Father Ted 2007 DVD box set

[Jonsmad]

Personal opinion:

“Oh my god (excuse the deity) what fucking fucking awful picture packaging”

Makes the show look like some late night animated comedy like 2DTV or
something, and Dermot looks like the big headed han solo action figure.
Arrghhhh, shite.

What does anyone else think, though?

Im in a quandry about this release, as I love the ted show and like
to update to the most completist versions available generally on dvds
of things I really like. And already own all 4 single releases,(of which there has been a box set before.)

So what’s new?

Father Ted comedy connections

Well, Nice, I suppose I could track that down online though.

Comic Relief with Ted and Dougal

Good this was on the usa box sets. I have a recording of it though already.

US interviews with Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthews

Excellent Not seen this, from the usa box set I’m asuming. But I can maybe
live without it, it’s probably short and “explain it to the usa” centric.

Tedfest 2007: A Very Ted Weekend
Tedfest 2007: Two Tribes Go To War

Neat covention featurettes, the 2nd about the island stand off between two
island fighting for the right to be called Craggy island. Mad. But I can
still probably live with out it as it’s not actually to do with the show as such.

Dougal?s US pledges

Again from the usa box set, I guess pbs links a bit like the dwarf ones.
I would like to see these.

According to Amazon the original bonus features are there also. although
it mentions new menus.

And then play lists this. But Amazon Doesnt.

“Audio commentary for Series 3 by creators Graham Lineham and Arthur Mathews”

DAM DAM DAM. If that’s true, I really want to hear it. I missed not having a
commentary on that series and they actually persuaded Arthur Mathews to do
a commentary.

So Maybe I’ll buy it and chuck out the box set and keep that disc
inside my old ones.

They didnt include the ted extras I’ve always wanted to see on dvd which are
any deleted scenes and all the trailers which were filmed but werent part of
the episodes. There was a dougal one for the clint eastwood night:

And a role reversal one and a luvy actors rehearsing one which took the micky out of the catch phrase dialouge in ted. Another missed opportunity to dig those out.

Plus any footage of Dermot as Father Trendy would have made a good extra.

Topic

[Phil]

>what fucking fucking awful picture packaging

After seeing this I never, ever want to hear someone pick on the region 1 Fawlty Towers box again.

Why in fuck did they draw Mrs. Doyle to look like Kevin Klein?

[John Hoare]

God, that packaging *is* frightful.

But I’d buy it purely for the S3 commentary. I was really upset when I got the previous boxset and found out that it didn’t have one. A Linehan and Mathews one would be AMAZING.

Why no deleted scenes, though? Have the rushes been destroyed, or was it just too expensive to go and look for them?

[Jonathan Capps]

I remember Play AND Amazon listing that series 3 had a commentary. Lying fuck cunts.

[pfm]

Wow, series 3 commentary! And with Arthur! What joy that will be. I don’t mind buying this set because I don’t even have series 3 or series 2 pt 2 anymore (for reasons so boring that even not typing about them is starting to bore me)

Too bad deleted scenes and outtakes aren’t there. That’s probably because someone would have to do some work to put them together. Outtakes do exist, I’m sure there have been a couple on *insert endless number of ITV outtake shows*. It’s a good job the (great) Ted Comedy Connections episode is on there because otherwise there would be no doco, no interviews at all. Of course, Dermot’s untimely death (which I still can’t get over…the DAY after finishing series 3, unbelievable) makes it harder for others to talk about the show, I would guess. Graham gets a bit emotional, I think, when he’s talking about him in one of the series commentaries.

However, as has been said time and time again, we are so used to being spoiled totally rotten by the wonderful Red Dwarf DVDs. We should be thankful that the set has ANY extras on it.

[Danny Stephenson]

Aye, imagine if every DVD release was as thorough as the Dwarf Releases. Even if there was a DVD Release that *could* be compared to the Red Dwarf DVD’s it would have to be something frigging spectacular!!!

[Seb Patrick]

I suppose the thing with a show like Ted is that the production company isn’t solely devoted to that series. With GNP, everything is about Dwarf – so the absolute maximum effort can go into the DVDs. With Who, they have the Restoration Team. It’s no coincidence, therefore, that those two shows have by far the best DVD releases out there…

[John Hoare]

It’s partly that – and it’s also that both the Who and Dwarf releases have benefited by having real fan or fans working on them – who will push for things to be as great as possible.

I wonder whether deleted scenes ever occured to the people putting the Ted DVD together. Or perhaps it was just too easily dismissed as too expensive/of limited interest/there aren’t many anyway. As we all know – it was Andrew who forced through deleted scenes on the Dwarf DVDs – otherwise, we wouldn’t have got them even on a release as stunning as Dwarf…

But also – it’s that both Dwarf and Who has a fanbase asking for this kind of stuff. The Ted fanbase does exist – see Tedfest – but I haven’t seen anyone asking for deleted scenes anywhere online, have you?

[Danny Stephenson]

No, but does it have to be a case of them having to ask, in order to get them on a release? The idea of DVD, or the opportunity of DVD format is that you can do so much more when just release the shows as a vanilla release into the public market.

Some companies can’t or won’t see that.

[pfm]

Many people think deleted scenes are instantly a bad idea, after all, they were cut for a reason. Often the filmmakers themselves don’t want them included, and even when they ARE on a release you can almost guarantee that they left off a few really shite moments. Father Ted cut scenes/gags would be interesting to me and a few others but it wouldn’t be a feature that sold the set to most people.

[Andrew]

I don’t think they’re always financially viable – that sales will shoot up for deleted scenes of just ANYTHING – but I do think they’re a big part of the decision for a lot of people.

They are, let’s face it, one of the big parts of a double-dip – a lot of films have the scenes held back so a second release will sell. It’s about the size of the fanbase at that point.

It’s moot now thanks to the coming boxsets. but imagine Blade Runner. A vanilla DVD comes out. Then, two years later, a the vanilla DVD comes out…with 20 minutes of cut scenes. That disc SELLS, no question. Because it’s that kind of movie.

Michael Bay deleted scenes? Don’t care. Star Wars? Hell yes. (There may, I suspect, be a reason why the original trilogy DVDs failed to include the plethora of cut scenes available. Watch for them on the hi-def release!)

[Seb Patrick]

I still can’t believe they didn’t put the Krypton scenes on the Superman Returns set. My sister got it me for Christmas, and not knowing that there was a 2-disc set with extras, accidentally got me the vanilla. I actually didn’t mind, though, as I realised that the only extra material I’d have wanted to see was the stuff that WASN’T ON THERE…

[Andrew]

Indeed. And THAT’S a double-dip/director’s cut waiting to happen. Presumably to time with the sequel, if it goes ahead.

[pfm]

The Superman sequel is still happening as of now under the title The Man Of Steel, slated for May 2009 (they are quite insane going up against Avatar). I’m guessing the Ultimate ULTIMATE Star Wars HD saga set will arrive late next year, but who knows. I really hope Lucas uses this release to put the series to bed once and for all, including every last scrap of unreleased material. Also, the prequel trilogy needs to be messed with a little to make it…better. We already know they’ve been improving the CG on Phantom Menace.

[Danny Stephenson]

Just how many versions of Star Wars are there now?

[Jonathan Capps]

George Lucas is an insane cunt.

[Tonguetied]

There is meant to be an Archival HD/Blue ray version coming out in the near future which will supposedly be the final cut of the original films. And apparently they have been holding back doccos and featurettes for this particular release. I don’t mind when the creator remasters their vision, they can do it as many times as they like;it’s their creation after all. But when it’s done after the creator is dead, ie Star Trek TOS, it’s a different story. Then we get bastard versions of loved shows.

[Andrew]

> Just how many versions of Star Wars are there now?

The four main ones are the 1977 release, the pre-Empire cinema re-release (‘Now entitled Episode IV!’), the 1997 remastered version, and then the DVD edition – which is the 1977 version with better Jabba graphics in a still-pointless scene, and wrong-coloured lightsabers EVERYWHERE.

> I really hope Lucas uses this release to put the series to bed once and for all, including every last scrap of unreleased material.

I don’t think it’ll ever end. There’s no incentive to. The artist who made THX 1138 has been under ground too long, and the archive at Lucasfilm is too massive. There will always be more stuff to put out, and I can’t imagine it ending with the first hi-def release.

> The Superman sequel is still happening as of now under the title The Man Of Steel, slated for May 2009 (they are quite insane going up against Avatar).

I thought this was internet-based possibility, rather than hard fact? I knew about the title, the plans, etc., but I thought the project’s status was ‘still not greenlit’? (See also the Halo movie, ‘definitely happening’…until it wasn’t.)

[Tonguetied]

The first hi-def release as I mentioned yes.

[Andrew]

> The first hi-def release as I mentioned yes.

I have literally no idea what point this is making! Unless it’s “I mentioned a hi-def release first’. Which you didn’t. Or maybe ‘The release you’re describing is the one I already mentioned’. Which it wasn’t.

I said “It won’t end with the first hi-def release”. Which is the exact opposite of the ‘archival…final cut’ you describe.

Ah never mind…

[Jonathan Capps]

I think he thought when you were talking about internet speculation over Superman, you were talking about internet speculation over Star Wars.

This isn’t Cappsy, by the way, it’s Seb. I just can’t be bothered logging him out. Er, of Ian’s computer. YES WE’RE HAVING AN ORGY.

[Pete Part Three]

Yeah, you’re right. I was being a twat. I do that a lot.

This isn’t Pete, by the way. It’s Tongue Tied. I’ve chained him up in a dungeon after what he said to me on that other thread.

[Dave]

“I need your body to get my body back”

[pfm]

Pretending to be someone you’re not, what fun, I’ll have to try it sometime… I’ve had the original ‘performingmonkey’ locked in my wardrobe for an age. There’s been no screaming for a while so he’s either found Narnia or ended up in Borgin & Burkes (or, perhaps, the Room of Requirement).

I’m not sure the future of The Man Of Steel is 100% confirmed but Bryan Singer has talked about it. The budget will be cut considerably compared with Returns (surely most of the money for that went on the plane sequence). But surely a lot of effects work done on Returns can simply be carried forward. The ‘flying’ rigs and CG can be used again.

[Andrew]

> I?m not sure the future of The Man Of Steel is 100% confirmed but Bryan Singer has talked about it.

Yeah, s’what I figured. It’s a potential film, but Singer’s schedule is JAMMED right now. I’ll happily see him take another stab at the franchise, but I’m not convinced it’s a lock.

> The budget will be cut considerably compared with Returns (surely most of the money for that went on the plane sequence).

Now that’s interesting – because I heard different. The budget would be intended to stay much the same (so TECHNICALLY lower, accounting for inflation, but not by much), was the rumour. Given that ‘lack of action’ was one of the public complaints, they’ll need to make sure the new film doesn’t skimp – cut the budget you get Superman IV, or Planet of the Apes 2, 3, 4 and 5…

And, as you say, they have a lot of the technology in place – the CGI will cost the same, ditto every rig shot, but the R&D’s been done which takes a load off the front end – so the same money will, theoretically, stretch further.

[Dave]

I like Planet of the Apes 3

[pfm]

> I like Planet of the Apes 3

Is that ‘Escape from the Planet of the Apes’? That’s been on TV soooo many times. I remember watching it as a kid and being absolutely horrified that they got shot at the end! It’s not actually that bad a film now I come to think of it.

[Andrew]

> I like Planet of the Apes 3

Oh sure, it has its moments. But it comes partly for a ‘Can we do an Apes movie without all the expensive locations, make-up and design?’ place. Minimal monkeys, city locales and nothing too unusual or expensive (including that recycled ship nose AGAIN). The tone and performances help, it’s a better film that it could have been, but it’s not even a patch on the second film, let alone the first.

[pfm]

> but it?s not even a patch on the second film, let alone the first.

The second film is really bad. It doesn’t even have Roddy McDowell in it playing Cornelius. It’s complete insanity from start to finish. I’d say Escape is a lot better despite it being set in present Earth. I haven’t seen the other sequels but Conquest is supposed to be good.

[Dave]

Conquest is OK, Battle is bereft and cheap, well cheaper

[JohnnyW]

Well I guess I’m about so get flamed… but I like the new artwork. I think it’s rather cool!

[pfm]

> Well I guess I?m about so get flamed

*flame*

[Author]

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