Post
by Lost Knight » Mon Jan 17, 2005 11:22 pm
Doesn't seem too far-fetched an idea. After all, they did use a fan's K.I.T.T. replica for the cover art for season 1. But I have to say that I am a bit worried if season 2 will be done properly. Universal Studios owns the franchise and lately, in my opinion they have really been screwing up their DVDs. I own Quantum Leap: The Complete First Season on DVD (released by Universal) which was left unchanged and had a few bonus features. However, season 2 had been released in December, which I just received for Christmas, and I was shocked to see that 98% of all the original music had been removed from the episodes. In fact, the only songs that remained were ones that were directly mentioned by the characters.
Original oldies songs (the show takes place in the '50s and '60s for the most part so music is important in creating the illusion of the past) had been replaced with generic instrumental "muzak" which had completely destroyed the dramatic impact of particular episodes. Not to mention that the packaging says there are bonus features and in actuality there are NONE. The picture quality is also grainy for the most part. It seems more and more like the case here is that the first season was preserved exactly the way it originally aired to rope fans in, and then Universal tried the cheap way out of paying to re-acquire the rights to original songs for the second season. Not only has Universal butchered one of their series by doing this, but they also mislead the public by using the words "The Complete Second Season" and "Bonus Features" when this is not the case. Talk about false advertising.
Universal also owns another favorite franchise of mine, Back To the Future, and have made mistakes on that set as well. First, the set is only available with all three movies (some fans only wanted the first film), and secondly, the widescreen editions of the sets have incorrect aspect ratios on parts II and III. Fans also complained that part III's picture quality was also too dark. To rectify this problem, Universal offered fans the chance to mail them their purchased copies of the set and they, in return, would send them back the "corrected" aspect ratios of the films. Now, as of February 2005, Universal will stop selling the set completely; they plan to eventually release a "special edition" which is unclear if it is all three films or only the first. I also own the original Jaws on DVD (also owned by Universal) and while the picture quality is decent, it is NOT what you would expect for something labeled "Digitally Remastered."
Because of Universal's track record with their DVD releases, I am worried what the turnout for Knight Rider is going to be. Universal might tamper with season 2 even though season 1 was left unchanged (like Quantum Leap), and they also might release DVD packaging that contains false advertising. I am skeptical of buying any DVD releases from this company from now on and will do so with reluctance, and probably will investigate before I ever buy another product from them. I am currently in the process of writing a letter of complaint to Universal Studios over the Quantum Leap set, and while I'm at it maybe I should take the time to make suggestions to them on the upcoming second season of Knight Rider. My point in bringing all of this up here is that I would hate to see Universal Studios destroy Knight Rider like they have with their other franchises in my opinion. Just a little food for thought.
“Gimme maximum turbo thrust and blast me outta here, will ya!?”
What about providing some kind of Box (on season 4) so that we could have those four seasons protected and stored in a unique box.... 
