SEASON 1 (PARAMOUNT RELEASE)
BOX-ART
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On the cover, we have renders of the Clampett family in their truck. On the back are renders of them in some formal attire, with a description of the season on top of a yellow background. The box at the bottom lists extras and technical aspects.
MENUS
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Static renders, the same as the cover, with options below on a wooden board. All subs menu have options overlaid on top of a, rather photoshopped looking, regal mansion style background, with barrels, oil lanterns, and double barrel shotguns. On the episode select, each disc has a different picture in the background of one of the cast. The subtitles menu is the same image, of Jethrine, on every disc.
If you select play all, the episodes will all play, with the syndicated opening at the beginning of each episode. If you select each episode individually, you're then presented with a menu asking if you'd like to view the episode with the original sponsor segments. If you choose to view the extra segments, the opening will change to a slightly extended version. The video cuts back to the main episode until the end, where it then cuts back the the extended ending & credits.
Before playing the episodes with sponsor segments, a disclaimer is always displayed about smoking and it's historical context. It's quite cringe-worthy how glorified cigarettes were in those days!
AUDIO
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A Dual mono English Dolby Digital track is present. It sounds quite dated, muffled & shrill at times. The laugh track sometimes overpowers the dialog, but for the most part it's decent. The intro/outro song, as iconic as it is, also has some clipping issues as well. Despite this I was surprised at how good the bass sounded with headphones on. Specifically the ones that go over your ears, not inside. (Those ones have zero bass what so ever.)
VIDEO
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Lets start with the sponsor segments, they look very...meh. Not far off from Laserdisc quality honestly, but they're a novelty anyways. I guess only the episodes themselves had film re-scans? The quality of the main episodes is where the set really shines. The transfers look great, it's clear some effort went into this release. Unlike a lot of the older public domain releases, which look abysmal, this release appears to be using new digitally mastered high definition film scans! Lots of fine grain, and great contrast too. Of course there are a few little pops and splotches now and then, but they are a very sharp detailed transfers! The only downside to this, is that the bit-rate can't really cope with all the detail on screen. Unfortunately there's quite of bit of MPEG compression noise. Up close it's kind of bothersome (I'm viewing on a PC) but on a TV at a decent distance, it's not noticeable.
EXTRAS
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Aside from the sponsor segments on all episodes, an extended versions of the pilot is also available. The quality is on par with the sponsor bits rather than the main episodes unfortunately.
FINAL THOUGHTS
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N/A
TECH. SPECS.
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ASPECT RATIO: 1.33:1 (Original Full-Screen)
NUMBER OF DISCS: 5
DISC SIZE: Dual-Layer (7.78 Gb)
REGION CODE: 1 / NTSC
AUDIO: English 2.0 Dual Mono (192 Kb/s)
SUBTITLES: English
RUN-TIME: 15 Hour 18 Minutes
SEASON 2 (PARAMOUNT RELEASE)
BOX-ART
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Inside a golden regal looking frame, we have renders of the Clampett family. A board at the top says the shows title, while an inscription at the bottom says the official second season. The back has a description of the season, along with screenshots an renders of the cast. Special features are in a frame in the middle, while all the technical specifications are at the bottom. The golden framing is also around the back of the box.
MENUS
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Much like the cover, we have renders of the cast inside a fancy golden frame. The title and disc number are listed on wooden boards at the top, with options in a frame below with disc one having an additional spot for extras. The theme songs loops during the main menu.
Again, If you select play all, the episodes will all play, with the opening at the beginning of each episode. If you select each episode individually, you're then presented with a menu asking if you'd like to view the episode with the original sponsor segments. If you choose to view the extra segments, the opening will change to a slightly extended version. The video cuts back to the main episode until the end, where it then cuts back the the extended ending & credits.
Before playing the episodes with sponsor segments, a disclaimer is always displayed about smoking and it's historical context.
AUDIO
-_-_-
A Dual mono English Dolby Digital track is present. The quality is similar to the previous set.
VIDEO
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The video, much like the audio, is also basically the same as the last set. Sponsor bits are rough looking, but the main episodes look great, though with some MPEG-2 compression noise.
EXTRAS
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Some brief featurettes are included, nothing really noteworthy.
FINAL THOUGHTS
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N/A
TECH. SPECS.
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ASPECT RATIO: 1.33:1 (Original Full-Screen)
NUMBER OF DISCS: 5
DISC SIZE: Dual-Layer (7.78 Gb)
REGION CODE: 1 / NTSC
AUDIO: English 2.0 Dual Mono (192 Kb/s)
SUBTITLES: None (Closed Caption)
RUN-TIME: 15 Hour 18 Minutes
SEASON 3
BOX-ART
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Inside a golden regal looking frame, we have renders of the Clampett family with their fortune. A board at the top says the shows title, while an inscription at the bottom says the official third season. The back has a description of the season, along with screenshots an renders of the cast. Special features are in a frame in the middle, while all the technical specifications are at the bottom. The golden framing is also around the back of the box.
MENUS
-_-_-
Like the cover, we have renders of the cast inside a fancy golden frame. The title and disc number are listed on wooden boards at the top, with options in a frame below with disc one having an additional spot for extras. The theme songs loops during the main menu.
Again, If you select play all, the episodes will all play, with the opening at the beginning of each episode. If you select each episode individually, you're then presented with a menu asking if you'd like to view the episode with the original sponsor segments. If you choose to view the extra segments, the opening will change to a slightly extended version. The video cuts back to the main episode until the end, where it then cuts back the the extended ending & credits.
Before playing the episodes with sponsor segments, a disclaimer is always displayed about smoking and it's historical context.
AUDIO
-_-_-
A Dual mono English Dolby Digital track is present. The quality is similar to the previous set.
VIDEO
-_-_-
The video, much like the audio, is also basically the same as the last set. Sponsor bits are rough looking, but the main episodes look great, though with some MPEG-2 compression noise. A few episodes seem as though they have been mastered from analog tape, and as such, have some fuzzy rainbow artifacts, but still seem decent quality.
EXTRAS
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A video of various still from the shows production, some in black & White and some in color. The theme loops while the video plays. There is also a retrospect/clip-show, where some of the cast reprise their rolls in short skits.
FINAL THOUGHTS
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N/A
TECH. SPECS.
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ASPECT RATIO: 1.33:1 (Original Full-Screen)
NUMBER OF DISCS: 5
DISC SIZE: Dual-Layer (7.78 Gb)
REGION CODE: 1 / NTSC
AUDIO: English 2.0 Dual Mono (192 Kb/s)
SUBTITLES: None (Closed Caption)
RUN-TIME: 14 Hour 28 Minutes
SEASON 4
BOX-ART
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The front cover is a parody of the American Gothic painting, with Granny as the woman on the left and Jed as the man with the pitchfork to the right. To the far left is Jethro, and the far right is Ellie. The back has a description of the show on a board below a render of the cast in Beverly Hills. Technical specification are listed at the bottom. There was some small text underneath that mentions some music changes, which I'll talk about under the audio section.
MENUS
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The menus are static, with no music or animation. Renders of one of the cast members appears in a picture frame on each disc, with episodes to select from on the side. Below the episodes are options for viewing more episodes, or turning on subtitles.
AUDIO
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A Dual mono English Dolby Digital track is present. A few episodes towards the end of the set do have a few background music replacements, likely due to rights issues. It only happens a handful of times, but it sounds rather out of place as it seems more modern and not quite the right style.
VIDEO
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Much like the last set, this one seems to also be using high quality digital HD film scans. The grain seems smaller and finer this time around, probably due to using higher quality color film stock. Yes, this is the first season to be filmed and presented in color! It's very vibrant, almost too much at times, but still looks good. I assume they oversaturated the episodes a smidge to impressed those who had not seen color television before. Also, yes, the colors are very mid-century with lots of pastels!
The only downside, again, is that the bit-rate can't really cope with all the detail on screen. Unfortunately there's quite of bit of MPEG compression noise. It's not as much of a nuisance here, since the grain is finer. Up close it's kind of bothersome (I'm viewing on a PC) but on a TV at a decent distance, it's not noticeable.
EXTRAS
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No extras are included in this set.
FINAL THOUGHTS
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N/A
TECH. SPECS.
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ASPECT RATIO: 1.33:1 (Original Full-Screen)
NUMBER OF DISCS: 4
DISC SIZE: Dual-Layer (7.78 Gb)
REGION CODE: 1 / NTSC
AUDIO: English 2.0 Dual Mono (192 Kb/s)
SUBTITLES: English SDH
RUN-TIME: 13 Hour 31 Minutes
SEASON 5
BOX-ART
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N/A
MENUS
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The menus are static, with no music or animation. Renders of one of the cast appear in front of a render similar to the background on the cover. You can choose to play all, subtitles, or one of the episodes listed. There is no sub menu for the episodes, half of them appear on the main menu with an option to show more underneath. A sub menu for subtitles is at the bottom, which will take you to another menu with a different render of one of the cast.
I'd also like to note that the menus are widescreen, unlike the previous four.
AUDIO
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A Dual mono English Dolby Digital track is present.
VIDEO
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Much like the last set, this one seems to also be using high quality digital HD film scans. While there is still loads of pastels, the colors seem to have an ever so slightly warmer grading.
EXTRAS
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No extras are included in this set.
FINAL THOUGHTS
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Currently, as of 12/1/21, the next season has yet to be released. Hopefully they will get back on track soon and not quit on the series now!
TECH. SPECS.
-_-_-_-_-_-
ASPECT RATIO: 1.33:1 (Original Full-Screen)
NUMBER OF DISCS: 4
DISC SIZE: Dual-Layer (7.78 Gb)
REGION CODE: 1 / NTSC
AUDIO: English 2.0 Dual Mono (192 Kb/s)
SUBTITLES: English SDH
RUN-TIME: 11 Hour 48 Minutes
THE MOVIE (2004 FOX DVD)
BOX-ART
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The cover has renders of Clapmetts posing in front of a mansion-esque gated lawn background. There's also a cow, I guess to show how hillbilly they are? The title is in a sparkly red and gold boarder. The back has a description of the film, with renders and screenshots, along with technical specification at the bottom. The background is just solid white, with a red banner at the top advertising the inclusion of both full & widescreen versions.
MENUS
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The menus are static, with various cast renders on each screen. No music, or animation, just simple menus. The menus & options are identical on both sides of the disc.
AUDIO
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Both versions of the film offer 5.1 English Dolby Digital, with two dubs. The French dub is 2.0 Surround encoded, while the Spanish is simply stereo.
The mixing is very front heavy, only about three of the six channels are really used. Occasionally, some sound effects come out of the rear and/or bass channels, but they mostly go unused. The movie was mixed, theatrically, in Dolby Surround which is likely why there isn't a whole lot of surround activity.
VIDEO
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A dual sided disc is provided with both the theatrical widescreen and a 4:3 version. The side with the label facing up is Full-screen, with the Widescreen version on the other side. The majority of the 4:3 version is open matte, showing more on the top, bottom, and even a little on the left side. Some scenes are cropped on the sides, from the widescreen version, but you still gain image on the top & bottom. The film doesn't ever seem to even be panned & scanned, and looks fine in 4x3. With there being more visible image, sometimes shots have a lot of empty space, that the widescreen version does not, but it's better than a straight up pan & scan transfer!
As for the actual video quality, is pretty meh. There's no huge compression artifacts, but it's quite a soft transfer. There's some slight edge enhancement, and the colors are a bit muted as well. There's no visible film grain, which seems to point to DNR which could be why the transfer is so soft and dull. It's passable I suppose, but a remaster would be mighty nice!
EXTRAS
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The only extras presented on the disc are trailers & teasers. They are identical on both sides.
FINAL THOUGHTS
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The film has never received digital or Blu-Ray releases, it's available strictly on VHS & DVD. It's quite disappointing, as the only two DVD releases of the film are both out-of-print and fetch quite high prices online! I don't know much about the Anchor Bay re-release but according to some box art I found online, they stripped out the dubs and full-screen version, and just put the movie on a Dual-Layer disc. I'm unsure if the quality is any different or if the trailers found on this disc are included
TECH. SPECS.
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ASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1 & 1.33:1 (Original Widescreen & Full-Screen)
NUMBER OF DISCS: 1
DISC SIZE: Single-Layer Dual-Side (DVD-10)
REGION CODE: 1 / NTSC
AUDIO: English 5.1 (448 Kb/s)
French 2.0 Surround (192 Kb/s)
Spanish 2.0 (192 Kb/s)
SUBTITLES: English & Spanish
RUN-TIME: 1 Hour 33 Minutes
