DE-BUTCHER THE SEASON 8 DVD: RESTORE IT WHOLE!

[dagg]

im at a loss on a couple things here.

1. this is not the first time that the theme song was not present on any of the previous DVD releases. most notably are the two part episodes. please check.. you will find they are missing.

2. do you really sit there and listen to the music on EVERY SINGLE EPISODE when you are watching the DVDs? i sure dont & i dont know anyone that does.

3. if you really want the song that badly, its on itunes... buy it.

4. are any of you really that surprised that CBS is trying to maximize their dollars on this? the fan base is nearly as fanatical (and i mean that in a good way...im here aint i???) as star wars fans... and if one thing has been learned its that you can release crappy box sets initially at the outset and follow up with a good box set release a year later and MOST fans will buy both. will I? yes probably assuming that i have sufficient disposable income to support doing so.

While i dont suggest either way that you either support this or dont support this attempt, just consider the points.

[vandergraafk]

First, as cynical as some of your comments may appear, certainly Hollywood has done this over and over again. When videos first came out, nobody in Hollywood thought the fans would have any interest in the types of things that astral Prue raves about. Laser discs, however much of a commercial failure they were for the public at large, did convince Hollywood that true fans, i.e., those who were willing to lay out big (laser disc) bucks for director commentary, etc., expect such extras. That's why many, many DVDs have such. You did not find these on the original video releases!

Maybe you are correct that CBS/Paramount will come out with a stripped down, corrected Season 8 at some point after we've laid out our bucks for this partial turkey. I am not certain of that and suggest that we let Hollywood know what we expect. If you don't ask, you've no right to complain!

Yes, we are all aware that the title theme to Charmed Again and A Witch's Tale was altered so that these could be made into a continuous presentation. Fortunately, I am able to burn the TNT airing which did not have the crappy WB scrunching of the end credits so that I may retain the original.

That said, the replacement music is upfront, flashy (I love the guitar!) and fits well with the rest of the film. Listen to Season 8. It is low-fi at best and seems totally out of whack with the rest of the film. Had they simply used the Charmed Again/Witch's Tale replacement score and extended it to cover all of the intro credits, I would have been happy. But, we didn't get that. Instead, we got some crappy low-fi instrumental that might have had potential had it been mixed properly!

Astral Prue, as for the Complete Edition. Is this supposed to be the same as the English/Irish edition which is now at issue 18? That is, three episodes per DVD with a magazine. I'm collecting those, though I have no PAL machine, because it seems the only way I will ever have of listening to Charmed in German. I can always pick up a PAL converter later.

P.S. As someone who did not view original episodes of Charmed until Season 7 (I watched them on the Tuesday re-airing on TNT from Season 6 onward), I cannot say for a fact as to how Charmed Again was aired. Someone has suggested that this originally aired as a two-part special broadcast on one night. If so, perhaps the replacement music was part of the original airing. Later, when Charmed was packaged for syndication, How Soon is Now was put into these now two separate episodes. If anyone knows definitively, please provide us with the facts as you know them to be!

[elenarae]

I just got this yesterday for my birthday. I watched the "extras" late last night. I haven't watched any of the episodes yet. I was rather surprised when I saw Holly's name misspelled when it was captioned below her during an interview. To me, that is just inexcusable. A main player on the show for the entire 8 years, and they cannot spell her name correctly.

Don't know what to think of that.

[vandergraafk]

Well, it's sort of emblematic of the way Holly, et al were treated by the WB and now CBS/Paramount. The show was never "cancelled", although there was an "official" release from the WB in March 2006. How can a show be cancelled if none of the leads has a contract beyond the current season? Isn't that akin to stabbing a person after he or she is already dead?

[whitelightertony]

P.S. As someone who did not view original episodes of Charmed until Season 7 (I watched them on the Tuesday re-airing on TNT from Season 6 onward), I cannot say for a fact as to how Charmed Again was aired. Someone has suggested that this originally aired as a two-part special broadcast on one night. If so, perhaps the replacement music was part of the original airing. Later, when Charmed was packaged for syndication, How Soon is Now was put into these now two separate episodes. If anyone knows definitively, please provide us with the facts as you know them to be!

The original airing of "Charmed Again - Parts 1 & 2" did indeed air as a two-hour event all on one night...and they shortened the opening into an abridged musical score accompanied by the triquetra (meaning no opening credits, and no "How Soon Is Now?").

However, when the WB repeated those episodes of "Charmed Again" (on separate weeks, I might add) in December of 2001, they reinserted the Season 4 opening sequence into those individual one-night airings (the way it appears now on TNT).

[dagg]

vandergraafk said:

First, as cynical as some of your comments may appear, certainly Hollywood has done this over and over again. When videos first came out, nobody in Hollywood thought the fans would have any interest in the types of things that astral Prue raves about. Laser discs, however much of a commercial failure they were for the public at large, did convince Hollywood that true fans, i.e., those who were willing to lay out big (laser disc) bucks for director commentary, etc., expect such extras. That's why many, many DVDs have such. You did not find these on the original video releases!

me cynical??
more like realist. cynical would be screaming at them before it even happened simply because i knew it was going to...
i do agree with letting them know your preferences. I just think that they dont care, arnt going to care and are only looking at this stuff so they can figure out exactly what to do in order to re-release the entire series and make more money. Will i buy the re-release? probably so if it has more features & stuff like that and then ill give all eight seasons to one of my friends that cant afford to buy it themselves... im nice that way.

Maybe you are correct that CBS/Paramount will come out with a stripped down, corrected Season 8 at some point after we've laid out our bucks for this partial turkey. I am not certain of that and suggest that we let Hollywood know what we expect. If you don't ask, you've no right to complain!

its kind of already stripped down as is... im not sure i understand your meaning here... 'splain please?

Yes, we are all aware that the title theme to Charmed Again and A Witch's Tale was altered so that these could be made into a continuous presentation. Fortunately, I am able to burn the TNT airing which did not have the crappy WB scrunching of the end credits so that I may retain the original.

I too have the ability to grab the original from TNT and remaster it onto a DVD myself... what i dont have is the time or desire. after all, the only reason i wanted s8 now is to make my set complete. I have the first release of everything except for the first 2 seasons i didnt see why this one should be any different.

a lot of stuff about the music

its a preference thing and personally, i just really dont care that much... i dont listen to it anyway.

[vandergraafk]

By stripped down, I mean freed of the bonus features. The audio commentary could probably be maintained. Realist? Cynic? I suspect the choice of phrase turns on how optimistic one is with respect to Hollywood. A cynic can't fathom why they could ever get this right. An optimist, though entirely realistic about the slow and deliberate speed which often chacterizes Hollywood ventures, does know that eventually they do respond. Me? I am cautious optimist!

[Elder]

Okay...
Other than the kooky new theme song (which really doesn't matter) what parts of what episodes have been cut?
Any vital parts?

[vandergraafk]

That's what I'm assessing: bit by bit! Your concern seems to go beyond what exactly might have happened, though. No actual scenes were cut. The background music may have been altered. The theme song definitely was!

[vandergraafk]

For those of you who think the campaign foolish, consider this. Twin Peaks, a cult show created by David Lynch, was treated horribly when it first appeared on DVD. The pilot was not included in the season 1 DVD. And, there were other problems that I choose not to discuss here. However, we are about to be treated to a revamped Twin Peaks that now includes the pilot episode. Think Hollywood never revisists old mistakes? Think again. Join the campaign to clean up Season 8!

[vandergraafk]

Okay. Thanks for this info. I don't disagree that the replacement theme song has potential. I just don't like its low-fi nature. It was badly spliced into the original version. Now, when you say all the two-parters, let me get this completely straight.

Charmed Again: 2 hours, later cut into 2 one hour shows.

A Witch's Tale: 2 hours, later cut into 2 one hour shows.

Oh My Goddess: 2 hours, later cut into 2 one hour shows.

Valhalley of the Dolls: 2 hours, later cut into 2 one hour shows.

It's a Bad, Bad, World: 2 hours, later cut into 2 one hour shows.

I can believe the first two. I have trouble with the later two. The first two are presented as one show on the DVD, replete with the different title intro, a guitar lick which I personally find quite nice. The other three are presented as two-parters on the DVDs. Since I only saw part of Oh My Goddess when it was originally aired on the WB, I can't say for certain. I have a feeling that the latter three were not recut later, but were two hour long episdoes from the get go!

[Lior Knight]

I finally got the 8th season DVD from ebay (second hand for $12) to actively avoid supporting CBS/Paramount for their cheap behavior.

Personally, I hate the new theme music and whenever I watched the episodes I simply skipped it. As for the extras and design - CBS/Paramount got to be the cheapest company out there because these are disgraceful!

First of all, they didn't bother to change the menus, leaving the gray menus of PAL release with yellow cover makes it stupid...if they can't complete their design don't bother changing it in the first place.

The extras are a joke compared to other DVDs; take Heroes for instance - 7 disc DVD set with 24 episodes, unaired pilot, 50 deleted scenes, over dozen commentaries by cast, crew and the creator of the show, 5 featurettes and an interactive game...not to mention the cool cover with bulged logo and shining color and a motion menu. All that for retail price of 59.98 ($10 more than Charmed) but in stores like Amazon it's goes for $38-$39 (when Charmed is sold for $32-$33)...so that's nearly as cheap as the Charmed DVD.

So, this set is a shameful way to make fans spend their money - and the "extras" not even worth losing the theme song for.

[vandergraafk]

I actually do like the replacement music. I don't like the fact that its level is suppressed with respect to the rest of the episode music. Nor do I like the fact that it replaced music I associate intrinsically with Charmed: How Soon is Now. Still, I do like the theme music in Charmed Again. And, I would respond to this music if the fidelity weren't so gosh-darned suppressed and if it had been used to introduce the extras, for example.

And, thanks lior knight, for introducing a comparative perspective. If Heroes can do it, Eureka can do it, why couldn't Charmed?

[Lior Knight]

vandergraafk said:

I actually do like the replacement music. I don't like the fact that its level is suppressed with respect to the rest of the episode music. Nor do I like the fact that it replaced music I associate intrinsically with Charmed: How Soon is Now. Still, I do like the theme music in Charmed Again. And, I would respond to this music if the fidelity weren't so gosh-darned suppressed and if it had been used to introduce the extras, for example.

And, thanks lior knight, for introducing a comparative perspective. If Heroes can do it, Eureka can do it, why couldn't Charmed?

Precisely, there are so many DVDs with amazing extras and non of them that much more expensive compared to Charmed. On the contrary, comparing quality of these DVDs with Charmed (packing, design, extras) it looks like Charmed DVDs are quite overpriced.

So cutting back on music rights in order to fit few features makes no sense, at least not nowadays.

[vandergraafk]

For those of you who have read Issue #21 of Charmed magazine, you no doubt have learned that Brad Kern professed absolute ignorance about the loss of How Soon Is Now. As he rightly points out, that song is part of the heart and soul of Charmed. Without it, something is lost. He would rather have foregone some of the bonus material in order to preserve it whole. Read the entire "Ask Brad" entry.

P.S. According to Mr. Kern, CBS/Paramount didn't even bother to inform him about this in advance. I guess showrunners have no clout after a production has gone dark. He found out from an email inquiry.

[Rebecca Malfoy]

I'm not surprised with the CBS/Paramount treatment of Charmed. The first seven seasons I had bought for 40 dollars at my local store sans the bonus features, for ten bucks more I bought a different set released by Warner Bros. and it had features. So when I was able to get it for 20 bucks at WalMart back during Christmas, I gotta say, the bonus stuff isn't really worth watching, IMO, and I haven't even bothered watching the episodes with commentary.

[The Original P3]

In order to truly de-butcher the season 8 DVD set, they'd have to re-shoot the entire season. ;D

[vandergraafk]

Somebody doesn't like Season 8 and is probably not a member of the Billie fan club!

[charmedfan4evr]

xcharmed1x said:

In order to truly de-butcher the season 8 DVD set, they'd have to re-shoot the entire season. ;D

Haha, correct in deed. ;D

[vandergraafk]

Another member of the anti-Billie club? Should we just beat all of you senseless with billie clubs? Or, just vanquish the lot of you!!!