Best of Angelique

[Gothick]

Hi Fans,

The new MPI BEST OF QUENTIN and BEST OF ANGELIQUE sets have hit various online and retail outlets.  The Amazon pricing has the Quentin disc at half price, while the Ange disc is priced at 11.99.

There's a note from a fan dated the middle of last month stating that the episode of Ange's debut (involving the arrival of herself and the Countess at the Old House in 1795) has been restored for the disc.

Has anybody seen it, and can they comment on the restoration?  In the UK, the BBC has been restoring color and image quality on episodes of DR WHO that exist only in old videorecordings where the master reels had been destroyed.  Wondering if a comparable degree of quality was achieved for this.

Thanks, G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

If it really has been restored, it's odd that SG has never said anything. The only things they've mentioned are the introductions recorded by Lara Parker (and those by David Selby for TBOQ). Though perhaps SG didn't know - or maybe it was a last minute development? I suppose we'll find out eventually...

[michael c]

these "best of" collections are sort of mystifying to me...

fans already own these episodes. and the show was serialized and needs to be watched sequentially for it to make any sense. to a newcomer random, out of context scenes and episodes without the structure of the surrounding storyline seem sort of pointless.

the impact comes from the entirety of the story. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I've had the same thoughts, particularly when it comes to the notion of attracting new fans with these Best of... collections. Though I suppose that's why this time around they've had introductions done for each ep. One would presume the intros attempt to give new viewers some sort of context. (Not to mention they probably hope the intros will somehow entice existing fans to buy the sets).

[Uncle Roger]

It's kind of reminiscent of the random clips that MPI put out in the early days of VHS. At least these are complete episodes.

[Gerard]

I, too, was never interest in The Best of Whatever-Character tapes (boy, tapes - are we ever aging ourselves - VCR's and all that).  But I did purchase The Best of Dark Shadows tapes.  I believe there were two of them; I can't completely recall, I'd have to crawl in a closet to see.  Those were actually worth it.

Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Yeah, there were two - and a Best Of Barnabas.    And apart from the Anniversary tapes and the Behind The Scenes, the only other one that I was ever really excited to get was the 1840 Flashback VHS because at the time it came out 1840 hadn't been seen since the original run on ABC.

[michael c]

those were the days...

I used to be on the phone with MPI almost every week ordering the series tape, by agonizing five episode tape. it took forever to get through but it was fun. there was so much anticipation waiting for the postman to deliver that little brown box. I still keep MPI's number in my phone even though I haven't actually bought anything in years out of some strange sense of nostalgia.

remember they used to "advertise" their other tapes like "bloopers" and "scariest moments" on the tape. and KLS was always plugging something. 

[Gerard]

I called MPI once an inquired how much it would cost to purchase the entire series in one-fell-swoop.  The guy said he didn't know; no one had ever requested purchasing the whole kittenkaboole.  He put the receiver down (I don't think they even had "hold") and I could hear voices in the background.  He picked it up and told me that they would do it for $1,000.  I told him I'd have to think about it.  Of course, I never did it.

Gerard

[michael c]

I think I had about half of the series on VHS before I got a DVD player for Christmas one year and "upgraded" to the DVD format starting with the 1897 episodes...

even with that the pile up of tapes was enormous. I can only imagine how unwieldy the entire series would have been. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Majorly unwieldy! There were 200 volumes in the normal series, 54 in the Collectors series, and at least 10 compilation/anniversary/what-have-you tapes! Fans practically needed a room unto itself to store them!!

Thanks heavens for the Complete Series DVD release, which fits quite nicely on half a shelf in one of my bookcases and comprises all of the above and then some because it also includes some releases that are only on DVD.

[michael c]

I consider myself lucky I found a funky little used book/record/video store to take them off my hands for a buck a piece.

[Gothick]

Veteran DS fan Nicky confirmed to me that the intro of Angelique episode on the new compilation is NOT restored.  Same old muddied kinescope we've all seen before.

I did find it highly unlikely that MPI would spend the money required for this.  I doubt whether they have direct access to the software and equipment required, so it would have involved setting up a contract with a special DVD restoration service.

Best,  Steve

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I wonder where the person on Amazon got the idea that it would be restored? But then quite often in some spots on the Internet there are all sorts of rumors posted as facts and no one questions them. 

[MagnusTrask]

I bought my regular series tapes in one fell swoop at a thrift store in 2002 for $1.50 each.  If I hadn't vacillated and bought them the day before, I could have had all the red-titled main series.  As it was, someone bought the middle out from under me, #36-100.  I'm still watching them.   I've filled in gaps since then, mostly.

I've said this already and it's a tangent, sorry.