Thursday, June 16, 2005

More Muppet Show Season Details

The finial pieces of information surrounding "The Muppet Show Season One" DVD box set are surfacing. The fully loaded set will be released on August 9th. Here is some more of the information that you are craving.

As many Muppet fans know, there were two specials created as pilots for "The Muppet Show", and everyone was wondering which would be found on the season 1 set. I have now been told that “The Muppet Show: Sex and Violence” will be included on the season 1 box set. However the fate of the other pilot, “The Muppets’ Valentine Show”, is still unclear. This all depends on what space was available on the discs. With all the content the DVD team is cramming into the collection "the Valentine Show" may not have made final the cut for the season 1 set. Some insiders say that Disney hopes to hold onto it and included the other pilot on the season 2 set (or another release). The exact fate of that special/pilot is unknown at this point. Hopefully "the Valentine Show" will not be forgotten and held from the public, and hopefully Disney releases it on one of their Muppet DVD sets. We’ll have to wait a little longer in order to know for sure if both pilots made the cut for season one (however it is starting to look unlikely at this point)- but we do know that "Sex and Violence" is a lock. The ultimate fate of "The Valentine Show" is still unknown.

International Muppet fans are eagerly waiting for any news about the possibility of international releases of this set. The question of releasing the set on DVD in other regions has been raised many times, and Disney has stated that they hope to eventually create international releases of the product, however the exact details of those releases are not available at this time. Like many of Disney's DVDs, the international release will be sometime after the North American (Region 1) release. Exact details are not available, for more information check the Disney international website at http://www.disneyinternational.com/ for the information on upcoming releases in your country or region.

Many fans wonder if the set will include closed-captioning or subtitles on the episodes. Disney has not been able to officially comment on this issue yet, but it is very likely that at least one (if not both) of these options will be included. Many of Disney's high quality season box sets (like this set) host closed-captioning and subtitles. And the technical specifications many online retailers have for this particular set list these items for the set. It is not guaranteed, but it is a good bet that one (or both) these features will be included.

The set will boast some interesting and fun packaging. Earlier, I shared some temporary disc art, and last week I shared some information on the furry outer box; well the disc art has changed and now more information on the inner packaging has surfaced. The four discs are housed on two sides of a tri-folded Digipak, which is slid into the furry exterior slipcover. The inner Digipak showcases the classic red-curtain design, and includes an insert folder on the first side of the 6-sided Digipak. The four discs are displayed in an overlapping manner, and the disc feature the four main Muppets characters -- Kermit (Disc 1), Piggy (Disc 2), Gonzo (Disc 3), and Fozzie (Disc 4).

There are still some questions and information left to uncover. I have still been unable to get a straight answer on the issue of the "Season 1 Openings", but someone I've talked with hopes to get back to me this week with the final answer and some other information. I'll keep you all posted as more information on the set surfaces.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

[i]There are still some questions and information left to uncover. I have still been unable to get a straight answer on the issue of the "Season 1 Openings", but someone I've talked with hopes to get back to me this week with the final answer and some other information. I'll keep you all posted as more information on the set surfaces.[/i]

Been almost a month- seems like they're keeping mum over there, especially with less than a month until the release. You'd think by this late stage that the set would be, well, set, all but in stone.

Dave

Anonymous said...

Original. Openings. Answer?