Shout DVD quality?

All in the Family was also videotaped. It gives it a look of live television. Of course, All in the Family didn't have music being such a central part of the show.

Actually, quite a few Norman Lear shows were videotaped, and he was the most successful creator/producer in 1970s television.

You can read a discussion of film vs. videotaped shows here:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-123162.html

^^^some very interesting comments in that thread^^^

I do agree that the MTM Studios seemed to have a real dislike for WKRP. I don't think that Mary or the studio really understood that show. CBS constantly changed the time slot for the show, so that the show somtimes struggled in the ratings, but it developed a strong cult following.

It they had just left the show alone, preferably with a strong lead-in (One Day at a Time, for example), the show would have been a huge success. You get the feeling that they didn't want it to be a success for whatever reason. However, it has been quite successful in syndication.

However, as shown above, it wasn't that unusual to tape a sitcom. It was, however, unusual for MTM studios to do it. Mary's show was beautifully shot on film.

Ironically, my two favorite sitcoms of all time are The Mary Tyler Moore Show and WKRP in Cincinnati! Two shows that were brilliantly written, acted, directed, and produced.

VHS isn't as bad as people claim it to be. I'm sure they recorded in SP mode (2 hour tape) and although it isn't as good as DVD quality, it is MUCH better than digital HIGH compression crap they put on youtube.

I just got the set and the quality is generally terrible, and not because it was shot on videotape. Shout should have stretched it to at least 4 discs per season because the amount of MPEG compression artefacts is pretty close to bootleg quality. It's very blocky all the way through, and some of the early episodes were very dark. Videotape is not like film in that it doesn't become washed out over time. You're more likely to see flicks and the occasional jitter from videotape, but a proper remastering would have re-EQed the contrast to bring out the detail. Despite most of the music being intact, it doesn't appear they put any effort in the picture quality, then compressed it to oblivion leaving a very blocky picture.