Well, I made it through all 2 hours and 20 minutes. (Am I eligible for any parting gifts?) You did a good job of going over a lot of the issues surrounding the box. Obviously, having recorded it so quickly after the box was released, you weren't able to touch on everything, but it sounds like you each watched a large handful of your favorite episodes. And you covered the bonus disc pretty thoroughly. I guess one of the best compliments I can pay you and Megan is, you both sound like people who would be cool to hang out and have a beer (or tea, or whatever your drink of choice is) and talk Monkees (and other stuff) with! You both come off as intelligent, and pretty fair and balanced. I didn't even realize that Megan is on the Zilch podcast as well. I've only heard a few, and I guess she didn't talk much on the ones I heard, because I thought I was hearing her for the first time when I listened to this today. You guys spent a lot of time at the beginning going over the "controversies" with this set, and I almost tuned out, because it sounds like it's going to be one long "b*tch session", but thankfully it's not, and as you go forward it's very clear that the set is a treasured keepsake for both of you. I hate cliche's like "first world problem" but that is how a lot of these complaints feel to me. But I'm happy you both were able to see past some of the initial disappointments and see the box for the awesome release that it is! From what you guys discussed, I assume there were people at other discussion boards that were out of their minds with complaints about this release; I only spend time here, and at blu-ray.com, so thankfully I was unaware of a lot of this. There were some complaints here about the lack of rerun/syndication romps, but I guess it got a lot uglier elsewhere. If so, I'm glad I avoided that negativity. There was one person here, who chimed in around the time of the release, who sounded like they were ready to blow a gasket, and from what you guys were discussing I guess there were many others elsewhere. Oh, well... A few notes from the podcast: I think your comments about the pricing of the box set, and how it's really "not for everybody", were pretty much spot-on! Nice job on figuring out that they were playing "Papa Gene's Blues" on the KHJ footage by watching the chords Mike was playing. Now that's a fan! I'm right there with you in longing to see the complete Rainbow Room performance of "Salesman". Along those lines, I've always wanted to see just a complete mime performance of the aforementioned "Papa Gene's Blues". You see them playing different parts of the song in the romps that accompanied various episodes, but never the whole song! When you were talking about the bonus features on the Criterion HEAD disc that were missing on the Rhino version, I don't believe you mentioned the interview with the radio DJ by the boxing ring. But then, later in the discussion, you do reference it, so maybe I missed it the first time around. But I don't think it was mentioned initially. Yes, the discs do have a "Play All Songs" feature from the main menu. (Which you probably realized later, but couldn't recall at the time). I am one of the people here who do not have a lot of affection for (or need to see) the rerun episodes with alternate songs in the romps. But I totally get why they matter to you, as someone who runs the Mixography website. All of these variant versions of songs is right up your alley. To me, hearing a version of a song that sounds like it was edited with a saw is brutal to listen to, and I'd rather avoid the experience. But it fascinates you, so I get it! You guys were speculating on the relative lack of these alternate romps on the bonus disc. I'm pretty sure the ones that were included were simply the ones that Andrew owned a print of. I doubt the budget for this project (which was more than blown on the HD restorations of all the episodes) allowed for them to try and track down more syndication prints for inclusion. I also think that including unrestored syndication prints would have cheapened the overall quality of the box, but I also acknowledge that people like you would have still preferred to see them. I'm sure it would have raised the price, perhaps significantly. Kudos on the Mixography website, by the way. Apparently at some point the site transitioned to this new version, with a new url (I assume). I remember the previous webpage, and vaguely recall being bummed when the site wasn't there anymore. Glad to have found it again! I definitely am curious to check out episode 2, where you go through their discography. I'm sure I'll check it out soon. Thanks for the link, and for introducing me to this podcast.
Thank you so much for such a kind review! I had the box for less than 24 hours, and it was the only time that we had to it was hastily thrown together (and ended up much longer than we had realized). Megan has appeared on several Zilch episodes, and I was on the first three album reviews (and Micky's Remember). The negativity surrounding this has been really something. And I understand disappointment, but don't criticize me for enjoying it. A few days in and STILL enjoying the box here. Thanks again!
I'm really happy that one of my most-wished-for restorations of a show has happened, and I'm still really enjoying it, too! You guys talked about how awesome the restored unaired pilot was, and I just watched that a couple of days ago. WOW! And I finally made it through the entirety of the bonus disc, save for the 33 1/3 outtakes which I'm saving for when I view the special. This release is going to give me many years of enjoyment! If you and Megan talk any further about this box on a future podcast, after you've viewed more of the contents, let us know here in this thread. Oh, and if you do that comparison on the two commentary tracks for HEAD (Criterion vs. Rhino), let us know if there are any differences. There seemed to be conflicting information as to whether it would be the same track, or a re-edited one. I have listened to the Criterion track a few times and really love it. Take care!
Judging by the outtakes from the special they located (and I'm fairly sure these and similar tapes were used to reconstruct a cleaner version of the special where the same footage appeared), they live switched as much as possible and recorded the audio directly to the tape. Some post editing was almost certainly done, but I doubt anything that included live vocals was captured outside of the videotape.
I am positive "Your Friendly Neighborhood Kidnappers" with "Do You Feel It Too" was screened by Andrew at the "Head" anniversary, and though my memory of the rest of the episode is fuzzy, I'm pretty sure "A Little Bit Me..." was left in from the summer 67 version. So you get two redubbed songs from the same print, but they are listed under different airdates in the booklet.
This was also done with Monkees On Tour--The appearance of "Words" at the end of the CBS version w/"Steam Engine" originates from the summer '67 airing when they replaced "Girl I Knew Somewhere" with "Pleasant Valley Sunday".
You know, what's weird is I don't even remember most of these redubs at all--I was really young when the Saturday morning repeats were on. But I do recall the Monkees On Tour and Monkees In Paris re-airings, and they were only shown once each during the CBS run.
Anyone know what the unaired Pilot looks like? does it finally look decent without the horrible beetroot color tint?
It's from the original negative and looks amazing. There are all kinds of little details that I was able to see for the first time. Definitely stunning! It's been discussed a little bit here in this thread.
Megan is going through her VHS stash right this second, and just confirmed that One Man Shy (with "Forget That Girl") is in there.
I'd be curious to see what the pilot looked like when it had its disastrous screening before it underwent the final edit with the screen tests tacked on (Well, almost final edit, the FINAL final edit was when it aired as Episode 10). I heard that it had very negative characterizations of the guys, and this is why the show tested so poorly. Does that original cut still exist or was that footage disposed of? I believe the shot of them with machine guns was from that version.
The Spy Who Came In From The Cool with "Randy Scouse Git" used as the final romp is one I remember really well. I think that's one redub I can say worked really well.
I'm also curious about Mike Nesmith's mirror sequence in Head (The part you would have heard after he says "Hey! Wait a minute..." and then it gets cut off before the Ditty Diego piece)--Why is that still missing? They gave us the other guys' scenes in the outtakes, but Mike's full speech still hasn't surfaced.
I've watched the first 18 episodes. Very happy so far. Will the Mixography page be updated to cover the latest RSD and Friday Music releases?
That's what I tend to believe, since examples of the other three were included. The Head outtakes are far and away my favorite part of the box set. Really grateful to see this stuff after the tease of the "NY Action trailer" all these years.
I ordered my box on the actual release date-July 8 and it is still in process. Clearly the complaints about damage to the box have helped up all non-pre-orders. I can't wait to see it as the visuals and audio is why I spent $220+ dollars on this box. Sad about some of the missing contents but will watch all before I fully judge!
Yeah no box shipped till they come up with a solution. If you go to a show, you can also buy it there. I saw the box at the Hampton Beach NH show on Saturday $200.
I think that should have been the definitive trailer, it seems to sell the movie far better than the mainstream trailers do
Why not check out the Monkees' online store to check on its status? Just google "Monkees blu-ray". The first result is likely a link to the online store (the only place where you can buy the set). If there is still an option to put a copy onto your shopping cart, then it's not sold out.
