I just bid on this, on Ebay, and was curious if it was unedited, since everyone seems to be saying the DVDs from other collections have the laugh tracks etc on them...
I just bought it at Walmart in the $5 Dump bin. There is a laugh track in like 1 episode. It's a little bit cheesy but...its good for memories.
Am I Insane? YES!!
Just watched the pilot from the set in the Wally-World dump bin. Yes, it's quite heavily edited from how it appeared originally on HBO. Many adult situations, drug references, racial tensions, and sexual humor still there. Missing were the profanity and tons of gratuitous nudity. I didn't need to see all the boobs, though I did want to see what 24 years did to one scene I remembered as more seeming crass than funny involving a woman wearing champagne glasses on her chest--totally missing from this set. The horrible laugh track is present though. Lines that weren't funny and in fact were serious, dramatic plot developments being punctuated by canned laughter really killed it.
Not sure if I want to bother trying to watch any of the other 79 episodes. I wasn't a huge fan in the 80's, but figured $5 was worth revisiting something that had its moments. My foggy memories were more pleasant than this sloppily edited volume.
When I was a kid I thought Yinessa was so badass. Now he stirkes me as some bratty kid I would shove in a trash can with all his whining. It's like watching Christian Slater in 'Gleaming the Cube'
shareHaa...'gleaning the cube'...that's a good one (not the movie, your comment).
It had been so long since I've seen this show that I don't remember the episodes. I do remember the gratuitous nudity, which seemed to be omnipresent in the Season 1 episodes, but isn't nearly as flagrant in Season 2.
I just got this from Wal-Mart's bargain DVD bin for five bucks as well this past weekend. That sucks that it's edited, but for five bucks you can't complain too much.
The discrepancies in the ongoing plots between Season 1 and thereafter is a bit maddening (as was mentioned elsewhere, including Dorsey's disappearance and the Mob's no longer being around, among other things).
One other thing that bugged me was the pilot episode. The bible-thumping quarterback Bryce Smith was none other than Robert Prescott, who played Kent from the movie Real Genius. (Kent, as in the nerd-bully who was Professor Hathaway's lackey boy in that movie.) I've only started re-watching these episodes and am not quite halfway through Season 2, but I don't see the Bryce Smith character any longer either.
I think the actor was replaced by another actor playing the same character after the pilot.
"A commitment to cinema means to lead a technically deviant lifestyle."
"The bible-thumping quarterback Bryce Smith was none other than Robert Prescott, who played Kent from the movie Real Genius."
Funny thing is that he was replaced by another famous film Kent - young Clark Kent from Superman: The Movie (actor Jeff East). East took over the role of Bryce during the rest of that character's run.
It is a shame about the (partial) edits. There's nowhere near the nudity and cursing from when these were originally on. Oh well, for 5 bucks there is a lot of viewing pleasure. I'm just happy to see Mad Dog and Dr. Death together again.
Beware these DVDs were made in Mexico and are of shoddy quality. Both sides of 4 of the 6 discs I have contain serious scratches. Luckily, I'm into the 4th season and only one episode was affected in the last 30 seconds of the show.
If you listen carefully at season 3 start they mention that he was traded.
There was a lot of loose and fast play from season to season...
Like when the woman gets shot and forgot... and the girlfriends change episode to episode... Just done for dramatic effect and continuity be damned... Oh well.
Ticks Ticks thousands of ticks, and not one blessed TOCK among them!
I too purchased the series from the wally-bin. There are some wierd discrepancies over the course of the series. Even more so some episodes were edited and some not. I have watched 5 of the 6 seasons so far. Here's what I found:
-Edited episodes tend to include the goofy laugh track. It is generally unnneccesary and very corny.
-These episodes tend to have a slightly different opening montage.
-Music being used between scene cuts seems to lean toward the fact that these episodes should have had commercial breaks. Like they were supposed to be aired on regular TV?
-Scenes from the episode are usually played as the end credits roll. In many of the edited episodes there are none, only a blue background.
-The film from the edited episodes as well as the sound, seem different from the rest. Sort of grainy and out of sync.
Many edited episodes were singular in nature from season to season. You would get normal episodes (4 or 5 in a row) then all of a sudden an edited one out of nowhere. I remember watching the last 3 or 4 years when the show aired and there was a lot of the gratuitous nudity. I thought with season 1 maybe they were aiming for TV syndication (Small Wonder, Charles In Charge, Private Benjamin, etc.), but the subsequently chopped episodes later on make no sense.
Now don't get me wrong, the show was by no means perfect or anything but some aspects of the show certainly seem better than others.
At the height of the O.J. Simpson trial, the show made its way to syndicated reruns.
shareHere is a note i found on the net from the Director of Sales for Tango Entertainment (the people who released the dvd boxed set of the show)
"Tango Entertainment - February 17, 2006
By Irwin G. Sirotta "IRWIN" (Santa Monica, California)
Ok guys, I am Director of Sales of Tango.
I have now watched the Entire Collection of 1st & Ten , and here's the deal.
First of all, TANGO did not lie in regard to this title. Of the 6 seasons included, only the first 3 have been edited. We purchased an entire Hollywood catalogue, and this was the ONLY version available.
Although I am old enough to have enjoyed the series when aired originally, I , too, was disappointed that the early seasons were cut and laugh tracked for Network. We feverously checked into it, and found out that these were the only episodes available in that format.
While we agree it is a tad annoying, we can assure you that seasons 4-6 are COMPLETELY uncut. How do we know? 5 minutes into season 4 , there is an audition for Topless Waitresses.With Big Hair!!
Would we have rather had ALL uncut episodes? Absolutely!
Were they available to TANGO? Unfortunately not.
However, we can assure you that 1st & Ten is a very watchable, still funny addition to anyone's TV DVD collection.
In addition, you can watch the first 3 seasons with the kids, put them to bed, and then watch the raunchy bits by yourself. Making the first 3 seasons Family Fare.
This series is STILL very topical and works on many levels.
Enjoy, and be confident in the notion that TANGO has given our customers the best versions we found available. No lies or purposeful misinformation from this end.
TANGO appreciates all the letters of concern and especially those who continue to support the TANGO Ent. line of DVD's."
In my best Dave Chappelle imitation of Lil Jon: WHAT!!!!! OKAY!!!!!! wHAT!!!!
But, I was gonna come here and say I thought I remembered this being shown on regular tv at one point, that might be why some of it is edited.
Your post clarifies that, thanx!