60's TV COMBAT! season 1

[Indian Hills Theater]

http://www.amazon.ca/Combat-Season-1...eywords=combat!

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/...L._AA1500_.jpg

[cbs777]

Is it mislabeled? It says blu ray import, but it says the format is dvd.

[Rhylliam]

Yeah it a US release for the season, and I don't think a BD was announced...

[Drake2222]

Someone needs to release Combat! on blu ray!

and The Rifleman

[DavidRoylance]

I wonder whether the dvd will be time compressed like the original release.

Of course, Combat on blu ray would be a big yes from me.

[DavidRoylance]

Can anyone confirm whether CBS/Paramount own the copyright to this?

[Indian Hills Theater]

It is now owned by Disney.

[Drake2222]

Watching the episode The Prisoner from season one starring Shecky Greene who was a season one regular, his performance was certainly a dead ringer for Lou Costello

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by DavidRoylance

I wonder whether the dvd will be time compressed like the original release.

Are you saying the DVDs were edited in some way? Dammit, I hate finding that out way after the fact.

[Drake2222]

Originally Posted by thatguamguy

Are you saying the DVDs were edited in some way? Dammit, I hate finding that out way after the fact.

So this below is what I see on Wikipedia, although to be honest, watching the episodes I really haven’t seen anything odd or obviously missing or sped up etc. guess they must have cut out something minor:


“Home media
Several Combat! episodes are available commercially from Worldvision, with six tapes in all. These were the time-compressed syndication prints and ran slightly less than the original airtime of 50–51 minutes. The frequently asked questions for the show's mailing list confirms this.[17]

Image Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD (Region 1). They released each season in two-volume sets in 2004 and 2005. On December 6, 2005, Image Entertainment released a 40-disc boxed set featuring all 152 episodes. Each season set, as well as the complete series set, features various extras including commentaries, oddities, bloopers, and photo galleries.

However, all episodes are the time-compressed versions that were distributed by Worldvision Enterprises for syndication; each comes in at 46 to 47 minutes, instead of the original runtime, which was 50 to 51 minutes.[18]

On October 9, 2012, Image Entertainment released a five-DVD collection of 20 episodes called Combat! - 50th Anniversary Fan Favorites.[19]

On November 12, 2013, Image released Combat! - The Complete Series, a 40-disc set that features all 152 episodes of the series.[20]”

[Drake2222]

Just started in on Season 2, I must say they really upped the sophistication of the fight choreography / effects starting with this season

[thatguamguy]

Drake - the one thing that's not clear from the links provided within Wikipedia is if the episodes have ever aired correctly anywhere in the last fifty years. (I would assume not; if these are the syndicated prints, then they probably were what showed in syndication.) It's too bad this show isn't popular enough that they would go back to the film and do a proper restoration of it. Without a point of reference for what is correct, I don't think a fan-restoration would be possible. (Good thing it's not that noticeable.)

[Drake2222]

Also ran across this, it mentions a quote from Combat! actor / director who is quoted as saying the episodes were actually 47 minutes, so who knows

https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/6203...mplete-series/

[thatguamguy]

OK, so at this point, it seems as if the burden of proof is on the people saying that there are 51 minute versions to either produce the 51 minute versions, so that people can compare them side-by-side, or to at least examine the 47 minute versions and point to specific examples of speed-up.

It seems possible that they might have sped up the 47 minute version for some syndicated showings, and then fans got confused about how long the uncut version was and just guessed at 51 minutes, and over the years that became the quote.

I checked the giant Altman biography, but there were no relevant details. The only interesting note I can add from that is that the series was cancelled after five years because ABC was worried that if they waited too long, no syndicators would be interested in a black and white show. So the show was put in syndication immediately after cancellation. To me, this suggests that a trail of evidence should exist such that it would be theoretically provable what the original length was, if anybody out there cares enough about "Combat" to try.

I recorded all of the Altman episodes off of one of the Encore channels, where they were showing commercial-free in syndication. Unfortunately, I think I got rid of the tapes when I bought the DVDs, but I will check the closet that they would be in if I still have them; if those are 44 or 45 minutes, that would be some evidence that they syndicated cuts were fixed for the DVD.