DVD-On-DVD Reviews (All Seasons)

[David VP]

I thought I'd give myself a shameless plug and post the following links to some comments/reviews I did for the fantastic full-season DVD sets of our all-time favorite sitcom -- THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW.

Any serious (or even semi-serious) fan of this series who doesn't own each of these season DVD sets needs to have the old head examined for walnuts! (Err...I meant to say "rocks").

These DVD-on-DVD compilations are the BEST TV-on-DVD products yet produced, IMO!

I'm guessing most everyone here will agree with my glowing comments in the links below. (Full Season 1 and Season 2 Reviews are located in the "Season 3 Review" thread.)

And just remember one thing kids of Bonnie Meadow Road ...... "A second with you is like a year with an angry mob!"


THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW: SEASON 1, SEASON 2, AND SEASON 3 REVIEWS.

THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW: SEASON 4 REVIEW.

[algebra74]

Great Link! Thank you!

[JudgeGarth]

Now you've got me wanting to read some of the other articles in those TV Guides! Garry Moore in exile?

[David VP]

Yeah, I know what you mean, Garth.

Here's another I'd love to look at (circa January 1964). .........



The headline "YOUR SCREEN MAY ONLY SHOW HALF THE PICTURE" is intriguing. Sounds like a "Pro OAR (Original Aspect Ratio)" article from 40 years ago.

I'm wondering if that article IS about movies being shown in the awful, hacked-up "Full Screen" (1.33:1) ratio on TV, rather than the intended original Widescreen ratio (like we can see on DVDs and via TCM, which is a great cable network showing all movies in their OAR.

[jehobden]

Originally posted by JudgeGarth
Now you've got me wanting to read some of the other articles in those TV Guides! Garry Moore in exile?

I got that particular TVG issue (4/12/69) off EBay and read the Garry Moore article. It just discussed how he'd been one of the busiest men in tv, and very well-paid for it, but by 1969 he was doing very little on tv. He lost both his original primetime variety show, as well as the host job on I've Got a Secret, in 1964, and his comeback variety show in 1966 had flopped. He had however made a deal to start hosting the syndicated revival of To Tell the Truth that year, and he held that job until he retired for health reasons in 1977, so thanks to his new job, he wasn't in exile anymore.

I still haven't been able to get the TVG issue w/ Reiner on the cover (1/4/64) yet, but fortunately I know of a couple college campuses that have TVG on microfilm, including my alma mater, Baylor Univ. in Waco, TX, so I can read those articles if and when I want to and can make the trip. I was in TVG heaven when I found all those old issues on microfilm in the library when I got there.

[JudgeGarth]

Thanks for the info, Jehobden! As I recall, Garry Moore got so mad when his Tuesday night variety show was cancelled in 1964 that he quit "I've Got a Secret", took a trip around the world and went into self-imposed "exile." He re-emerged in 1966 with a new variety hour but that was a big flop.

Yes, when I was in college (30-something years ago!) I also used to go to the library and pore over old TV Guides.

[David VP]

Question for all DVD-on-DVD fans (which is everybody here no doubt ) .........

I searched many threads in here, and didn't see anybody discussing the "fuzzy"/"out-of-focus" problem that we see on a few episodes of TDVDS on the DVD boxed sets.

Hasn't anybody been slightly bothered by the slight "flickering" or "fluttering" (for lack of a better description) video on a few eps. (mainly in Season 1)?

"Punch Thy Neighbor" and "A Word A Day" are two of the shows affected from season one (but for just about 8 to 9 minutes each -- not the whole episodes).

There are also a few shows from the other seasons that are fuzzy in places, including "Three Letters From One Wife", which goes "blurry" slightly at the 15:35 mark in the show (and stays that way through the end credits -- the only time I've noticed the credits flickering on any episode).

In case no one knows WHY this is the case .... I wrote Image Entertainment directly and asked them if this was DVD Transfer problem (which it looked like to me).

I got a rapid reply from Image, stating that they ARE aware of the "blurriness" in a few shows -- and they stated they've done everything possible to clear up the problem. But, due to "warped film" at the source level (which is the original 35mm films stored in Hollywood), not all the blurriness could be completely corrected.

It's more annoying if you've got a huge TV screen (over 40 inches), which is what I've got. So maybe that's why I notice it more. However, it still isn't a huge deal that should keep any true-blue TDVDS fan from getting these great DVD sets.

I was just curious if these "blurries" were bothering anyone else.

P.S. -- I'm just thankful that these 40-year-old films didn't have more "warped" sections in them. Otherwise, it would have been wiser, IMO, for Image/Brownstein to have used other prints (and not these originals) for the DVD transfers.

I'm still wondering, though, WHY Image *didn't* go with a alternate print for these "warped" sections of the shows? Like, say, for instance utilizing the prints used by Columbia House a few years ago when C.H. produced an excellent (for VHS) set of 10 videos for its "Great TV" series of tapes.

I still have "Punch Thy Neighbor" via the Col. House VHS series, and no part of that print is blurry at all. Which means (I would think) that Image could have spliced in that print for the 8 minutes, instead of going with the fuzzier 35mm print.

I, myself, would have preferred that option rather than blurriness. Even though it would mean dealing with a second-generation source print, and probably a more "grain-filled" section of the episodes in question.

[algebra74]

David VP, I did not notive this "bluriness" on my viewing of these episodes thus far. This may be partly due to my 13-inch television on which I watch all of these episodes! I did, however, notice, on occasion, some black, vertical lines appearing on the screen. These occured only for about 3-7 seconds at a time, usually just once per episode, in maybe three episodes per season. A fine example of this is when Laura explains to Rob that her love letters were written about God, not she in "Joe Coogan". I guess the reason why no one has complained about these minor flaws is that we are all thrilled with the fact that we are getting this much. Flaws and all, these episodes certainly have never looked better!

[David VP]

David VP, I did not notive this "bluriness" on my viewing of these episodes thus far. This may be partly due to my 13-inch television...

Yes, the small screen makes any defects not as noticeable. (Now I'm sorry to have alerted you to these blurries -- which definitely are there. Just don't look TOO HARD. )

I did, however, notice, on occasion, some black, vertical lines appearing on the screen. These occured only for about 3-7 seconds at a time, usually just once per episode, in maybe three episodes per season. ...

Now that's something I hadn't noticed as yet (even on a 50-inch screen). Funny. Now *I'll* be looking for *that*! LOL! or

I guess the reason why no one has complained about these minor flaws is that we are all thrilled with the fact that we are getting this much. Flaws and all, these episodes certainly have never looked better!

I agree. Even with a flaw here & there, they look great.
We must also realize that these DVDs are being done more than 40 YEARS after the shows were filmed. I guess in that amount of time, some visual defects are bound to pop up.

[David VP]

I know this is "Off-Topic" (and the show isn't a sitcom) .... but ......

For those of you who remember the show (it aired originally in 1964-1965, just when TDVDS was in its 4th season), I'd like to recommend another great TV-on-DVD product: "JONNY QUEST".

It's a great-looking 4-Disc boxed set, with all 26 episodes of the first (and only) season of the original JQ cartoon series from Hanna-Barbera.

If you remember watching Jonny as a kid on Saturday mornings (where it resided, on ALL THREE NETWORKS at some point, from 1967 to 1980), then you'll love this DVD set. ..........

[David VP]

I've noticed a small edit in the season-three Dick Van Dyke Show episode, "The Life And Love Of Joe Coogan". There's a very funny line by Rob that has two words cut out for some unknown reason on the DVD-Video.

See if this is the case on your copy. ...........

In the office scene where Rob is talking to Laura on the phone, after Laura's line, "I don't like your tone!", Rob says: "You're gonna hear a dial tone in a minute, because I'm gonna hang up on you!"

On the DVD, the words "On You" are muted. But you can easily see Rob mouthing the words. So the words are indeed in the script. And it's not a case of the studio-audience laughter drowning out these words.

Can't figure out WHY this small edit was made. I'm nearly certain the "on you" words are there when you see the show on TV.

[Charlie Chan]

Could this be an audio dropout instead of an edit? Audio dropouts can result from damage in the original elements or perhaps a problem with a transfer?

[David VP]

But the audience laughter doesn't drop out. Just the dialogue.

[David VP]

Just noticed an interesting "dubbed" line in Season Four's "The Ghost Of A. Chantz" ------

Buddy's line (while talking to the ghost): "Look, if you don't want the lights off, we'll leave them on" had to be re-dubbed after filming. This is evident if you look closely at Buddy's mouth during this line.

Morey blew the line -- He said "If you don't want them ON we'll leave them OFF". So they had to dub it the other way around.

The more you watch these eps., the more of these little things you'll notice.

Another highly noticeable dub comes in "A Surprise Surprise Is A Surprise" -- in the last scene, Rob's line "Westside Highway" was dubbed. Underneath, you can see he really mouths "Westside Expressway".

[SawgrassSteve]

Originally posted by David VP
...Another highly noticeable dub comes in "A Surprise Surprise Is A Surprise" -- in the last scene, Rob's line "Westside Highway" was dubbed. Underneath, you can see he really mouths "Westside Expressway".

Yes! I have long noticed that flub, but wasn't sure what was actually said at the time of filming. In fact, Dick seems to make a lot of those, and they have to be dubbed in correctly later.

Steve