So anyone bought season three yet?

[MichaelKeith]

I tried here in Houston at Barnes & Noble, Best Buy and Target and none of these stores had it. Shocked that B&N didn't because they always carry Shout! Factory releases. They told me it should be coming in in a few days.

Anyone else find it in stores? Have you had a chance to watch any episodes yet? Is the opening of the family getting into the red 1964 Ford convertible and leaving the driveway? Also, is the rare Screen Gems dancing sticks logo at the end of the episodes?

[Mr B]

Target didn't have it on Tue 5-15....I'll try again next week.

[Robert 13]

Yeah, this season seems to be harder to locate for some reason....even online. I pre-ordered it and it wasn't shipped for the release date. They didn't seem to have it in stock until today. So I'm awaiting my copy still.

[Hazel Anyday]

I ordered it last week but I haven't gotten it yet. The anticipation grows. :happyface
I did hear that the Screen Gems dancing sticks are restored at the end of the shows. Good news. Now I only hope Shout continues with Seasons 4 & 5!

[Kasey]

I got mine on Tuesday at the mall. Sunrise Records always has the newest releases from Shout, MPI, VEI etc. on their scheduled street dates. Like Season 2, the print quality varies from faded with blemishes on some to excellent on a few episodes. This time, however, Shout put a disclaimer on the back cover stating the episodes were transferred from the best possible masters they were given.

The convertible opening is used on most episodes but the first episode has an alternate one with Hazel taking the family portrait outdoors. And yes, the "dancing sticks" logo is intact.

[retroTVfan4ever]

Yeah, this season seems to be harder to locate for some reason....even online. I pre-ordered it and it wasn't shipped for the release date. They didn't seem to have it in stock until today. So I'm awaiting my copy still.

Same with me, I ordered it but there seems to be a delay with the shipping. Hopefully I'll have it next week. I expect the video/audio quality to be on par with season 2. It's good that the DVD has uncut episodes since the airings on syndicated TV are edited versions.

[Hazel Anyday]

I do have a bit of bad news, I read that one of the episodes "Campaign Manager" is the syndicated edit version running about 22:40. I sure hope that this is only the case with this one episode and I more than hope that Shout doesn't use edit versions for Seasons 4 & 5, assuming they still intend to release them.

[retroTVfan4ever]

I do have a bit of bad news, I read that one of the episodes "Campaign Manager" is the syndicated edit version running about 22:40. I sure hope that this is only the case with this one episode and I more than hope that Shout doesn't use edit versions for Seasons 4 & 5, assuming they still intend to release them.

Damn, that is bad news, especially coming off the season 2 DVD which had all the episodes uncut. Maybe they couldn't locate an uncut print of the Campaign Manager episode, but whatever the reason I won't be so quick now to order seasons 4 and 5, in the event some of those episodes end up being edited versions as well.

[Jude The Obscure]

Well, I'll be ordering soon, but when Amazon goes a little down on the price, like they did with season 2. As for syndicated episodes, while I'm not thrilled, I'll take them anyway because I'm not seeing the show on my local TV.

[MichaelKeith]

I also hate to hear that the episode "Campaign Manager" is the cut syndicated version, but heck, if only this one of the 32 episodes is the shorter version, I can easily live with that. I'm thankful that Shout! put the original opening titles (including the one of the family picture) and the original Screen Gems dancing sticks logo closing on each episode.

Everyone be sure to either purchase season three at a store or order from Amazon.com so that Shout! will have more incentive to release season 4!

[Hazel Anyday]

I agree, if only one epis. is the edit version, that's no reason not to buy unless you were just looking for an excuse to begin with. The more people buy Season 3 the better the chances seasons 4 & 5 will follow. I'm a little worried in that Shout has not announced anything about Seasons 4 & 5 coming. Season 3 was announced, I think, even before Season 2 was released. Well, I hope for the best, I would really like to see uncut episodes of Seasons 4 & 5.

Speaking of 4, I wonder why only 26 episodes were made of Season 4 while Seasons 1, 2, 3, & 5 all had more than 30 episodes? I wish they had made 32 Season 4 episodes and 26 Season 5 episodes, the more George & Dorothy the better.

Anyway, I am still waiting for Season 3 to come in the mail, it's like watching a pot boil, but I can't wait and hope to heck Shout keeps up the releases of the entire series.

[Hazel Anyday]

By the way, I ordered Season 3 from Deep Discount, it's a few bucks cheaper there than at Amazon.

[retroTVfan4ever]

I will still enjoy this DVD, but for me, even one edited episode puts a damper on the whole thing. I would just like to know why this happened, I suppose it's possible they couldn't locate an uncut print of the Campaign Manager episode, but I tend to believe the uncut episode is available, I think they could have put the uncut episode on the DVD if they really wanted to do it. Maybe they will give us the familiar excuse the uncut version is in poor shape, so they gave us the edited version instead. :rolleyes:

I'm not saying I won't buy seasons 4 and 5 now, but before I place an order I will read reviews first to find out if all the episodes are the complete versions. If any are edited, it will be a no sale for me. I went ahead and pre-ordered season 3 under the belief the episodes would be all uncut like season 2 was. I won't make this same error in judgment again. If Shout Factory is going to start giving us edited Hazel episodes, I have no reason to purchase their DVD sets, I might as well stick with my Hazel collection from Antenna TV.

[retroTVfan4ever]

I agree, if only one epis. is the edit version, that's no reason not to buy unless you were just looking for an excuse to begin with. The more people buy Season 3 the better the chances seasons 4 & 5 will follow. I'm a little worried in that Shout has not announced anything about Seasons 4 & 5 coming. Season 3 was announced, I think, even before Season 2 was released. Well, I hope for the best, I would really like to see uncut episodes of Seasons 4 & 5.

Speaking of 4, I wonder why only 26 episodes were made of Season 4 while Seasons 1, 2, 3, & 5 all had more than 30 episodes? I wish they had made 32 Season 4 episodes and 26 Season 5 episodes, the more George & Dorothy the better.

Anyway, I am still waiting for Season 3 to come in the mail, it's like watching a pot boil, but I can't wait and hope to heck Shout keeps up the releases of the entire series.

If season 3 sales are low and seasons 4 and 5 don't get released, it's Shout Factory's own fault by putting an edited episode on the season 3 DVD. This company has been guilty of this much too often, putting edited episodes on their DVD sets, I won't support these inferior releases anymore.

Hazel season 4 having 26 episodes- It might have been because NBC was already on the fence about the series, ratings were lower so they ordered only 26 episodes for the 4th season instead of 32 or 30. When the show went to CBS for season 5, the episode order was bumped up to 29. I wish the 1st season had 36 episodes instead of 35, and the 5th season had 30 episodes instead of 29.

[retroTVfan4ever]

I also hate to hear that the episode "Campaign Manager" is the cut syndicated version, but heck, if only this one of the 32 episodes is the shorter version, I can easily live with that. I'm thankful that Shout! put the original opening titles (including the one of the family picture) and the original Screen Gems dancing sticks logo closing on each episode.

Everyone be sure to either purchase season three at a store or order from Amazon.com so that Shout! will have more incentive to release season 4!

As long as people continue to support Shout Factory's inferior DVD releases with edited episodes, then the studio will continue to churn them out. It's about time people made a stand, there is no excuse for edited episodes. Either do it right, or don't do it at all. From now on, classic TV DVD's with edited episodes from Shout Factory or any other studio will be a no sale for me.

[Leslie Eckhardt]

It would appear that several season two episodes were edited together from more than one print of each episode. It would seem they could have looked for even one of the old 16mm syndication prints to patch together a complete version of "Campaign Manager." The old 16mm prints were shipped complete and unedited to the local stations back then, to be trimmed accordingly by the local station film editor to squeeze in however many commercials were desired. I have public domain dvds of The Lucy Show , Susie (Private Secretary) and others which are complete. These are taken from 16mm films broadcast back in the 60s and 70s by local stations. Most of my Pete and Gladys episodes are complete down to the original commercials and run 29+ minutes. The complete episode "Campaign Manager" exsists somewhere. When Antenna TV wished to run "The Farmer's Daughter", Sony, the distributor of "Hazel" simply said they couldn't locate the broadcast masters. We're talking about 104 missing episodes! I refuse to believe that these shows simply don't exsist anymore. The incompetent people at Sony just don't seem to care about classic TV series that appeal to an older age group. I'm not blaming Shout! Factory or Antenna TV, Just Sony!

[CelticJobber]

Meh, a few episodes missing a minute or two is really no big deal to me.

Edited or not, I appreciate Shout! for even putting these somewhat obscure shows that I love on DVD. It's certainly better than nothing.

A few bitter fans have probably made it so that Mama's Family will never be on DVD, because of so many complaints about the first season having syndication edits. Which as someone born in 1982 and missing out on the original TV run, I wouldn't have even noticed.

But I hope the same doesn't happen with Hazel.

I want all five seasons to come out on DVD, edited or not.

[Kasey]

Agreed, I do not blame Shout and I would hardly call their output 'inferior product'. If the whole season had suffered from edited eps I would feel different (as in S1 of "Rhoda"--but they redeemed themselves with superior subsequent releases) but this slip-up with "Hazel" does not alter my opinion of them. As someone else stated, I would rather have a few edits than no DVDs at all. I want S4 and S5 so hope this will not deter fans from buying.

[retroTVfan4ever]

The problem is, Shout Factory is just a distributor, they take whatever Sony gives them and uses it for the DVD's. When they found out Sony gave them an edited season 3 Hazel episode, instead of taking the extra step and obtaining the complete episode, they took the easy way out and put that disclaimer on back of the DVD case. Shout Factory needs a quality control department badly, they need to put more care into their products and show more consideration to the consumers that buy them. I have several DVD sets from Shout Factory, and there are problems with all of them, audio levels are all over the place, some episodes sound great while others have a low, muffled or distorted audio track. They certainly could do a much better job than that.

I'll still enjoy this Hazel season 3 DVD, but knowing an episode is edited puts a cloud on the whole thing. It's the same with The Flintstones 3rd season from Warners, there is an edited episode on that set also.

[MichaelKeith]

At least Shout! included the original openings and closings on all of their Hazel releases so far. I love having all the various opening sequences that they could have just as easily not included. Also, they've got the original Screen Gems logos in the closing.

And did you guys notice at the end of episodes 6 and 8 the blue satin background is not there but in its place is the front of a 1964 Ford car. Wow, I had never seen that before. I think Leslie Eckhardt mentioned this was the norm back when the show was in its first run on the network. :D

[retroTVfan4ever]

I thought the Screen Gems dancing sticks didn't appear until Hazel's 4th season, I am surprised to see it at the end of the 3rd season episodes. It is a shame about the edited episode on disc 4 but I guess we just have to live with it, Shout Factory should correct this error and reissue the disc, but I doubt that is going to happen. Aside from the edited episode, this is an enjoyable DVD set.

[dwayne986]

And did you guys notice at the end of episodes 6 and 8 the blue satin background is not there but in its place is the front of a 1964 Ford car. Wow, I had never seen that before. I think Leslie Eckhardt mentioned this was the norm back when the show was in its first run on the network. :D

There's a later episode that shows that same 1964 Ford Galaxie 500 rolling down a highway! Much like what "My Three Sons" did with its sponsor, Chevrolet, during those early years. :)

[MichaelKeith]

Dwayne, thanks for the heads up. I haven't gotten to that episode yet but that will be great to see. yes, I remember seeing those 1961 and '62 Chevy's rolling down the road on the closing credits of My Three Sons.

[Hazel Anyday]

It also depends on how many episodes are edited, one?, 3?, 5? all of them? Since I am desperate to get as many unedited Hazel as possible I'll buy even if there's only 5 unedited episodes. But I, by all means, want the unedited versions, I've got the edit versions already. I just hope Shout will continue on with it's Hazel series releases. You never know.

[shipoopi]

Ordered mine on Wednesday, May 23 and received it on Friday, May 25 - without having to pay extra for quicker mail service. That was the first good thing about this set. Having watched the first three discs, so far, the film quality is far better than season two. There has been little fading and blemishes that I have noticed. Please release seasons 4 and 5, so Hazel can finally be complete.