Northern Exposure: Complete Series - 19th March 2018

[samdvd1]

Joel Fleischman is a nebbishy Jewish doctor from New York City, and a fresh faced medical school graduate. He's also about to begin the four year service contract he promised to the state of Alaska, who financed his education. But he just happened to forget reading some of the stipulations in his contract, that has assigned him to the small post of Cicely, Alaska. A town of 215 people that welcomes it's newest resident with open arms. As he contends with the daily lives and rituals of these all too normal and trusting folk, Joel just might realise that Cicely's quieter ways are probably more civilised than the hustle and bustle of Manhattan. Made up of Cicely's various residents, patients and friends of Fleischman include wealthy former astronaut Maurice Minnifield; feisty pilot Maggie O'Connell; mayor and saloon owner Holling Vincoeur; his sweet, naive waitress girlfriend Shelly Tambo (who's old enough to be his daughter); intellectual ex-con and disc jockey Chris Stevens; Joel's far wiser and very quiet receptionist Marilyn Whirlwind; kindly store owner Ruth-Anne Miller, and avid film buff Ed Chigliak. Enjoy once again, now fully restored and in hi-definition, all 110 episodes, over 6 seasons, with all the original music as you remember it.

EXTRAS:

Four and half hours of bonus content including Deleted Scenes, Gag Reels, Promo Reels, Unexposed Footage.

[McCrutchy]

Wasn't there some kind of issue with Quantum Leap not having lossless audio? If so, is it possible to get Fabulous to confirm that the audio on Northern Exposure will be lossless?

[samdvd1]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Wasn't there some kind of issue with Quantum Leap not having lossless audio? If so, is it possible to get Fabulous to confirm that the audio on Northern Exposure will be lossless?

It is something I have already asked and awaiting a reply.

[Wezzo]

I'm guessing there's no hope of English subtitles?

I have the R1 DVDs (in the complete series satchel, which is rather neat) as they had subtitles and most of the R2s didn't. I'd happily upgrade to BD if subs were included, but I'm guessing they won't be, as Fabulous usually find the cost prohibitive.

[Spiderwalk]

F**k me! I was going to import the German DVD set, just for the original music. This is fantastic news!

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by samdvd1

It is something I have already asked and awaiting a reply.

Thanks, Sam.

[samdvd1]

Originally Posted by Spiderwalk

F**k me! I was going to import the German DVD set, just for the original music. This is fantastic news!

I got to reveal the news exclusively back in the first week of December. Also coming this year are 30 Rock, Buck Rogers, Columbo, Murder She Wrote, and The Rockford Files. A little more info and quite a bit more discussion in the Fabulous Classic TV thread.

[thinredline]

Unfortunately the prices are too high for these complete series in comparison to the corresponding US releases, and I don't understand why.

[harpolini]

So excited, the film elements even make the DVDs look decent. I've quoted my post from another thread about my worries about season 6 in the spoiler tags below. Also, is the general consensus that this will most likely be region locked?

[Show spoiler]

Originally Posted by harpolini

Season one is an example of the best that DVD can look. Season 3 and on look like they slightly softened the image to help with compression as they often crammed 5 episodes per disc. Season 6 suffers from a interlacing, contrast boosting and an image even softer that other seasons.

Season one US release(looks great!)






Season six US release(Notice the Digital Magic logo which was added to the end credits which I presume is the new digital editing system they used for this season)




The only things that looks better is the text clarity on the credits.

[grant666uk]

Got my pre-order in, Fingers crossed it drops under £100.

[Si Parallel Universe]

With all the original music as you remember it.

I've been waiting for that to happen since the DVDs came out over 15 years ago.

I'll wait for this to drop in price and I still haven't picked up The Water Margin yet.

Will they correct the musical substitutions in WKRP in Cincinnati and release that on Blu ?

[p w]

Originally Posted by thinredline

Unfortunately the prices are too high for these complete series in comparison to the corresponding US releases, and I don't understand why.

The only sub 100 dollar complete series set I'm seeing for it in the usa is on DVD. Not sure what price you are seeing the USA bluray set for, but if its super cheap someplace, please post it

[McCrutchy]

Pre-ordered, along with the March Indicator releases due out the same day. Hopefully, Fabulous deliver a clear answer on whether the audio is lossless before the release date, so I can keep my order.

[samdvd1]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

Pre-ordered, along with the March Indicator releases due out the same day. Hopefully, Fabulous deliver a clear answer on whether the audio is lossless before the release date, so I can keep my order.

Just back from work and had this in my inbox in response to my question.

Hi Sam, no it doesn’t have lossless audio.
Isx

[PissedOffPeoN]

Magnum P.I. had it though .

[McCrutchy]

Ugh, why are they doing this! They have more than enough discs to allow for a DTS-HD MA 2.0 track! I know some won't care, but to me lossless audio is one of the basic components of a Blu-ray release, and I try to avoid buying releases with lossy audio at all costs, if possible.

Thanks, Sam, my order is cancelled. I'll wait to see what comes out in other regions before I spend money on a release without lossless audio.

What a shame.

[88mph]

Very disappointing. Especially at that crazy price.

I can imagine it looking great in HD though since the German DVD set looks fantastic. I may just stick with that for now and wait for the price of this to drop.

[Si Parallel Universe]

Probably a silly question to some but whats the difference in the audio being lossy or not ?

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by Si Parallel Universe

Probably a silly question to some but whats the difference in the audio being lossy or not ?

I know some people cannot, but most of the time, I actually can tell the difference between lossless audio, and when that audio is further compressed to lossy Dolby Digital. But even if I couldn't, the fact is that like 1080p video, lossless audio is a feature of Blu-ray, and pretty much a standard one, at that. I am not one of those people who believes that certain types of films and programs don't benefit from lossless, either, as I appreciate even small improvements. With rare exceptions, companies should always provide lossless audio encoding, in order to make the most of what the format can offer, and then we can all compare it to the lossy tracks on the DVD editions, if necessary. Consider how upsetting most people would find it if Fabulous encoded the video at 1080/50i, or worse, 720p. Either way is arguably a valid presentation, because it's still HD, for one thing. But it isn't the Blu-ray standard for filmed content from the States--that standard is 1080p24. This video standard is rarely ignored, but on the audio side, we still see releases that cut corners and go for lossy audio, which shows the double-standard of the format.

And I think especially on a release where the music is important, and a major selling point, it is especially galling that Fabulous aren't providing Blu-ray-quality audio (that is, lossless 2.0, in this case), on their Blu-ray release.

I really hope they reconsider, as I have no problem with pricing, but absolutely refuse to buy any of these TV series releases without the audio being in lossless.

[Si Parallel Universe]

Thanks.

I don't think my concert battered eardrums would notice the difference much if I'm honest.

I'm just happy that there are no longer any music substitutions as has often been the case in the past with American TV shows. (WKRP being rather a point as all the jokes were built around musical puns and even the Sopranos used 'cover' versions of songs)