4 minutes ago, SoapDope said:

I saw UCLA also has 1971 & 1973 episodes of Another World. I hope they along with other soap episodes are not rotting away as we speak. It does say in the database they are not playable of archive equipment, which might mean they don't have the old playback equipment to view them. They are on those old huge quad reels. There is a guy named Rick Tomas on youtube who has a lot of old quad video's he is transferring and uploading. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt2UipISexd0yg9VoNrxDhQ  I wish UCLA would allow him to do those old soap episodes. 

Yeah, they have basically every daytime program that aired on select dates in 1971 and 1973. So, not only all of the soaps of those years (including Where the Heart Is and Return to Peyton Place, of which no video episodes have ever surfaced online as far as I know) but also several game shows that have been mostly wiped out, including one of my favorites, ABC’s Split Second. I wonder if they know how extremely rare these episodes are. I would hope that if they did, they’d spend more time working on getting them presentable.

2 hours ago, zanereed said:

 

Yes, Roger never clarified it - he was confused like the rest of us initially as to why Soap Classics all of a sudden lost the license. However, I will offer my own thanks to Roger, as he was able to help get out some classic episodes from ATWT and TGL that I never thought I would ever see.

 

As far as the UCLA film library, I'm hoping someone there at UCLA made an effort to digitize those films, as you are correct - those films may have deteriorated to the point of being unplayable. That's a huge shame - those films contain episodes I would love to see from TGL (and probably contains the only existing footage of certain actors on that show), but never likely will.

 

Just being able to see Papa Bauer's funeral episode again was a welcome miracle. I had saved it on audiotape, but went in Nirvana when the full-color, excellent-quality video appeared.

 

We have heard, over the years, about so much vintage material from all areas of entertainment simply rotting away and being discarded by indifferent custodians/employees...it's infuriating.

 

Are there specific actors/characters from TGL whom you really want the chance to see?

1 hour ago, SoapDope said:

I saw UCLA also has 1971 & 1973 episodes of Another World. I hope they along with other soap episodes are not rotting away as we speak. It does say in the database they are not playable of archive equipment, which might mean they don't have the old playback equipment to view them. They are on those old huge quad reels. There is a guy named Rick Tomas on youtube who has a lot of old quad video's he is transferring and uploading. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt2UipISexd0yg9VoNrxDhQ  I wish UCLA would allow him to do those old soap episodes. 

 

A soap-trading acquaintance of mine has various vintage episodes on 16-mm film but lacks the facilities to transfer them. Don't 16-mm projectors still exist? He also has soap eps on U-Matic and Beta videotape, which he cannot play or dub to another format, either. I've him that I at least have a working Betamax, and would be happy to convert his ancient Beta tapes to DVD, but he said he was too worried that they would get lost or damaged in the mail. While that is possible, I think it's MORE likely that the tapes will rot into dust if they remain sitting in a box in his basement year after year, decade after decade. 

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

I asked/talked to Roger about it and here's what he told me:

 

Music rights was a driving factor behind the DVD effort being scrapped at the time. I have worked with the company since all that on some other projects related to digitizing the P&G archive but there was no discussion of releasing DVDs, just digitizing for the sake of ensuring the history was preserved.

 

When the DVD project ended, multiple record companies were really scrutinizing use of their music in many areas because record sales were down and they wanted $$. P&G didn't have great records, not only of old actor contracts but contracts that supposedly gave them the rights to music, even for the one day use at the time. Music

before the late 90s was embedded on the same track as the character audio so there was no extracting it out and replacing it. So several of the episodes I wanted to use were never going to work (Roger Thorpe "Enough is Enough" Hall of Mirrors, for example). I did my best to capture the characters and stories people wanted to see,

while not always being able to choose the exact episode that many of us probably would have preferred.

 

The current regime at P&G has been open to preserving history, and understanding how important their shows were to people and how they chronicled parts of America over time. But the last I heard, which was fairly recently, they still weren't interested in another DVD project. They are so far away from having the archive digitized, but my hope is that one day the process will be completed and episodes can be available on sites like Amazon for purchase.

 

There are several episodes of ATWT from the 80s that having singing (Lyla for example) but not tracks by recording artists.  If you group some of the episodes by some of the big storylines like the Tad Channing murder mystery, I don't remember much music by popular recording artists being used during those episodes.

There are a good number of episodes from '86 and '87 that use muted instrumental music in the music (e.g. an organ instrumental version of Billy Ocean's Suddenly with no vocals at all). 

I think 1988 would be a huge problem in terms of recorded music because there are scenes in Lisa's club, The Cellar where you can hear a lot of very popular music blaring in certain scenes.  1988 was a writer's strike year, so I would be willing to forgo that year, LOL.

 

I understand how that episode from GL would be a problem because the music is threaded all through the scene and it is LOUD!

 

It may come down to being able to sort through episodes and that would take a LOT of manpower.  Years ago, I also communicated with Roger Newcomb through the WLS blog and at that time, it sounded as if they had a small band of people working on the project.  It sounded difficult to sustain.

 

This may not be comparable but it sounds like they need experts, like the people who do film restoration and again, I'm not sure how much value PGP really places on these soaps to bring in digital experts and film restoration people.

 

UCLA is a film school but having attended a famous art school on the East Coast (that also had a film school) you'd be surprised how academic institutions can allow certain items to sit and rot unless there is some deep-pocketed alumni steps in and renovate and refurbish. The school will spend its resources to maintain more 'high priority' areas  and neglect other areas unless some group raises the issue.  UCLA may not know/care about what they regard as some canceled soaps and game shows vs. some early films by John Cassevettes, for example.

 

Trent was just live on Facebook, he replied to a few of my comments *faints*

 

 

34 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

Trent was just live on Facebook, he replied to a few of my comments *faints*

 

 

I saw that and was going to ask a question but passed...LOL. His character wasn't my favorite and I still hate that he ended up with Babs.

@Soapsuds There's another chat tomorrow with Martha and Van and a few others

1 hour ago, DramatistDreamer said:

UCLA is a film school but having attended a famous art school on the East Coast (that also had a film school) you'd be surprised how academic institutions can allow certain items to sit and rot unless there is some deep-pocketed alumni steps in and renovate and refurbish. The school will spend its resources to maintain more 'high priority' areas  and neglect other areas unless some group raises the issue.  UCLA may not know/care about what they regard as some canceled soaps and game shows vs. some early films by John Cassevettes, for example.

And that bugs the hell out of me because why accept it and hold on to it in the first place? Regardless of content, the fact that it's some of the very last footage of that era should be enough for them to properly take care of it.

8 minutes ago, dragonflies said:

@Soapsuds There's another chat tomorrow with Martha and Van and a few others

Ah....I might tune in to that one.....

58 minutes ago, Soapsuds said:

I saw that and was going to ask a question but passed...LOL. His character wasn't my favorite and I still hate that he ended up with Babs.

 

OMG, yes to this!  I've been rewriting/undoing so many ATWT storylines in my mind and this is one of them.  I would've have written them as not making it to the altar--I would have written an alive Gunnar show up, reminiscent of when Duncan showed up at Shannon's wedding to Brian McColl.  Gunnar could say "Hello Barbara" similar to how James said it when he showed up from "the dead".

2 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

 

Just being able to see Papa Bauer's funeral episode again was a welcome miracle. I had saved it on audiotape, but went in Nirvana when the full-color, excellent-quality video appeared.

 

We have heard, over the years, about so much vintage material from all areas of entertainment simply rotting away and being discarded by indifferent custodians/employees...it's infuriating.

 

Are there specific actors/characters from TGL whom you really want the chance to see?

 

A soap-trading acquaintance of mine has various vintage episodes on 16-mm film but lacks the facilities to transfer them. Don't 16-mm projectors still exist? He also has soap eps on U-Matic and Beta videotape, which he cannot play or dub to another format, either. I've him that I at least have a working Betamax, and would be happy to convert his ancient Beta tapes to DVD, but he said he was too worried that they would get lost or damaged in the mail. While that is possible, I think it's MORE likely that the tapes will rot into dust if they remain sitting in a box in his basement year after year, decade after decade. 

I was told years ago by a person who does archival work that video tapes will not save for very long and degrade rapidly. He needs to make a decision as whether he wants to try and save them or let them be lost forever. He could find a 16mm projector on ebay or someone who wants to get rid of one. There are also companies who transfer stuff like home movies etc...there is someone out there who could help him. 

 

I wonder if Irna Phillips estate has old episodes ? 

41 minutes ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

OMG, yes to this!  I've been rewriting/undoing so many ATWT storylines in my mind and this is one of them.  I would've have written them as not making it to the altar--I would have written an alive Gunnar show up, reminiscent of when Duncan showed up at Shannon's wedding to Brian McColl.  Gunnar could say "Hello Barbara" similar to how James said it when he showed up from "the dead".

Henry was as gay as a picnic basket. He should've ended up with a guy at the end. There is no way Barbara would've chosen Henry as her soulmate. I thought she had better chemistry with Hank(Brian Stratcher) than with Henry of all people. It should've been a Gunnar/Barbara ending.

4 hours ago, SoapDope said:

I was told years ago by a person who does archival work that video tapes will not save for very long and degrade rapidly. He needs to make a decision as whether he wants to try and save them or let them be lost forever. He could find a 16mm projector on ebay or someone who wants to get rid of one. There are also companies who transfer stuff like home movies etc...there is someone out there who could help him. 

 

I wonder if Irna Phillips estate has old episodes ? 

 

Right. I have told him this many times, but he's in denial. I think it's because he has such a vast amount of material, he does not know what to start transferring first, and therefore he's become paralyzed with indecision. My advice has been: choose the material that you love best, and copy that first. If you love everything equally, then start with the oldest and rarest episodes you've got; material unlikely to have been saved anywhere else. He says that if he just keeps his tapes in storage and does not abuse them by frequent play, they should be okay. Nooooooooooo. But alas, I cannot force him to do anything.

4 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

Henry was as gay as a picnic basket. He should've ended up with a guy at the end. There is no way Barbara would've chosen Henry as her soulmate. I thought she had better chemistry with Hank(Brian Stratcher) than with Henry of all people. It should've been a Gunnar/Barbara ending.

 

I imagine Goutman and Pissy thought a Babs/Henrey pairing would be "cute," but in the end, it was just stupid.

13 minutes ago, vetsoapfan said:

I imagine Goutman and Pissy thought a Babs/Henrey pairing would be "cute," but in the end, it was just stupid.

 

I didn't really mind it. It gave Barbara a year or more of story, which was the most she'd had in a role beyond embarrassing camp villain, and I didn't think it made the character look bad, unlike most of those plots. She and Henry weren't a fantastic couple, but I thought they were decent enough together. I would have wanted more for Barbara, but compared to most of what she'd gotten, I enjoyed it for what it was.

1 minute ago, DRW50 said:

 

I didn't really mind it. It gave Barbara a year or more of story, which was the most she'd had in a role beyond embarrassing camp villain, and I didn't think it made the character look bad, unlike most of those plots. She and Henry weren't a fantastic couple, but I thought they were decent enough together. I would have wanted more for Barbara, but compared to most of what she'd gotten, I enjoyed it for what it was.

 

Personally, I was annoyed at the Babs/Henry pairing BECAUSE she had had so many awful stories in the previous years, that I wanted to show to send her off with a bang, not a snicker.

 

Another thing that vexed me was Nancy's death being so much about Katie. Vomit. Goutman claimed she was "America's sweetheart," an idea that made my head spin.

 

5 hours ago, DramatistDreamer said:

 

OMG, yes to this!  I've been rewriting/undoing so many ATWT storylines in my mind and this is one of them.  I would've have written them as not making it to the altar--I would have written an alive Gunnar show up, reminiscent of when Duncan showed up at Shannon's wedding to Brian McColl.  Gunnar could say "Hello Barbara" similar to how James said it when he showed up from "the dead".

 

LOL, I have been rewriting and fixing soap stories and blunders in my head for decades!

3 hours ago, vetsoapfan said:

 

Personally, I was annoyed at the Babs/Henry pairing BECAUSE she had had so many awful stories in the previous years, that I wanted to show to send her off with a bang, not a snicker.

 

Another thing that vexed me was Nancy's death being so much about Katie. Vomit. Goutman claimed she was "America's sweetheart," an idea that made my head spin.

 

He actually said that? No wonder the writing for her was so suffocating.

 

I would have wanted a bang for Barbara too, but compared to the way she and the other vets were showcased (or not showcased), I was pleased enough. If Hal had still been alive (Benjamin Hendrickson too of course) I would have wanted them back together.

 

I haven't really seen a lot of Barbara and Gunnar together so I can't judge their relationship.