Leaving Prime Video mid-July
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My question is whether there will finally be the remastered and cleaned up version. The prints on Prime, while not as bad as on Plex, are still not great…
Plenty of ISSUES with Knots Landing files on Prime Video, here’s the short list I’ve put together:
Season 2
S02E01: Hitchhike, Part 1 - Syndicated Version
Season 3
S03E06: One of a Kind - Wrong Opening Theme with Don Murray
S03E13: Reunion - plays to fast/sped up vocals
Season 4
S04E07: Investments - Syndicated Version
S04E11: Abby’s Choice - Syndicated Version
S04E12: The Block Party - Syndicated Version
S04E22: Willing Victimes - Syndicated Version
Season 5
S05E10: Homecoming - Syndicated Version
S05E12: Denials - Final scene cut seconds short - missing Executive Producers closing credits
Season 6
S06E11: Distant Locations - Syndicated Version, no End Credits
S06E22: A Piece of the Pie - Syndicated Version
Season 7
S07E22: High School Confidential - Act 4/final 12 minutes missing
Season 8
S08E07: All Over But the Shouting - picture stretched, top 1/8 cut off frame
Season 11
S11E26: My Love Always - Act 4/final 12 minutes missing
Season 12
S12E22: An American Hero - Michele Lee song memorial to Steve Shaw not included
Season 14
S14E01: Found and Lost - plays to fast/sped up vocals
S14E02: Lovers and Other Strangers - plays to fast/sped up vocals, picture stretched, top 1/8 cut off frame
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I just don’t get it. The HD versions were almost done last time I spoke to my contact. Even if they, for some strange reason, gave up on it, why the sloppiness with what is supplied to Prime (and also Plex)?
The episodes on Prime Time Soaps have all been sorted and actually look great despite being SD.
@TJP have you had any new info?
It's interesting that both of us have apparently different sources. I actually have two, one of them being unofficial, but close to Warners -- and yes, "Knots Landing" and "Falcon Crest" were completely digitized in HD the same way "Dallas" was. We have no idea why Warner Bros. has not released the new versions of these shows in any of their target markets yet.
To make the confusion perfect, I don't understand why iTunes in the U.S., for instance, has — at least in a number of "Falcon Crest" episodes — SD prints from later-generation distribution prints (hence less in quality, of course) than Prime and Plex; and also more syndicated versions while Prime and Plex have more of the complete episodes.
With Warner Bros. having been sold and having merged various times and now the imminent danger of Discovery and WB splitting up again and Warners being sold to another company (most likely Sony), things will probably not get better. Changing hands always means executives coming in and leaving like through a revolving door. We had the pleasure to work with some very experienced people at WB in the past, particularly during the time when they released the DVDs and consulted with us, but it's difficult to keep up a consistent cooperation when people are let go and new people come in with every change on the company's executive side.
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yes even on Apple TV the quality is not very good
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As I already wrote, for some strange reason, Apple TV / iTunes usually has less quality prints in most cases in comparison to Plex or Prime, as far as "Knots" and "Falcon Crest" are concerned. No idea why.
Yes, please, and if you can take a few screen captures (probably prevented by their software) or at least photos with your smart phone, please post a few of the main titles, opening and end credits as well as a couple of scenes. It would be interesting to see if and how diligently they did the remastering. Like with "Dallas", the main titles of the pre-Ediflex seasons were recreated from original-source materials, and the lettering for superimposed text elements had to be recreated as well.
I am confused ... correct me if I'm wrong but my understanding is that for the pre-Ediflex seasons, all the main titles were composed on film and exist on the film prints, therefore they did not need to be recreated for HD - the film just needed to be rescanned at the higher resolution. Certainly when I look at the HD prints for Dallas, I can't see any indication that the titles were 'recreated' - they just appear to have been rescanned.
This is in contrast to the Ediflex seasons (post-Dream Season onwards) where the main titles have clearly been 'recreated' - insofar as the video masters have been upscaled, and new HD lettering has been created for them.
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I am not entirely sure about this specific issue. But I heard there were problems with separating the film components of the first edited generation. I assume that referred to separating the superimposed lettering from the print. Since WB's mandate was to recreate all the lettering for higher resolution, one of my sources claimed they went back to rescan the original film elements (the ones from before composing the title cards) and remade them. It's very difficult to tell from the "Dallas" HD version if this was really the case or if it was "just" a rescan. If they did recreate them, it seems not noticeable to me either. But when the creation of the HD versions was explained to me, the term "recreated" was used in context with the main titles of those years in contrast to the term "upscaling" for the main titles from the Ediflex years.
Unfortunately, none of the streaming services I have access to allows to take screen captures. It would be interesting to take screen grabs of the SD and HD versions and compare all the details to know for sure.
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Update:
After leaving PRIME VIDEO, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest are now available on HOWDY - a new (add-free, with subscription of course) streaming service from Roku. AND China Beach is there too! Ahhh <3 Finally! 1st time on any streaming service I think
(I don't have access to HOWDY, so I don't know if these are finally HD versions.)
After leaving PRIME VIDEO, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest are now available on HOWDY - a new (add-free, with subscription of course) streaming service from Roku. AND China Beach is there too! Ahhh <3 Finally! 1st time on any streaming service I think
(I don't have access to HOWDY, so I don't know if these are finally HD versions.)
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I subscribed to Howdy after I heard that Knots was on there without commercials, even though I have the whole series on DVD. I didn't know about China Beach, my other favorite series, until I saw your post. Knots isn't in the HD upgrade yet, and probably neither is Falcon Crest.....Update:
After leaving PRIME VIDEO, Knots Landing and Falcon Crest are now available on HOWDY - a new (add-free, with subscription of course) streaming service from Roku. AND China Beach is there too! Ahhh <3 Finally! 1st time on any streaming service I think
(I don't have access to HOWDY, so I don't know if these are finally HD versions.)
China Beach, well that story is mixed. That series does look like it got an HD upgrade (visually it is a huge step up from the grainy masters on the 2013 DVDs).... But the music that gave the show so much of its character has been replaced. The glorious opening sound of "Reflections" by the Supremes has been replaced by a cheap cover version sung by a woman with a somewhat flat voice and a nasal twang. I might look at it more, since the picture is so much better, but hold onto your DVDs if you have them.
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Thanks for your insight! Sorry about music from China Beach
I have my DVD's! BUT I'm also very happy that in one year time we got KNOTS and C.B. from Warner on streaming, it's a huge step from before! Now I want MIDNIGHT CALLER, and I can die as a happy man!