Zbu

Well, I no longer feel bad about selling off my AB copies when I had the chance. Thanks for the peace of mind! That said, I saw a lot of S1 and I think the compression is just right. The only time I notice anything really going weird is during the pans down from the starry backdrop to the car, and those don't look like DVD artifacts as much as stuff that existed when the show was aired (the special effects are pretty lo-fi). All the CGI looks old but very nice. Well worth the money.

The first few episodes came in a little over 22 minutes...is that average for the uncut or not?

BobO'Link

I just checked my AB copy of S1. The first 6 episodes clock in at 21:49/50 (5) to 21:56 (1) so "a little over 22 minutes" doesn't sound like much was cut initially *unless* the MC sets are messed up as well. According to IMDB the episodes should be ~25 minutes long. But episodes from S6 are uniformally 21:36 and based on this post from Cheato a few years back the season is uncut. Using his research those S1/S2 eps. should be around 22:30 which jives with my recollections for program length from that era.

I pulled a couple of series from the same year 3rd Rock started assuming all would have roughly the same length and commercial time when originally aired. NewsRadio S2 eps. pretty much run 22:40, Seinfeld S7 runs roughly 23:30 (not too unusual considering popularity and commercial expense), while Friends S3 eps. are 22:30 to 24:00. While some are longer they are farily consistent with general program lengths of that year.

A review I found at sitcomsonline indicates the cuts are "roughly 45 seconds per episode, 30 seconds of which are made up of cutting the James Earl Jones introduction" and that "Only 10 to 15 seconds of content is even cut out thanks to removing the Jones intro, and what’s missing WILL be restored from season three onward." This makes the assumed uncut 22:30 length fairly valid. So is it even worth the double-dip for such a minor cut? At ~$5/season, quite possibly so.

With all that said, how long *are* the S1 eps. of the Mill Creek releases of 3rd Rock?

Manzana

It sounds like nobody is 100% certain how much was cut out of the old AB 3rd Rock sets or if later seasons weren't cut. At $5 each, I can handle rebuying them, but when BobO'Link says they are only a tiny bit longer than the AB sets, I wonder if we're going to later find out that the Mill Creek ones are also cut.

Or is it possible they aren't cut but actually just "sped up"? Though I've never seen a side-by-side comparison, I was told that uncut Star Trek: TOS series were about 55 minutes each, but by speeding everything up 20% or so and lowering the pitch of the sound you could end up with an uncut episode that lasts 43 minutes or so (to give room for commercials). Who knows. I'm not a 3rd Rock episode expert as I never watched them until I got the AB sets, and even so I didn't get past S3.

Speaking of Target, only 1 store in my area had 2 copies of the Mill Creek 3rd Rock sets. Only 1 store could find it in their inventory (PDA) system which pointed me to this one store which was only 5 miles (round trip) out of my way. I called the store and the guy found them on the $5 shelf. When I got there I found out that both copies of S1 had broken hubs and loose discs inside, so I opened them at customer service and took the less scratched of the 2, though I don't like getting slightly scratched when I buy new... even for $5. I know I could exchange it if my nearer stores ever get it in stock... I'm trying to decide if it's worth the effort. Since I went through the extra trouble to get this (fearing the price would go back up or they'd never show up in stock anywhere else), I do expect these sets will be more plentiful next week. I hate these stealth releases and sales.

The Monkees

I'm still confused, was the first season of Grounded For Life from Anchor Bay syndicated or not? I don't ever remember hearing that it was but if it was I'll pick up Season 1 from Mill Creek, I do plan to pick up Season 1 of Roseanne anyway.

thelonelyisland

I went to a Target today and they had "That '70s Show: King Kelso - 10 Best Episodes" and it was only $5 and since I didn't have any 70s show dvds I decided $5 was great and it had an awesome slipcover -- yes Mill Creek had a slipcover on it!!

main menu:


snapshot (view if you dare )

SkullOrchard

On egotastic.com, this would be considered a major nipple slip.

DaBargainHunta

Can you list the episodes on it? Thanks.

Edit: No sign of 3rd Rock or Grounded at either of my Targets.

thelonelyisland

10. Water Tower
09. Prank Day
08. The Velvet Rope
07. The Acid Queen
06. Black Dog
05. Ice Shack
04. Misty Mountain Hop
03. Baby Don't You Do It
02. Dine and Dash
01. Eric's Panties

^ it's listed 10-01 on the back of the dvd.

Manzana

3rd Rock technically doesn't release until Tuesday 9/13, so I hope people will post whether they start finding them at their Target stores tomorrow. Some Targets put them out early, but given Target's tendency to understock (dramatically) some new releases I'm never confident if they will ever get some stuff in stock. I need to exchange my 3rd Rock S1 set someday because the disc was loose and scratched.

Manzana

Due to an unexpected car service issue, I made an unexpected trip in the last hour to a different Target. I found 1 copy of 3rd Rock from the Sun S1 which I wanted to exchange because mine had a broken hub and loose disc (disc 1). Well, from shaking it this S1 also had a loose disc. That makes 3 out of 3 3rd Rock S1 sets I've found at 2 different Targets which all have a loose disc.

So, has anyone who has bought 3rd Rock S1 at Target gotten a totally intact (non-broken) set? I wonder if they all got shipped in the same box to the Targets in my area and the delivery man was Ace Ventura.

rmw650

I saw both 3rd Rock releases at the Vernon Hills, IL Target yesterday for five bucks each and they have a special as well where such shows as 70s Show, Punky Brewster and others contain a special bonus disc for more espidoes.

rjh_54

I have all 5 of Anchor Bay's Grounded for Life sets (I bought them when they first came out), and all of them say "Includes all __ UNCUT episodes!" on the back of the packages, so I'm gonna assume they really are uncut.

Went to my Target tonight and there was one copy left of season 1 of GFL, and Roseanne and That '70s Show were nowhere in sight -- in fact, I didn't even see spots for them.

I did end up getting seasons 1 and 2 of 3rd Rock, as I've never seen it before and $10 for two seasons is a steal.

Does anybody know what other stores might carry Roseanne or That '70s Show?

Ecthelion

I just picked up Season 1 of 3rd Rock from a Target near my work. It was the only copy they had of either season, but thankfully the hubs inside weren't broken.

Anyway, I just looked through the episodes, and they're all around 22:30 long. The James Earl Jones intro is about 30 seconds, so BobO'Link's info appears to be correct. I haven't watched a complete episode yet to spot other differences. If I did my math correctly though, there are brief cuts during the episodes. I compared an episode from Netflix (where the episodes are missing the James Earl Jones intros, at least on Season 1) with the DVD, and paused them both at the same moment as the episode starts (after the intro credits that come after the James Earl Jones intro). The amount of time remaining didn't match up, but it did when I skipped to right before the credits. So there does appear to be a little bit cut from the episodes themselves (10 to 15 seconds looks about right, so again BobO'Link appears to be correct).

All of the bonus content from the Anchor Bay release is included, with the exception of the booklet and the DVD-ROM teleplays. There are captions as well, but no subtitles.

I don't own the AB versions, and I am just starting to watch the series (after hearing about it for years), but for $5, the seasons are a steal. Mill Creek could have gone the cheap route and left out the bonus content, but they didn't. I'm not sure how the picture quality compares to the previous sets, but the quality seems decent to me.

ryancca

So do you mean that the DVD episodes are edited or the Netflix episodes are edited?

rjh_54

When they were all released back in September, the 3-Disc re-releases (Roseanne S1 & 2, 3rd Rock S2, GFL S2 and That 70s Show S1 & 2) were all released in the thick cases with paper envelops in store. Since I own the complete series of That 70s Show and there apparently is no difference between the previous release and the new ones, I skipped out on those, along with GFL.

I did, however, pick up S1 of Roseanne (I have all the old AB releases) in the thick case at FYE for $9.99 (my Target doesn't carry them for some reason), and S1 and S2 of Third Rock at Target for $5 each.

I was at FYE last night and saw the sets that had been packaged in the double-thick cases have been repackaged to smaller standard-sized cases. How are the discs inside held though? Anybody know?

rednowgreen

The same way, with the paper envelops. I picked up seasons 1 & 2 of Roseanne at Target for $3.99 each on Black Friday.

Cardsfan111

If anyone missed these at Target, it appears they're currently $4.15 each at Deep Discount.