"The Honeymooners Lost Episodes: Complete Restored Series" Coming To DVD

MPI Video's website has a listing for a The Honeymooners Lost Episodes: Complete Restored Series DVD set. I'm guessing from the information provided that this set will include all of the available lost episodes from Gleason's 1952-1955, 1956-1957 variety show on CBS. The box shown actually says "1951-1957," so it is possible the known-to-exist DuMont sketches with Pert Kelton may be included as well. Here's a link to the info at MPI's website for those who may be interested:

http://www.mpihomevideo.com/Store/Detail.asp?ProdID=10869

I know that there has been talk of the Lost Episodes being remastered and restored, and a few were shown last fall at UCLA. Even if the kinescopes aren't perfect I hope for an improvement over what has been available previously on VHS and DVD.

Also, for fans who are interested the word on the street is that the just released "Best Of" DVD that MPI released this week includes the unreleased "Stand In For Murder" remake from the fall of 1955. The original performance in 1954 was cut short by the network when the show ran long, and the remake had been lost or unreleased. It now gets its first release since the original performance.

 

If done right, this can be a fantastic release. The previous lost episode DVDs - also done by MPI - were abysmal in every regard. Poor episode layout/menus, episodes repeated across the sets, clunky packaging, spreading out the episodes over more physical discs than required (no doubt to increase cost and perceived value), poor artwork, etc. Hmmmm looking back on this, it would be a challenge to figure out exactly how to make the new DVDs worse so I guess there's only room for improvement!

Anyway, here's hoping for a chronological layout, decent packaging/artwork and with as much remastering that is possible to make the kinescopes look/sound better.

 

Fantastic! Cover art is here http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Jackie...t-Episodes-The-Complete-Restored-Series/15741

 

one of the most exciting DVD releases this year! glad I waited!

 

This has potential to be a great set. Anyone know if CBS/P has any plans to release the classic 39 in improved transfers, preferably Blu-Ray?

 

even if it they don't make to to BR the current DVDs look great...especially compared to broadcast TV...I watched them thousands of times when they were in syndication!

 

I've got all 39 on VHS...20th Century Fox...still look great.

 

I've got the DVD box and few individual Time Life? Discs...I can't wait fore the box!

 

Helllllllloooooo Ball !

 

God I love that show...probably one of the best if not the best comedy on TV ever!
I never get tired of seeing the episodes no matter how many times I've seen them throughout the years...

 

I hope they do new transfers of the classic 39 episodes for an improved DVD release. Some of the episodes were poorly transferred. The sound of the first one (TV or Not TV) is a mess.

 

Hmmm, I thought they looked great...at least compared to the VHS tapes and TV...

 

Check out the first episode. Major audio problems. Also several of the prints they used had major damage. I love the show but was surprised when I watched the DVD's. I still watch the DVD's but just wish the quality was better. The audio problem with the first episode is just crazy because there was never an issue with it on the sources used on WPIX (our local station which has been running the episodes for decades).

 

I think what they mean is, "not the widely-seen 39 episodes," which would look bad on the box.

I wonder who restored these shows, and how they did it. I'm not even sure anybody kept the DuMont "Electronicam" episodes on 35mm -- most of what's out there is 16mm, and the soundtracks are not great, either.

I'm with Shawn1968 above: MPI is a really cheap company, and they're not known for really doing this stuff right. Ideally, these shows would need good scans from the original elements, plus all kinds of grain reduction, dirt removal, and a little bit of sharpening -- preferably in HD -- even if the end result was standard-def DVD.

 

It is what it is...SO, I'll take this anyway I can get it!..all in one place...nice.

the wife is ready to watch them! we have a ton of laughs to look forward to.

 

gotcha, but I'm happy to have them uncut and all in one place...I'm used to antenna TV growing so this was a wonderful surprise when it first appeared on DVD...

 

I gotta say... I love the show, and I've seen every episode at least a couple of dozen times. Comedian Artie Lange (formerly of the Howard Stern Show) was so good, he could recite entire scenes from The Honeymooners, doing all the voices. Such a classic.

That makes no sense. I bet for whatever reason, they didn't have access to earlier transfers, maybe done by other distributors.

As cheesy as it sounds, they might have been better off taking the Honeymooners audio off of old DVDs, then syncing it up to the new masters. The visual print damage can be repaired frame-by-frame if they spend the money. You can basically lose up to 4 frames and still have the ability for a technician to interpolate and recreate the information from thin air, based on the last good frame and the next good frame. All it takes is cash. (Or they could try to find multiple prints, then piece together the best version out of each reel.)

I won't name the title, but I once mastered a sort of "artistic" cult film from the early 1990s, in HD around 2000, and the studio had lost the original mag tracks. We were about to use the optical track (which would've sounded like bacon frying), when I thought to ask, "hey! Is there an old standard-def transfer lying around somewhere?" They found a 1988 transfer, and we pulled the mag track transfer off of that, and that's what got shipped. (I was sworn to secrecy on the title.)

For all I know, the original sound track is still missing.

 

I've only ever seen the Classic 39, and I've only seen those from the DVDs; but they look very good to me- better than I was expecting going in. Can't wait for the box set.

 

problem now is those who are into Blue Ray are spoiled with the wonderful picture quality, etc! they NOW find DVD the OLD VHS! and I can totally understand this reasoning...me personally? I'm happy with DVD for now...someday I'll dive in...although, I am in no rush whatsoever...

 

I'd better throw my old "Lost Episodes" sets up on eBay and get while the getting is good. I hope this time they treated the shows right. Even though I love 'em, I rarely pull the Lost Episode sets down off the shelf. Too frustrating a mess to sit through. No organization, poor picture and sound. This new set surely has to be an improvement....surely....

 

Last fall UCLA presented an evening of Honeymooners sketches that were restored. This article mentions the restoration, but does not say who or how the shows were restored. The article states that "Jellybeans" from the 1952-1953 season was shown and that it had not been seen since its first performance, but that is not true. The skit was available on the VHS releases of the "Lost Episodes."

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/11/entertainment/la-et-honeymooners-20101011

I have an article or in a book somewhere talking about the shows when they were "found" in the mid-1980s and prepared for TV vieweing. Apparently the frames were blown up a certain amount to hide a line on the side of the screen. Some episodes were held back due to being remakes of other skits, or because of quality of the source material. Some just because they were missing. Others maybe because of rights issues with music (1957 Trip To Europe shows which do survive and are available between collectors).

I never purchased the DVD releases of the "Lost Episodes" because I felt the upgarde to DVD would not improve these shows in quality terms. Plus the sets just appeared to be thrown together. The VHS tapes were ok, but many times had mistakes like episodes labeled wrong. For instance one volume listed the 1957 remake of "Manager of the Baseball Team" as being on the tape. However, upon watching it one could see it was the original 1953 version which was readily available on another volume. However there were some tapes released with the 1957 remake on it. Confusing, uh? I have a feeling this set will fix all those issues. I am excited for October 4th to get here -- in time for the October 5th anniversary of the first Honeymooners sketch!

 

now's the time! Hurry. soon they'll be worthless...like my collection of early Three Stooges DVD's that were twenty-five dollars a pop!

 

What I'd really like to see are at least a few complete Cavalcade of Stars/Jackie Gleason Show episodes presented as they originally aired. Monologue, sketches (including non-Honeymooners ones), June Taylor Dancers, the whole works.

 

I'm really curious what the pre-order price at Amazon will be!