Has anyone got hold of the UK Region 2 release of the first season of the Fall Guy? If so, can you tell us whether or not the Pilot episode is missing footage of Paul Williams in the bar, as in the US DVDs? Have the songs been replaced? Has the Japanese Connection been cut? have songs been replaced?
TIA
hi
i have bought the fall guy season 1 on dvd the region 2 version and the footage of Paul Williams in the baris missing but you can see him in the background but they have bluured his face. all the songs have been replaced especially the songs in Colt's Angels (luckliy i have the original episode when the family channel in the UK repeated the series in the late 90s) It's doesn't really spoil your enjoyment of the series it's that it would have been good to have the original songs in the episodes.
Andrew
United Kingdom
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for your post regarding the UK version of the Fall Guy first season set. The fact that the original songs have been replaced is very frustrating, but far worse is the removal of footage. I could just about live with the song replacements, but not footage removal.
What makes the matter worse:
1. I am fairly sure that the set could have been released in the UK with both the footage intact and the original songs (I've been led to believe that song and rights licensing is very different here in the UK than it is in the US). For an example of what I mean you'll notice that all seasons on Ally McBeal (a show that I must stress I have no personal interest in) are available in the UK with all songs appratently present. I believe that only a best of set is available in the US due to the massive song royalties required in order to release the episodes unedited over there. In the case of the Fall Guy I can only imagine that rather than prepare a UK only release they just decided to port over the US release in order to cut costs.
2. Fox have in the past spent some time and money clearing song rights for TV on DVD releases (see The Lone Gunmen, for example), so why not the Fall Guy?
The Fally Guy is one of my favourite shows and this release is a wasted opportunity. Looks like I'll have to stick with TV repeats. There's no wonder people consider bootleg copies in such circumstances.
It IS frustrating that the songs in EVERY EPISODE were replaced with garage band generic garbage and a few scenes cut and altered from the pilot and "The Japanese Connection!"
The bright side is that most of the episodes are uncut in length(except for the songs) and contain the scenes excised in syndication. A fan edit is the solution using the DVD and the syndicated/broadcast versions where one edits in the songs. Thank goodness for my uncut and original 16mm film prints!!!!
It is very frustrating as the Fall Guy is one of my favourite shows.
Is that something that you plan to do - create uncut versions using the 16mm copies to add the missing material?
hi
The Fall Guy is one of my favourite tv shows as well. when i found out it was being released onto DVD i was so excited and bought the season one dvd boxset when it was released on the 25th June of this year. i just hope Fox keep the original music in when Season 2 of The Fall Guy is released on DVD whenever that will be . anybody know?
Andrew
Hi Andrew,
I have no idea when and if the second season will be released, although I would assume it will depend upon sales of the first season. Unfortunately many shows seem to fail to get subsequent season releases (Quincy M.E., Kojak, T.J. Hooker, Simon & Simon), and I supose often poor initial sales are the reason for that. I find it hard to believe that there isn't a sizeable audience for classic shows such as Kojak and Quincy.
Going back to the Fall Guy, I have lost interest in subsequent season releases due to the fact that they've butchered the first season on DVD. I would still love to get my hands on the uncut episodes, although I suppose that is now very unlikely to happen. As strange as this may sound, I would rather they didn't release the Fall Guy on DVD at all than in a truncated form.