Mr. Terrific news - Why I'm beginning to hate Universal

[ekkostar]

I just opened this because it's a thread complaining about Universal and I have a lot of complaints about the whole company. :-P

I agree that Universal's home video and music division have gone straight into the crapper. The only DVD set I've seen done well (Twice!) was Back to the Future. They made the Sliders S1/S2 set cheesy as hale and overpriced it at $100, only to be sold at big box stores at $19.99 2 years later.

As for the music division, there are still Robert Palmer remasters they've been withholding on for 3 years and the fans are still waiting for a release. I remember when they announced the release in 2006! They deleted entries for all of the Out Of Print albums they were selling in the marketplace on Amazon during the Christmas season so maybe things are looking up (not likely).

[sbeamish]

Originally Posted by bencasey

How do you know if it's from that time period if you don't know what show it is?

According to my friend, the word from the DVD company is simply that it will be a "well-known TV series from that time." That's all I know.

Funny thing is, I went to Amazon.de last night, and the "Immer, wenn er Pillen nahm" listing is back. It even says July 17.

I'm not gonna be sure of anything until I actually have it in my hands.

[sbeamish]

Originally Posted by ekkostar

I just opened this because it's a thread complaining about Universal and I have a lot of complaints about the whole company. :-P

I agree that Universal's home video and music division have gone straight into the crapper. The only DVD set I've seen done well (Twice!) was Back to the Future. They made the Sliders S1/S2 set cheesy as hale and overpriced it at $100, only to be sold at big box stores at $19.99 2 years later.

As for the music division, there are still Robert Palmer remasters they've been withholding on for 3 years and the fans are still waiting for a release. I remember when they announced the release in 2006! They deleted entries for all of the Out Of Print albums they were selling in the marketplace on Amazon during the Christmas season so maybe things are looking up (not likely).

Of course I was oversimplifying things quite a bit, when I titled this thread. I don't really "hate" Universal. I'm just (understandably) frustrated that this one special show from my childhood, the one that I would most especially love to own, has been so difficult to get my hands on.

It's been a long, hard search for me, but it may almost be coming to an end. Still, there's going to be a bit of expense and fuss, when the set is finally released.

I'll be looking to invest in a PAL player. I guess you can get them here. In fact, I'm pretty sure a friend of mine owns one. He had to get it to run the massive Laurel & Hardy DVD collection he got from Europe. And I'll probably buy at least 2 sets of the show. I'll need one to watch, while I send the other out to be transferred to NTSC for backup.

I don't really mind the expense for this show, but the fuss is going to wear on me. It would be so much easier if I could just drive to the mall and buy a set that would work on my current DVD player.

But I guess that's part of the fun of being a collector. And it makes the payoff that much sweeter.

[bencasey]

Originally Posted by sbeamish

Of course I was oversimplifying things quite a bit, when I titled this thread. I don't really "hate" Universal. I'm just (understandably) frustrated that this one special show from my childhood, the one that I would most especially love to own, has been so difficult to get my hands on.

It's been a long, hard search for me, but it may almost be coming to an end. Still, there's going to be a bit of expense and fuss, when the set is finally released.

I'll be looking to invest in a PAL player. I guess you can get them here. In fact, I'm pretty sure a friend of mine owns one. He had to get it to run the massive Laurel & Hardy DVD collection he got from Europe. And I'll probably buy at least 2 sets of the show. I'll need one to watch, while I send the other out to be transferred to NTSC for backup.

I don't really mind the expense for this show, but the fuss is going to wear on me. It would be so much easier if I could just drive to the mall and buy a set that would work on my current DVD player.

But I guess that's part of the fun of being a collector. And it makes the payoff that much sweeter.

Wow, you really make things far more complicated than they have to be. Firstly, you can do an internet search on the type of DVD player you have and find a hack code to break the region coding in about 30 seconds. Secondly, you can easily find a program to break the region encoding on your computer so you could burn copies with your regular DVD burner. I used to have one a few years ago when I was renting stuff to copy like Ally McBeal.

[bencasey]

Originally Posted by sbeamish

According to my friend, the word from the DVD company is simply that it will be a "well-known TV series from that time." That's all I know.

Funny thing is, I went to Amazon.de last night, and the "Immer, wenn er Pillen nahm" listing is back. It even says July 17.

I'm not gonna be sure of anything until I actually have it in my hands.

I don't want "well known" series from that time. I have them already. The shows I'm after, that I only have a few episodes of, are the not so well known ones, like Many Happy Returns, The Cara Williams Show, Double Life of Henry Phyfe, Love on a Rooftop, The Jean Arthur Show, Mickey, Hank, The Tycoon, Run Buddy Run, The Good Guys and so on.

[sbeamish]

Originally Posted by bencasey

Wow, you really make things far more complicated than they have to be. Firstly, you can do an internet search on the type of DVD player you have and find a hack code to break the region coding in about 30 seconds. Secondly, you can easily find a program to break the region encoding on your computer so you could burn copies with your regular DVD burner. I used to have one a few years ago when I was renting stuff to copy like Ally McBeal.

Well, I've got a friend who can do all of that stuff, and I'm sure he'll offer, when the discs come in. Personally, I've never been any good at all with technology. As far as computers go, I've just been too lazy to bother learning much more than just how to surf through websites that interest me.

(I'm also a born worrier. Even when there are no problems, I'll find one.)

[sbeamish]

Originally Posted by bencasey

I don't want "well known" series from that time. I have them already. The shows I'm after, that I only have a few episodes of, are the not so well known ones, like Many Happy Returns, The Cara Williams Show, Double Life of Henry Phyfe, Love on a Rooftop, The Jean Arthur Show, Mickey, Hank, The Tycoon, Run Buddy Run, The Good Guys and so on.

Again, we'll have to wait and see. You know, what's "well known" in the States isn't always the same as what's "well known" in other countries. For example, I've been told that in Germany Mr. Terrific is VERY well known, while Gilligan is pretty much forgotten. It's quite the opposite here.

While I'd love to see most of the shows you listed again, this "other" series is just a roadblock to me. I can live with what's available from just about every other show. I just can't wait to finally have all of Mr. Terrific; good prints and in English.

[bencasey]

Originally Posted by sbeamish

Again, we'll have to wait and see. You know, what's "well known" in the States isn't always the same as what's "well known" in other countries. For example, I've been told that in Germany Mr. Terrific is VERY well known, while Gilligan is pretty much forgotten. It's quite the opposite here.

While I'd love to see most of the shows you listed again, this "other" series is just a roadblock to me. I can live with what's available from just about every other show. I just can't wait to finally have all of Mr. Terrific; good prints and in English.

The fact that you are thisclose to actually getting it, is amazing to me. I would have never thought you'd ever get that show. For one thing, Universal sucks and they are the worst at doing anything with their older shows. For another, even in the 80s when cable networks were buying shows like Captain Nice, Second Hundred Years, Occasional Wife, Camp Runamuck and tons of other rarities, you didn't see Mr. Terrific or any other short-lived old Uni shows. So for this to actually be coming out is nothing short of miraculous. It's not a show I ever watched, although I will pick it up. I'm happy for someone to be getting their big want. For me, right now, I would say my biggest wants would be things like Way Out, Bus Stop and Slattery's People. MOst of the sitcoms from my childhood were better when I was 8 then they are now.

[sbeamish]

Originally Posted by bencasey

The fact that you are thisclose to actually getting it, is amazing to me. I would have never thought you'd ever get that show. For one thing, Universal sucks and they are the worst at doing anything with their older shows. For another, even in the 80s when cable networks were buying shows like Captain Nice, Second Hundred Years, Occasional Wife, Camp Runamuck and tons of other rarities, you didn't see Mr. Terrific or any other short-lived old Uni shows. So for this to actually be coming out is nothing short of miraculous. It's not a show I ever watched, although I will pick it up. I'm happy for someone to be getting their big want. For me, right now, I would say my biggest wants would be things like Way Out, Bus Stop and Slattery's People. MOst of the sitcoms from my childhood were better when I was 8 then they are now.

Yeah, all things considered, I've been pretty darn lucky. (Even when you just take into account the episodes I've already received from my friends in Germany.)

I had a friend at work (sadly he passed away last year; far too young) who often talked about The Double Life of Henry Phyfe. I offered to lend him the few episodes I had, but he refused. He said he had his childhood memories, and he didn't want to taint them with an adult perspective.

I've experienced this with a lot of old shows. They simply aren't what I remembered. But I've got to say I still love watching MT. I'm sure, when I was eight years old, I didn't notice how awful most of the scripts were. But I still just love the premise and the theme song. And when you look at what they were given to work with script wise, I'd say the actors and directors all deserve to be commended.

[bencasey]

Originally Posted by sbeamish

Yeah, all things considered, I've been pretty darn lucky. (Even when you just take into account the episodes I've already received from my friends in Germany.)

I had a friend at work (sadly he passed away last year; far too young) who often talked about The Double Life of Henry Phyfe. I offered to lend him the few episodes I had, but he refused. He said he had his childhood memories, and he didn't want to taint them with an adult perspective.

I've experienced this with a lot of old shows. They simply aren't what I remembered. But I've got to say I still love watching MT. I'm sure, when I was eight years old, I didn't notice how awful most of the scripts were. But I still just love the premise and the theme song. And when you look at what they were given to work with script wise, I'd say the actors and directors all deserve to be commended.

We all have our shows that we love, even though they aren't the greatest. But to us they have a special feeling. I recently had a chance to view the remaining episodes of Nancy that I don't have in my collection. It's not a good show by any means but I was very happy to have the opportunity to see the rest of the episodes. And while the show really isn't very good, I still enjoyed them. So I know how you feel. But then I remember the first time I got to see Camp Runamuck as an adult. Horrible. And I mentioned Hank. Well, I've seen about 4 of them and it's also a pretty bad show to be honest about it. Face it, what you think is funny as a kid isn't going to be very funny to an adult.

[sbeamish]

^Here's to guilty pleasures and treasured memories. It's nice when you can retain them both.

When I picked up my first episode of Phyfe a few years back, I thought that, again, it was a show with a pretty poor script. But Red Buttons and Fred Clark floored me. They were both great; really funny. Then I got a few more eps and found none of them quite measured up to that first one. They still had their moments, but I guess I was tiring of the whole situation.

As time went by, I found that this "disillusion" hadn't completely wiped out my precious, childhood memories. Though I have no particular, burning desire to go dig up more episodes (I would still watch any that fall into my lap), I can still look back fondly on those early days when the show was oh so important to me.

[bencasey]

60s sitcoms that I watched that don't hold up:

Baileys of Balboa
It's About Time
Camp Runamuck
Hank
Blondie

Ones that do hold up:

Occasional Wife
He and She
Good Morning World
Love on a Rooftop
Accidental Family

Terrible then, still bad now:

Ugliest Girl in Town
Pruitts of Southampton
Rango
Grindl

[sbeamish]

^ Just out of curiosity, how about The Dick Van Dyke Show?

[bencasey]

Originally Posted by sbeamish

^ Just out of curiosity, how about The Dick Van Dyke Show?

Great show, one of the best sitcoms of all time. What do you think of He and She?

[sbeamish]

Originally Posted by bencasey

Great show, one of the best sitcoms of all time. What do you think of He and She?

I haven't actually seen it since I was a kid. I picked up one episode in a trade a few years ago, and I remember getting some laughs out of it, but the print was just so bad that I couldn't really enjoy it.

The one thing I really seem to remember (from my childhood) about the show was this one, particular scene in which most of the regular cast members were stuck in an elevator. Jack Cassidy had a panic attack and went into a hysterical rant that I laughed at for about a week.

At least I believe that was on He and She. It's been a long time.