Christy...

[dissention]

Just found this on American Gothic:

http://tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=3887

45 minutes of deleted scenes! What really sucks, however, is that it looks like they're running the episodes in the order they were aired. :shocked: The episode where Lucas starts to drive Dr. Matt insane (the one where he got Matt drunk) after the episode where Dr. Matt was committed to Juniper Hill? And the final episode is nestled in front of three others! But beggars can't be choosers, I suppose. :laugh:

[wondergirl9847]

45 minutes?! Woah! The order they aired? I don't understand that. Who wants to skip?! Ah well, like you said...beggers...yada yada yada. LOL

Hmm...I don't think they sent me an email about that.

[dissention]

45 minutes?! Woah! The order they aired? I don't understand that. Who wants to skip?! Ah well, like you said...beggers...yada yada yada. LOL

Hmm...I don't think they sent me an email about that.

I figured that since Shaun Cassidy was involved with the DVDs, they would have gotten it right. But I guess not...

Now all I need is Picket Fences on DVD and I'll be content. :laugh:

[Johnny Stew]

I was actually wondering if that menu shot was a mock up when I saw it on Thursday, as something seems amiss.
It lists the pilot episode on Disc 1, Side A... then skips right to Disc 2, Side B.

Or is this particular menu just listing which episodes have extended/deleted scenes? :confused:

By the way, Dark Shadows 1991 comes out on DVD on October 18th, and I am STOKED!

I'll be owning both of these shows. :nod: :D

[dissention]

I was actually wondering if that menu shot was a mock up when I saw it on Thursday, as something seems amiss.
It lists the pilot episode on Disc 1, Side A... then skips right to Disc 2, Side B.

Or is this particular menu just listing which episodes have extended/deleted scenes? :confused:

It's the menu listing the special features (deleted scenes). I'll be kind of sour if they put the episodes on the DVDs in the order in which they were first broadcast (as the special features menu shows), but I'm just ecstatic to finally have it on DVD. The commentary and deleted scenes are just the icing on the cake.

The DVDs also have four episodes that CBS didn't air, and if you never saw them, you'll absolutely love the episode "Potato Boy". It's obvious that they didn't air it because it would have been quite controversial (many scenes of a priest shooting up and some Lolita-ish moments between Caleb and Selena :laugh: ), but it's one of my favorite episodes. :nod:

By the way, Dark Shadows 1991 comes out on DVD on October 18th, and I am STOKED!

I'll be owning both of these shows. :nod: :D

I was telling Christy that and I thought you were the one who mentioned loving it. I'll probably get that one, too. :laugh: Alias Season Four, American Gothic, Dark Shadows, etc. My ass will be ba-roke.

[Johnny Stew]

It's the menu listing the special features (deleted scenes). I'll be kind of sour if they put the episodes on the DVDs in the order in which they were first broadcast (as the special features menu shows), but I'm just ecstatic to finally have it on DVD. The commentary and deleted scenes are just the icing on the cake.It'll be annoying, for sure, but if they did put them on the discs in broadcast order, I'll just watch them in production order.

I've already gotten in the habit of doing that with a few other TV-On-DVD sets anyway, but it's nicer when you can make use of the "Play All" option! (One of these days, they'll get these releases right on a consistent basis!)

I was telling Christy that and I thought you were the one who mentioned loving it. I'll probably get that one, too. :laugh:I love DS:91... I even have all of the MPI Home Video releases for it. Only 12 episodes, but those suckers were expensive to buy individually.

MPI released a thirteenth DS:91 video, too... with interviews, behind-the-scenes, outtakes and various other clips... so I'm really hoping at least some of that footage makes it onto the DVD set, but I haven't heard any word about special features yet.

I've often wished I had recorded AG when it was on CBS, since I haven't seen it since it originally aired... so I'm especially excited about these DVDs. :D

Alias Season Four, American Gothic, Dark Shadows, etc. My ass will be ba-roke.I haven't gotten into Alias yet, but Joshua plans on changing that soon. :laugh:

[wondergirl9847]

We need to start telling people what we want for Christmas...DVD sets. LOL

I want The Office, American Gothic, Coupling (I have seasons 1 and 2, but now all 4 seasons are in a set, so I might put my individuals on Ebay and get the whole thing.)...and I am thinking about Frasier DVD's and ......GAH!! Too much!! :laugh:

[dissention]

Hey Christy, just found this review for American Gothic (it comes out tomorrow!) and figured I'd post it. I'm rather peeved, but it's better than nothing (if they play, that is). There is no excuse for putting them on the DVDs in the order they were broadcast.

http://tvshowsondvd.com/sitereviews.cfm?ReleaseID=5117

Botched release of cult favorite
by Gord Lacey 10/22/2005

Visit Trinity, South Carolina, a small town with more chills than charm. Sheriff Lucas Buck (Gary Cole) won't let anyone - including local doctor Matt Crower (Jake Weber) or the determined Gail Emory (Paige Turco) - stand in the way of his evil plans.

American Gothic was a dark drama from Shaun Cassidy; yup, "Joe" from The Hardy Boys! The show premiered in the fall of 1995, and went into hiatus in the January, only to return in July to burn up 6 episodes, leaving 4 unaired in the initial run. The show picked up fans during the initial airings, and their numbers grew when Sci-Fi picked up the show a few years later (and broadcast the unaired episodes). Fans have been trying to get the series on DVD for years, so the news that it was coming quickly spread through the 'net.

I watched the show when it initially aired, and I loved it. I liked Gary Cole from Night Caller, and he was the freakiest dude on television when this show was on the air. So nice and calm, and then he would snap and you could see the evil in his eyes. Yikes, I'm getting a chill just thinking about it. Lucas Black (Caleb) was excellent, and while he had a slow period during his teen years he's been busy shooting movies lately, including The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Universal has released this set in an attractive case featuring red metallic-embossed lettering, a matte finish, and some gloss over the photo. Universal is one of the few companies that tries to do something cool for their TV packages. The 3 double-sided discs can be found in 3 slim cases inside the outer box, and they hold all 22 episodes.

Here's a look at the discs, and the episodes on them:

Disc 1, Side A (2:20:19)
Pilot (46:48)
A Tree Grows in Trinity (46:37)
Eye of the Beholder (46:54)

Disc 1, Side B (3:01:25)
Damned If You Don't (45:58)
Dead to the World (45:17)
Meet the Beetles (45:53)
Strong Arm of the Law (44:17)

Disc 2, Side A (3:02:27)
Rebirth (46:13)
Resurrector (46:06)
Inhumanitas (44:12)
The Plague Sower (45:56)

Disc 2, Side B (3:00:28)
Doctor Death Takes a Holiday (45:32)
The Beast Within (44:35)
To Hell and Back (44:33)
Learning to Crawl (45:48)

Disc 3, Side A (3:00:35)
Triangle (45:59)
The Buck Stops Here (44:26)
Requiem (45:15)
Potato Boy (44:55)

Disc 3, Side B (2:16:16)
Ring of Fire (46:02)
Echo of Your Last Goodbye (46:03)
Strangler (44:11)

Video
American Gothic is presented in the original 1.33:1 aspect ratio. The picture is dark, and dull, but that's done intentionally by the director of photography; it's not too dark that you miss details. There's a bit more noise in the image than I prefer; it's not horrible, but it's noticeable in some scenes. There's a chapter after the opening of the show, and there's a "play all" option on each side of the disc.

Universal's defective DVD-18s spoiled my enjoyment of some of these episodes. The disc would freeze, sputter, play, freeze, play, freeze, then play the rest of the episode. There were three episodes that I had problems with:

Meet the Beetles (episode 3, Disc 1, Side B)
Inhumanitas (episode 3, Disc 2, Side A)
To Hell and Back (episode 3, Disc 2, Side B)

Notice anything there? Yup, they're all "episode 3" on the disc (or side), which would be placed on the outer edge of the second layer. I'm sick of bitching about defective discs, but I assure you consumers are sick of buying these things and exchanging them at the store for something that works. It's painfully clear that there's a high failure rate for DVD-18s.

Audio
Universal has messed up the audio on one of their releases again, but thankfully it's just on the packaging. They have a habit of listing a Dolby Surround audio track as Mono on the package; I have no idea why. This is a great Surround track too; the spooky sounds are even spookier when you feel as though you're surrounded by them. The dialog sounds fine, the music is good (and there's no mention of music substitution). There are English and Spanish subtitles.

Extras
Deleted Scenes (22:18)
There are deleted scenes for 9 episodes:
Pilot (1:32)
Doctor Death Takes a Holiday (0:52)
To Hell and Back (2:38)
Learning to Crawl (1:42)
Triangle (1:30)
The Buck Stops Here (1:53)
Requiem (2:44)
Ring of Fire (3:01)
Echo of Your Last Goodbye (6:26)

Pilot Commentary
Shaun Cassidy (creator/writer/producer) and David Eick (producer) provide a rather funny, and somewhat informative commentary track. No mention of this track was made in material sent out to press, though we had someone at Universal tell us it was on the set.

Summary
Universal is the only company I know of that can both excite and upset fans by releasing a show on DVD. Universal isn't known for putting bonus material on their sets, so a commentary track by Shaun Cassidy and David Eick is almost unheard of, and it impressed me. I think they did a nice job on the packaging; the foil and embossing are a nice touch. However, and you knew this was coming, they really, truly ****ed this set up.

CBS aired the show out of order, and it made no sense if you watched it week to week. Anyone that watched the show could tell you this because it was so obvious, and confusing for the viewer. If you've never seen this show before then the following information contains spoilers and should be ignored. : Dr. Crower left the show in "Doctor Death Takes a Holiday" after attempting to kill Sheriff Buck, so how the hell does he appear in the next episode? The answer: this wasn't the intended order of the episodes! Anyone can spend 15 minutes searching Google to find the correct episode order (check this site: http://www.garycole.net/tv/ag/epguide.html), and almost any fan site mentions the episodes aired out of order. Possibly the best resource is Shaun Cassidy, the creator/executive producer of the show. Sometimes though people can be difficult to track down, unless you already have them booked to a commentary track. Cassidy even talks about the series wrapping up in the last two episodes, but those aren't the last two episodes on the DVD set. Here's the proper order to watch the episodes, including the disc number, side and episode number on the disc, with spaces between disc swaps:

* Pilot (Disc 1, Side A, Episode 1)
* A Tree Grows in Trinity (Disc 1, Side A, Episode 2)
* Eye of the Beholder (Disc 1, Side A, Episode 3)

* Damned If You Don't (Disc 1, Side B, Episode 1)

* Potato Boy (Disc 3, Side A, Episode 4)

* Dead to the World (Disc 1, Side B, Episode 2)
* Meet the Beetles (Disc 1, Side B, Episode 3)
* Strong Arm of the Law (Disc 1, Side B, Episode 4)

* To Hell and Back (Disc 2, Side B, Episode 3)
* The Beast Within (Disc 2, Side B, Episode 2)

* Rebirth (Disc 2, Side A, Episode 1)

* Ring of Fire (Disc 3, Side B, Episode 1)

* Resurrector (Disc 2, Side A, Episode 2)
* Inhumanitas (Disc 2, Side A, Episode 3)
* The Plague Sower (Disc 2, Side A, Episode 4)

* Doctor Death Takes a Holiday (Disc 2, Side B, Episode 1)
* Learning to Crawl (Disc 2, Side B, Episode 4)

* Echo of Your Last Goodbye (Disc 3, Side B, Episode 2)
* Strangler (Disc 3, Side B, Episode 3)

* Triangle (Disc 3, Side A, Episode 1)
* The Buck Stops Here (Disc 3, Side A, Episode 2)
* Requiem (Disc 3, Side A, Episode 3)

You'll have to jump between the discs a bunch, but you have to do it if you want the show to flow properly.

Universal's flawed DVD-18s will add to the headaches of consumers when the disc starts to skip around. Hey, maybe you'll get lucky and get a "good" set (it's sad that you have to hope your disc will play, isn't it?).

Universal could easily turn their releases around. Step 1) Ditch the DVD-18s. Consumers complain about them because they don't contain artwork and can easily scratch, but the biggest problem is that they're failing, and that's unacceptable. Step 2) Since you've ditched the DVD-18s, just switch to the double-slim cases that Fox uses and your sets will take up the same amount of shelf space as they do now. Step 3) Contact some fans of a show; it's amazing what they'll be able to tell you! You could have put the episodes in the proper order and improved the release of the set. Three easy steps and the releases would be drastically improved.

I really hate writing reviews like this. I hope the studio can take this as constructive criticism, and not look at it as whining. Had this release been on DVD-9s and in the proper order then I would be writing about how I was impressed they included a commentary for the pilot. I really, really want to help Universal turn their releases around. I think they have some great product that is overshadowed by recurring production issues.

[Johnny Stew]

Botched release of cult favoriteNo, the 'Dark Shadows' revival DVD is REALLY botched.

Not a single deleted scene in sight (not even the ones they included on the MPI VHS releases), nor commentaries, or interviews, or outtakes... nada, zip, zilch.

ANNND... if that wasn't disappointing enough... every episode is presented in WIDESCREEN.

The show wasn't filmed in widescreen! So all the footage is CROPPED!

Grrrrr. :angry:

[dissention]

No, the 'Dark Shadows' revival DVD is REALLY botched.

Not a single deleted scene in sight (not even the ones they included on the MPI VHS releases), nor commentaries, or interviews, or outtakes... nada, zip, zilch.

ANNND... if that wasn't disappointing enough... every episode is presented in WIDESCREEN.

The show wasn't filmed in widescreen! So all the footage is CROPPED!

Grrrrr. :angry:

Be grateful, at least they play properly.

[Johnny Stew]

Be grateful, at least they play properly.I cancelled my order actually. No way was I going to pay for such a shoddy release.
So I'm sticking with my VHS copies.

DVD-18s suck the big one... why don't they abandon those?

[wondergirl9847]

What is wrong with the morons that release DVD's?! :mad: Are they smoking crack? I mean, seriously. Fans could put together a better set (without commentary and extra stuff, obviously, but still...) and sell them on Ebay! I hope they don't frig up the Wings DVD's. Been waiting too long for that one, dammit.

Pfftt. I'm sure I'll still get the AG set, but sweet jeebus. :rolleyes:

[dissention]

Well, I got American Gothic in the mail today, checked it out earlier tonight, and the discs seem to play perfectly fine in my player. And the packaging is pretty cool. The order of the episodes is all screwed up, though. Jake Weber leaves the show only to show up two episodes later. It's ludicrous. And the two-part final episode isn't even last.