The State DVD now avail. from MTV (+ dialogue dubbing: do you care?)

[Aaron1933]

I don't have the original episodes on this computer to confirm, but as far as I can tell, the remotes and pre-taped segments aren't redubbed.

[demented.darling]

I don't like it, but what choice did I have to enjoy this BRILLIANT show? I agree, the Barry and Levon sketches were dubbed (and painfully obvious) and the music was LOUD; the "No Pants" sketch just wasn't the same without "Cannonball."

At least Snap didn't seem to mind being used for the Power Guidance Counselor/Power Priest sketches.

[christine]

Barry & Levon's $240 worth of pudding:

MTV

vs.

Original

I'll leave it to you folks to discover the differences...

It's been all I can do for the last ten minutes to not openly weep at my desk in front of my coworkers.

This is why I haven't bought the DVD yet. I mean, I will. But. Oh man.

[Garrett Gilchrist]

Barry & Levon: Well, it could have been worse. New viewers will still get the basic idea of the sketch. Us fans can presumably hold on to our bootlegs (or our bootleg audio synced up to DVD picture).

Is the CBS special not on this then? Because that was superb.

[~ Tiger Lily ~]

Is the CBS special not on this then? Because that was superb.

No I think that is because the State actually own the rights to it. MTV was in charge of the DVD In the commentaries they repeatedly say that MTV was to blame for the hold up.

I'm a little biased because I won a free copy of the DVD. So to me it is great just to see old sketches I love and some I had faintly remembered and ones I had forgot.

The commetaries are good they also mention the redubbing and replaced soundtracks. In one commentary Ken Marino keeps bringing it up and Thom and Kerri shhh him call him grandpa for bringing it up because there is a whole group of fans who hadn't seen the originals and the thing is hey MTV finally got there stuff together and released it.

One thing is I wish the commentaries weren't 2 yrs old,think they were done in early 2007.

[darrylduffy]

One thing is I wish the commentaries weren't 2 yrs old,think they were done in early 2007.

it's sometime around then, because in the commentary for an episode near the end of season 4, wain mentions seeing Zodiac and Blades of Glory in the theatre recently.

edit: i guess March/April 2007 might be accurate.

[Aaron1933]

it's sometime around then, because in the commentary for an episode near the end of season 4, wain mentions seeing Zodiac and Blades of Glory in the theatre recently.

There's one point where they give the exact date for one group of commentaries (February something 2007).

[Garrett Gilchrist]

Having started to check this set out, I have to say that for the most part the replacement music is pretty well done considering the circumstances, using generic music vaguely along the lines of the original familiar tunes. The replacement "Two Princes" sounds a lot like "Two Princes." It's never quite the same effect - the music is often mixed a bit softer or louder ... it's rougher when it's louder because you're listening to some pretty rubbish music drowning out the dialogue more than before, and it's hard to argue that's not hurting the comedy.

Very few sketches are redubbed. It's great that the original audio tracks still exist after all these years.

Unfortunately Barry & Levon came out the way it did, but they did put some effort into making this work well enough with the more generic music, considering.

I am definitely using the replacement MP3 tracks as posted on Myspleen though, to get the feel the episodes ought to have. I need, need tracks for seasons 2-4, as although the replacements aren't a dealbreaker for me, I am a happy person when I have the correct music on this set.

What's really surprising is the quality of the episodes, which goes from really high quality, to some segments shot on Hi-8 - including the superb "Hops Plus" which I hadn't seen before, and my old favorite "Old Fashioned Guy" ... the distinctive (read: horrible) quality of Hi-8 is very much present including analog "garbage" at the bottom of the screen. Some of the title captioning also feels very "old fashioned analog." "MTV Sports" and some of the links appear to be Hi-8 without analog garbage at the bottom. Lot of different formats here. Captain Monterey Jack and some of the other location stuff is lower quality than the studio stuff. The "Duh duh duh" commercial in (I think) episode 2 looks great.

The special features are a knockout, though I've only just started them. What a DVD set this is ....




Episode 4: A more worrying episode than the others in terms of music replacement. Lame replacement music on "Pants" is too soft (sounds like a lame version of "Cannonball" - a copy of the original, but without going as far as making it a good song), lame replacement music on "$240 Worth of Pudding" is too loud. Lame replacement dubbing not as bad as lame replacement audio laughter. Very glad for alternate original MP3 audio. Who knew "Pants" was shot in Hi-8, or something equally horrible? Also businessmen on playground.


The use of Hi-8 for links in particular in season 1 suggests to me that they would just run out and shoot the links late in the game to link the show together. I always loved this aspect of season 1 in particular, the Monty Python like links. Almost no comedy show had tried to link one sketch to another and make it all one piece, but The State did, early on - Crispy Pops, Hops Plus etc keep reoccurring throughout, rewarding the careful viewer.

Episode 5 - Hey, for "James Dixon" they got "I've Got the Power" ... but not "Bad to the Bone." Odd .... both being cliche comedy trailer mainstays, so presumably not unlicensable. This and "Cheerleader" are half shot properly, half shot on Hi-8. "Old Fashioned Guy" has wrong music throughout.

Having this set, with the alternate MP3 original audio ready ..... this set is so good, I want to dip my balls in it.