Columbo Coming to Blu-ray on November 21, 2023. See Post #55! (3 Viewers)

[brynmill]

In the UK s1 of columbo got a bluray release a few years ago, with the hint that the other seasons would follow. But s1 didnt sell well and no further seasons got released.

 

[Jack P]

November 21 release date.

 

[cineescape]

I heard the wonderful news that this long awaited BD edition will finally happen this year.

https://columbophile.com/2023/03/12/columbo-blu-ray-boxsets-officially-on-the-way/

But will these all be the complete FULL LENGTH episodes? For example, for the DVD editions, collectors can thank Universal for using the "syndicated" prints, where for many episodes like "Swan Song" and "Double Exposure" entire scenes and cast members were cut out for local TV stations to insert commercial ads.

ALSO, as was done for both the DVD and BD editions of the original Twilight Zone series, might isolated score tracks by composers like Pat Wiliams and Billy Goldenberg be included in this BD edition?

But as long as the sound quality is at least as good as the DVDs-which was often quite impressive for lossy Dolby Digital-I will likely go for the BD edition, as it will obviate the need to back up the series on the NAS I need to get built long before year's end.

Great timing, for a change!!

 

[TravisR]

But will these all be the complete FULL LENGTH episodes? For example, for the DVD editions, collectors can thank Universal for using the "syndicated" prints, where for many episodes like "Swan Song" and "Double Exposure" entire scenes and cast members were cut out for local TV stations to insert commercial ads.

Kino went to the trouble of getting the original The Night Stalker opening titles (as opposed to Kolchak: The Night Stalker used for the rest of the series) for the first three or so episodes of that show so I would guess that they won't use the syndicated versions for Columbo. Plus, the vast majority of their audience for this is collectors and fans that will care about the difference so they're basically forced to make sure they're using the original versions.

I don't think there's any chance for isolated scores though.

 

[Sadsack]

That Columbophile.com expert says he's not aware of any extensive extras on the Japanese release...but it does include a music/fx track for certain episodes. The Australian release (which is only the first two seasons) has music/fx for all episodes. Pretty sure these could be included on the Kino release without requiring any extra copyright permission.

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

I'm really looking forward to the 1970s set, and hope the Universal-centric "NBC Mystery Movie" intro, with its memorable theme by Henry Mancini, can be included as an extra (it isn't present in the old DVD sets).

 

[Flashgear]

I'm really looking forward to the 1970s set, and hope the Universal-centric "NBC Mystery Movie" intro, with its memorable theme by Henry Mancini, can be included as an extra (it isn't present in the old DVD sets).

I agree Peter! I hope that KL can get clearance to include the memorable Henry Mancini NBC Sunday Mystery Movie intro for Columbo to add as a bonus feature on the upcoming BD season releases.

Some hope for that happening is the fact that VEI was able to include the Mancini Mystery Movie intro as a bonus feature on their Snoop Sisters DVD set, which I have. Strange though, that VEI didn't include it in their more recent McCloud complete series DVD set.

Isolated scores would be phenomenal, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think I have all of the studio or licensed DVD releases of the various 1970s Mystery Movie series...Columbo (Universal Home Video complete in original season sets), MacMillan & Wife (VEI complete), McCloud (Universal S1/2, a few Mad Man seasons and VEI complete), Banacek (both seasons, TV Guide-Hart Sharp and Arts Alliance), Snoop Sisters (VEI complete), Quincy M.E. (Universal S1 Mystery Movies and series complete in season sets), Hawkins (complete from WAC), Shaft (complete from WAC)...and I have alternative collector sources for Madigan, Cool Million and Hec Ramsey (partial)...That's off the top of my head, hope I didn't forget any that I have in my collection.

 

[Jack P]

I'm not aware of any syndicated prints used in the original DVD releases of "Columbo." "Double Exposure" is missing scenes that were cut before the original NBC broadcast because it was filmed as a two hour show but aired as a 90 minute show and consequently we lost the scene that had a still credited Arlene Martel. I would love it if that footage still existed but I'd have my doubts there.

Of course the NBC Mystery Movie intro has never appeared on the Columbo releases in the US and it would be great to see those restored at long last.

 

[LeoA]

VEI was also able to include the Mancini Mystery Movie intro on their McMillan & Wife set. It starts with I think season 3 and continues through the end of the series.

It's not the correct intro though for at least some of the seasons. That Columbo intro linked in this thread for instance must date to when McMillan & Wife became McMillan. Yet on VEI's McMillan & Wife set, the McMillan intro incorrectly still shows as McMillan & Wife for season 6 and includes Susan St. James.

And there's no Quincy, M.E. version on this VEI McMillan & Wife set. And the two season long Hec Ramsey is part of the intro over the 4 of the 6 seasons set that have the intro.

So I'm assuming it's just as much a matter of the survival and availability of a quality version of the correct intro for each season (that seems to have been hacked out for syndication and discarded) that might hold it back as it is the cost of licensing the Mancini theme.

And even if they're willing to fudge like VEI clearly did with McMillan & Wife (the incorrect iteration of the original intro is better than none at all), I personally only care that it's included if it's actually the intro for each episode (or able to be enabled as such like with the I Love Lucy sets) rather than relegated to being standalone bonus content.

And for that they'd need something HD worthy, which might be a tall order given that Universal apparently did a good job of making sure this was all discarded when preparing these for syndication.

 

[Jack P]

When VEI included it though, they were putting a single Mystery Movie open that kind of then branched into the episode, and it wasn't a case where the intro was on the original episode print. That's the reason why it was the same intro on all the episodes.

The "Ellery Queen" set I'd note mucked things up completely regarding the show's pilot which aired as a Mystery Movie special. They put the Mystery Movie audio plugging the program as a special Ellery Queen movie over the original credits of the pilot that is supposed to be Elmer Bernstein's theme music instead of having the Mystery Movie separate on video before the EQ credits. That was an ugly blemish on that set that I hope gets fixed if Ellery Queen ever makes it to Blu-Ray.

 

[LeoA]

The intro is included in the run time for each episode as I recall. So I don't think they're doing branching on the discs, but I'd have to double check to be 100% sure. But really it's unimportant if the intro is encoded with each episode or done via branching.

Either way, all you said is basically what I did. These were excised decades ago from the episodes and piecing them back together, even in an incorrect but reasonably approximate fashion given such constraints (availability, quality, etc.), isn't as simple as just paying a music royalty.

I assume McMillan & Wife fans are lucky for instance that even the one iteration of the intro in decent quality was able to be located and used for the final 2/3's of the shows run on DVD (It's an actual McMillan & Wife version of the intro which as I recall then advertises Columbo, McCloud, and finally Hec Ramsey).

Better than nothing and I don't think any of us are going to quibble much that the show lineup on a season 5 intro of McMillan & Wife for instance isn't historically correct for that season, since we realize we're lucky just to have what's there and can accept a bit of a compromise.

 

[Dan McW]

I have a book of music for Universal TV theme songs of that era. It's interesting to look at the music for the NBC Mystery Movie theme with its really high notes. Most of them are well above the treble-clef staff, and a few have that "8va" (ottava) line over them, indicating that they are to be played an octave higher than what's written.

Here's a listing for the book:

See on Amazon

 

[Wiseguy]

When VEI included it though, they were putting a single Mystery Movie open that kind of then branched into the episode, and it wasn't a case where the intro was on the original episode print. That's the reason why it was the same intro on all the episodes.

The "Ellery Queen" set I'd note mucked things up completely regarding the show's pilot which aired as a Mystery Movie special. They put the Mystery Movie audio plugging the program as a special Ellery Queen movie over the original credits of the pilot that is supposed to be Elmer Bernstein's theme music instead of having the Mystery Movie separate on video before the EQ credits. That was an ugly blemish on that set that I hope gets fixed if Ellery Queen ever makes it to Blu-Ray.

And the Ellery Queen pilot on the DVD was the syndicated version titled "Too Many Suspects" and for some reason the music on the Universal logo at the end was missing.

 

[Sadsack]

There were alot of complaints about the Japanese release not having English navigation options, so it's ironic KINO will be releasing this, given their usual confusing packaging where customers have to make their own sleeve inserts or cheat sheets to figure out which disc has which episodes.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just posted the following in the Kino Announcement thread:

Saturday's Facebook Announcement:

Coming November 21st on Blu-ray!

COLUMBO: THE 1970s
SEASONS 1-7
• RESTORED IN 4K BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES
• NEW Audio Commentaries for PRESCRIPTION: MURDER/BLUEPRINT FOR MURDER/A STITCH IN CRIME/A FRIEND IN DEED/TROUBLED WATERS/LAST SALUTE TO THE COMMODORE/TRY AND CATCH ME by Author Mark Dawidziak
• NEW Audio Commentaries for RANSOM FOR A DEAD MAN/DEATH LENDS A HAND/THE MOST DANGEROUS MATCH/DOUBLE SHOCK/PUBLISH OR PERISH/BY DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT/PLAYBACK/A DEADLY STATE OF MIND by Author/Historian Scott Skelton
• NEW Audio Commentaries for MURDER BY THE BOOK/LADY IN WAITING/REQUIEM FOR A FALLING STAR/LOVELY BUT LETHAL/CANDIDATE FOR CRIME/NEGATIVE REACTION/IDENTITY CRISIS/THE BYE-BYE SKY HIGH IQ MURDER CASE/MAKE ME A PERFECT MURDER/HOW TO DIAL A MURDER by Author/Historian Jim Benson
• NEW Audio Commentaries for RANSOM FOR A DEAD MAN/MURDER BY THE BOOK by Screenwriter/Historian Gary Gerani
• NEW Audio Commentaries for DEAD WEIGHT/DAGGER OF THE MIND/ANY OLD PORT IN A STORM/DOUBLE EXPOSURE/SWAN SONG/AN EXERCISE IN FATALITY/FORGOTTEN LADY/NOW YOU SEE HIM.../OLD FASHIONED MURDER by Author/Historian David Koenig
• NEW Audio Commentary for ÉTUDE IN BLACK by Authors/Historians David Koenig and Scott Skelton
• NEW Audio Commentaries for SHORT FUSE/THE GREENHOUSE JUNGLE/THE MOST CRUCIAL GAME/A CASE OF IMMUNITY/MURDER UNDER GLASS by Writers/Authors Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
• NEW Audio Commentary for A MATTER OF HONOR by Author/Historian Amanda Reyes
• NEW Audio Commentary for FADE IN TO MURDER by Author/Historian Amanda Reyes and Author/Podcaster Daniel R. Budnik
• NEW Audio Commentary for MIND OVER MAYHEM by Historian/Filmmaker Craig Bream with Special Guest Bill Malone
• NEW Audio Commentary for THE CONSPIRATORS by Television Music Historian Reba Wissner
• Selected Commentaries Include Excerpted Interviews with Peter Falk, Dick Van Dyke, Patrick McGoohan, Vincent Price, Martin Sheen, Richard Levinson, William Link, Lee Grant, Steven Bochco, Suzanne Pleshette, Norman Lloyd, Robert Butler, Stanley Ralph Ross and Many More!
• Shorter 71 Minute-Cut of ÉTUDE IN BLACK
• Booklet with Essay by Author Mark Dawidziak and Episode Guide
• Optional Music and Effects Audio Tracks for Every Episode
• Newly Commissioned Slipcase Cover Illustration by Tony Stella
• Optional English Subtitles

1968-1978 Color Approx. 3800 Minutes (20 Discs) 1.33:1 Not Rated
Restored in 4K by Universal Pictures! Columbo is the landmark series that set the standard for the murder mystery genre. Remastered in 4K by Universal, Columbo: The 1970s includes the first seven seasons of this enduring classic on Blu-ray! Starring Peter Falk in his four-time Emmy-winning role as the cigar-chomping, trenchcoat-wearing police lieutenant, this 20-disc collection includes every criminally entertaining episode from the series’ first seven seasons.

 

[Nelson Au]

Thanks for posting this here Robert. Wow, looks like a nice package with a lot of audio commentaries. I’m looking forward to this.

 

[TravisR]

I don't think there's any chance for isolated scores though.

Well, I'm happy to be wrong.

• Optional Music and Effects Audio Tracks for Every Episode

 

[Jack P]

Well, doesn't look like we'll be seeing the Mystery Movie intros on this, but I'm not going to complain about it. Since we've never had CD releases of the music from the series, I'll be ripping the Gil Melle composed ones from S1 when these come out and enjoy them even with the F/X.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Looks like a fantastic set! What do you reckon the price point is going to be? Over $100, surely...

 

[bmasters9]

Looks like a fantastic set! What do you reckon the price point is going to be? Over $100, surely...

Gotta be north of a Franklin, given all that'll be included, besides the main event.