Every silver lining has a dark cloud: MPI and Paramount DVD news

Thrilling Days of Yesteryear analyzes two recent TV-on-DVD announcements from MPI. One was rumored for a while: a release of "Here's Lucy." News of a set for "The Mothers-in-Law" is a real surprise, though. I've always been curious about that show, so I look forward to checking it out.

It's nice to see MPI staying in the game as far as classic TV releases, particularly so when it's a lesser-known series. And while I've never been a big Lucille Ball fan, much less a fan of her shows without Desi and Bill Frawley, she's arguably the biggest icon in the medium's history, and I think all of her work should be on DVD.

And I don't like to be one of those people that pooh-poohs the release announcement of a certain show by complaining about the omission of something else. I know that just because a company proceeds with one project isn't proof that it's abandoning or neglecting another.

Furthermore, I don't wish to rain on the parade of any Lucy fans who are justifiably excited about this news.

(If by now you sense the looming presence of an Aretha-Franklin-size big BUT, you're right on track.)

BUT I can't help but feel disappointed. I've been waiting for a different kind of announcement from MPI: Verification that they're gonna redo the "Honeymooners Lost Episodes." Yes, most of them are out on disc now, but they're in clunky, artless box sets, and more importantly, there are errors and omissions in those early MPI sets that should be corrected in a future reboot. I think it was a few years ago when I first saw chatter MPI might do this. Perhaps the plan is to wait till "The Color Honeymooners" are finished, but though I'm glad to see that project continue, there is a lot more Jackie Gleason I'd rather see.

These two announcements in and of themselves certainly don't preclude any future news about the 'Mooners, but I wonder if resources are being shifted there at the expense of any Gleason stuff. I know, I know, that's kind of a selfish attitude, but, hey, given all the talk of cutbacks and limited shelf space and all the other excuses that could slow the classic TV on DVD schedule, I do worry. Similarly, folks who enjoy the older shows Shout Factory is delivering have reason to be nervous that the relatively small label is bringing out a slew of more recent titles like "Mr. Belvedere" and "Designing Women."

In other dark cloud news, TV Shows on DVD also announced yesterday that Paramount is offering replacement discs via mail for it's notorious "The Fugitive" Season 2 Volume 1 set. The original release, of course, featured the replacement score that irritated many fans of the show...as well as people who just don't like seeing classic TV shows butchered.

This is an extraordinary step, and it appears that Paramount is doing the right thing. Gord Lacey of TV Shows on DVD says "much of the original music" is restored but implies the score is intact and the replacements are more like the incidental ones that occur in other Paramount sets, like songs on jukeboxes in the background. The process for getting the replacement DVDs appears to be pretty easy. Supposedly, Season 2 Volume 2 will have the original scoring intact.

But why should we do cartwheels just yet? I went to Home Theater Forum yesterday to look at some reaction to the news, and when one poster dared to express a reservation, Lacey responded with a snide post that indicated how thankful we should be Paramount is doing this.

Let's keep some perspective, though. The discs aren't available at retail, meaning someone who wants the set in its "correct" form has to go buy a crappy set and THEN go through the mail process. The sets are still expensive and in ridiculous split-season format, and I won't be surprised if "the cost of clearing this music" makes future sets MORE expensive. Furthermore, as far as I know, Paramount is still hacking up "My Three Sons."

So, yeah, I'm glad Paramount seems to be fixing a problem here, but I reserve the right to wait and see. This company lost the benefit of the doubt with the way it handled the issue in the first place. I haven't been back to the Home Theater Forum today--I suspect by now the thread could be 10 pages long--so maybe some of these issues have been addressed. But I'm not as ready as Mr. Lacey to embrace Paramount despite this pleasant surprise.