hiphats

I know we’re only about three weeks away from the holiday season, so I guess we can start talking about Christmas programs, that is, those programs you don’t see anymore on television, and even those that haven’t been released on DVD.

I have some of these programs both on DVD-R and floating somewhere amongsted my remaining VHS collection (this will be edited as I find some).

I have “A Carnegie Hall Christmas Concert”, that wonderful PBS special aired in 1992 and again the following year…has not been seen since, and was released on LaserDisc but never on DVD. Frederica von Stade has a wonderful soprano voice, and her performance is the most uplifting of all. Rivals any animated special. I also have the “I Love Lucy Christmas Special” (I don’t think that’s on DVD yet, but considering that the series is now on DVD, if you do know otherwise, let me know).

Also, can anyone think of any Rankin-Bass special that isn’t yet on DVD? Or do any of you have rare Rankin-Bass materials (promos, sponsor spots, etc.) that you may have won on eBay through Rick Goldsmidt?

Or even the “Yule Log”?

There is one Rankin-Bass special I have to mention…“Jack Frost”. I have a dub on VHS from a Family Channel airing (I think it’s edited). There are now several companies putting this out on video/DVD. I think the reason is that it is now in the public domain (Warner Bros. apparently not renewing the copyright). Can anyone explain why?

If anyone can think of rare Christmas material not yet on DVD, I’m welcome to replies on this thread.

Actually, as has been explained time and again on the internet, the original 1977 release version was never officially released on home video until recently (and last year it was part of a 40th anniversary edition that contained the three major theatrical edits of the film), although Criterion’s edit, which substitutes 30 seconds of footage with UFO fly-by shots from the 1980 Special Edition (this particular edit has been shown in syndication) did at one point in time come close to the original as possible.

Incidentally, if you do have a working Laserdisc player and you can find the Criterion edition on eBay, play it. It will be worth it if not for the sake of comparison.

I thought I’d begin a thread of my own, as long as we now have a section for preservation and fan edits.

First up: Has anyone here even considered doing a DVD-R preservation of the complete, chronologial “The Godfather”? I’m considering this for next year, using all known footage and, where possible, the DVDs and VHS releases. Only my version would be called “La Costa Nostra–The Complete Godfather Epic: 1901-1980”.

I mention this because this past week the Spike channel ran “The Godfather Saga” (the first two movies edited together).