Here’s the cover art for the second part of the DVD release of the first season of the original “Route 66” television show. As you can see, it’s similar to the first set.
As previously reported, it’s another four-disc set that retails for $29.95. Amazon.com is already taking pre-orders for a substantial discount.
I e-mailed a publicist for Roxbury Entertainment, which owns the rights to “Route 66,” and asked what special features are on the next DVD set. This was her reply:
“There are no major special features except a cast bio for each episode. However, the (episodes) are telescene’d so the quality is amazing on this release compared to Volume One.”
I’ve never heard of the telescene, or telecine, process. Here’s a resource that provided a definition:
The technique for converting movie film to TV/video. Pronounced “tel-uh-sin-ee,” “tel-uh-sin-uh” or “tel-uh-scene.” Because film runs at 24 frames per second (fps), and NTSC video runs at 30 fps, telecine inserts duplicate frames into the video to make up the difference. Telecine has been used to convert countless movies to videotape for ultimate distribution via TV, cable and satellite networks.
This appears to be good news for those who complained about the visual quality of the first “Route 66” DVD set (although I thought the episodes looked quite good for their age). It appears Roxbury heard those complaints, and has attempted to address them.
If future DVD releases of “Route 66” continue to look subpar, then it’s probably because of film degradation over the years.
I took a course in tv in unversity and I remember the telecine set-up there. I don’t believe anyone in my class ever used it for a student production. This was back in the seventies.
i just read elsewhere that maharis was unhappy with everything on the show and got into it with Milner. After a bout of hepetitus in the middle of the 63 season, he took time off and came back yelling at everybody that they were subverting him. Then in the seventies at least two times he was almost prosecuted for propositioning male undercover officers for sex in bathrooms. Sheesh!!
Milner denied that he didn’t get along with Maharis at a Route 66 festival that I attended a few years ago. And a Maharis also denied that he didn’t get along with his co-star during a recent interview I did.
Maharis admitted that his and Milner’s personalities were different. But that helped, not hurt, the show’s chemistry.
I’m very unhappy that the second volumn of season one has been cropped to give it a fake widescreen look. Stupid idea! I planned on collecting the entire series but not any more. It is a shame because I grew up with this show and have not seen it in years and now this company has to go and screw it up by trying to please a generation of new viewers who don’t give a crap to begin with. Ther is no such thing as a widescreen tv program from the 60’s.