Just received mine. The quality is disappointing. Even more disturbing, according to some of the reviews on Amazon, they are the edited syndication versions, not the original full-length network versions. Some of the reviewers hint at complete "unofficial" copies that have been floating around for years. If anyone has those versions and is willing to trade, please post the info here or send me a private message. Thanks.
shareThose versions might be hard to find since very few people recorded shows then. Also there is a disclaimer on the discs (in case you missed it) saying they were made from the best available source. Enjoy them for what they are, not what they are not. It was an effort for Shout to finish this series where their friends at Universal left off. Accept it for what it is.
shareThey appeared to be taken from Beta Syndication Master Tapes, that are to this day provided to the stations that air shows. Little known fact, as Beta is extremely high quality. Kind of a rough transfer but still as has been said I was delighted just to see it released on DVD so I could have all 3 seasons. Some of the episodes on the Universal sets were pretty rough quality as well.
shareGot mine yesterday. Disappointed that they are apparently edited versions, but I'm still happy to have clear picture/sound etc.
I have "unofficial" versions of season three episodes, but some (maybe all?) of them are also edited. I will check the lengths later on, and do a post on here for comparison purposes.
http://abriefingwithmichael.tumblr.com/
For those who have bought the Official Release of season three, here are the running times for the ten episodes, compared to the times for those same episodes from two unofficial fanmade sets I've purchases over the years.
46:05 - 44:03
46:05 - 44:07
46:05 - 47:06/47:07
45:55 - 47:35/47:35
45:50 - 44:05/45:19
46:03 - 45:33/45:33
45:59 - 45:52
46:07 - 47:36
46:08 - 47:43/45:46
46:02 - 45:36/45:36
The episodes on this set all hit the 46 minute mark pretty closely, whereas it would appear that originally these episodes were a minute and a half longer.
I wonder are bits cut out, or has it merely been sped up?
All in all, I am glad to have this third season officially released as the picture quality is mostly better than what I had before.
I've not had a chance to watch them yet (as I'm currently in season one. Doing another rewatch, having finished season three a couple of years back.)
http://abriefingwithmichael.tumblr.com/
Thanks for the information. I have a feeling they aren't cut up or maybe just a few seconds might be chopped.
My memory isn't as great as I'd like it to be, but I remember seeing these when I was kid first run - at least the 3rd season - (and syndicated). They used to come on Saturday mornings on the local UHF station back in the early '80s.
If they are chopped (which I doubt), it isn't nearly as noticable as the original release of Little House on the Prairie. That series was massively cut on DVD. Good thing they are finally releasing restored versions of them on blu ray. Next to Hardy Boys and Dukes of Hazzard, that was one of my favorites growing up.
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