Batman TV series DVD set in 2014!!

[Hedji]

I think it's safe to take a wait and see attitude, until we have the actual product to view for ourselves. I too feel the above posited image is too dark, but I'm not clear that what we are seeing is an actual screen capture, representative of the final product.

I'm willing to have faith that this wil be done right.

[BatMite]

"Jill St. John: "... like the music, and the dance" the scene is lively, there is a band playing in the background. It is not a shadowy night club, the scene was lit that way."

There's a band? I don't recall this at all. The scene is not so dark that a band is obscured, is it? I'm fairly certain theres not a band at all in the scene...just music. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[batsman]

"Jill St. John: "... like the music, and the dance" the scene is lively, there is a band playing in the background. It is not a shadowy night club, the scene was lit that way."

There's a band? I don't recall this at all. The scene is not so dark that a band is obscured, is it? I'm fairly certain theres not a band at all in the scene...just music. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

You're right. There is no a band in the scene, there are dancers in the balcony.

The pilot, as it has been shown on the air has always shown this scene as bright, and the background appears to be lively.

This is what has been on the air in syndication. This is what we are used to seeing:

Hi Diddle_TV.jpg (105.22 KiB) Viewed 5494 times

The image is bright. The colors stand out. The color is very different from the frame that has been posted on the Home Theater Forum and other places. The look is totally different, the colors are different.

The question is, what's the source ? What did they use to create this master? Do these elements exist ? If you have a good copy recorded off the air, not a bootleg, it actually looks better than this frame grab.

Batfans need to ask what they are getting because the final result could be very different from what we are used to seeing.

[Phil B]

This is the colour I prefer. I hope the sides and top of the image aren't cropped in the release, though.

[AndyFish]

The image with the TV land logo is definitely lightened from the masters version I've seen. The show was filmed darkly in the first season. Personally I suspect we will get the darker version and that is what I personally would like, the show as it was meant to be seen by the director and the cinematographer, not by a lab technician who later on thought it looked too dark for today's kids.

But the above post is right, endless speculation is a waste of time. We need just take a wait and see attitude. WB is not going to alter anything at this point no matter how many email comments they get. The vast majority of folks buying the show won't care if it's Batman dark or Batman light. Even if they did release the show in the lighter syndicated version I'd still buy it and move on. I've got much more important things to worry about.

[Grayvette03]

I'm at the Florida state fair and they have the bootlegged copies for sale. Waiting till the real ones come out so the right people get the royalties and credit.
And I mean no disrespect to those that have them. If they weren't coming available I probably would have bought a set.
Jim

[dell]

I'm at the Florida state fair and they have the bootlegged copies for sale. Waiting till the real ones come out so the right people get the royalties and credit.

Well done citizen!

[bat lugosi]

Just going by my own personal taste I prefer the darker image. The color looks more vibrant IMO and there is more detail, I find the lighter image looks washed out has a loss of detail and isn't as visually dynamic.

I replied to a thread about what episodes I was most excited about watching and above all it is 'The Purr-fect crime/Better Luck Next Time'. I find this Catwoman episode on my bootlegs and when viewed on TV to be somewhat bright and very washed out. Now I don't know what the original broadcast was like as I wasn't around until 1976 and didn't see the show until sometime in the eighties, but my viewmaster reel for The Purr-fect crime' looks amazing compared to what I see on TV or on my bootlegs. I don't know anything about viewmaster camera's...shot with some kind of high quality camera? I don't know, but the images in the reels reminds me of this darker image shown in this thread.

All that stuff said I find the darker image maybe a bit too dark, if it were up to me and It's not I would go with something in between but closer to the darker image, but again it's a bit too dark. I want vibrancy in color but I don't want it over saturated, I like use of night time scenes and some of the film noir lighting/shadows occasionally used in season one, but I think this is suppose to be brighter lit scene.

[batsman]

Just going by my own personal taste I prefer the darker image. The color looks more vibrant IMO and there is more detail, I find the lighter image looks washed out has a loss of detail and isn't as visually dynamic.

The darker image looks better because they have a better presentation, on a very expensive projector and high quality equipment. It was captured as a jpeg with high quality equipment. The TV Land frame is a frame grab.

I don't have a higher quality frame, but if the broadcast tape, the ones stations like TV Land or MeTV use were shown with the right equipment, it would not look washed out at all.

This is not speculation, because in the past, Warner's has changed things and the final product is not what people are used to.

If people want to ask about what sources are being used, why are people not willing to talk about it?

If people want to know more about what is being done with this project , why do people not want to talk about it?

[BATWINGED HORNET]

I can't think of a single show that's been pulled from syndication once it's released on DVD.

True.

Take a look at the ME-TV schedule and we see a boatload of series that have been on tape, and/or DVD for decades, such as Star Trek, Lost in Space, I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, Get Smart, Wonder Woman, Columbo, The Twilight Zone, Route 66, The Fugitive, Thriller, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Mission Impossible, Perry Mason, The Donna Reed Show, Ironside....

The list is endless.

If the DVD is perfect (meaning top transfer, no cuts, etc.) I see many Bat-fans moving away from watching the series in syndication. Bat-fans will be so thrilled to watch/study the long-awaited official release, that it would seem pointless to waste time with aired versions well-known for hack job editing / sped up title sequences, etc.

[batsman]

I can't think of a single show that's been pulled from syndication once it's released on DVD.

True.

Take a look at the ME-TV schedule and we see a boatload of series that have been on tape, and/or DVD for decades, such as Star Trek, Lost in Space, I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, Get Smart, Wonder Woman, Columbo, The Twilight Zone, Route 66, The Fugitive, Thriller, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Rod Serling's Night Gallery, Mission Impossible, Perry Mason, The Donna Reed Show, Ironside....

The list is endless.

MeTV is not available to everyone (It is possible to get it with a good OTA antenna, though that doesn't always work)

From the MeTV web site:

WHY ISN'T ME-TV ON SATELLITE IN MY AREA?

In many instances neither DirecTV or Dish Network satellite will carry digital subchannels as part of its line-up. We know it is frustrating. We do suggest that if you are a current customer to request your local Me-TV affiliate station. Hopefully, they will add your local Me-TV affiliate. We appreciate your support!

Click on the appropriate link below to contact your satellite provider and request "carriage of station __________( fill in your local Me-TV station call letters)" in your message.

If the DVD is perfect (meaning top transfer, no cuts, etc.) I see many Bat-fans moving away from watching the series in syndication. Bat-fans will be so thrilled to watch/study the long-awaited official release, that it would seem pointless to waste time with aired versions well-known for hack job editing / sped up title sequences, etc.

IMHO, the DVD / Blu-Ray set should not be a reason to move Bat-fans or audiences in general away from the series in syndication. That would be a mistake, and it would be a great disservice to the show.

Both options should be available, Batman should remain on the air (uncut, not sped up) in addition to a DVD/Blu-Ray set.

[BATWINGED HORNET]

MeTV is not available to everyone (It is possible to get it with a good OTA antenna, though that doesn't always work)

But the point is that no series vanished from syndication once released on DVD.

IMHO, the DVD / Blu-Ray set should not be a reason to move Bat-fans or audiences in general away from the series in syndication. That would be a mistake, and it would be a great disservice to the show.

Why would they stick with poor versions? If it is a matter of not being able to afford the DVD set, that is understandable. However, if you can purchase the set, i see no reason for fans to schedule their time around the worn, butchered syndicated copies, when you can have restored perfection (here's hoping!) to watch at your leisure.

As much as I love the classic Star Trek, I do not watch the ME-TV broadcast because I have the Blu-Rays, and do not have to deal with commercials, occasionally preempted episodes (local programming), and above all else, inferior quality/syndicated edits.

[AndyFish]

My point is at this stage in the process there is just no way WB stops and switches it's source material even if they got 10,000 letters on the subject.

I have faith they'll put out a good product.

Those of you who don't get METV check out the website aereo which let's you access channels your antenna might not reach and gives you a recording option for about $8 a month. Sometimes my antenna drops out in reaching my local METV signal, which is a sub station of a larger Abc affiliate in the Boston area, so I turn to aereo as a backup.

The show is not widely syndicated for the same reason other sixties shows aren't, mainstream audiences want newer shows and the older ones don't do as well. TV Land used to be a great station, now it shows stuff I've got no interest in. METV is easily my favorite station now.

[batsman]

Why would they stick with poor versions? If it is a matter of not being able to afford the DVD set, that is understandable. However, if you can purchase the set, i see no reason for fans to schedule their time around the worn, butchered syndicated copies, when you can have restored perfection (here's hoping!) to watch at your leisure.

As much as I love the classic Star Trek, I do not watch the ME-TV broadcast because I have the Blu-Rays, and do not have to deal with commercials, occasionally preempted episodes (local programming), and above all else, inferior quality/syndicated edits.

You are right, they should not stick with the poorer, edited versions, and broadcasters who do this, do the show a great disservice by editing it down.

Batman should be available on home video and on the air as well, unedited for broadcast.

[AndyFish]

The reason the syndicated ones are edited or sped up is to fit in the longer amount of commercials we're used to today vs 1966.
That's not likely to change.