CMc

I just got it today.

Does anyone here that's been watching it have any issues with sound and image quality at any given point on the discs?

I have to say just having seen some of it so far, I'm a bit disappointed with it on these counts only because I saw some darkness where it shouldn't have been THAT dark, and I'm not so sure I like the fake stereo effect of the 5.1 surround channel, and the 2.0 isn't that much better.

It's nice to have the commentaries, though. I wish they could have featured a big booklet like the tape set had.

REdR

Got my copy today as well. Must say I too thought some scenes in the first episode "Royal Flush" was noticeably dark particularly the scene where the guys were rigging up the safe. My videos from the MTV days were a lot sharper and brighter. Also noticed they changed the ending credits on that one. They took out the actual titles of the songs performed on that show. Used to be the syndicate and Rhino video had the CBS Saturday morning ending credits listed even though the first season songs were performed.

I too thought the 5.1 audio was horrible. Had to switch over to 2.0. Somebody give Rhino a copy of the Beatles' Anthology box set to study from.

Sadly disappointed in the memorabilia area of the last disc. Mostly photo's we've all seen before. What happen to all of the items that were shown on the poster that accompanied the CD and/or cassette box set of "Listen to the Band". Surely they could have provided shots of all this!

Re-creating the 45 singles as being the covers for each disc was an interesting idea, however, it would have be nice had they worked on these a little bit better. You can tell this set was rushed since they left in the Japanese lettering on the 4th disc for "I Wanna Be Free" as well the Japanese yen price tag on the bottom. If they were going with the sleeves idea why didn't they use the American release sleeves of "Pleasant Valley Sunday", "Daydream Believer" "D.W. Washburn" instead. To me it looked like they worked on the first sleeve and then started to get sloppy after that.

Here this box set was in the planning stages for such a long time and so many mistakes and cheap (to cut costs!) decisions were done to make even the die-hard fans disappointed.

I just hope they spend a little more time and quality on the second season box set than they did on this one when I know of a couple episodes in the second season were in bad shape even when Rhino released the video box set a few years ago (i.e. "Monkees in Paris") and yet my gut tells me that with the past history of this group nothing ever goes the way it should!!

CMc

However, I did like the old commercials on disc 6!
The first of those was featured as a surprise on Tape 21 from the tape set, but it's back along with more Kellogg's spots as well as a Yeardley Black Label Cologne commercial! The color is practically non-existent on the commercials, but I guess there wasn't any way for them to restore the commercials--Possibly the source materials don't exist anymore.

And yes, the 16mm version of the pilot episode is on disc 6 as well, and again, faded colors, but I guess we should still thank our lucky stars we can even see it at all.

But so far, I did notice that scene in Royal Flush we talked about where it gets ridiculously dark during the safe-rigging (I bet if I go back to the tapes it won't be doing that at that point), and also the Fern and Davy episode looking rather blurry and faded at times.

REdR

[QUOTE...also the Fern and Davy episode looking rather blurry and faded at times. [/B][/QUOTE]

I know its a shame this is the only print Rhino could find. The blurriness was intentional in the one segment of the show as they could not show back in 1966 someone wearing the bikini top like that. I don't remember whether or not when this episode first aired that it was this blatantly obvious. I have an old 16mm print of this episode and it does show this being blurred but it's a print from the summer of 67 when the episode was repeated. It could have been changed at that time. Yet the colors in my print are a lot better than the one used here on this disc.

Yes I too liked the addition of the commercials, but Rhino could have tracked down the original sources of these from collectors whoh had better copies than the ones represented here which appeared to have been copied from a 2nd generation video tape.

Beritolam

My wife's set hasn't come it yet, so I can except the crappy transfers and horrible audio that were on the collection DVD's? They had enough time to do this right, I'm already upset and I haven't even seen it yet. Oh well, it's for my wife and she won't mind as long as she can watch it. I'm the only audio/video obsessed member of my family.

CMc

I sort of figured they intentionally blurred Fern's chest, but it's silly considering you see other girls wearing clothes just as tantalizing in other episodes (i.e. the two midriff-bared dancers in The Chaperone episode) and those scenes aren't censored.

I hope for the second season box we see more second season and CBS-era commercials as well as other rare clips from the post-NBC period, and we'll probably be treated to "33 and 1/3 RPM" on the extra disc too.

jim9

so is this better than the box set or the same? should I not bother getting the DVD since I already have my box set??

CMc

It's hard to say since the packaging was so cool for the tape set, and it did come with the great booklet, but there are things I really like about the DVD set as well, like the fact that you can skip the opening credits if you want, and the trivia pages, and the extra commercials and commentaries and such.

And what is with that silly version of the FBI warning at the beginning of the discs?? Is that on all of the Rhino DVDs or just this one? It seems to blend right in with the Monkees' humor, though!

Cornelius1047

I don't have the box set cuz I'm ridiculously broke, but I will get it someday. Anyways, what's it look like? Is it some dude (J. Edgar Hoover, maybe?) getting drawn on or something? Cuz I've seen that on a Silverchair DVD. Maybe Rhino and Atlantic are owned by the same company...?

K

devilpants

Most of the Rhino DVD's have that goofy warning intro. My MST3K DVD's have that intro, too. Rhino's just a zany outfit!

CMc

I've become very adjusted to the set now since having it for a few days, so my disappointments have subsided for the time being, especially because it's so cool you can skip stuff so easily now!! And those commercials! Kellogg's Rice Krispies and Yeardley Black Label (I think the Monkees actually recorded the jingle for YBL, at least it sounds like they did it)! The trivia feature for each episode is cool--Nice to see them finally explain about the Davy & Fern censorship thing.

RedR--I believe that Japanese sleeve is supposed to be an actual Japanese 45 sleeve, and they probably wanted to make sure we were aware they were replicating that.

I'd like to see them pay homage to the LP covers for the second season box.

shanester

Aern't Rhino they same people who put out the Ed Sullivan box set last year under much critcism??..I'm glad I baught neither

Tscott

I really like the set. I've watched episodes 1-4 so far and while there have some noticeable video problems they haven't been distracting- plus it's understandable given the show's age. Maybe if sometime in the future digital remastering is cheaper and easier, we might see a "better" version- but what we've got now is just fine (as long as you don't watch the grain instead of the show).

My main complaint is the box it comes in. Well not the box, but the fact you have to slide the discs in and out of paper sleeves. I thought it was awesome when I first bought it, but then I found some episodes on disc one to unreadable the second night I sat down to watch a few. Luckily, I was able to exchange the set for a new one, which I immediately put into a 5-DVD keepcase I had around (plus a slim cd case that'll fit inside that for disc 6). And those DVDs will never see the inside of a paper envelope again.

Beritolam

My wife is just finishing disc 4 and I watched some of each. The audio/video is not as bad as the previous assorted episode discs. There was some video issues, but it was much better than I was expecting. My wife really likes the packaging, I have mixed feelings about it, but I like the idea they were going with.