Picked up
The Bionic Woman Season 2 DVDs last week. Despite widespread Internet complaints about the audio on some episodes, I haven't noticed anything particularly onerous, or, for that matter, unusual, and I'm more than halfway through the season. Some episodes do not sound "crystal clear," but as this is a 35+ years old show from the 70s Universal TV factory, that's to be expected. Too many "reviewers" online today are young tech-heads with no sense of context or perspective; complaining about muffled audio on a 70s TV show is like complaining that a 30's B-movie is in black & white.
As for the shows themselves, this is the season that
opened with an uproarious, glorious
Six Million Dollar Man crossover, "The Return of Bigfoot" (guest starring
John Saxon!) and contained the ultimate (literally, as it was the last)
Six Million Dollar Man-Bionic Woman crossover epic, "Kill Oscar," which also introduced the fan favorite fembots. In between, we have Jaime posing as a female wrestler, a policewoman, and a nun, and trading darkly humorous quips with
Vincent Price. I'll be posting a full review shortly here and at my
DVD Late Show site. Stay tuned.
Unfortunately the audio problems seem to be true. The episode Deadly Ringer confirmed it for me[just got to it last night]. For the first 9:33 the audio is very muddy. I had to turn on the captions to really tell what was being said. But then at 9:34 the audio clears up. I noticed something similar[though shorter in duration and less muddy] in a previous episode[or two? didn't note which one(s)]. At the time I thought it had to be my very old DVD player. But I just checked it on my Mac with the same result. I was thinking about exchanging the discs until I saw your post. Won't bother now. But I would like to know the story behind this. Quality control issue? Damage to the master?
ReplyDeleteI have to add, I am enjoying this series quite a bit. Initially I put off buying it because, as a kid, I was more of a Six Million Dollar Man fan. But I had no intention of buying the whole series at once[the nerve of them]. The two seasons of The Bionic Woman however, includes a nice dose of the original.
I have developed a new appreciation for this show. I will be there for season 3.
As kid I did like the series/Lindsay enough to send out the only fan letter I sent to anyone. I got back a picture. Sure wish I still had that. I have no idea what happened to it...
Joe
According to a Universal statement, the problems are inherent in the source material.
ReplyDeleteEvery episode in the Bionic Woman Season 2 DVD release has been digitally re-mastered for optimal viewing. However, the remastering cannot correct flaws that either were part of the original presentation or that happened over the passage of time. Certain moments within select episodes from Season 2 may include noticeable moments of imperfect picture or audio. This is reflective of the source material which unfortunately, is the best source material that is available to the studio and cannot be corrected. The episodes are still included in the set to provide as complete a collection as possible.
ReplyDeleteConsumers not satisfied with their purchase can contact Universal Studios Home Entertainment Consumer Relations by email at USHE.ConsumerRelations@bydeluxe.com or by phone at 888-882-5779, for information on returning the DVD set in exchange for a $30 NBC Universal Store voucher, valid for the purchase of any merchandise at http://www.nbcuniversalstore.com.
Universal will also be noting the problem on future batches of sets that go to retail.
Taken from: http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bionic-Woman-season-2-statement/15415#ixzz1O35nhmKa
Sadly, that's not exactly accurate. The Bionic Woman has been on DVD in the UK for several years now and the audio is just fine on those releases from what I've read. Someone could have just taken those audio elements and pitch corrected them.
ReplyDelete