo/copyright, as ITC was ATV's overseas sales arm
- UK occasionally included a few seconds of additional material at the point where non-UK had a commercial break

All shows run to roughly 25.5 minutes regardless of which version they are (exception: Joel Grey is 26 minutes).

Copies of the non-UK shows were then further edited to remove what's become known as the 'UK Skit' for sales to countries such as the US that wanted to cram extra commercials in. The US is by no means alone in this - the French DVDs released a few years ago are missing these scenes as well. Originally, only the UK would have seen the UK versions - everyone else would have had the non-UK. These days there appears to be a standard set of masters that's made available for purchase; it's mainly non-UK tapes, but there are a dozen UK versions in there for some reason.

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

I Just Picked it up @ 12 midnight i love the cover and the disc look good like i said i will not watch it till 8am when i get to work

 

[Honbrifcl]

More happy than sad

Following the discussions for months now and ordered the DVDs of course. I actually already bought a region free player with NTSC capabilities even before the release was announced (living in Belgium), as I was hoping for this (I don't know if they will release them on PAL region 2, but now I don't care anymore ). So I am psyched that I will get them within a couple of days!!!

As everyone, I am disappointed that some sketches are missing. It won't spoil the fun though. As a solution, there will be people that have the sketches available, I guess. Hopefully in reasonable quality. With trading or downloading from the internet, you should be able to get the 5 missing sketches. Then burn your own DVD with the missing sketches to have an extra (mixed) show... I might actually try to get those sketches mixed into copies of the originals, keeping full DVD functionality, will be a nice experience to try this.

If Disney was not able to do this, for whatever reason, we should organize it ourselves! I know that we would "violate" the rights for these sketches but I don't think they will go into court for a little guy in Belgium that just is a huge fan and wants to get the complete shows together...

Hopefully Disney will not run into problems with other sketches for the next seasons...

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

I Am going to watch one disc a day for the next 4 days thats how i watch Tv Shows on Dvd so i'll let you know later today my Review on disc one

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

First of all ths is the first time i have seen TMS since 1980's i have the Time Life Video but never watched them for some reason well it was cause i broke my VCR and then just watched DVDs so until i had a DVD/VCR Recorder i could watch them

Juliet Prowse: great epsiode she is just stunning, the picture is great it was great to se the Mana-naha guy, Milk drinking by Kermit was a good trick. I Love that at one Point Scootor had a back bone i respect him now

Connie Stevens: good epsode, Ernie and Bert were funny. Fozzie is in more scenes then Kermit. it''s amazing how really adavnced this show was when i look at other things on tv then even now it was well written

Joel Grey: 1st Apperamnce Newsman by Fozzie's Jokes were funny about everyday things.Statler and Waldorf are propley the only ones that are the same from episode one on. I Love all the Random Muppets that get funny lines. Sherlock holmes was funny.

Ruth Buzzi: 1st Preformances by Electric Mayham, Wayne& Wanda, Sam the Eagle and Sweetums all classic, Loved the wind-up Kermit, Rowlf's Onion Song was just great i need to find that on mp3 also the 1st Social Uplifting Roundtable

Rita Mareno: 1st Preformance of Vets Hospital ( There is a Lot of Sexual Inuendo but Kermit could not say HE LL in the REEL), Marvin Suggs and the Muppetones,I Loved the Phone Gags and "To Marrow" song

Jim Nabors: This is the Intro to Scooter because it is the second epside shown even though he was in all the others except the Rita Mareno Eps the 1st one
Love the Bakery sketch




Overall Disc One was great like i said it is diffrent watching the muppets some 20 years later i get alot more of the jokes and the Muppet Morsals are great they are aqua blue and are not bothersome ,i learned alot the only problem i have with the Package is to get to Discs 2 & 4 you have to take out 1 & 3. well tommarow mornig i'll watch Disc Two off to play Madden 2006 or PS2 which came out today too

 

[FReeZe]

I bought my set at Best Buy and it didn't have the "fuzzy cover" I thought it was going to. Did I miss something? Do you have to buy it elsewhere to get this cover? If anyone got a fuzzy cover, where did you get it?

 

[Squigiman]

Well, as far as the confusion there, they do tout it as "remastered and restored", and that can seem to imply restoration from episodes being incomplete from previous television airings. It also sounds like Gelfling Waldo was specifically, at least for one part, referring to Ernie and Bert being on the show, as other technically "Muppet" characters that do not fall under Disney's license. I'm sure if those two met the chopping block, reaction would be much worse than it is, especially when recalling the simpler times of the Muppet Family Christmas, where all groups of characters could unite under one roof, literally. I also don't understand your justification of the Vincent Price thing. If there were a "more complete" version available to Time-Life, why would it not have been used by Disney?

Remember, I am not trying to discount much of what you say, as it does make sense, but there are arguments to be made when such actions have been made in chopping up the classic works of characters beloved the world over. A movie on a DVD might get a bare-bones release, and years later, unexpectingly, perhaps to cash in on a big screen remake, as is so often the case, it will get a "Special" or even specifically aimed at "Collector's" editions. In the case of a season box set, this is not true, so this is mostly likely all we'll get and those bits and pieces won't see the light of day. It's pretty disheartening for such seasoned fans, especially of an entity that seemed to have died with its creator, struggling to stay noticed, when the best stuff from its hey-day is finally made available, after years of let-downs in new productions, and lack of other such releases of classic material, that it should be cut like this.

I am obviously going to enjoy my set, without a doubt. I haven't seen many of the episodes at all, and they will all be featuring the original first season openings, which is a huge triumph to me. Though the last thing I'd do is boycott the set, as it sends the complete wrong message, I do believe the "Holding Company" has a lot to learn come the time of release of Season 2. If there were some available address, e-mail or otherwise, for them, I'd urge others disappointed with the set in any specific way, though maturely,clearly, and concisely, to let them know. Complaining about things isn't always a useless exercise. If people were just satisfied with what was initially was given to them, we would have died off as a species. Seriously, chew on that a bit.


-Squigiman

 

[Kimp the Shrimp]

I Agree i am 27 and i just smiled all day after watching the first 6 episodes

don't boycott lets hope season 2 comes out soon may-july next year

 

[Timhodge]

I bought my set at Best Buy and it didn't have the "fuzzy cover" I thought it was going to. Did I miss something? Do you have to buy it elsewhere to get this cover? If anyone got a fuzzy cover, where did you get it?

Anyone got an answer on this? I'm expecting fuzzy goodness too, and I'll be very disappointed if that box arrives from Amazon with an absence of fuzziness! Bad enough it'll be 2012 before it reaches me here in Australia -- additional heartbreak would be too much to bear!

 

[Ashmanarion]

Mine is not fuzzy.