While I wholeheartedly agree that Bootleg DVD's OR VHS are bad, and I would not buy any of them, some DVD's especially TV Shows has been altered by the Legit Companies owning the rights. Case in point, CBS DVD/Paramount released the classic TV Show, GOMER PYLE USMC on DVD and if you look in the back of the box, you will see this fine print: "MUSIC HAS BEEN CHANGED FOR THIS HOME ENTERTAINMENT VERSION. SOME EPISODES MAY BE EDITED FROM THEIR ORIGINAL NETWORK VERSIONS." I know sometimes, there maybe a problem securing the rights to certain music selections, but the fact that there maybe episodes EDITED FROM THEIR ORIGINAL NETWORK VERSION has be disturbed! This is as bad as watching them on TV LAND or other cable channel. Now if some bootleg operation can offer me the ORIGINAL UNEDITED VERSION on DVD, I MIGHT jump at the chance to buy it, but probably won't. It sucks that even the LEGIT SOURCES can be flawed! Maybe that's why sources such as www.thedvdplanet.org thrive?

Hi Sam,

CBS/Paramount has been putting that blurb on the majority of their releases just to cover themselves from a legal standpoint. In the vast majority of cases, their product is completely uncut. Of all the studios, I find that CBS/Paramount is among the best in their releases.

Occasionally there are music substitutions because the music publisher won't give rights or they are prohibitively expensive.

Often if you check online reviews of these releases (www.hometheaterforum.com or www.dvdtalk.com for starters) you will get a lot of info on them. I don't have Gomer Pyle but I recall reading that fans were very happy with those releases. I'll defer to Gary, the ultimate TV on DVD expert :), for his thoughts on this one.

The bootleggers often sell multi generational dubs of product taped off TV so you're getting lesser quality and (more than likely) more editing. Not to mention that they are illegal to begin with.

Steve

Thanks Steve, but I don't believe I deserve those accolades. What Sam has said is of course true in some instances, and it almost always has to do with music clearance issues. Paramount is the best company out there as far as releasing vintage TV shows (none of the studios are even close to them when it comes to 50's and 60's fare) and they do get a large portion of my business.

When it comes to GOMER PYLE, there have been one or two music substitutions, because Jim Nabors sang a few times on that show and in certain instances the folks that owned a particular song wanted way too much money and Paramount did indeed cut that part out. But it's only happened once or twice, not many times.

Sam, you are correct that it's possible to get a "bootleg" version of a show that actually is more intact, but like Steve said you are almost always going to have inferior audio and video. That's going to be the case 99.9% of the time because taping shows off air cannot compare to professional studio work. Therefore I'd stick with the official releases in every instance. Just my two cents.

Gary "in the case of Gomer Pyle I'd much rather have the solid prints from Paramount's release, even if it means a song was deleted, than look at worn out, uneven homemade dvds" O.

Thanks Gary (and Steve) for your responses. That's what I guessed. Plus the fact that while the first box set was advertised as THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON while the others were advertised as THE SECOND SEASON and THE THIRD SEASON, ommiting the word COMPLETE in the latter 2. I plan to continue to buy the OFICIAL LEGIT versions of course as I despise bootleggers. Also as for GOMER PYLE, after a spectacular FIRST SEASON packed with EXTRAS, it was sad to see that CBS/Paramount are releasing the other seasons as BARE BONE DVD'S! And back to the music clearance issue, I am assuming that CBS/Paramount won't release the excellent THE JIM NABORS HOUR (that succeeded GOMER PYLE in 1969)on DVD as since it was a variety show with lots of musical bits, that will be a problem getting a clearance for since if you edit out the musical numbers, There will be only 15 minutes left from THE JIM NABORS HOUR! Fortunately we will not have to worry about Music Clearances on the Fabulous CHARLIE CHAN BOX SETS from Fox!!!