First off, I'm gonna be thrilled to watch all the DVDs... but, didn't I pre-order at $17 each? Didn't I space ordering those three boxsets out a month apart to spread it out the expense?... and didn't TBS end up charging me $22 for each boxset and take all three payments out at the same time?!! What kinda tax are we looking at here? Isn't that something like 20%?
I'll be glad to get the sets, but thats the last one I order from the TBS site!
I find it ironic
In the annuls of time
That Dr. Seuss' birthday
Is one day before mine!
I went to the local FYE (the only store near me) and they had no "I SPY"s, so I caved in and ordered season 1 from Amazon...will hold off on 2 & 3 until I know if there's any actual difference in the quality of the episodes...but somebody must've have watched one of these already! They've been on shelves all day!!!
WHILE YOU ARE WAITING - Another Culp Video- THE SHARK AFFAIR :-)
April 30 2008, 2:59 AM
Hi gang,
There was a comment earlier that IMAGE Entertainment was putting out the NEW I SPY DVDs as a response to the recent release of Time-Warner's MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. DVDs ( the expensive set with all the bells & whistles extras) - jumping on the TV SPY bandwagon!
Soooo ..... while everyone is awaiting the arrival of their NEW I SPY DVDs, I thought this might keep you entertained - a most entertaining combo of Kelly Robinson (a.k.a. Capt. Shark) and Mr. Solo and Mr. Kuryakin in the MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. episode The Shark Affair (1964). As most of you know, our man Culp was offered the role of Napoleon Solo first, but turned it down - which Kelly Robinson aficionados worldwide are forever grateful.
Man from U.N.C.L.E. "The Shark Affair"
(You may need to give the player a few moments to load ... )
No comment on whether the "commentaries" for those episodes that were on the original "Culp Collection - 1" (the ones that were not "episode specific") are new.
... okay... had a pot of coffee... released my hostage... felling better now... figured the extra expense must be shipping... funny, though... seasons 2 & 3 arrived today, but no season 1... hope its close behind......
I find it ironic
In the annuls of time
That Dr. Seuss' birthday
Is one day before mine!
...if you don't want to order it online. My local Best Buy had all 3 seasons for 12.99 each. I picked up 2 & 3 as I've already ordered season 1 from Amazon.
I doubt that the commentaries are different -- why get rid of perfectly good (nay excellent) commentaries from the earlier release just to have new ones where'd he'd cover likely the same things? EDIT -- I just saw on that Home Theater Forum thread that they are all the same commentaries...
As for episode quality, I also suspect no work has been done -- my major concern is that they'll look worse, as they are jamming up to six episodes per disc this release, as opposed to 4 or 3 like the last release...could lead to some compression problems. But if they're wholesaling for ten or so bucks each, this sounds like quickwork just to get product back on the shelves before rights expire...valuable, no doubt, to those who didn't pick them up initially and mildly valuable to me and some of you due to the season groupings...but I certainly don't blame non-obsessives for not picking this up if they have the previous releases...
Thanks so much for the information about the new I SPY DVDs at the Best Buy stores.
You wrote ...
"I doubt that the commentaries are different -- why get rid of perfectly good (nay excellent) commentaries from the earlier release just to have new ones where'd he'd cover likely the same things?"
What I am most interested in are the commentaries for the "Culp written episodes" that were on the original "Culp Collection - Volume 1." His commentaries on that disk were "not" episode specific, but more conversational and general. They included very entertaining stories and anecdotes about the background, history, and production of I SPY. They were not specific commentaries for the episodes on that disk - "So Long Patrick Henry," "The Loser," and "The Tiger" (these are all now on Season 1 of the new DVDs).
Bob's commentaries on the second disk of the original "Culp Collection - Volume 2" were episode specific and covered the episodes " The War Lord," "Court of the Lion," "Home to Judgment," and his very interesting comments on "Magic Mirror."
So I am curious about the commentaries that are on the new DVDs for the episodes "So Long Patrick Henry," "The Loser," and "The Tiger." And what, if anything, they did with his more "general" commentaries that were on the first Volume of the original Culp Collection??
You also mentioned that the guy on the Home Theater Forum thread said "that they are all the same commentaries..."
What he wrote was ...
"I got the new I SPY season sets in the mail yesterday and am happy to report that the Robert Culp commentaries ARE included. But they at scattered throughout the three sets on the episodes they were originally attached to. They are not listed on the packaging as extras, but you see the smaller print "with commentary" listed after the name of the episode. There are no other extras listed."
He doesn't actually say anything specifically about "what" the commentaries are for those 3 episodes I mentioned - whether they are new or different or how they converted the original "general" commentaries on Volume 1 to these specific episodes?
And if he is correct about NO extras being included (and "IF" the quality is no different??), I think I'll stick with my original set which includes the extras of the great photos showing the progression of the WAR LORD's make-up and the TATIA Easter Egg, which included the short videoclips and story about the fight between Kelly and Scotty and the background sound problems in that episode.
Looking forward to hearing some reviews and opinions of the new DVDs, gang ....
Yes, the first commentaries were more "general" in the Culp collection, but it seems pretty easy to see what they did; put the 1st part with PATRICK HENRY, the 2nd part with COURT OF THE LION, etc....since they knew that having commentaries was a big enough deal to delay the release of the Culp episodes in the 1st place, I doubt they would go out of their way to pay for new commentaries and then NOT publicize them for this release. And what would be their reason for dumping the original commentaries? I have the 2nd and 3rd set in hand -- it is a no-frills production, if we didn't guess from the price...they have new chapter stops, for some reason, but they're not listed anywhere (pushing menu only takes you to a static page that lists the episodes)....the episodes look and sound fine (as they did last release) and if there was any "remastering" done, it was perhaps the process of figuring out how to fit six episodes on a disc without image degradation...the sound was sometimes a little dim on the initial discs, and perhaps they've pumped it up or something, but not so I'd notice.
So if anyone's hoping to be talked into the new release who already has the first boxes, I don't think there's a damn thing to say except that it is mildly interesting to have the eps laid out in front of you in their broadcast order...but if you haven't gotten them yet, you're going to have an incredible value (39 bucks total for all the episodes at Best Buy) for quality that seems no worse than the original releases...
Sounds like the new DVDs are a great bargain for people who don't have the original ones - and - for anyone who would like to have them in season order (or have a back-up set).
As we all know, I SPY is always spell-binding to watch ...
Still waiting to hear from you others out there .... does anyone have Season 1 in hand, yet??
... according to Denny Crane! UPS tracking says my Season 1 left Greensboro, NC yesterday (Friday) so, since I'm only one state removed, I'm hoping to see it arrive come Monday!
I find it ironic
In the annuls of time
That Dr. Seuss' birthday
Is one day before mine!
... that Bill's name got top billing over Bob's because it's alphabetical and not a disrespectful slight towards our Mr. Culp?
I remember when The Green Hornet got rereleased after Bruce Lee became a martial arts icon... suddenly HE got top billing over Van Williams and many releases were retitled "Kato & The Green Hornet".
I find it ironic
In the annuls of time
That Dr. Seuss' birthday
Is one day before mine!
Cosby's on the left in the photos, so there is an aesthetic reason for placing his name first; I doubt it's alphabetical, but certainly at this point Cosby is the more well-known name and likely they are pushing it -- certainly not as bad as Lee getting top billing in the Green Hornet!
