The
Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriett: Video Scrap Book
(2024/MPI DVD Set)/Friends
4K (1994 - 2004/4K Ultra
HD Blu-ray*)/Young Sheldon
(2017 - 2024/DVD/*both Warner Complete
Series Sets)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B Picture: C+/X/C+ Sound: C+/B/C+
Extras: D/C+/C+ Main Programs: C+/C+/B-
Now
for a new look at three hit TV sitcom classics...
The
Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriett: Video Scrap Book
(2024) is a double DVD set covering more on one of the biggest early
hit TV sitcoms, with Disc One offering The
Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriett Revisited
(only about 12 minutes,)
Ozzie's Boys, Remembering Ricky, A Conversation With Ozzie
and Cast Commercials, which has all kinds of TV ads for the likes of
GE, Hotpoint (see Mary Tyler Moore as 'Hotpoint!',) Peter Paul
Chocolates & Candies, Len-L Ration Dog Food, Quaker Puffed Rice
Cereal, Kodak, Aunt Jemima Pancakes, Coca Cola, U.S. Keds Shoes, The
American Diary Association and more, lasting about an hour.
Disc
Two adds Promotional Spots, Ricky's
Birthday Surprise, Doing Right By David,
Nelson Family Home Movies (1930s to the 1950s,) Ricky Nelson Home
Movies (1960s,) Ozzie
& Harriett Christmas Special
(1981) and
The
Adventures Of Ozzie and Harriett
Radio Show (2/20/49).
We
have seen some of this one previous releases and all of our previous
coverage of the series over the years at this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/new/viewer.cgi?search=ozzie
Friends
4K: The Complete Series
(1994 - 2004) is a show we have never covered before in any format
after all these years and after some mixed reviews on the regular
Blu-ray set. I already had seen and liked Courteney Cox, vaguely
remembered Matt LeBlanc from somewhere on TV (a ketchup ad was one of
those places,) then you have Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, David
Schwimmer and the late Matthew Perry as roommates in a big New York
city apartment finding life funny all the time.
Of
course, the show was as big a hit as it was repetitive and annoying,
with its short-cut humor, silly humor, one-joke ideas and then, was
treated by its network (NBC) as more serious (not the mature All
In The Family/Mary
Tyler Moore Show
kind either) where they kept constantly plugging 'on a very special
episode of Friends'
which made it all the more annoying to all but fans. Yet, the
ratings stayed high throughout. Why? Appointment TV, pre-Internet?
Maybe. But ultimately, no matter how bad the show was for non fans,
casting is at least 85% of the success of this show and had the cast
been any different or less convincing, this would never have lasted,
even after that Beatles/Monkees-style promo launch that stuck with
the whole series.
In
real life, the cast have all proved to be great actors (usually
comic) outside of the series and after the events of 9/11, the show
took on a while new meaning and value. Its success also meant they
landed some of the biggest names in industry history, which did not
hurt and the show remains popular enough that this is the first hit
network TV show of its time to get 4K disc treatment. More on how
that plays below, but if you are a huge fan of the series, this is
the way to go.
Extras
repeat the DVD set and include a new featurette among the following:
FRIENDS:
Through the Peephole
How
Well Do You Know Your FRIENDS
True
Friends Documentaries
Friends
Talk-Show Appearances
The
Original Script and Producers' Cut for The
One Where Rachel Tells Ross
''Super-Sized''
Broadcast Episodes from Season 7
The
One with the Never-Before-Seen Gags
The
Rembrandts' ''I'll
Be There For You''
Music Video
Audio
Commentaries on a few episodes, Gag Reels and Much More.
Young
Sheldon: The Complete Series
(2017 - 2024) was a hit, but not exactly as successful as Big
Bang Theory,
yet it managed to be a hit despite an early dip in quality over the
early seasons from its start. We covered most of the seasons as
follows at these links:
Season
One
DVD Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15239/Captain+Applejack+(1931/Warner+Archive+DVD)/
Season
Three
Blu-ray Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15836/Opening+Act+(2020/RLJ+Blu-ray)/Pit+Stop+(2020
Season
Four
Blu-ray Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15976/Boss+Baby:+Family+Business+4K+(2021/Universa
Season
Five
DVD Set
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/16188/Mrs.+Harris+Goes+To+Paris+(2022/Universal+Blu-
So
after seven seasons, the show was cancelled while they were on top,
checked all the boxes and kept the fans and viewers happy, but I have
to also give them credit for some solid character development, solid
casting and treating the fans with respect versus os many other
franchises of late. Another spin-off launches as this posts and
we'll see if the makers' luck continues. Until then, a worthy
spin-off can be proud of itself and Jim Parsons can be happy his
voiceovers were as good as the best from the Wonder
Years
and Christmas
Story
franchises.
Extras
include SHELDON'S SECRET ORIGINS AND EASTER EGGS:
The cast and producers of Young Sheldon look back on
the series' journey. They share some favorite Easter eggs and Cooper
family origins hidden along the way. That is six behind the scenes
featurettes.
Now
for playback performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.78 X 1, Dolby
Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition
image across the Friends
4K
episodes looks very good color-wise
throughout, but grain and softness plague the show at various times.
Starting with the pilot, then as things slowly get better, some later
seasons show more grain (35mm film that is more light sensitive so
less lights have to be used can do that) and the shows were filmed
with Panavision equipment, apparently Kodak color negative (versus
Agfa for the first season of Seinfeld
or other shows that had used Fuji or later would) and FotoKem
developed it all. Even with the flaws, this is far superior versus
if Warner had chosen to be cheaper with low def video to early HD,
which has dated as badly as expected from the time.
The
show was originally shown 1.33 X 1, the old oval/square of old analog
TV sets, but various sources say Super 35, so it may have always had
image information on the sides only seen in recent years. With the
baked in flaws and unevenness of the show over its decade-long run,
their lucky the show looks even this good and will make for some
interesting comparisons when other filmed TV shows from the same
period get the 4K disc treatment, especially sitcoms which tend to
have the same bright/flat lighting approach. Otherwise, fans and
those curious will be impressed enough and should be pleased, plus a
few scenes here ands there really look better than expected, if not
enough of them.
It
will also be interesting to compare the show to older filmed sitcoms
like Happy
Days,
The
Mary Tyler Moore Show,
M*A*S*H,
their spinoffs, The
Odd Couple,
Bob
Newhart Show,
That
Girl
and even Get
Smart
whenever they finally get that kind of treatment.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is also a mixed bag, with
the show staring out in simple stereo and 'maybe' old Dolby Pro Logic
monophonic surrounds, but the sound improved a bit over the years as
its hit status upped the show's budget. However, you can hear the
old laugh track often as boxy and even monophonic, so this
dialogue/joke-based show is only going to sound so good. Still, this
is a good as these shows will ever sound and this 4K set marks the
debut of lossless sound on all 235 episodes.
The
1.33 X 1 image and lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono on the older Ozzie
footage is as good as the previous, newly restored DVDs form MPI,
while some newer footage is has lossy Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and
its simple, basic and fine. We never saw the Complete Series
DVD set and wonder if a Blu-ray set might be down the road. The
newer footage is in an anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 frame and
shot digitally. Quality is pretty good throughout overall for the
older format.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the Sheldon DVD
episodes are as good as the previous DVDs covered, but no match for
the nice 1080p image playback on the Sheldon Blu-rays we
covered. Ditto to the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes on each show,
but I will say the Blu-rays have solid lossless DTS-MA on the Blu-ray
sets. Hope we see the series (and Big Bang Theory) in their
entirety on Blu-ray and even 4K eventually.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
