Wiseguy - Between the Mob and a Hard Place Arc (Season 3, Part 1)

Rating:
Summary: Great show, flawed boxset !
Review: StudioWorks have done a great job with the release of the Wiseguy DVD boxsets.The transfers, sound,boxset presentations and extras have all been excellent, up untill now.As other reviewers have pointed out, episode 3 on disc 1 (A rightful place),is seriously marred by a very distracting shuddering picture in the opening first few minutes. You might expect this from a burned copy but not an official release!
The two bonus episodes don't have the option of viewing without Ken Wahl's commentary,which while entertaining is surely a serious oversite.
These Wiseguy episodes may not have the depth or revolutionary impact of season one, but they are still streets ahead in terms of performance,writing and production values than pretty much anything around at that time.I agree that Studioworks needs to look into these issues on this boxset and rectify these problems ASAP.

Rating:
Summary: What happened to the Dead Dog episodes?!
Review: As much as I like the "Wiseguy" series, I was dismayed to find that all the episodes with Deborah Harry were omitted from the series on DVD (8 in all, I think), and the whole Dead Dog Records bit is skipped over. There are references to Vinnie's involvement with the record company in the first episode on this set of DVDs, but it leaves a new viewer (my wife) wondering what's really going on. I am really disappointed by this, and it detracts from the rest of the series released by the studio. Boo!

Rating:
Summary: Great Show, Poor DVD set!
Review: Despite music omissions, I bought the earlier 3 volumes of this fantastic show and enjoyed them immensely, particularly the first 2 sets, which had some great extras. It was all downhill from there, as this set was vomited out of the factory and onto the store shelves by Cannell Productions and Studioworks!
As others have pointed out, disc 1/episode 3 has practically unwatchable video due to poor compression, and disc 4 has no option for show only audio, you are stuck with Ken Wahl's audio commentary and nothing else. Even Ken Wahl must have been frustrated by this when he got his comp set, as the 2 episodes on the set are 2 of his most favorite, and even he can't watch them without listening to himself talk over it!
The only good thing about this set is disc 3, which has the great Washington, DC story arc. However, Cannell messed that up, too, as the opening title credit sequence features the one from the prior storyline, whereas I clearly remember that the DC episodes had a title sequence featuring characters from that arc!
And finally, more music has been replaced, as Ken Wahl HIMSELF points out on his commentaries!
What a cheap, shoddy job--I will not be fooled into buying further volumes of this series (and there are supposedly 2 more to come!) I will be sticking to my own VHS tapes instead!
(And by the way, I've read on Studioworks' own site that the manufacturers'suggested retail price was something like $39.99, so I'm not sure how other sites are charging more for it)

Rating:
Summary: Missing Episodes
Review: I was wondering about the missing episodes myself I looked it up online and is shows that there was a whole arc or bunch of episodes that they missed from season 2 that have to deal with Isac and Dead Dog records I don't know why they didn't release those. Mine also slows down and is choppy on a Righful Place. And I agree great show just bad disc.

Rating:
Summary: good set but !!!
Review: Just got the latest box set of Wiseguy. I really enjoy the show but wondering if anyone has this problem, on disc one the episode titled "A Rightful Place" there seems to be a problem with the video quality, almost like the picture slows down
at times but then it continues. has anyone experienced this problem?

Rating:
Summary: Betweeb the Mob and a Hard Place Arc
Review: My question is, I have all the previous released seasons, this one starts out where Vinnie and Amber are together after Issac's death. What happened to the series that began with Vinnie going to work for Issac/Amber at Dead Dog Records? Was this package incomplete, or were those episodes left out? Thanks.

Rating:
Summary: StudioWorks offers a fix
Review: Studioworks oversight of the missing 'setup' feature on the bonus disc is simply inexcusable. However, Tony Mills, who is the account executive at SW sent me this response about a possible replacement...


Thank you for purchasing Wiseguy: Between the Mob and a Hard Place. We have received your correspondence regarding the box set.
We apologize for any inconvenience and will gladly send replacements.
Please email [e-mail] with your mailing information including phone number. Your replacement should arrive within 3-4 weeks.

Sincerely,
StudioWorks Entertainment


Hopefully, there won't be any technical 'oversights' on the replacement copies.

After reading some of the other reviews, hopefully I can answer a few of the questions other fans have posted here.

The 'official' story behind the first 15 minutes of "A Rightful Place" is that the original master tape was in extremely poor condition. What is on the disc now is the best that Studioworks could do as far as cleaning it up.

Yes, the 'music arc' was to come after the 'garment district arc', but due to all of the copyrights that have to be obtained to keep the music in those episodes, SW decided to release that box set last, so that no legal issues hold up the release date.
No word yet on whether or not those rights were obtained.

Visit the alt.tv.wiseguy newsgroup for further information
and/or discussion about the best dramatic series ever made.


Rating:
Summary: DEFECTIVE PRESSING!!!
Review: The first 12 minutes of "A Rightful Place" are completely defective. Actors move in slow motion and the audio is not in sync with the video. Picture shakes when freeze frame is used. Great show-Lousy Disc!!!

Rating:
Summary: Terrible quality control
Review: Thinking I had a bad disc due to the third episode on disc 1 shuddering along, I exchanged it for another...same problem. So it looks like everyone has the same badly recorded disc. Looks like a recall is in order here for this sub-standard product. What an injustice for such a great show.
No wonder people are downloading copies of everything off the 'net for free. If this is what you get for your hard earned cash then I have no sympathy for the recording industry crybabies.
For those who are wondering about the missing arc, I read somewhere that the "Dead Dog Records" arc was postponed due to licensing issues with the music in the episodes.

Rating:
Summary: Studio "Works" needs to work a little harder.
Review: This was a great show and the three previous sets in this DVD series are great. But, this set leaves me a little peeved as a huge fan of this show & as a consumer in general.

The 3rd episode on disc 1 is just horrible quality. It's as if someone burned an old VHS recorded copy onto a DVD. I can deal with that though.

Where I'm most angered is the 4th disc with two stand alone episodes with commentary by Ken Wahl. I don't mind commentary. When it's optional. I can find no set-up option on this disc to watch the episodes without the commentary. I'd love to watch these episodes and be able to hear the dialog. And I can't in the commentary mode. On all other discs in this series there is a set-up option to turn optional commentary on or off. Not on disc 4 in this set though. Hell, even disc 1 in this particular set has a set-up to turn commentary on or off.

Studio Works just did an overall bad job on this set. And there's no acceptable excuse for it. Quite frankly, I feel cheated as should all true fans of this show.