talkietime

Fred, You are correct. International House (1933) has the Cab Calloway "Reefer Man" sequence intact in this AMC showing of 4/14/92. My recording also has showings of Mississsippi (1935) and You're Telling Me (1934) of the same date. These talkies are lots of fun, Pre-Code or not!

Fred, Watch Jerry Springer, even briefly; that's low class enough for a lifetime. Springer is shown on channel three in our local Comcast system so that's what I see when powering on the TV in my office--until a Panasonic combo recorder is commanded to take over the tuning. As I'm posting this I've been watching International House. WC Fields landed his auto-gyro in the courtyard of the hotel in WooHoo China. The hotel manager, played by Franklin Pangborn, approaches. WC asks "Where am I?" Pangborn responds "WooHoo." Fields picks a flower out his lapel, and as he throws it to the floor WC says "Don't let this pansy fool you." Ah, Pre-Codes!

As I?ve recently turned my attention to editing and compiling, the necessity for hard drive DVRs and combo recorders becomes very clear. But where are those for the US market? GOVERNMENT MAKES OUR LIVES BETTER, CONTINUED. Recent DVRs and combo recorders, including hard drive models, were discontinued due to government requirements that such products (those equipped with tuners), must be equipped with digital tuners beginning with those manufactured in March 2007. As a result several manufacturers of combo recorders have dispensed with tuners, marketing "line in" products that may only record from external tuning devices that have AV or SVHS outputs. (These new products without tuners do not have coaxial inputs.) These products may be used for stand-alone dubbing or as VHS/DVD "players." Know what you are buying so that you will not be inconvenienced by a product that lacks tuning capabilities. Some manufacturers are marketing products with digital tuners. These "digital" products are more expensive than the "analog" products they replace. The government and video industry wide boondoggle shifts into high gear when the basic digital converter coupon program hits consumers in January, 2008. The shutdown for analog tuned devices occurs in February 2009. PANASONIC DUBBING DISCUSSION, CONTINUED. With much practical dubbing experience I offer comment concerning Time Limited and Flexible Recording dubbing, features found on several recent (but not current) Panasonic combo recorders. These features are essential for use in an extensive dubbing project. How does the lack of Time Limited and Flexible Recording dubbing impact a dubbing project? Quite simply it means that one may not set up dubbing and then leave the combo recorder to do its work entirely on its own. One must be there to supervise dubbing. Without Time Limited and Flexible Recording Dubbing, my dubbing project might possibly have taken years instead of months. Discontinued Panasonic combo recorders DMR-ES30V, DMR-ES35V, DMR-ES45V and DMR-ES46V have the essential Time Limited and Flexible Recording dubbing features. If facing an extensive dubbing project today, my advice is to choose from these Panasonic models. If one doesn't find these models new (with a one year warranty), one may find them factory refurbished by Panasonic (with a 90 day Panasonic warranty) offered by several online sources. The prices are usually reasonable. (Note: these models have analog tuners, still useful into February 2009. These models will still be useful for stand-alone dubbing or connection to digital tuning devices after analog tuning is obsoleted in February 2009.) Do the current Panasonic DMR-EZ37V and DMR-EZ47V combo recorders have Time Limited and Flexible Recording dubbing? On 9/13/07 I emailed Panasonic seeking a clarification concerning current model combo recorders. I specifically asked if Panasonic models DMR-EZ37V and DMR-EZ47V have the Time Limited and Flexible Recording features for Dubbing/Copying videotapes. Here is their response: "Thank you for your response. We do not have a Time Limit copying feature on our unit. You are able to dub from one driver to the other. Flexible Recording is only operable with recording and not copying. We hope this information is helpful to you. Thank You, Panasonic Consumer Support" Current Panasonics have Time Limited and Flexible Recording available only for scheduled and menu-initiated recording, not copying/dubbing. Models without Time Limited and Flexible Recording dubbing features are fit for occasional dubbing by those with unlimited time and patience. Message was edited by: talkietime

Zasupittsfan, Miss Polly was (sort of) shown by TCM on 6/29/2006. There were two Hal Roach streamliners scheduled that afternoon, Niagara Falls (starring Zazu Pitts and Slim Sommerville and listed as 43 minutes long), to be followed by The Devil With Hitler (listed as 44 minutes long). The version of Niagara Falls supplied to TCM had been re-edited by inserting the bulk of Miss Polly into Niagara Falls so the running time for "Niagara Falls" was around 90M. The Devil With Hitler was not shown, thus avoiding disruption to the schedule.

When more than one machine of a given brand is set up in the same space there are usually procedures to change the remote control/machine operating codes. See your owners? manuals for specific instructions for your products. Up to three Panasonics may be set up in the same space. In the Panasonic setup menu the machine operating codes, 1, 2, or 3 may be set. Then, on the remote, one holds down ENTER for several seconds while also holding down the 1, 2, or 3 to correspond with that particular machine's code. In my "dubbing center" there are four Panasonic combo recorders and two Toshiba VCRs. One of the Panasonics and one of the Toshibas have been placed offset, just below and set back from the table top, in order not to have problems with conflicting remotes. I have placed stickers on each of the remotes and machines to identify them according to their operating code. When giving commands to machines with shared operating codes I make sure the remote is held close to its machine so that signals do not stray to the other same-coded machine. These machines are all within reach from my chair. In the last few days my wife stopped using her kitchen TV, a 13 inch RCA that's a twin of the one in my dubbing center. I have now incorporated that RCA into the dubbing center, connecting it to the Panasonic and Toshiba that are offset from the others. The two RCA TVs are just 18 inches apart, about six feet from my chair. (As far as I may ascertain the multiple operating code feature is not available on these TVs.) I use a single remote control with the RCAs, aimed at the input sensor on the TV I wish to control. Once the TVs are on, the only remote adjustments I use are for volume control.

Duplicate post being removed due to board posting problem. Message was edited by: talkietime

MaryS, I recall watching a few of the MGM Carey Wilson Nostradamus shorts shown on their own. I don't recall them being part of the Festival of Shorts series but I may be wrong. The TCM database doesn't seem to list these. IMDB lists them under Carey Wilson. There you will find the particulars concerning these shorts. Then you may request them by name on the TCM website.

Film Fatale, Taiyo Yuden discs are highly regarded by reviewers. My daughter has purchased these online from time to time. I usually purchase my discs at retail or membership stores that do not have that brand.

Film Fatale, Perhaps the problems playing back home-recorded DVDs are due to compatibility issues with DVD formats. Do you use DVDR? Some DVD players don't (officially) support DVDR. These DVD players make an attempt to play this format. I had a Toshiba combo player (perhaps just two years old) that exhibited some of the problems you describe when it attempted to play home-recorded DVD+R discs. That Toshiba played DVD-R discs without problem. There may be other brands that do not support the DVD+R format. Toshiba was probably the last manufacturer to incorporate DVDR support. In a recent visit to Costco I saw that Toshiba product boxes now claim DVDR compatibility; for Toshiba a "giant leap into the present." (The last phrase was used in Volkswagen advertising touting their new Automatic Stick Shift, circa. 1968.)

There are some brands of DVD blanks that perform better than others. I prefer to use DVD-R blanks from TDK, Maxell, or Verbatim. I no longer use Memorex due to frequent failures, one in every six or so. Check your DVDs for dirt or anything greasy. Use a soft cloth wiping from the center toward the edge, not around the disc as one would wipe a record.

Film Fatale, I have seven Panasonics, six VHS/DVD combo recorders and one DVR. My daughter has two Panasonic combo recorders. Noises stranger than normal are signs of impending failure. The first combo recorder I purchased new in September 2005, a DMR-ES30V, started making loud clunking, grinding and screeching noises in August 2006. I called Panasonic just one week before the one year warranty was to expire. Panasonic replaced the DVD drive free of charge and they even paid for shipping both ways. That Panasonic continues to perform well, one of two Panasonics set to record TCM. One Panasonic model, a DMR-ES40V combo recorder, is bug-laden. The firmware upgrade didn't fix the bugs. We use it as the VHS/DVD player on the family TV. In all other respects our Panasonics continue to perform well. Birdy, Your situation reminds me that back in the 1800's there was no electricity. The folks back in those days had to watch TV by candlelight.

I had brief experience with one sample of a Funai manufactured combo recorder with the SV 2000 brand-name sold by Wal-Mart. Several sample recordings were made from a variety of cable channels. I found that the two hour per DVD recording speed yielded poorer picture quality than the Panasonic six hour per DVD recording speed. This Funai product could not dub a home-recorded videotaped movie shown by AMC in the early 1990's. The Funai gave a message that the recording was copy-protected. (One of my Panasonics then dubbed the movie without complaint.) I called Funai Customer Service. They said that some of their products are "overly sensitive." That representative then suggested that I return the product to Wal-Mart. I opted for the refund, cheerfully given.

To see Robert Osborne photos/video clips introducing Blonde Venus (1932) on the Movie Channel in June 1991 see the thread OMG Robert Osborne on Military Channel.

The DMR-ES30V is a discontinued 2005 model. I prefer this model because it displays both the elapsed and remaining time during dubbing. I have two of these, one purchased new and one purchased refurbished. My daughter also purchased one of these new and one refurbished, so we have four of this model in our home. The DMR-ES35V is a current model introduced in 2006. This model is similar to the DMR-ES30V but adds a few features and omits others. This model has a simpler display and omits the VCR Plus programming feature (that I never use) and may be set to automatically finalize DVDs at the conclusion of recording. I have one DMR-ES35V purchased refurbished. These models can record from cable (cable ready) or a cable box; play and record VHS and DVD. Chasing playback is a feature I have never used. An important feature is Flexible Recording that maximizes recording quality by expanding or squeezing timer recordings or time limit dubbing/copying to fill or fit a blank or partially filled DVD. I had been using my first Panasonic for several months before my daughter demonstrated this feature. Now I consider this to be an essential feature. I also purchased a new DMR-ES15, an entry-level DVD recorder without a VHS section. This is a 2006 model that may have been replaced with a later model. This is the slave to the cable box so it is my dedicated TCM recorder. It works well. I also purchased a new DMR-ES40V, an early 2006 model, full of bugs and lacking essential features. I and other purchasers of this model could go on at length about the grief this model gives. This model was discontinued. Avoid this model at any price! My new DMR-ES30V had the DVD drive replaced under warranty after around eleven months use. All of the refurbished Panasonics have performed well. Panasonic models purchased new have a one year warranty, ninety days for models refurbished by Panasonic. There are at least two eBay sellers offering Panasonic factory refurbished combo recorders in sealed Panasonic boxes with Panasonic ninety day warranties. I hope this advice is helpful.

I second the advice given by WEB. The DMR-ES10 is very much like the DMR-ES15 I use to record from TCM. Some Panasonic owners complain about Panasonic manuals being poorly organized and hard to understand. Part of the problem is that there are many features on Panasonics that require study of the Operating Instructions to implement or understand. For that reason, when your Panasonic arrives I would set aside an hour or two to study the Manual. Sometimes Panasonic refurbished machines come with photocopied versions of the Operating Instructions. These are reduced from their original size and are hard to read. If this becomes a problem the Panasonic.com website (under Support) has PDF versions of the manual that you may find easier to read. You may also save the Operating Instructions to your computer hard drive and read or print it out full size. There is one unusual control feature on all my Panasonics that may be present on yours. When setting up a timer recording switching between AM or PM in the beginning or ending times is accomplished by pressing the Pause button. This may or may not be the procedure on your Panasonic. But who would have ever guessed that this is how it's done? Some Panasonics can only start a scheduled timer recording with the Panasonic turned off. If the Pansaonic is "on" when the time to record a scheduled recording comes up it will not record the program. Your Panasonic may be one of these models. Once you start using your Panasonic there are some tips, or tricks, (some not mentioned in the Manual) that I or other Panasonic owners can give you to enhance the usefulness of your DVD recorder and your enjoyment of this new video adventure. I hope that this Panasonic serves you well. Message was edited by: talkietime

BIRDY, Yes, these are called RCA cables because there are RCA plugs on the ends. A DVR means digital video recorder, it's just another name for DVD recorder. It may or may not have a hard drive. Hard drive recorders are still expensive, retailing up around $500.00. Combo recorder is another way of saying VCR/DVD recorder as it will record both videotapes and DVDs, and can record from either format to the other. Combo players usually refers a machine that will play or record videotapes but will only play DVDs. Do you know what model you purchased?

I Love a Mystery was produced by Universal Television Entertainment, now NBC/Universal, i.e., parent of Bravo, Sundance, USA and NBC; with 25% ownership of A&E. Perhaps these cable channels have shown I Love a Mystery. TCM has shown very few films from Universal.

There are NINE Encore channels, some of them "themed," i.e. Westerns, Drama, Love, Mystery, etc; general interest, i.e., Encore, IndiePlex, RetroPlex; and one "sampler," MoviePlex. These NINE Encore channels regularly program Made-For-TV Movies. The Encore/Starz website has a link for e-mailing them to request specific programming. Many Made-for-TV Movies have been issued on VHS or DVD. There are many good TV Movies. Yesterday I watched The Last of His Tribe, a 1992 HBO movie about Ishi, the last survivor of the Yahi tribe, as I dubbed it from my VHS copy (recorded from its original HBO showing on 4/12/92). Movies like this one are very good. Perhaps Last of His Tribe has been shown on one of the Encore channels. The Encore group of NINE cable channels is the appropriate venue for Made-For-TV Movies. The ONE TCM channel is for "Classic Movies."

It seems that some of the nine Encore channels show a variety of older made for TV movies. TV movies vary in quality from poor to very good. TCM, with access to "classic" movies, is not the place for TV movies.

Despite Jackie Gleason?s considerable comedic talents, Honeymooner Ralph Kramden?s anger, based upon the nature of one?s character, revealed human depravity. Even when Ralph and Alice would kiss and make up the psychological drama could not reconnect to portray (harmless) comedy, hallmark of an earlier era of comedy. Does Don Rickles practice comedy or human depravity? Are the guests on the Jerry Springer Show comedians or dramatists? My daughter, a wrestling fan, now tells me that those appearing on Jerry Springer are not for real, it's just like wrestling, fake! I'm glad to know that such low-lifes do not exist in the real world. (I don't willingly watch Jerry Springer. When I start up my media center the TV comes on with channel 3 where Jerry Springer and Maurey Povich are both to be found on our local Comcast system.) Message was edited by: talkietime

I watched the Ernie Kovacs Show as a child. Some of them went way over my head, but it was still lots of fun. I have something more than a dozen of the shows (or show fragments) taped from Comedy Central in 1991-93. As these turn up I'm dubbing them to DVD. I have Diana Rico's Ernie Kovacs biography Kovacsland and Edie Adams autobigraphy Sing a Pretty Song. In one or the other of these it was mentioned that many videotapes of the Ernie Kovacs Show (they were not filmed) were gradually being erased and recorded over with other programs or commercials by NBC. I think it was mentioned that it was Ernie himself who was able to rescue those that survive to this day. Ernie Kovacs was a comedy genius who died too young.

I am the poster that asked the original question. I removed the leading characters from the link in the other thread. Now the link is no longer highlighted in blue. Did that fix the problem?

I must be the guilty party. The thread appears correctly when I view it since I posted. Since I am the one who can edit my post please give me instructions as to how to fix the problem.

There isn't much other than TCM that I watch. My main interest extends from early talkies through the film noir era. At the moment I am involved in an extensive project dubbing portions of my videotape collection to DVD. In the instances when TCM programs something of little interest to me I might browse a few other channels. Right now I'm recording both The Munsters and Addams Family series from TV Land. Gunsmoke is also running on TV Land. I long for the days when Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, or even Groucho were found on cable. I've recorded all but six of the original Perry Mason episodes from a local channel that's been running them since the 70's or 80's. I would like to see the original Robert Stack Untouchables (1959-63) as well as the later Tom Amandes Untouchables (1993-94). I have a few of these on videotape, recorded from local stations in the late 1990's. Unfortunatly these recordings have severe multipath ghosting; and also severe dropouts and tracking problems due to using Sony T-160 tape during that time. I've recorded all but three Combat! episodes that concluded a run on Encore Action last June. Later today I will record from Encore Westerns one of the three Gene Autry episodes I'm missing. I watched Gene Autry as a child. We don't have the Fox Movie Channel. Occasionally I browse IndiePlex, RetroPlex, other Encore channels; and now and then IFC or Showtime FLIX. (My wife insisted that we get the Encore channels on our Comcast service.) These services, following TCM's lead, are starting to show a few widescreen movies in their original formats. And sometimes these services show worthwhile older movies not found on TCM. I searched long and hard to find a link to the IndiePlex and RetroPlex schedules. Here it is: www.encoretv.com/appmanager/seg/e?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=template&template_dir=/features/movieplex/&template_file=content.html#retroplex Message was edited by: talkietime

I am just now watching Situation Hopeless But Not Serious. This movie seems to have passed into obscurity. My videotape is from a Family Channel showing of 10/11/1990.