All in the Family - The Complete Ninth Season DVD Review - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TJ · 05-12-2011, 01:56 AM

It's one last chance (well, that is in the original series) to spend some time in the Bunker household in All in the Family - The Complete Ninth Season. Far from the first season, the series has evolved significantly by now, with Mike and Gloria now gone and living in California, Archie become much more soft-hearted and lovable than the loud-mouthed bigot from the first season (though he still has his moments), and a new addition to the household, Edith's nine-year-old niece Stephanie (played by Danielle Brisebois, now a well-known lyricist in the music industry), who was literally left on the doorstep for Archie and Edith to care for. But it is still "all in the family" for the Bunkers in this ninth and final season of the classic series.

Read our review by skees53 here:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/allinth...dvdreview.html

Please post any questions or comments about this set.

Robert 13 · 05-13-2011, 03:21 PM

Thanks for the review TJ! I'm waiting for my copy to arrive.

But we actually didn't get every episode in uncut form. The first episode in Season 7 (from Shout!) omits the opening scene where the waitress is asking Archie's buddies where he is. I believe another minor cut was made elsewhere too. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this.

I have to agree though that I am VERY surprised at the terrible treatment this groundbreaking series was given on dvd. We were led to believe, when the exciting news was announced that Shout would continue the series, that special features were being considered and held on to for the final season to make it a special edition. Sadly, that has not happened. I agree with TJ that I don't consider the 200th episode a special feature.

There are so many things that could have been included. Frankly, I'm not too sure why Shout bothered to pick up the dvd rights. Maybe Sony didn't allow them to add bonus features??? What other reason could they possibly have?!? It's definitely not going to boost sales to release a bare bones set.

In the end, it's sad to see the way it was treated but I am happy to own the series. I highly doubt they will continue with ABP at this point. They didn't seem interested in giving this series much attention, I don't see how they would care to take on its follow-up.

HelloLarry · 05-17-2011, 01:47 AM

[QUOTE=Robert 13]Frankly, I'm not too sure why Shout bothered to pick up the dvd rights. Maybe Sony didn't allow them to add bonus features??? What other reason could they possibly have?!? It's definitely not going to boost sales to release a bare bones set.[QUOTE]

You should be happy that a company like SHOUT! is out there. While I would never defend Sony, it is a true in sales trends of older shows (mentioned in many a DVD review) that season 2 doesn't do as well as season 1, season 3 not as well as season 2 etc. While the lack of features is annoying, I'm happy that SHOUT! picked up this abandoned series and got the rest of them out.

All that being said, there was another snippet cut out in the 'Archie and the Mob' episode from season 3 (I think?) The weird thing is that the episode was unedited when Columbia House released it as part of their continuity program back in the 90s. Not sure why the edit was there but if you had the VHS from Columbia House and could transfer the ep. to DVD, you'd be just fine. It is a small clip (probably 15 seconds of time) but it was annoying nevertheless.

1960'sTVfan · 05-17-2011, 12:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HelloLarry

All that being said, there was another snippet cut out in the 'Archie and the Mob' episode from season 3 (I think?) The weird thing is that the episode was unedited when Columbia House released it as part of their continuity program back in the 90s. Not sure why the edit was there but if you had the VHS from Columbia House and could transfer the ep. to DVD, you'd be just fine. It is a small clip (probably 15 seconds of time) but it was annoying nevertheless.

Why would they bother to cut 15 seconds from an episode? That's really annoying, stuff like that ruins the entire DVD set in my opinion.

Robert 13 · 05-18-2011, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HelloLarry

You should be happy that a company like SHOUT! is out there. While I would never defend Sony, it is a true in sales trends of older shows (mentioned in many a DVD review) that season 2 doesn't do as well as season 1, season 3 not as well as season 2 etc. While the lack of features is annoying, I'm happy that SHOUT! picked up this abandoned series and got the rest of them out.

No-no, don't get me wrong. I'm happy Shout DID license the show and release the remaining seasons. I was wondering (purely from a business point-of-view) as to why they would license it and not make it the biggest release they could by adding bonus features, etc. Surely, that would heighten sales. But, like I said, maybe Sony wouldn't approve of any bonus features or something like that. It's possible Shout just wasn't able to include anything. I'm just wondering what happened in the planning behind-the-scenes. Did they try? We're they flat out rejected? Just curious.

ikhuri · 05-18-2011, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert 13

Thanks for the review TJ! I'm waiting for my copy to arrive.

But we actually didn't get every episode in uncut form. The first episode in Season 7 (from Shout!) omits the opening scene where the waitress is asking Archie's buddies where he is. I believe another minor cut was made elsewhere too. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this.

I have to agree though that I am VERY surprised at the terrible treatment this groundbreaking series was given on dvd. We were led to believe, when the exciting news was announced that Shout would continue the series, that special features were being considered and held on to for the final season to make it a special edition. Sadly, that has not happened. I agree with TJ that I don't consider the 200th episode a special feature.

There are so many things that could have been included. Frankly, I'm not too sure why Shout bothered to pick up the dvd rights. Maybe Sony didn't allow them to add bonus features??? What other reason could they possibly have?!? It's definitely not going to boost sales to release a bare bones set.

In the end, it's sad to see the way it was treated but I am happy to own the series. I highly doubt they will continue with ABP at this point. They didn't seem interested in giving this series much attention, I don't see how they would care to take on its follow-up.

The other episode with a minor edit in question was in Season 2. It was the "Archie Sees a Mugging" episode and it was in the middle of the scene was the cop arrives to question Archie. But, fortunately, that episode is available on the Columbia House video with that dialogue intact.

Imad

comedyfreak · 05-19-2011, 05:29 AM

My copy has been shipped, so I should be getting it sometime this week.

Robert 13 · 05-20-2011, 09:37 AM

I got mine yesterday and I'm almost in disbelief that the series is complete on dvd. I wonder if there is any chance Shout would, at least, license out Season 2 of ABP for the infamous opening episode declaring the death of our beloved character.

HelloLarry · 05-20-2011, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

Why would they bother to cut 15 seconds from an episode? That's really annoying, stuff like that ruins the entire DVD set in my opinion.

I don't think they cut it out on purpose. Nobody probably noticed unless they were a hard core fan of the series and knew every line of dialog. It's a clean enough edit where if you didn't know it was supposed to be there, you'd never know anything was missing. By and large it is only nerds like us who notice these things. It wasn't the end of the world.

HelloLarry · 05-20-2011, 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikhuri

The other episode with a minor edit in question was in Season 2. It was the "Archie Sees a Mugging" episode and it was in the middle of the scene was the cop arrives to question Archie. But, fortunately, that episode is available on the Columbia House video with that dialogue intact.

Imad

THAT is the episode I was referring to. I had the wrong title. So to true this up, there were edits in two episodes; this one and Archie and the Waitress. I think that is it right?

05-12-2011, 01:56 AM	#1
TJ Site Owner Administrator Forum Star Join Date: Feb 03, 2000 Location: Marietta, GA Posts: 10,681	All in the Family - The Complete Ninth Season DVD Review It's one last chance (well, that is in the original series) to spend some time in the Bunker household in All in the Family - The Complete Ninth Season. Far from the first season, the series has evolved significantly by now, with Mike and Gloria now gone and living in California, Archie become much more soft-hearted and lovable than the loud-mouthed bigot from the first season (though he still has his moments), and a new addition to the household, Edith's nine-year-old niece Stephanie (played by Danielle Brisebois, now a well-known lyricist in the music industry), who was literally left on the doorstep for Archie and Edith to care for. But it is still "all in the family" for the Bunkers in this ninth and final season of the classic series. Read our review by skees53 here: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/allinth...dvdreview.html Please post any questions or comments about this set.

05-13-2011, 03:21 PM	#2
Robert 13 Member Senior Member Join Date: May 10, 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1,521	Thanks for the review TJ! I'm waiting for my copy to arrive. But we actually didn't get every episode in uncut form. The first episode in Season 7 (from Shout!) omits the opening scene where the waitress is asking Archie's buddies where he is. I believe another minor cut was made elsewhere too. Maybe someone else can shed some light on this. I have to agree though that I am VERY surprised at the terrible treatment this groundbreaking series was given on dvd. We were led to believe, when the exciting news was announced that Shout would continue the series, that special features were being considered and held on to for the final season to make it a special edition. Sadly, that has not happened. I agree with TJ that I don't consider the 200th episode a special feature. There are so many things that could have been included. Frankly, I'm not too sure why Shout bothered to pick up the dvd rights. Maybe Sony didn't allow them to add bonus features??? What other reason could they possibly have?!? It's definitely not going to boost sales to release a bare bones set. In the end, it's sad to see the way it was treated but I am happy to own the series. I highly doubt they will continue with ABP at this point. They didn't seem interested in giving this series much attention, I don't see how they would care to take on its follow-up.
	__________________ Com'è straordinaria la vita, che un giorno ti senti come in un sogno e poi ti ritrovi all'inferno - Dolcenera

05-19-2011, 05:29 AM	#7
comedyfreak Cheers! Forum Fanatic Join Date: Dec 14, 2005 Location: Sunny California Posts: 11,059	My copy has been shipped, so I should be getting it sometime this week.
	__________________ www.facebook.com/comedyfreak

05-17-2011, 01:47 AM	#3
HelloLarry Meathead Frequent Poster Join Date: Aug 21, 2006 Posts: 273	[QUOTE=Robert 13]Frankly, I'm not too sure why Shout bothered to pick up the dvd rights. Maybe Sony didn't allow them to add bonus features??? What other reason could they possibly have?!? It's definitely not going to boost sales to release a bare bones set.[QUOTE] You should be happy that a company like SHOUT! is out there. While I would never defend Sony, it is a true in sales trends of older shows (mentioned in many a DVD review) that season 2 doesn't do as well as season 1, season 3 not as well as season 2 etc. While the lack of features is annoying, I'm happy that SHOUT! picked up this abandoned series and got the rest of them out. All that being said, there was another snippet cut out in the 'Archie and the Mob' episode from season 3 (I think?) The weird thing is that the episode was unedited when Columbia House released it as part of their continuity program back in the 90s. Not sure why the edit was there but if you had the VHS from Columbia House and could transfer the ep. to DVD, you'd be just fine. It is a small clip (probably 15 seconds of time) but it was annoying nevertheless.

05-20-2011, 09:37 AM	#8
Robert 13 Member Senior Member Join Date: May 10, 2006 Location: Boston, MA Posts: 1,521	I got mine yesterday and I'm almost in disbelief that the series is complete on dvd. I wonder if there is any chance Shout would, at least, license out Season 2 of ABP for the infamous opening episode declaring the death of our beloved character.