CBS Mod Program

3 Stars What other CBS titles would everyone else be willing to support, for blu ray releases?

with CBS doing the two seasons of “The California’s” via the mod program, what other CBS titles would everyone else be willing to support, for blu ray releases? considering that they are done correctly!

Home Theater, Photography, Basketball, Scuba Diving, Mountain Climbing, Racing, Biking, Software development

Post Disclaimer

Some of our content may contain marketing links, which means we will receive a commission for purchases made via those links. In our editorial content, these affiliate links appear automatically, and our editorial teams are not influenced by our affiliate partnerships. We work with several providers (currently Skimlinks and Amazon) to manage our affiliate relationships. You can find out more about their services by visiting their sites.

Share this post:

View thread (49 replies)

Peter M Fitzgerald

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 21, 1999
Messages
2,312
Real Name
Peter Fitzgerald
All I can currently think of:

One Step Beyond
(Complete Series official release)
Way Out (shot on tape, so maybe not any kind of visual boost from Blu, but I'd like it on either Blu or DVD)
Great Ghost Tales (ditto)
Trackdown
The Lineup
The Greatest Show on Earth
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
(whatever sub-set of this series CBS controls, if any)
The Millionaire
Amos & Andy
(I seriously doubt this one will ever have a chance, alas)

And any of these, which I'm still unsure whether they are with CBS or with other entities:

T.H.E. Cat (if CBS indeed has this, it goes to the very top of the list, my #1 grail show, although I think it's probably with Universal)
Captain Nice (also probably with Universal, though I'm not 100% sure)
Panic! (a.k.a. No Warning)
Q.E.D. (a.k.a. Mastermind)

All the other unreleased and/or stalled series I want seem to be mainly with Fox (both Fox proper and Four Star) and Universal, as well as a couple others with Sony, WB and MGM... and some independent owners (I would guess... such as Wichita Town).
 
Last edited:

Johnny Angell

Played With Dinosaurs Member
Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Dec 13, 1998
Messages
14,905
Location
Central Arkansas
Real Name
Johnny Angell
with CBS doing the two seasons of "The California's" via the mod program, what other CBS titles would everyone else be willing to support, for blu ray releases? considering that they are done correctly!
What is the "mod program"?
 

David Norman

Premium
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2001
Messages
9,604
Location
Charlotte, NC
What is the "mod program"?

Manufactured on Demand sometimes erroneously equated with burned discs. Usually small batch burned or pressed discs are made at a time

Several smaller companies use a version, but at least 2 major lines are already MOD
Sony Choice -- though this line seems to be in limbo and I'm not sure it's progressed beyond the first few releases.
Warner Archives
 

RBailey

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jun 30, 2009
Messages
830
Real Name
John Hall
I've had the MOST WANTED series with Robert Stack on my Amazon pre-orders since March 8th of last year.
CBS finally got around to BEST OF THE WEST last year after it was on my pre-order list for about a year as well.
 

LeoA

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2008
Messages
3,552
Location
North Country
Real Name
Leo
Too many to list, but they have my support for much of their vintage catalog.

Some would be disappointing (I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show), but only because their previous Blu-Ray's were so impressive. Just their pre-existing HD transfers without all the TLC that went into their first Blu-Ray attempts, would leave these as automatically inferior.

But they're still favorites and I'd love to up the picture quality for the remainder of both series, flaws and all.
 

Ron1973

Beverly Hillbilles nut extraordinaire
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 26, 2012
Messages
2,559
Location
SE Missouri
Real Name
Ron Reagan (not that one!)
Too many to list, but they have my support for much of their vintage catalog.

Some would be disappointing (I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show), but only because their previous Blu-Ray's were so impressive. Just their pre-existing HD transfers without all the TLC that went into their first Blu-Ray attempts, would leave these as automatically inferior.

But they're still favorites and I'd love to up the picture quality for the remainder of both series, flaws and all.
What scares me, and this is not something that CBS is to blame for, is when does the picture quality become TOO good? Just on DVD releases of The Beverly Hillbillies, it's REALLY obvious when the background is fake. As you got up to S8 and S9, a lot of the scenes were filmed in front of a screen, especially the Washington, D.C. and Silver Dollar City episodes. Those are painfully obvious in VHS quality-I can't imagine what blu-ray would do to them.
 

howard1908

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 23, 2014
Messages
144
Real Name
howard hughes
All I can currently think of:

One Step Beyond
(Complete Series official release)
Way Out (shot on tape, so maybe not any kind of visual boost from Blu, but I'd like it on either Blu or DVD)
Great Ghost Tales (ditto)
Trackdown
The Lineup
The Greatest Show on Earth
Richard Diamond, Private Detective
(whatever sub-set of this series CBS controls, if any)
The Millionaire
Amos & Andy
(I seriously doubt this one will ever have a chance, alas)

And any of these, which I'm still unsure whether they are with CBS or with other entities:

T.H.E. Cat (if CBS indeed has this, it goes to the very top of the list, my #1 grail show, although I think it's probably with Universal)
Captain Nice (also probably with Universal, though I'm not 100% sure)
Panic! (a.k.a. No Warning)
Q.E.D. (a.k.a. Mastermind)

All the other unreleased and/or stalled series I want seem to be mainly with Fox (both Fox proper and Four Star) and Universal, as well as a couple others with Sony, WB and MGM... and some independent owners (I would guess... such as Wichita Town).

Not to be pedantic but track down is owned by fox as is Richard diamond, so those would have to be released by fox or more likely shout. The cat, Mr nice, panic and great ghost tales are owned by universal because they aired on NBC.

With that out of the way; I would like to say that I don't see the MOD program becoming a warner archive equivalent, I see them releasing a few tepid catalogue titles like the Californians and maybe a few more but that's it.
 

BobO'Link

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
11,449
Location
Mid-South
Real Name
Howie
What scares me, and this is not something that CBS is to blame for, is when does the picture quality become TOO good? Just on DVD releases of The Beverly Hillbillies, it's REALLY obvious when the background is fake. As you got up to S8 and S9, a lot of the scenes were filmed in front of a screen, especially the Washington, D.C. and Silver Dollar City episodes. Those are painfully obvious in VHS quality-I can't imagine what blu-ray would do to them.
Such scenes have always been "painfully obvious" to me in most productions - no matter how or where I've seen them and no matter what the quality of transfer. One of the reasons I've never been able to get into most Hitchcock films is his tendency to use rear-screen intercut with location, frequently in a single scene. It *always* takes me out of the film. It's bad enough that some TV shows did this for many outdoor scenes but at least those tended to be for the entire scene. That a director with Hitchcock's pedigree does this in the same scene in a major film just makes me shake my head in wonder.

Things get "too good" for me when wires holding props/planes/etc. become obvious. Frequently it was felt that by the time a film was transferred and then projected, such "tells" would not be visible. It's the same with many TV shows. They counted on the lower quality of the medium to hide how things were done.
 

Rick Thompson

Screenwriter
Joined
Jul 1, 2008
Messages
1,865
Such scenes have always been "painfully obvious" to me in most productions - no matter how or where I've seen them and no matter what the quality of transfer. One of the reasons I've never been able to get into most Hitchcock films is his tendency to use rear-screen intercut with location, frequently in a single scene. It *always* takes me out of the film. It's bad enough that some TV shows did this for many outdoor scenes but at least those tended to be for the entire scene. That a director with Hitchcock's pedigree does this in the same scene in a major film just makes me shake my head in wonder.

Things get "too good" for me when wires holding props/planes/etc. become obvious. Frequently it was felt that by the time a film was transferred and then projected, such "tells" would not be visible. It's the same with many TV shows. They counted on the lower quality of the medium to hide how things were done.

Example of "too good": the 1953 War of the Worlds on DVD. The strings holding up the alien ships show, taking me right out of film. No way did Byron Haskins or George Pal intend for that to be. We can only hope that the blu-ray (please, Paramount: license the damn thing!) will hide them via digital magic.
 

jcroy

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
7,916
Real Name
jr
Example of "too good": the 1953 War of the Worlds on DVD. The strings holding up the alien ships show, taking me right out of film. No way did Byron Haskins or George Pal intend for that to be. We can only hope that the blu-ray (please, Paramount: license the damn thing!) will hide them via digital magic.

Another one where the hd resolution is "too good", where strings/threads moving stuff can be seen easily, is the bluray version of the mid-1970s show "The Invisible Man".
 

BobO'Link

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 3, 2008
Messages
11,449
Location
Mid-South
Real Name
Howie
Example of "too good": the 1953 War of the Worlds on DVD. The strings holding up the alien ships show, taking me right out of film. No way did Byron Haskins or George Pal intend for that to be. We can only hope that the blu-ray (please, Paramount: license the damn thing!) will hide them via digital magic.
And that's exactly the film I had in mind when I typed that! :) I love the clarity but absolutely hate seeing the wires! I still watch it regularly as it's a long time favorite, but those visible wires - ugh! I was shocked the first time I watched that DVD. I excitedly waited for that battle only to discover you could see the wires! OK... I know there are likely people out there who consider them "part of the experience." Fine... I don't have an issue with that but put 2 versions on the disc. One with, one without. Like you, I long for a BR release *if* they'll "hide" the wires.
 

Johnny Angell

Played With Dinosaurs Member
Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Dec 13, 1998
Messages
14,905
Location
Central Arkansas
Real Name
Johnny Angell
You can see wires in the 1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still as Gort is carrying Patricia Neal.
Gort has to be one of the greatest robots in all of sci/fi. But he’s also one of the most poorly executed designs ever. He’s still bad-ass and I love the movie.
 

Randy Korstick

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 24, 2000
Messages
5,839
Example of "too good": the 1953 War of the Worlds on DVD. The strings holding up the alien ships show, taking me right out of film. No way did Byron Haskins or George Pal intend for that to be. We can only hope that the blu-ray (please, Paramount: license the damn thing!) will hide them via digital magic.

I'm pretty sure those wires were visible on 35mm prints at the theater when it was released. I never noticed the wires growing up watching it on small tvs from broadcast and then VHS. But later in the early 90's I got it on Laserdisc and watched it on a 50" TV and that was when I 1st noticed the wires. The original 35mm prints were definitely sharper than a Laserdisc at 425 lines of resolution.
 
Most Popular