I had this on VHS about 20 years ago, and somehow lost it during one of many household moves over the years. My wife purchased the DVD the other night, and I found that the opening and closing theme music was different. Does anyone know what happened to the "It Seemed A Good Idea At The Time" theme?
And does any know if the content has been tampered with? I seeme to feel that something (???) is missing.
i dont know the answer to your question, but i wish they would have left the same music as the vhs version too. the song at the end is very emotional and really fits the routine.
The movie actually had three different versions. One features "It Was a Good Idea at the Time" (said to be the original theme of the song that you mentioned) that was actually co-written by Bill (yeah, he wrote music), another didn't feature any music and the third has Bill singing the parody to Bill Withers & Grover Washington's "Just the Two of Us" (renamed "Just the Slew of Us"). Bill also wrote "Just the Slew of Us". Stu Gardner, his saxophonist on "The Cosby Show" can be heard blowing his sax while Bill acts out scenes in his comedy as one of his kids, presumably one of his teenage daughters ("Daddy, can we go to the Sadie Hawkins Day dance?"). I actually like "The Slew of Us". Bill actually sang "just the twenty of us" and has his female background chorus going "just the eight of us". LOL! I thought that was funny.
shareYep. Wish I still had the version with "It Was a Good Idea at the Time". Loved that song. But I dumped the VHS before realizing that the song had been replaced on the DVD. pfft.
shareYes, it is edited. I've only seen the DVD once, a long time ago, and don't remember exctly what's missing.
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
Alternate versions for
Bill Cosby: Himself (1983) More at IMDbPro ยป
Some video versions of the movie begin and end with the song "It Was a Good Idea At the Time." The version generally shown on television does not. Other prints of the film, such as the one that is on the DVD, begin and end with Bill Cosby singing "Just the Slew of Us," a parody of Grover Washington Jr.'s "Just the Two of us."
This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.
The replacement song was just one of those stupid marketing tactics. Face the fact, "It was a good idea at the time", is intriguing, more subtle, and the dramatic emotion in it acts as a very good counter balance for the comedy of this film. I dont know why Bill has to be like George Lucas and change his stuff around just to try and squeeze bigger money out of his past work.
Or maybe "It was a good idea at the time" is just not politically correct nowadays?
I'm thinking of finding my my VHS copy of this and dubbing "It Was A Good Idea At the Time" into my DVD version in order to get the best of both worlds. Loomis1981 is right on base... the original song evokes a mood that is a bit melancholy, and seems very fitting for this particular performance. Plus I remember loving the song from the first time I watched this particular performance.
shareYou guys have it backwards. "Just the Slew of Us" was the song used in the original theatrical version. "It Was a Good Idea at the Time" replaced it when the movie came out on VHS. So the DVD stays true to the original theatrical release.
That guy sure likes his fresh air. None of that for me. *puffs cigar* Oh yeah... *cough*
When musicians get too greedy and demand too much money....music changes upon video releases. It's the reason why Billy Joel's "My Life" isn't heard on the Bosom Buddies DVD's. A sad fact in the entertainment business...pay me more or you'll have to change things if you release it in a different format. I'll just accept it and go clip some more coupons...
shareAs a project -- I went ahead and edited in the audio from the VHS release into the DVD video to replace "Just The Slew Of Us" with "It Was A Good Idea At The Time".
Surprisingly the original hi-fi VHS release sounds a lot better than the DVD release for the concert too. The DVD release audio sounds somewhat muffled and the dynamic range is pretty poor compared to the VHS release (the hi-fi release at least). Of course, the video is much better quality.
Here is a clip from my project for those that have been missing "It Was A Good Idea At The Time" and want to hear it again:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOm5Bjye5K0
Enjoy :)
I remember watching it on HBO in the mid 80's and there was no music at the start or finish. And they didnt mute it cuz the time there was music, it rolled over on top of his walk onto stage. That part was still normal, with the audience screaming and such.
Years later I actually prefer the silent titles.
I never saw the film when it first came out in the theaters, but I did watch it several times on the HBO cable channel in the mid 1980s and I guess that HBO couln't or woundn't get the copywright permission to use that Bill Cosby song during the opening or closing credits. But I guess that the latest DVD release did get the copyright permission and as such the song does appear. That is just my personal assumption.
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