The State is the best show to ever air on MTV. It was a half-hour sketch comedy show formed by a troupe of very talented young comics. It ran on MTV in the mid-1990s and was like the Generation X version of Monty Python's Flying Circus. The State--specifically the first two seasons--was a hilarious, fresh, hip, and innovative show. The show had a strong and devoted cult following, and it was filled with 90s pop culture and music, making The State an important snapshot of Generation X culture during that period.
When DVD releases of television shows started to come into vogue, fans of The State began begging for a DVD box set of The State episodes. Years passed, and there seemed to be no hope the show would ever come out on DVD. Finally, after years of delay, The State: The Complete Series was released on DVD by MTV on July 14, 2009. That is when the disillusionment began to set in.
Apparently to save money on royalties, MTV chose to remove or obscure nearly all of the music and pop culture images from the classic comedy pieces. With The State, this was an incredibly tricky situation, because some of the sketches were centered around particular pieces of music and/or pop culture images. In many sketches, the actors actually spoke dialog over music and delivered lines standing right next to images of celebrities.
Rather than pay royalties, MTV actually chose to blur many images which might require payment of fees. For example, the "Cindy Crawford" sketch centers around the famous model. The original sketch displays photos of Cindy Crawford. On the DVD, these photos are just blurred out. Similar situations exist throughout the DVD set. They even blurred out Yoda in the "Dixon: Jedi Talent Agency" sketch for goodness sake. (As a surprising side note, the most famous Disney characters [Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, et al.] are visible on Billy's comforter in the "Boogey Man" sketches. There must be some good reason why MTV did not blur them out. If not, maybe those notorious lawyers at Disney will file a lawsuit.)
Making matters far worse, MTV re-recorded the audio tracks for many sketches. They replaced the music with bland imitations of the originals and brought the actors back to record their lines--many years later. Even though MTV used the original actors to record the audio, something is just off in many of the sketches. The vocal inflections and comedic timing are off, and many of the funniest lines just fall flat now. It is as if the humor has been neutered, and its spirit is gone, giving the sketches a manufactured feel. The most egregious example of this is seen in the "$240 Worth of Pudding" sketch. In the original sketch, Barry and Le Von romance a large mound of pudding while Marvin Gaye's "Sexual Healing" plays in the background. Of course, to remove the song for the DVD release, all of the dialog had to be re-recorded and dubbed. The new music and dialog, just does not work. What was once the funniest sketch from The State, is now just moderately amusing.
If MTV had altered just a couple of sketches for legal reasons, this release would not have been so bad, but they have made changes to many sketches, and many of the altered sketches were some of the best ones. What MTV has released is a mutilated rendition of what was originally a great show. This DVD release taints some great memories that should have been left alone. MTV should have either spent the extra money to fund a proper DVD release of The State episodes in their original form or just not released the collection at all. How much could it really have cost MTV to display photos of celebrities like Cindy Crawford and Andrew Shue? How much could it have cost to play songs from Marvin Gaye, Black Sabbath, The Breeders, The Smashing Pumpkins, etc.? Certainly, the fans would not have minded paying more for a collection that maintained the integrity of the original show.
This DVD release in unfair to the loyal fans of The State, because the collection is substantially inferior to the original material. This release is unfair to the new first-time viewers, because they are seeing an inferior recreation of something that used to be special. Even though the cast of The State is partially to blame for participating in this release, it is unfair to them, because this collection tarnishes their reputations as artists. With this DVD release, everybody loses except maybe MTV. At least MTV gets to cash in with this cheap chop-job on what was originally a wonderful, creative, and hilarious show. What a shame.
4/01/2009
Just Say No to Blu-Ray
This Blu-ray boondoggle has gone far enough, and it is time to clear the air. The Blu-ray format should have failed two years ago, but the entertainment and electronics industries are keeping it alive. We have all seen the commercials. You buy a DVD, try to play it, and you get slapped in the face with a commercial for Blu-ray. The music is fast and loud. Your screen is filled with explosions and cars flipping over. The sound effects blast through your speakers. Spider-man looks like he’s about to jump right out of the screen and land on your lap. As the excitement builds, the announcer implores you to gaze upon the incredible clarity of Blu-ray. The problem is this is all taking place on your entertainment system. You are enjoying the wonderful spectacle that is the Blu-ray commercial because you already have a decent entertainment system. If you enjoy the sights and sounds in the commercial, then you do not really need anything else. Call it a day, and enjoy what you already have at home.
Here’s the deal. Blu-ray is a ridiculous format. If you are not using it yet, do yourself a favor and do not go down that dead end street. If you are already on Blu-ray Street, get off now, cut your losses, and stop wasting your money on a format that will be obsolete in a few years.
On HD screens properly connected to HD players, Blu-rays are more clear than DVDs, but the difference does not really matter that much. Really, are DVDs that bad? Just ten years ago, people were awe-struck with the clarity of DVDs. In the past couple of years, however, Sony and the other contributors and members of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) have managed to convince a lot of consumers that Blu-ray is a major leap in technology.
In reality, Blu-ray is little more than a glorified high-capacity DVD. Sure the image is nice, but the cost is way too high, the title and equipment selections are limited, and the price to assemble a true full HD entertainment system is out of reach for most people. The problem is that if you do not have a spectacular entertainment system, you will not be able to appreciate a sufficient difference between DVD and Blu-ray. There is just not much quality to access, and accessing it is just too costly.
The real purpose of Blu-ray is not to benefit consumers. The entertainment and electronic industries are who really hope to benefit from Blu-ray. DVDs are fairly easy to copy, but Blu-ray discs are not duplicated so easily. Blu-ray discs are produced with a more advanced and expensive technology, and they hold much more data. Blu-ray discs also allow for other more sophisticated electronic copy protections. The entertainment industry has realized they cannot stop people from copying discs, so they are trying to move to a disc that is so expensive to duplicate that many people will not bother. Also, by using such large files for Blu-ray content, the entertainment industry makes the downloading of Blu-ray content cumbersome and time-consuming.
Also, the electronics industry hopes to benefit from Blu-ray by pushing consumers to replace their existing DVD equipment with new Blu-ray equipment. What better way to sell electronics than to make existing electronics obsolete. This is what they are doing. They know your DVD player is going to last for ten more years. Since you are not going to buy another DVD player for a while, the electronics industry has just chosen to make your existing one useless.
The biggest drawback to Blu-ray is its inevitable obsolescence. The era of the disc is rapidly coming to a close. Soon, we will all be moving to fully digital downloadable content. Movies will be transferred over the Internet and flash drives. Few people will be using discs, because discs will be largely unnecessary. If you want to see what is going to happen with movie content, all you have to do is look at the music industry, which typically stays five-to-ten years ahead of the movie industry.
The music industry abandoned cassette tapes for CDs years before the movie industry abandoned VHS tapes for DVDs. Currently, CD sales are plunging as the consumers force the music industry to move toward downloadable digital music. At some point, the CD will be relegated to obscurity. This same thing is going to happen in the movie industry as well. Video discs (DVDs, HD DVDs, Blu-rays, etc.) are the movie industry’s counterpart to CDs. If you want to see what is going to happen to Blu-ray and the other video discs, just watch what happens to CDs over the next couple of years. As goes the music disc, so goes the video disc.
In summary, DVDs are inexpensive, and the quality is very good. Blu-rays are expensive and they do not provide enough quality to justify their associated expenses. Video discs of all types will be obsolete in a matter of years anyway, so why start investing in a new format? The Blu-ray Disc Association, the movie industry, and the electronics industry are trying to jam Blu-ray down our throats. If you have not already said no to Blu-ray, consider the poor prospects for the technology and consider swearing it off. The era of fully digital downloadable movies is just beginning. You really should be saving up your money so you can enjoy digital downloadable content once it becomes the new standard for all video.
Here’s the deal. Blu-ray is a ridiculous format. If you are not using it yet, do yourself a favor and do not go down that dead end street. If you are already on Blu-ray Street, get off now, cut your losses, and stop wasting your money on a format that will be obsolete in a few years.
On HD screens properly connected to HD players, Blu-rays are more clear than DVDs, but the difference does not really matter that much. Really, are DVDs that bad? Just ten years ago, people were awe-struck with the clarity of DVDs. In the past couple of years, however, Sony and the other contributors and members of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) have managed to convince a lot of consumers that Blu-ray is a major leap in technology.
In reality, Blu-ray is little more than a glorified high-capacity DVD. Sure the image is nice, but the cost is way too high, the title and equipment selections are limited, and the price to assemble a true full HD entertainment system is out of reach for most people. The problem is that if you do not have a spectacular entertainment system, you will not be able to appreciate a sufficient difference between DVD and Blu-ray. There is just not much quality to access, and accessing it is just too costly.
The real purpose of Blu-ray is not to benefit consumers. The entertainment and electronic industries are who really hope to benefit from Blu-ray. DVDs are fairly easy to copy, but Blu-ray discs are not duplicated so easily. Blu-ray discs are produced with a more advanced and expensive technology, and they hold much more data. Blu-ray discs also allow for other more sophisticated electronic copy protections. The entertainment industry has realized they cannot stop people from copying discs, so they are trying to move to a disc that is so expensive to duplicate that many people will not bother. Also, by using such large files for Blu-ray content, the entertainment industry makes the downloading of Blu-ray content cumbersome and time-consuming.
Also, the electronics industry hopes to benefit from Blu-ray by pushing consumers to replace their existing DVD equipment with new Blu-ray equipment. What better way to sell electronics than to make existing electronics obsolete. This is what they are doing. They know your DVD player is going to last for ten more years. Since you are not going to buy another DVD player for a while, the electronics industry has just chosen to make your existing one useless.
The biggest drawback to Blu-ray is its inevitable obsolescence. The era of the disc is rapidly coming to a close. Soon, we will all be moving to fully digital downloadable content. Movies will be transferred over the Internet and flash drives. Few people will be using discs, because discs will be largely unnecessary. If you want to see what is going to happen with movie content, all you have to do is look at the music industry, which typically stays five-to-ten years ahead of the movie industry.
The music industry abandoned cassette tapes for CDs years before the movie industry abandoned VHS tapes for DVDs. Currently, CD sales are plunging as the consumers force the music industry to move toward downloadable digital music. At some point, the CD will be relegated to obscurity. This same thing is going to happen in the movie industry as well. Video discs (DVDs, HD DVDs, Blu-rays, etc.) are the movie industry’s counterpart to CDs. If you want to see what is going to happen to Blu-ray and the other video discs, just watch what happens to CDs over the next couple of years. As goes the music disc, so goes the video disc.
In summary, DVDs are inexpensive, and the quality is very good. Blu-rays are expensive and they do not provide enough quality to justify their associated expenses. Video discs of all types will be obsolete in a matter of years anyway, so why start investing in a new format? The Blu-ray Disc Association, the movie industry, and the electronics industry are trying to jam Blu-ray down our throats. If you have not already said no to Blu-ray, consider the poor prospects for the technology and consider swearing it off. The era of fully digital downloadable movies is just beginning. You really should be saving up your money so you can enjoy digital downloadable content once it becomes the new standard for all video.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)