rasalas

That hasn't happened yet with any TV show. Re-releases of a season's worth of shows are really rare. And the few that have been re-released have largely been repackagings--that is, the same discs in more convenient collections, such as when the separate volumes of The Twilight Zone and I Spy were gathered in sets but had the same content. Even the coming re-releases of The World at War and Star Trek, which do have added content, use the same transfers of the actual episodes as before.

So this thinking that Universal is selling an inferior product now to make money and then will sell an improved version of the same episodes later to make even more money is flawed. There is no precedent.

The reality is that Universal has no idea how the show will sell, so it's cutting corners to hedge its bets. It's the same thing that Fox did with Lost in Space. Why these particular shows? Who knows? It might be a flawed business plan, especially with companies like Warner releasing great-looking versions of shows such as Wonder Woman and Dukes of Hazzard with great success. But Fox was proved right on Lost in Space, because the show's numbers were low enough that the studio rejiggered its thinking even more by breaking future seasons into two parts to help sales.

At least we're getting uncut episodes with Night Gallery.

ckolchak

i've dipped into material on the first and third discs, and while i have seen some dirt and speckling, this in no way to me looks soft.
it looks very sharp, very detailed.
excellant color, excellant contrast and generally excellant black levels.
in short, i'm extrememly happy with the way this set looks and would be very satisfied if they released the other two seasons w/ similar looking transfers.
My vote for the release with soft/disappointing transfers?
Dallas Seasons 1 & 2.
that show looks just fine on my small direct view tv, but blown up and front projected it looks soft/blurry, with artifacting/aliasing, color fringing, ringing.
NG looks considerably better, and yet i havent seen anybody complaining about Dallas's PQ.
i'm projecting about 65" diagonal - panasonic rp56 via progressive component out to a NEC Ht1000.

Scott Skelton has an exhaustive listing of what exactly are the deficiencies with these transfers- frankly it seems to me to border on obsessive detail at times-i doubt that i would catch 9/10s of the 'problems' here ( most of which amount to music cues truncated by seconds) since i'm not sure i have ever even seen the 'correct' versions of this show before.

all i've seen are syndicated versions of it (even going back to my first exposure in the late 70s)- and one thing is for sure, these are miles ahead of the butcherd prints that ran on the Sci-Fi channel.

nightmaster

I'm going to pick this up as well, having really gotten into the spirit thanks to the Mystery Channel marathon. To hold out for a better print/edition of a grand old series that may not even see a season two release is futile in my opinion. Hey, it's going to look better than videotape and it's going to be at my fingertips, that's much better than nothing at all.

nightmaster

bump

sracer

I just picked up Night Gallery Season 1 boxset. I held off buying it before because of reports of an inferior mastering/transfer. But having watched all of the first disc and half of the second disc, I can say that any such reports are a bit over-critical. Sure there's occasional specs and scratches, but not enough to be distracting. The colors look natural and warm (not over-saturated as sometimes happens with some discs)

It's a bit of a stroll down memory lane for me for sure... but I think it holds up very well today.

dsa_shea

The Night Gallery set is about as good as we will ever get it without paying the Twilight Zone Definitive price. It is definitely worth 25-30 used so go ahead and pick it up. Here's hoping that the last two seasons come before the next millenium.

unclehulot

Considering that the Twilight Zone Definitive sets are jammed with 8 episodes per disc and a multitude of valuable extras, and that Universal charges a pretty high price for the Night Gallery set for what is basically 2 1/3 poorly filled discs (with disc 3 containing ONE episode, and a bunch of junk we'll end up paying for AGAIN if they continue the series), I find it incredible that anyone would consider that we are anything but ripped off by Universal, compared to what Image gives us for the our T. Zone bucks.

dsa_shea

But with the Definitive Edition of the Twilight Zone you are paying for what you get. The set is at least double the cost of the Night Gallery set. Look at what Image gave Twilight Zone fans the first time around and what it cost the consumer.

Cocopugg

I'm buying the set because I want to see the episodes. I figure it's better to buy bad quality and enjoy the episodes now, rather than wait for great quality, and die never having seen it!

dsa_shea

The set that is out now is very acceptable. The only thing I would have liked to see besides a little improvement in the picture would be a few special features. Considering that this wasn't Rod Serling's favorite piece of work there was probably little if anything actually recorded outside of the episodes themselves. Besides, for the price that you can pick this set up for it is worth it. Like I said before, when you get the extra stuff and improved quality you're going to pay for it. The definitive editions of the Twilight Zone are packed with goodies but they're no drop in the bucket when it comes to price. My wife and I paid 69.98 plus tax for our set of season one Twilight Zone at Sam's and that was the cheapest price going. Take the Night Gallery for what it is and let's hope that Universal will finish the series at least. I have heard a rumor that the last two seasons will come out later this year. I believe the summer was the scheduled time for season 2.