The Wonder Years - The Complete Series DVD Review - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TJ · 10-14-2014, 07:26 PM

After well over a decade of waiting, fans of the classic series The Wonder Years can finally enjoy every episode of the series on DVD. StarVista's release of The Wonder Years - The Complete Series (along with their release of season 1 and a set containing season 1-3) finally gives fans what they've been waiting to see on DVD. For those unfamiliar with the series, it was a comedy-drama that aired on ABC in the late 80s and early 90s, and followed middle school (and later high school) kid Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) and his life as he grew up in the late 60s and early 70s. It wasn't the best of times, as the whole world around him was going through a cultural change. At home, he had his parents Jack and Norma Arnold (Dan Lauria and Alley Mills), brother Wayne Arnold (Jason Hervey), and sister Karen Arnold (Olivia d'Abo). There was also his best friend Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano) and on-and-off childhood sweetheart, Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar). The series was an anthology that followed through that normal family life, and all of the cultural wars that defined that period of time. The series premiered on ABC after the Super Bowl in 1988, making it one of the first true post-Super Bowl events (and a successful one at that), and ran for six seasons. It went above and beyond to fit in to the era in which the series was to take place, complete with all of the great music of the late 60s and early 70s. In fact, there were over 300 songs included on the series, which made the series a challenge to put on DVD... until now.

This technically isn't the first time that the series has been on DVD. In fact, The Wonder Years was actually one of the first TV series to ever appear on DVD with two single episode releases back in 1998, complete with bad music substitutions. Those discs arrived before most people were even into TV-on-DVD (and many didn't even own DVD players yet and still relied on VCRs). Those DVDs went out of print and in 2006 (eight years later), Fox began to discuss putting it out on DVD. Those plans never panned out, and now, finally, eight years after those plans (and an astonishing sixteen years after the first releases), one of the most awaited TV series ever is finally complete on DVD. Even better, the complete series comes complete with almost every song ever included in the series, with less than 5% of the songs not being able to be cleared for the release.

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

Please post any questions or comments about this set.

Ron Ron · 10-14-2014, 08:31 PM

Video Quality: 4/5

Thats being very generous on your 4 stars. The picture is bad. You failed to mention the white line streak going down the first season release. I know its there because others on amazon have commented on it. There is no way the video quality is a 4 star...check out the reviews for the video quality on amazon.

tlc38tlc38 · 10-14-2014, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ron Ron

Video Quality: 4/5

Thats being very generous on your 4 stars. The picture is bad. You failed to mention the white line streak going down the first season release. I know its there because others on amazon have commented on it. There is no way the video quality is a 4 star...check out the reviews for the video quality on amazon.

I actually don't think the picture is all that bad. I bought season 1 today and watched all 6 episodes. The picture looks fine to me and the white line on the right side of the screen doesn't bother at all. I guess I'm just not that hard to please.

bigoranget · 10-29-2014, 10:43 PM

I'm pretty sure this show was produced on Videotape so there really isn't much remastering that can be done.

HelloLarry · 10-30-2014, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigoranget

I'm pretty sure this show was produced on Videotape so there really isn't much remastering that can be done.

It was shot on 16mm and transferred to tape which accounts for the grainy quality. IMO, it adds a vintage charm to the show. It hasn't distracted from my watching and enjoying them.

Adamantium · 10-30-2014, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HelloLarry

IMO, it adds a vintage charm to the show. It hasn't distracted from my watching and enjoying them.

YES! That's exactly how I feel about this.

DawnShadow · 09-28-2016, 04:46 AM

For those of you who don't yet know, Fabulous Films in the UK has released a set with 100% of the original music (except they accidentally left the Netflix intro music on one Season 2 episode). If you haven't bought yet, buy that one instead!

Video is 24fps/NTSC and all the special features are carried over. The US set has no benefits in any way.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...A3P5ROKL5A1OLE

They've also been quoted to say that a Blu-ray release is possible if sales are good enough!

Quote:

It has performed as expected in this climate, it is not cheap, as it cost a fortune to license and a fortune to clear and produce. It is great value and a brilliant gift, packed with 23 hours of bonus features and it should perform well over christmas. If it ends up doing well it could end up on Blu-ray, there are no plans in the US or UK for the foreseeable future though.

Source : http://www.dvdcompare.net/features/f..._interview.php

Confidenceman28 · 10-02-2019, 06:19 PM

The DVD looks good just happy the series is out on DVD

10-14-2014, 07:26 PM	#1
TJ Site Owner Administrator Forum Star Join Date: Feb 03, 2000 Location: Marietta, GA Posts: 10,694	The Wonder Years - The Complete Series DVD Review After well over a decade of waiting, fans of the classic series The Wonder Years can finally enjoy every episode of the series on DVD. StarVista's release of The Wonder Years - The Complete Series (along with their release of season 1 and a set containing season 1-3) finally gives fans what they've been waiting to see on DVD. For those unfamiliar with the series, it was a comedy-drama that aired on ABC in the late 80s and early 90s, and followed middle school (and later high school) kid Kevin Arnold (Fred Savage) and his life as he grew up in the late 60s and early 70s. It wasn't the best of times, as the whole world around him was going through a cultural change. At home, he had his parents Jack and Norma Arnold (Dan Lauria and Alley Mills), brother Wayne Arnold (Jason Hervey), and sister Karen Arnold (Olivia d'Abo). There was also his best friend Paul Pfeiffer (Josh Saviano) and on-and-off childhood sweetheart, Winnie Cooper (Danica McKellar). The series was an anthology that followed through that normal family life, and all of the cultural wars that defined that period of time. The series premiered on ABC after the Super Bowl in 1988, making it one of the first true post-Super Bowl events (and a successful one at that), and ran for six seasons. It went above and beyond to fit in to the era in which the series was to take place, complete with all of the great music of the late 60s and early 70s. In fact, there were over 300 songs included on the series, which made the series a challenge to put on DVD... until now. This technically isn't the first time that the series has been on DVD. In fact, The Wonder Years was actually one of the first TV series to ever appear on DVD with two single episode releases back in 1998, complete with bad music substitutions. Those discs arrived before most people were even into TV-on-DVD (and many didn't even own DVD players yet and still relied on VCRs). Those DVDs went out of print and in 2006 (eight years later), Fox began to discuss putting it out on DVD. Those plans never panned out, and now, finally, eight years after those plans (and an astonishing sixteen years after the first releases), one of the most awaited TV series ever is finally complete on DVD. Even better, the complete series comes complete with almost every song ever included in the series, with less than 5% of the songs not being able to be cleared for the release. Read our review by skees53 here: http://www.sitcomsonline.com/thewond...dvdreview.html Please post any questions or comments about this set.

10-14-2014, 08:31 PM	#2
Ron Ron Member Senior Member Join Date: Oct 30, 2005 Posts: 2,138	Video Quality: 4/5 Thats being very generous on your 4 stars. The picture is bad. You failed to mention the white line streak going down the first season release. I know its there because others on amazon have commented on it. There is no way the video quality is a 4 star...check out the reviews for the video quality on amazon.

10-29-2014, 10:43 PM	#4
bigoranget Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Nov 15, 2008 Location: Ontario Posts: 21	I'm pretty sure this show was produced on Videotape so there really isn't much remastering that can be done.

10-02-2019, 06:19 PM	#8
Confidenceman28 Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Sep 29, 2019 Location: USA Posts: 311	The DVD looks good just happy the series is out on DVD