It looks like another botched rollout for the DVDs of the original “Route 66” television series.
TVShowsOnDVD.com reports that an exclusive early release of the Season 3 of “Route 66” by Best Buy has playback problems. The site reports:
We’ve received numerous complaints that discs 5-8 will not play in a DVD, and thanks to Chris, one of our loyal readers, we know why: the DVDs don’t contain information to work properly. It looks as though the authoring house burned source files onto the DVDs, skipping a test in the mastering process. […] There’s no way these will play on any DVD player, and all copies are affected. It’s painfully obvious that no one bothered to check the release before it went out to Best Buy.
If you bought one of these sets, it’s advised that you hold on to the receipt for a refund or until replacement DVDs are produced.
Infinity Entertainment, which distributes the “Route 66” DVDs, has a less-than-stellar track record with these releases. Some fans groused about the Season 1 DVDs because some episodes were mastered from second- or third-generation copies. In one case, an episode had about six minutes edited out. Other subsequent DVDs from Season 1 drew complaints because producers put a letterbox look on the screen that didn’t exist in the show’s run from 1960 to 1964.
Roxbury Entertainment President Kirk Hallam, who owns the rights to the “Route 66” series, also was supposed to begin filming a new “Route 66” feature film in 2008. But, for whatever reason, the project was put on hold. The film, which once was on the IMDB.com site, has been delisted.
UPDATE: Here’s a statement Friday from Infinity’s publicist:
Infinity Entertainment Group (IEG) has issued a recall advisory to any consumer experiencing playback issues with the Route 66: Complete Season Three DVD collector’s set.
The recall – which does not affect any other Route 66 DVD collection in the marketplace – is due to a manufacturer’s defect that affects playability on some of the eight discs.
Consumers may return Route 66: Complete Season Three to the original point of purchase for a full refund. Currently, the only retail outlets offering the complete season three collection are Best Buy and Critic’s Choice (www.criticschoice.com). A corrected complete season three collection will be available through these retailers within a few weeks.
The catalog and UPC numbers of the affected merchandise are:
BEST BUY: Catalog #IEG2145 and UPC #617742214598.
CRITIC’S CHOICE: Catalog #IEG2149 and UPC #617742214994.
Commented Rick Buehler, VP, Sales & Acquisitions, IEG, “We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused to our customers and to consumers. The issue does not affect the majority of Route 66 DVD inventory in the marketplace, only a season three collection currently being offered exclusively at Best Buy and online through Critic’s Choice. We are correcting the issue as quickly as possible. Full refunds are available to anyone experiencing difficulties with this product.”
I bought the corrected edition and was OK with it. What ‘P’s’ me off is that they still used syndicated prints for at least one of the episodes which is “Only by Cunning Glimpses”. Aside from that one ep being from an 80’s print(has color variation of Columbia Torch lady… not sure if it had the Coca-Cola byline or now at the moment)I was happy with the set and the majority of the episodes have the CBS eye/shutter logo at the end following the closing credits.
IMO if they DO NOT have the original prints to use, then there needs to be a disclaimer on the packaging to alert those of us who buy the sets that not all episodes are from the original broadcast and or as broadcast.
Not sure about the rest of you but I am tired of buying a season set and it not being ‘complete’ so to speak or being what it should be.
The corrected season 3 sets are in a YELLOW TINTED PACKAGE instead of the traditional clear wrap.
I purchased the complete series from Shout Factory, but Blue Murder on Season 2, disc 1 is all stretched out and unwatchable.