Petition to get the UNCUT episodes released?!?!?!

[wolfman6]

How about starting a petition to the copyright holders to get the UNCUT episodes released on DVD??

Seems to me that Warners doesn't want to release more because the sales must have been poor since the eps are cut.

If I'm going to pay for it, I want the uncut eps. Especially now that we've lost the great Harvey Korman, I would LOVE to have the eps form NBC with his opening and closing monologues. Nobody has seen those since the early 80's!

What's the problem that the copyright holder won't release the uncut eps??

I just know that if I gave in and bought the cut eps, then somebody would release the uncut ones and I'd end up with 2 sets. Just like all these DVD's you buy and then a couple of years later they release a special edition that has extras that you want and you end up with multiple copies.

Let's start a new petition!!

wolfman6

[retroguy]

I would be up for signing that!! Let me know where to start!!

[jimmo]

Bravo, wolfman6!

Had I seen your post first, I would have posted my message here instead of at the space on the board with the petition for the syndicated episodes.

In fact, I think I will anyway. And if you agree with the sentiment of my message, then just post your own message replying to mine. Hopefully, in this more organized manner, the webmaster will then be able to present to Gordon Lacey (of the TVShowsOn DVD website) and Warner Brothers two petitions--one requesting uncut episodes, the other settling for syndicated episodes of one of our favorite TV situation comedies, "Mama's Family."

In any case, the powers that be will see what a demand there is for the complete run of this TV series to be released on home video.

Here is my message re-posted here--


It should bother every fan of "Mama's Family" (and/or any classic TV show) when Warner Bros. or any TV production company that releases home video tries to do things on the cheap and deprive TV show fans of seeing programming how it was originally broadcast.

Not only did WB sell inferior, syndicated prints to us, they also cut the original intros of narrator "Alistair Quince" (Harvey Korman), which were very humorous parodies of PBS' "Masterpiece Theater" host Alistair Cooke. There shouldn't have been any legalities surrounding these by PBS, as "Saturday Night Live" also had a character, "Leonard Pinth-Garnell" (played by Dan Aykroyd), parodying Cooke in much the same manner, in a continuing series of skits on that program in the late 1970's.

Anyway, it might be argued that this stereotyped TV host began as a parody years before Cooke himself, from legendary comedian Ernie Kovacs' portrayal of "Percy Dovetonsils," the effete, effeminate TV poet. But regardless, those Harvey Korman intros were part of the NBC-run episodes of "Mama's Family," which aired between 1983-85.

Bonus features and interviews on DVD sets are nice, but they are not substitutions for uncut programming, which is how and why we became fans of these TV shows in the first place.

Settle for nothing less, as you will be paying just as much for the home video releases whether syndicated or uncut episodes are used as masters.

You realize, of course, what production companies will ultimately be doing is charging you a la carte one day to watch an episode of your favorite TV show on-line. As with compact disks of music, it is their intent to eventually eliminate all home video sets (DVD and VHS) and make as much money as they can by charging per single-unit viewing.

I strongly urge everybody who is a fan of classic TV and classic, popular music to buy as much as you can of audio and video compilation sets now, before they disappear.

Think of how things were just before record companies stopped producing large numbers of vinyl records and audio cassettes, and when home video companies stopped producing VHS tapes en masse. Today it is almost impossible to purchase new vinyl format of popular music, equally so VHS format of home video. But as long as there are many people still using the players of these media, there will continue to be new players manufactured by electronics' companies, as well shops to repair such media players, even after the digital conversion of media is completed.

Also, if & when you may, try to record, with VCRs, DVD players or TiVo/DVR systems, as much video programming off-air as you can, and then transfer to hard copy to preserve programming of which you are most fond. This will ensure there always being ample favorite programming available, to yourself and for sale/trade with other collectors and fans.

Also, if you are a fan of a show still airing in first-run on broadcast or cable TV channels, you should record this programming preferably the first time it airs, or at least by a first-run rerun; else, as we have all learned, you may not (& probably won't) ever see the programming in that uncut format again.

And why don't we see another petition on this website, which purports to be the best fan website for "Mama's Family," demanding of Warner Brothers and John Hamilton (heir of original executive producer Joe Hamilton) that it release complete season, DVD sets of "Mama's Family," using the original, uncut, broadcast versions of this series' episodes as masters.

Otherwise, we might well all be better off buying unofficial, complete season sets from collectors on the Web (I'm not going to mention them here, as it would be self-defeating to point Warner Bros. in their direction, but they may be found by those of us who wish to do so).

At the very least, we would probably end up paying less for a complete set of the entire series, even if syndicated prints. And, who knows, some collectors may well be selling sets with some or all, original broadcast episodes, as VCRs were, when "Mama's Family" first aired, a common appliance in most homes by then.

Together, we can preserve our popular cultural heritage and defy how media owners try to manipulate us.

Jim M.
Arlington, MA

[stetsonluna]

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE release them!!!!! ;D

[jamieearlsblues]

pleasze please please please please please please please please release the mama family there all great please release warner and shout im begging please release them