Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series on DVD (4/3)

[TJ]

Cartoonist Henry Rush (Ted Knight) and his loving wife, Muriel (Nancy Dussault), have just hit upon a surefire plan to keep their maturing family intact. Daughters Jackie (Deborah Van Valkenburgh) and Sara (Lydia Cornell) may be all grown up, but that doesn't mean these proud parents are ready to sit back and watch them venture out into the big, bad world on their own. Not by a long shot! So when an apartment unexpectedly opens up in their San Francisco row house, logic dictates that they lease it to those that they want to hold dear-and, most importantly-near! But with a sexy blonde bombshell for one daughter and a smart and sassy brunette for the other, the Rushes might be getting far more than they bargained for. Never mind the wacky, ever-present social misfit that they soon have to contend with Monroe Ficus (Jim J. Bullock). Why, it’s enough to drive any parent crazy! And though it may have once innocently seemed like a sound solution, this upstairs-downstairs living arrangement may quickly prove that for all involved it's far too easy to be, well, perhaps just a little...TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT!

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The Complete Series: 6 seasons, 129 episodes

Region 1 (USA/Canada) | Approx 44 hrs. | 6 seasons | Closed Captioning | 4:3

Purchase Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series on DVD on Amazon.com:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/A...daysonline3-20

Purchase Too Close for Comfort - The Complete Series on DVD on VEI:
https://www.visualentertainment.tv/c...41147584970857

[Adamantium]

GREAT NEWS!!!!! I will definitely be purchasing this. It's on my top 10 list of shows I want complete on DVD or Blu-Ray.

[Robert 13]

Unfortunately, the 44 hour running time suggests that the episodes are either heavily edited or very time-compressed. It would have to be 50 hours in order for them to be unedited and play at a regular speed. I’m hoping 44 hours is an error but I’m bracing myself. Looks like this release may been botched.

[Adamantium]

Originally Posted by Robert 13

Unfortunately, the 44 hour running time suggests that the episodes are either heavily edited or very time-compressed. It would have to be 50 hours in order for them to be unedited and play at a regular speed. I’m hoping 44 hours is an error but I’m bracing myself. Looks like this release may been botched.

My copy just arrived today. I haven't had the chance to go through it all yet but here's what I did find out...

The runtime is a little over 22 minutes per episode. That would suggest that they are the syndicated prints.

However, when comparing the pilot episode from Rhino to VEI, the newer one is better. The Rhino episode comes back from one of the commercial breaks with Jackie entering the room where Sara's on the phone. She tells her to get off the phone. The new VEI version has Sara talking on the phone for a little bit before Jackie enters. So, while it's still edited, I assume because of the runtime, it has more footage than the original Rhino release.

However (again), I've noticed that in at least two episodes on the first disc, they use the second season opening credits on the VEI set. They don't include JM J. Bullock (rightly so as he wasn't a cast member yet), but it's just I can tell they use the season two images for Nancy Dussault and Lydia Cornell. Why they did that? I have no idea. I also don't know if they did it for every episode or just the two that I checked. The pilot episode has the original, proper opening credits, however.

As for the second season, the old Rhino set runtimes are around 24 minutes, whereas the VEI is still around 22. The VEI set also DOES NOT INCLUDE the commentaries and bonus feature interview that the Rhino set has. So, I suggest if you already own the Rhino set for season two, keep it. They are both 3-disc sets, so you could do what I did and slip the 3 season two Rhino discs into the sleeves of the VEI set, replacing the new discs.

Season 6 uses the "Too Close for Comfort" title instead of "The Ted Knight Show". In case you were wondering about that.

[thejasoomian]

^^

Many thanks for the write-up on the complete series box set! I have the Rhino season one and season two sets. I'm going to have to buy this set. Some of my favorite episodes of TCFC are in later seasons. Like the episode "The Courier". I still think Henry and Muriel having a kid was a mistake.

Any news on a complete series set of "Who's The Boss" ?

[Robert 13]

Originally Posted by Adamantium

My copy just arrived today. I haven't had the chance to go through it all yet but here's what I did find out...

The runtime is a little over 22 minutes per episode. That would suggest that they are the syndicated prints.

However, when comparing the pilot episode from Rhino to VEI, the newer one is better. The Rhino episode comes back from one of the commercial breaks with Jackie entering the room where Sara's on the phone. She tells her to get off the phone. The new VEI version has Sara talking on the phone for a little bit before Jackie enters. So, while it's still edited, I assume because of the runtime, it has more footage than the original Rhino release.

However (again), I've noticed that in at least two episodes on the first disc, they use the second season opening credits on the VEI set. They don't include JM J. Bullock (rightly so as he wasn't a cast member yet), but it's just I can tell they use the season two images for Nancy Dussault and Lydia Cornell. Why they did that? I have no idea. I also don't know if they did it for every episode or just the two that I checked. The pilot episode has the original, proper opening credits, however.

As for the second season, the old Rhino set runtimes are around 24 minutes, whereas the VEI is still around 22. The VEI set also DOES NOT INCLUDE the commentaries and bonus feature interview that the Rhino set has. So, I suggest if you already own the Rhino set for season two, keep it. They are both 3-disc sets, so you could do what I did and slip the 3 season two Rhino discs into the sleeves of the VEI set, replacing the new discs.

Season 6 uses the "Too Close for Comfort" title instead of "The Ted Knight Show". In case you were wondering about that.

I hadn't checked back on the Rhino Season 1 set to compare yet. So thanks for pointing that out. Definitely hold onto the Season 2 set. Those are the only uncut episodes we have. I'm not sure about Seasons 4-6. At 22 minutes, it seems like we must have most, if not all, of those episodes. First-run syndication episodes were shorter. I also have 3 of the 5 VHS tapes that were released sometime in the 90s. Each tape contained 3 episodes. I can confirm the episodes on those tapes are also "edited master / syndication version" as it explicitly states on title cards before an episode begins. This pertains to episodes from Seasons 3-6 which were included on volumes 3, 4 and 5 of the VHS tapes. I checked the running times and they are exactly the same as the running times on this new set. Not sure how Rhino wrangled uncut episodes for Season 2. But it does look like DLT has been using edited versions as far back as the 90s. A little more info that has convinced me this is probably as good as it gets for the show on DVD unless someone goes back and pulls original copies and creates new masters and I don't think anyone is going to do that now that the DVD has been released.

[Robert 13]

Originally Posted by Adamantium

However (again), I've noticed that in at least two episodes on the first disc, they use the second season opening credits on the VEI set. They don't include JM J. Bullock (rightly so as he wasn't a cast member yet), but it's just I can tell they use the season two images for Nancy Dussault and Lydia Cornell. Why they did that? I have no idea. I also don't know if they did it for every episode or just the two that I checked. The pilot episode has the original, proper opening credits, however.

Forgot to respond about the credits. I noticed this as well. I have only watched Disc 1 so far and they do use the full credits again, I think. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but I feel like the original credits run a tad longer. So when the 2nd season intro is used, is there a few more seconds of show? I know it's knit-picky, but it's a curiosity. LOL