Topic: ALL IN THE FAMILY Complete Series DVD, 10/30

[falsealarms]

Arguably the funniest television show of all-time is coming back to DVD in a massive, jam-packed 28 disc set. Shout is releasing these - evidently Sony got tired of the show. MSRP is a whopping $199, but Amazon has a slight discount of $179. Not for the faint of heart.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

All 213 episodes of the hit show packaged together in a much deserved celebratory collection with loads of extras!

ALL IN THE FAMILY: THE COMPLETE SERIES

28-DISC BOX SET TO BE RELEASED OCTOBER 30 BY SHOUT! FACTORY

"Boy the way Glenn Miller played...Songs that made the hit parade... Guys like us, we had it made...Those were the days..."

Los Angeles, CA; July 17, 2012 - On October 30, 2012 Shout! Factory will release All In The Family: The Complete Series, a 28-Disc box set of one the most beloved and groundbreaking television shows of all time. The first-ever box set release of the show contains all 213 episodes, uncut and in their original broadcast form. A wealth of bonus features includes a 40-page collectible book with essays by Pulitzer Prize-winning TV critic Tom Shales and USC Media Professor Marty Kaplan, a new interview with Norman Lear, the documentary Those Were The Days: The Birth Of "All In The Family," the documentary The Television Revolution Begins: "All In The Family" Is On The Air, the original All In The Family pilot "Justice For All," the second All In The Family pilot "Those Were The Days," and the spin-off pilot episodes of Gloria, Archie Bunker's Place, and 704 Hauser.

Those were the days. Few television shows have left as substantial and enduring a footprint on American popular culture as Norman Lear's masterpiece All In The Family. The revolutionary series looked at the state of the world through the eyes of an argumentative but loving family and gave us some of the most fully dimensional characters in television history. The jokes had a million targets, aiming at race, politics, sex and human foibles, but the humor was firmly rooted in the characters of Archie, Edith, Mike and Gloria.

Created by legendary TV producer Norman Lear (Sanford and Son; One Day at a Time; The Jeffersons; Good Times; Maude; Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman), All In The Family premiered on January 12, 1971. About a middle class family living in 1970s Queens, NY, the show starred Carroll O'Connor as Archie Bunker, Jean Stapleton as Edith Bunker, Sally Struthers as daughter Gloria, and Rob Reiner as liberal son-in-law Mike "Meathead" Stivic. All In The Family was No. 1 in the ratings for most of its nine-season run, and won multiple Emmy Awards.

Marty Kaplan writes of the characters in "Archie's America, and Ours," his essay accompanying the box set, "I would call them originals, which of course they are, but a share of their appeal is actually their familiarity, their resemblance to our own relatives, our own families' dysfunctions and endurance. For some of us, it's fairly amazing that we got out of our homes of origin alive and intact; All In The Family is our home movie of how we managed that and lived to tell the tale and to laugh about it."

In "Those Were the Days," Tom Shales' essay accompanying the box set, Shales proclaims All In The Family "the best situation comedy ever," and discusses at length the many ways in which the show was groundbreaking, including the fact that it was shot on videotape instead of film, and "before a live audience" rather than in an empty studio. Aware of the shock potential of the show, the network went so far as to run an advisory before the first episode, warning viewers of precedents about to shatter. Archie himself was groundbreaking, "a new kind of sitcom antihero, a warts-and-all character who sometimes seemed, especially in the show's earliest days, all wart."

For the writers, Shales notes, All in the Family was "a liberation, a chance to deal with people who had dimension, character, complexity and edge. But the audience got liberated too. In those times of women's lib and gay lib and other libs, All in the Family was TV Lib. It changed the rules, it changed the game, and it let a nation laugh at itself and its 'issues,' the better to face them and deal with them. All in the Family was a great contribution to television, and to the human race."

41 years after its debut, All in the Family still resonates. This complete series collection is a long overdue celebration of the enormously influential series and delivers fans something to treasure for years to come.

All In The Family: The Complete Series Bonus Features:
New Interview With Norman Lear
Those Were The Days: The Birth Of "All In The Family" - Documentary
The Television Revolution Begins: "All In The Family" Is On The Air -Documentary
"Justice For All" - Original All In The Family Pilot
"Those Were The Days" - Second All In The Family Pilot
Gloria Spin-Off Pilot Episode
Archie Bunker's Place Pilot Episode
704 Hauser Pilot Episode (1994 Spin-Off)
40-Page Collectible Book With Essays By Television Critic Tom Shales and USC Media Professor Marty Kaplan


Taken from: http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Family-The-Complete-Series/17243#ixzz210ZDrnld

[locoboymakesgood]

Arguably the funniest television show of all-time is coming back to DVD in a massive, jam-packed 28 disc set. Shout is releasing these - evidently Sony got tired of the show.

I wouldn't call myself a fan of AITF, although I have watched it in syndicated repeats.

Shout! picked up the show from Sony and released the remaining seasons that didn't make their way to DVD. It's culminating to this complete series box. This sounds pretty elaborate so they must be mastering new discs for the seasons that Sony initially released.

I wonder if Archie Bunker's Place will ever make it to DVD.

[BeAStooge]

they must be mastering new discs for the seasons that Sony initially released.

More likely, they will use Sony's existing digital masters from the first 6 seasons' DVDs.  Shout! did that for LEAVE IT TO BEAVER which had its first 2 seasons released by Universal, before taking it over and releasing a "Complete LITB" box set.

I wonder if Archie Bunker's Place will ever make it to DVD.

Sony released Season 1 about 6 years ago.  If anyone picks the series up again, Shout! is the presumed candidate.

[Bum]

This is wonderful news....... kinda. Unlike the Stooges DVD sets [each of which I ran out and bought on their original release dates], I wont be doing too much double-dipping if I buy the ALL IN THE FAMILY complete set [I only own the second season set]. However, my main worry is about Season 7. Shout Factory really screwed up their release of that season [the first one they put out after taking over for Sony, who released seasons 1-6]. From everything I've read, there are MAJOR video issues, including tampering with the "look" of all the episodes to make them appear more film-like [as opposed to their original videotape]. Apparently, seasons 8 and 9 look fine, but I really hope Shout Factory has fixed Season 7 for this set, but I'm not crossing my fingers. I'll wait for it to be out for awhile and check out the reviews, and that may very well determine whether or not I buy it.

[locoboymakesgood]

However, my main worry is about Season 7. From everything I've read, there are MAJOR video issues, including tampering with the "look" of all the episodes to make them appear more film-like [as opposed to their original videotape].

It's funny that they found the source for the error but never reissued the sets.

Here's a relevant post from the Shout! Message Boards:

The investigation has basically uncovered an encoding anomaly.  Both of the incriminating sets were encoded and authored by the same vendor.  That equipment has been replaced and the sets since then have come out okay.  As for the QC, the effect is more prominent on some TVs than others.  Some of you may not even see it.  But it's not necessarily your equipment.  It also could be your eyes and their sensitivity to the issue.  For instance, we have an employee here that stood next to Brian Blum and myself as we watched and she still couldn't see what we were talking about.

...and then says

At this time, there is no plan to re-release the sets.

Kind of disappointing that they would've recognized it being an encoding issue and then decline to replace the sets. I can't see this box have any remastering done, it sounds like Shout! took a lazy way out to push out the seasons Sony wouldn't touch.

[archiezappa]

I used to love watching this show.  When I was a kid, I watched it every time it came on.  Great show!  They really should do a set of "Archie Bunker's Place," since that's basically the continuation of the show.  I don't know if I'll buy this set (I don't have any of the shows on DVD), but it certainly sounds tempting.  The subject matter in the shows can still be controversial.  That's just how timeless it is.  That and the fact that my family was just like the Bunkers.

[shemps#1]

My mother was a huge fan of Norman Lear's work (she even watched Gloria and 704 Hauser) so I too grew up with an appreciation for All In The Family which was his most successful and longest-running show (I count Archie Bunker's Place as All In The Family, therefore beating the Jeffersons). I inherited the first six seasons of AITF, season one of ABP and season one of Maude (which I think is all Sony released for each of those shows). I will probably finish off AITF at some point and really do hope Shout! Factory releases the rest of ABP.

[Bum]

I grew up with Archie Bunker..... literally. With my parents, I started watching the show from the time it premiered [I wasn't even 6 at the time and obviously didn't understand 99% of the jokes, but even then I loved Archie's mannerisms and Edith's voice]. I stuck with the show for it's entire run, and by the time ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE aired its final episode in '83, I had just graduated high school.  Even though the quality had slipped way below AITF in its early peak years, I too, would welcome an ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE complete set.

[archiezappa]

Yeah, I would probably enjoy this series on DVD.  Interesting that if you follow what's on DVD so far, which starts with season 1 of All In The Family and ends with Archie Bunker's Place season 1, you don't reach the real climax of the show, which is when Edith Bunker dies.  Those were some really good episodes.

[moella]

At least this gives me two months to save up.  I've been awaiting this set since season 1 was released.  I'm glad I never got around to purchasing the individual sets.