Monkees Season 1 DVD set

Just spent most of the evening sampling Rhino's The Monkees Season 1 DVD's, and the bad news is, I can't hear any real difference between what they're calling 2.0 and 5.1 sound, and the original mono tracks that we're all familiar with from the original show. I don't have a 5.1 set up, but even the 2.0 doesn't sound any different than the mono. So from a sound standpoint, there appears to have been no 5.1 remixing of the Monkees' music tracks. Probably just futzing around with the mono to create a fake 5.1 effect.


That said, the prints used for the set are nice. Some show their age a bit, and are likely the ones used for the VHS box set a few years ago, but are a good representation of the show. Some of the bonus materials (ie, the Kellogg's and Yardley commercials, and the 16mm version of the pilot) have faded colors and artifacts, but as extras, they don't suffer for it.

The packaging is first rate, about the size of an audio CD box set, a flip top box made to look like an old carrying case record player. The DVD's themselves are housed in miniature picture sleeves that mimic actual 45 sleeves from the 60's, including some from Europe and Japan.

As for the commentary, I've only listened to a few of them, and haven't gotten around to listening to Davy Jones, Bobby Hart or any of the producer/director comments yet. Michael Nesmith has some interesting comments and stories, and having done a few commentaries for his own projects, does well. Unfortunately, Peter Tork doesn't seem to have anything to really say apart from the occasional glib comment, or perhaps an answer to an off tape question. His commentaries are marred by long periods of silence. Both commentaries seem to be augmented by questions not necessarily related to the episode being watched, but plugged into the commentary to fill dead spots. What's really missing is a few comments from Micky Dolenz, who seems a natural for this sort of commentary track, and I hope they manage to corral him for the second season box (at least for the episode that he directed.).

Not bad at all for 60 bux, and done with some real care for a sitcom that'll never get any real respect, but I know you guys are gonna be disappointed and ticked off with the music mix situation.

 

Thanks much for the review, Rich; very informative. I'll have to pick that one up soon. Very nostalgic trip for many of us.

To tell the truth, if the 2.0 is indeed mono, I'm glad, not sad. For one thing, this was a mono show to begin with. To make it stereo--forgetting the songs for a moment--the remixers have to do the kind of trickery we would loathe when done to music we dig(think Silverline here). As for the songs, yes, maybe they could be sync-ed up, if they're the correct versions, but that just makes them seem exaggerated for being stereo, not better for the rest of the soundtrack(I'm thinking of the stereo dubbing of songs on AHDN and HELP! as examples--nice, but clean original mono soundtracks would have been just as good, and more authentic). As for the 5.1, if the 2.0 is mono, then that has to be faux 5.1, as in ELVIS 30 #1 HITS, and the sparing fake 5.1 employed for the Sullivan Beatles box. I prefer to listen to the latter in the original mono; anything else is silly and beside the point. Hell, if you crank it up loud enough you get a better effect than the brief use of 5.1 just to make those crowd noises fill the room.

If you want disconcerting, try any of the classic STAR TREK DVDs. They did make them 5.1, and since some music and sound effects tracks existed in stereo, they managed to create a workable mix. Yet it sounds strange and contrived all the same, and incongruous in context with the still-grainy(if improved)picture. A novelty, like the Lennon reissue remixes.

Again, great review!

ED

 

Thanks for the review...I remember during the original run on TV the Color was GREAT, sorta like the Batman TV show where the Colors "jumped" out at ya with those neato pastels and brights!...So the DVD's are lacking in that respect?

 

I wouldn't call them "lacking" in color at all, they look very nice. Much better than, say, the prints that MTV ran back in the 80's. The parts that seem to show some wear generally seem to be the end credits, where Rhino chose to use prints that featured the Kellogg's products along with The Monkees' faces. They seem a bit worn, seems to me they used the best available prints for the actual show, then spliced on credits with the Kellogg's stuff from other prints. I recall the episodes that always looked a bit washed out and dark when shown on TV were the concert episode in series 1, which looks good here, and the Paris episode from season two, which of course, only time will tell.

What does look washed out are the bonus Kellogg's and Yardley commercials, and the 16mm version of the pilot (featuring Boyce and Hart doing the music, and an entirely different opening sequence). These are more curios than anything substantial, and probably come from the only prints still in existance.

Now, these are almost 40 year old TV prints, so you'll see some age to them, but in general, they're in good shape. Don't let the age keep you from checking out this set.

Incidentally, the shows are in the correct order, as originally broadcast (unlike the VHS releases), and feature the originally broadcast songs (some later rerun prints, including many from the MTV broadcasts, substituted songs from whatever the latest Monkees album was).

 

I just finished viewing the entire box set last night, and I'm generally pleased with how Rhino put it all together.

HOWEVER, future purchasers beware: The DVDs themselves are in slightly oversized cardboard sleeves, and as a result they move around a lot in the inner case they are packed in. The discs in my set had a LOT of surface marks on their play sides thanks to an abundance of lint and paper "trimmings" from the sleeves (in fact, my player wouldn't even play discs 3 or 6 because of this; I had to exchange the set for a new one. This new batch of discs were in better shape, but not perfect.). I strongly recommend to anyone who has this set to get some of those windowed paper sleeves that are often used for CD-ROMs, put the DVDs in those, and store them in the cardboard sleeves that way. The discs will then stay in place, and all 6 sleeves will still fit nicely in the inner case.

Yes, the film quality of the bonus material could have been better, but that's probably all there was to work with. (The color of the un-aired 16mm pilot episode is especially poor -- almost no green whatsoever.) The only other thing I wish they had done is leave in the Screen Gems logos that followed the end credits. I remember this was done on some of the VHS two-fers Columbia Music Video released 15 or more years ago.

Still, a fun set to watch and highly recommended. I hope they get Season 2 out soon!