Ronald1973
8-trackin', Hank, Sr. man
Up front, I'd figured the chances of ever getting an official release (not counting the MPI Ultimate Collection sets of course) was not even remotely possible. It has been in the public domain for years, so I never figured on CBS going to the lengths of digitally remastering that season. They surprised us with the announcement a bit back that they were giving us this, the crowning jewel of the series in my opinion.
Count me impressed. I have been watching this since I was born in 1973. Of course then I was watching it on local TV from 16mm prints. It has also been syndicated via tape masters from Viacom, but those have been edited for syndication versions. CBS did a heckuva job on this set to say the least.The clarity of the transfers is outstanding.
I'm watching the series on a 55" LG LED TV with a Sony DVD player that upscales to 1080 connected via an HDMI cord, and listening on a 5.1 Sony home theater, though I'm only running the two fronts, center, and the powered sub since it's mono; I realize in all actuality it's supposed to be center and sub only, but I like the "full" sound from the front speakers being added. The only way you'd get a better picture quality is to have this reissued on blu-ray or stream it in HD most likely.
There is absolutely nothing at all that's distracting; a bit grainy at times, and a couple of episodes that the audio seems a bit muffled or distorted, but that was the same way on the MPI sets audio wise, so I'm assuming that was a problem when originally aired, though likely no one noticed on their 19" b&w TV! There are some stray specks here and there, and a stray line or two, but again, nothing worrisome or detracting.
I don't want to turn anything into a political debate here, but I was in fear that CBS might remove references to Granny being a confederate or in some way cut scenes that had the rebel flag; those are intact with no disclaimer being added. I have not noticed any music replacement, again, that's a plus since Flatt and Scruggs appeared on the show in that season. The S4 release had background music replaced, though nothing close to the travesty of The Fugitive or My Three Sons. I didn't find any background music replaced; if it is, it isn't noticeable in any way.
I haven't investigated the extras yet. From what everyone is saying on those, it's the same way that it was with seasons 2 and 3; the product sponsor plug is at the end of the theme for either Kellogg's or Winston, and a picture of the sponsor's product is seen at the end of the show.
All in all, this is worth the $17.96 I got it for at WalMart. I wish CBS would get on the ball and give us the rest of the seasons since this has been on the stalled list for a while; it's been 2 1/2 years since S4 was released to DVD. 2008 is when they started releasing the series, so we've gone a full 8 years and only have 4 seasons. Hurry up, CBS!!!
Count me impressed. I have been watching this since I was born in 1973. Of course then I was watching it on local TV from 16mm prints. It has also been syndicated via tape masters from Viacom, but those have been edited for syndication versions. CBS did a heckuva job on this set to say the least.The clarity of the transfers is outstanding.
I'm watching the series on a 55" LG LED TV with a Sony DVD player that upscales to 1080 connected via an HDMI cord, and listening on a 5.1 Sony home theater, though I'm only running the two fronts, center, and the powered sub since it's mono; I realize in all actuality it's supposed to be center and sub only, but I like the "full" sound from the front speakers being added. The only way you'd get a better picture quality is to have this reissued on blu-ray or stream it in HD most likely.
There is absolutely nothing at all that's distracting; a bit grainy at times, and a couple of episodes that the audio seems a bit muffled or distorted, but that was the same way on the MPI sets audio wise, so I'm assuming that was a problem when originally aired, though likely no one noticed on their 19" b&w TV! There are some stray specks here and there, and a stray line or two, but again, nothing worrisome or detracting.
I don't want to turn anything into a political debate here, but I was in fear that CBS might remove references to Granny being a confederate or in some way cut scenes that had the rebel flag; those are intact with no disclaimer being added. I have not noticed any music replacement, again, that's a plus since Flatt and Scruggs appeared on the show in that season. The S4 release had background music replaced, though nothing close to the travesty of The Fugitive or My Three Sons. I didn't find any background music replaced; if it is, it isn't noticeable in any way.
I haven't investigated the extras yet. From what everyone is saying on those, it's the same way that it was with seasons 2 and 3; the product sponsor plug is at the end of the theme for either Kellogg's or Winston, and a picture of the sponsor's product is seen at the end of the show.
All in all, this is worth the $17.96 I got it for at WalMart. I wish CBS would get on the ball and give us the rest of the seasons since this has been on the stalled list for a while; it's been 2 1/2 years since S4 was released to DVD. 2008 is when they started releasing the series, so we've gone a full 8 years and only have 4 seasons. Hurry up, CBS!!!
