"Battle of the Planets" Marathon NOW

The "Battle of the Planets" marathon is now running on Boomerang until 8:00 AM Monday morning! I can't believe I'm watching "Battle of the Planets" on TV again!

Mark

 

Ys, putting it on TV is so different from merely running a tape or DVD at will.

Putting it on my TV would be pointless, it is a very old set, must have been showing it when it originaly came out.

At least on my monitor I can see all the pesky little details on the OAVS...did you know Joe has an earring??

 

has the series been newly remastered

finally battle is back so tell me has the original 16 episodes ben newly remastered how does the series look after many years beter or still the same i am sure they remastered the episodes

 

Honestly, I think they're simply using the DVDs.

 

So you think we are being lied to about the quality??

 

Actually, it's possible with a series this old that they *have* remastered it, but that isn't all too impressive. Haven't seen it myself, though, so I can't say much about that.

 

I do remember seeing it on TV in 1984, and it was in awful condition. That's probably one of the reasons they took it off the air. The DVDs have been remastered, and are much better than when it was on TV in the mid 80s. They've done a very good job.

There is only so much you can do after these films sit in a vault for 20 years. In fact, there is a disclaimer on the back cover of the DVDs basically saying just that. The wording they used was quite interesting. I'll try to remember to post it when I'm home.

Mark

 

It says "This DVD contains technical anomalies inherent in historic footage." That is interesting wording. I can't wait to get my copy of the marathon, though. ^_^ I feel like a little kid. How many episodes did they show?

 

It looks like they played episodes 1-20 three times. Boomerang does not follow their released schedule, and usually start shows before the announced time. They don't have any commercials except for their own programming, so 1/2 shows only run about 20 minutes. This is how they were able to show 20 episodes in eight hours, when it would usually be only 16 episodes.

However, that is a real disservice to the viewer. I have e-mailed someone there several times about this, and I have yet to receive a response.

 

That's really weird that they wouldn't answer. It's also weird that they only showed 20 episodes. I mean, sheesh, if there are 88 episodes, I'd think that they'd go through as many as possible in 24 hours. I guess they want everyone to continue tuning in for the rest. ^_^ At least I'll get those, though. I only have a couple of the dvd's, so it'll be nice to get more. Thanks for the info!

 

Does anyone know when the next box set is coming out? Today, they started with the first episode "Attack of the Space Terrapin" if they are only showing BOTP each sunday and the episodes in order at this rate it will be the end of the summer before we start seeing the later episodes (28 and beyond). It sucks but if that's the case I guess I can live with it. I just wish they were showing it everday during the week like it was back in the late 70's.

 

Hi Jason G-2,

I've heard the next boxed set might come out in the summer, but that hasn't been confirmed. Supposedly, all 85 episodes are slated to be released on DVD by Rhino, and they're all going to be shown on Boomerang. I think Boomerang is simply playing the released DVDs on their network.

If you have TiVo, you can see that yesterday's episode was supposed to be "Magnetic Attraction," and next week "The Musical Mummy." But Boomerang is awful with their schedule information, including times, so I'm not surprised it was wrong. It also lists the dates for these episodes as 2001, which is when they were remastered, not created! But it does make sense for them to start with Episode 1.

I'm the editor for the Battle of the Planets page on tvtome.com, located at http://www.tvtome.com/tvtome/servlet/ShowMainServlet/showid-5393, which is work in progress. Adding 85 episode summaries is a lot of work, especially since they have to be written by me and not copied from other sources. Looks like I'll have to update the information in the News section. Thanks, Boomerang!

I have a hunch that after all the episodes are released, Boomerang will add the show to its daily schedule. Right now, if they did that, they wouldn't get through the month without having to start repeating...if they are indeed using the Rhino DVDs to air the episodes. I, too, hope the days of Battle of the Planets on every day comes to light again. But how awesome was it last Sunday having the entire day and night with nothing but this show?

Mark G-1

 

Hi Mark G-1,
This may be old news, but according to Amazon UK, there is a huge BOTP Box Set containing all 85 episodes slated to be released later this May but it's only Region2.
No word on when or if it will released here in the states.

 

battle

i thought that everybody was happy to see that battle has finally returned back to the airwaves and nobody is talking about it that much, it has to be the picture quailty, and i thought that the series has been newly remastered from what i have read, hey if the series is that old and blurry then it should have not been brought back until it was really fixed up, maybe that was the reason why channel five cancelled it when it ran on their old network i could be wrong you no,

 

Eagleclaw,
I'm glad BTOP is back on the air. I don't think there's anything wrong with the picture quality either. That's how it looked back in 78.
I'm just a little miffed that Boomerang is using the DVD's. I also wish they would show some of the later episodes. It will also suck if Rhino is only releasing seperate box sets of the later episodes while folks in the UK get a nice Mega box set with all 85 episodes.

 

EC, I'm still baffled by your fascination over this whole remastering thing. You have to understand that the originall 16mm films were thown in a vault with no plans to ever show them again. Who could have guessed back in 1985 we would have so many cable channels, DVDs, and the web to show it on? The films began to deteriorate beyone repair. What you see is the best that will ever be done, and it's a darn good job. Do you remember how they looked back in 1985? Just awful, and that's why they stopped airing the episodes.

BTW, you are wrong. Channel 5 did not cancel Battle of the Planets. The show was pulled from syndication, so Channel 5 was not able to get it anymore. It was just one of many TV stations that received the show.

 

But no Gatch! Not much point there, then, is there?

 

The work that has been done to the BotP film reels is absolutely incredible. I mean, face it, twenty-five year old film reels lose a *lot* of quality. Ever had an old tape (about 5-6 years) start flickering on you? It's because of the aging. I'm quite impressed with what they've done.

Melek, we *will* get subtitled Gatch, even if we eventually have to go to Japan and blackmail Tatsunoku into it. *grin* Patience and perseverence is all that is required.

Eagleclaw, it's a hectic time for a lot of people. I know that I'm dealing with finals and the like. Add to that the fact that not a lot of people get Boomerang, plus the episodes shown were already released on dvd, you're going to have less people talking about it. Wait until they start showing the later episodes, and watch the forums come alive. ^_^ Just have patience.

 

Botp

i am glad to see that battle is back on the air after 26 years, but lets look on the bright side it is still the icon that started it all, and about me complainning about the picture quailty i truly understand that the series is old and that is the way that it was shown but i thought with todays computers they can fix up old films that were in the valt and clean them up but i am grateful still, i just hope when the knew series comes out next year that it will be better since sfe has worked with this company that i have not heard of which is called ocean production, hey let me asked you this if VH1 ever has a knew i love the 70's wouldn't it be hot if they showed a clip of battle of the planets who knows maybe they will