More about DS on DVD

[Brian]

From DVDFILE.com:

March 10 - 11

Scary soap - 12:02am

An update on the specs for those upcoming Dark Shadows DVD collections from MPI, which should hopefully please fans of the famous gothic horror-soap opera. Details from MPI are that they plan on releasing the entire series to DVD, with Set One debuting on 5/28. However, since the show as a daily half-hour soap, Set One only includes 40 complete, uncut episodes on four DVDs (beginning with the resurrection of Barnabas Collins) along with newly-produced extras including interviews with series creator Dan Curtis and the cast. MPI will then release future sets starting with Set Two on 7/30, so watch for more details on future volumes soon.

Anybody care to do the math and figure out how long it will take to release all 1225 shows on DVD?

Brian

[akhet]

thats great news - thanks;)

[Stuart]

They're planning to do quarterly releases for the time being, so depending on how the dates fall, that's 4-5 releases a year -- (160-200 episodes)

I imagine that, depending on sales, they will step up to a bi-monthly schedule at some point.

[Raineypark]

The new release date is 5/28?

Now how do you suppose John Karlen got them to put it off until his birthday?...and wasn't that nice of them! LOL

[Gothick]

So they're starting with Barnabas' introduction?  I hope they start with the first episode of the week Barnabas was released from his coffin; otherwise they'll be stuck with an odd number of episodes at some point when/if they go back and release the pre-Barnabas weeks on DVD.

And let's hope they don't elect to go with the EDITED version of these weeks released on the first 8 or 9 original MPI videos ... you'll miss several of Buzz's scenes if they do that!

Glad I'm not a DVD junkie ... still happy with my DS videos ... let's hope MPI releases some DETAILED, ACCURATE info on this set so folks who pre-order don't wind up with a product that is not up to standard!

Steve

[CastleBee]

Well, DS was my excuse for buying a second VCR a few years ago...now it looks like it will be my excuse for buying a DVD player also. Of course, I'll tell myself that I NEED them in order to cut down on the storage space needed for the video tapes - all the time knowing that, after all this time, I will never be able to part with my beloved tapes!  It was my little pet project for so long!

[Birdie]

I was looking at DVD players over the weekend. Still not ready to make the jump.  The sales clerk told me you will still need your VCR.  The DVD player has to be sent out to be realined about every year and a half.  I didn't expect that.  It is going to still be on the back burner here.  Hey, on the up side.  I have cleaned out one of the closets in the rec room and found a nice spot for my DS tapes.  

Birdie

[mfmdpt]

The DVD player has to be sent out to be realined about every year and a half.  I didn't expect that.

Birdie,

I don't want to accuse that sales clerk of not quite knowing what he/she was talking about because maybe there are some brands of DVD players that need to be realigned every year and a half. BUT two of my friends and I have owned DVD players for between three and two and a half years, we all watch DVDs frequently (around 6 to 10 a month), and not one of us has ever had our player realigned. In fact, I've never even heard or read about a make or model of DVD player that has to be realigned after such a short period.
Maybe I'm just not talking to the right people or reading the right articles. Maybe all three of us have just had really good luck with our players. I don't know. But I'd love to know where that sales clerk got his/her information...
My advice to you would be that the next time you go browsing for a player, you might want to try a different store.

[Stuart]

let's hope MPI releases some DETAILED, ACCURATE info on this set so folks who pre-order don't wind up with a product that is not up to standard!

They've made the essential information available: 40 unedited episodes a set, starting from 210 onwards; remastered from the original source material; bonus interviews with cast and crew on each disk.

Does everything it says on the tin, as far as I can see  

[Birdie]

Thanks Mike,
                      I had never heard about it before either.  The sales clerk was in a Best Buy store.  We of course are the last people in the nieghborhood to buy anything updated.  Two years ago my teenagers bought us a CD player with a stero turntable on top.  Yes, we still have all our vinyl.  Yes, I still play my old records.  A year ago we finally go at cell phone.  I imagine we will buy a DVD player sometime in the next year.

Birdie

[Brian]

Several comments on this thread:

LOL: I bought my first DVDs from MPI in October, 2000:  the first DS DVD and the Dracula/Jekyll&Hyde DVD.  This, I decided, would force me to finally buy a DVD player.

Well, it worked.  I bought my first player in February, 2001.  I had problems with that player and while it was out for repair, I bought another one (June, 2001), which plays my DVDs perfectly.  (The first DVD player would not play the DS ON LOCATION segment, but the second one plays it just fine!)

Subsequently, I've added more DVDs to my collection than I care to say.  It was almost like an addiction--and I guess I'll do the same once DS is released on DVD (I love the  improved picture and sound quality--VHS cannot even touch this quality.)

As far as sales persons at Best Buy:  I decided to buy a turntable (remember those?:  "record players," with speeds at 33, 45 or 78?) and the kid assisting me had never even seen a turntable!!!!  He didn't know what once looked like until I insisted on taking it out of the box and making sure it had a needle (aka stylus) included with the unit.  Damn, I felt old when he said "oh, that's a turntable."  I had the last laugh though:  I told him to consider himself lucky I went ahead with my purchase, and to remember that he had learned something new!!

Anyway. . .DS on DVD:  I'm prepared to buy them as long as MPI is in for the long haul (aka, entire series!)

Brian

[Raineypark]

DVD's are a HUGE improvement over VHS: they take up less space to store, there's no comparison to the quality and (best of all) there's usually all sorts of 'background stuff' on them that you never got on VHS, like audio voice-over tracks.

I don't own any portion of DS on tape...but if I do decide there are parts of it I "have to have" I will wait for the DVDs.
Raineypark

[Darren Gross]

The old 'laser will need realingment' scam is a lever they use to try to sell you on a service plan. I've had a DVD player for 5 years, and have run hundreds of DVDs on it and have never had to realign anything.