Magnum Mania!

When tv shows are released on dvd, it seems the music is always a big issue. Instead of paying extra for the various rights, the studios often replace the original music that was used in the episode.

Does anyone know if this approach has been used for any of the Magnum dvds? Even though I own all five seasons, my memories of the original broadcasts are not that clear. I believe the bulk of the original recordings (rather than stock covers) did not arrive until the later seasons, but I'm not 100% sure.

My main concern here is for the episode, Limbo. The use of John Denver's "Looking for Space" was crucial to that episode, imo. I will be EXTREMELY disappointed if they replace it for the dvd release.

Is there any way fans can let the studio know that we want the original music to be used in the upcoming seasons? I'd rather let them know in advance, than wait until the dvds are released- when there is little chance of getting it corrected.

There is a listing of the songs used on the show here. It looks like you're right about the 'orignal' versions only being used in the later episodes.

I've also heard of other DVD sets having issues with the music. There is a show I liked (Ed) that will supposedly never be released on DVD since the cost of getting rights to the original music (which they used a lot of) would be too high. That show is only a few of years old though and they used current music. Well, music that was current at the time anyway.

But I'm not sure that there will be an issue with the songs on Magnum? They were all released a long time ago. The song in Limbo, 'Looking for Space' was originally released in 1975. Doesn't the copyright expire after 30 years and the song become 'public domain' or something?

In any case, it would probably be a good idea to contact the studio. I'm not sure what the best process for this would be though...

I believe the copyright is good for at least 50 years, although I'm not sure if/how it can be extended. This has actually been a topic in the news recently, as early Beatles and Stones songs will begin entering public domain in just a few years. (Apparently, the UK will not extend the copyright beyond 50 years.)

One of the most notorious victims of this problem is the 70's show, WKRP in Cincinnati. For years, a dvd release was thought to be impossible due to the show's heavy use of copyrighted music. It is finally being released this year, but they have had to carefully substitute alternate music in each episode.

I'm really surprised that current tv shows (ie. Ed) have not found a way to deal with this issue- especially since you can't start a new show without planning for dvd. But yet, we still have shows like My Name Is Earl having to be altered just a few months later on dvd.

Fortunately, Magnum never relied as heavily on popular music. Even if that list is incomplete, it looks as though they never used more than a handful of original songs on the show. I guess we'll know for certain in a few weeks, when Joe Cocker will either be included in Season 6 or omitted. But it's very encouraging that, if they do retain all the songs in Season 7, they will only have to deal with two separate artists.

Hi guys. Yeah, Magnum didn't start to use original songs until Season Six, starting with Joe Cocker's version of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released. It will be interesting to see if they include it. Dylan as been known to be "stingy" with his songs sometimes.

The songs covered on the 'Episode Songs' list is not 100% complete. Seasons 1-5 are pretty much covered, Season 6-8 has some missing - waiting for the DVDs to come out.

All I can say is, if Looking For Space and the Genesis songs are missing, I'm gonna be upset ..... real upset.

James J. Walters wrote:The songs covered on the 'Episode Songs' list is not 100% complete.

There was also a Genesis song titled, "The Brazilian", used in (I believe) Season 8. It was from the same album as "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight".

Incidentally, does anyone know if these songs are used in the syndicated versions of the episodes? If they haven't been replaced in those, that's usually a good indicator of whether they will be included on dvd. (I'm pretty sure most of the upcoming WKRP dvds will feature music from the syndicated episodes.)

Thanks for The Brazilian info Shermy! I had totally forgot about that one.

I recently found out some interesting information. Season Four's 'Dream A Little Dream' used The Beach Boys' Surfer Girl (a perfect song for that episode, btw) in the original broadcast and early syndication packages. The song was taken off the DVD version, and later syndication packages (so I am told) and replaced with incidental music. I'm looking for confirmation on this regarding the later syndication packages. If anyone has seen 'Dream A Little Dream' on TV recently. Let me know if you remember hearing the song or not.

So this would technically be the first 'original' song used in the series (not I Shall Be Released) and it doesn't bode well for future original songs being included in the DVD releases!

Yuck

Anyone know how many stations currently air Magnum in syndication? I am only aware of the following:

http://www.sleuthchannel.com/Schedule/s ... tart=today

http://wgnsuperstation.trb.com/

WGN will soon begin airing episodes from Season 6, so they may provide the best chance of clearing this up.

Newbie here. Great place!

There is a local channel here in Orange County, CA, that plays the show weekdays at 3pm PST. KDOCtv.net

Probably isn't much help but at least they are showing it. And before I started buying the DVDs, I TiVO'd it!

Tom

Oh wow! That's a great list!

Did you get the information for "Let Me Hear The Music" from my amazon review? Because as far I know, I was the first person to post that on the internet.

grundle wrote:Did you get the information for "Let Me Hear The Music" from my amazon review? Because as far I know, I was the first person to post that on the internet.

Hi grundle -- Welcome to Magnum Mania!

Great job again with your Magnum DVD reviews on Amazon. They are very well done.

Regarding the 'Country Bar' songs in 'Let Me Hear the Music', I don't think I saw your Season 5 write-up until after I viewed the episodes. Both of those songs (Tanya Tucker & Linda Rondstadt) are popular ones, and pretty easy to identify, however.

Thanks for the welcomne to the website, and thanks for your kind words about my reviews.

Well, I just noticed that the original version of Jan & Dean's Dead Man's Curve was included in Season Six's Old Acquaintance. It can be heard almost its entirety in the background at Rodney Radcliff's garage.

Not including the cut from the Blade Runner theme in Echoes of the Mind, and the Beach Boys' Surfer Girl from Dream A Little Dream (which was cut from the DVD), this would be the first original song to be heard in the show and make it to the DVDs.

The song is not up front in the mix, but you can hear it fairly well. I'm sure royalties applied, so this may be a good sign for the other "original" songs to come.

[crosses fingers that the 'Genesis' songs will make it]

Yes, and the "oldies" from Going Home (6.7) - Come Go With Me, When I Fall in Love, Duke of Earl - are there as the original versions, and Joe Cocker's version of Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released made it! This is awesome!



Can you tell I'm working my way through Season Six?

Yeah, Season 7's chances are really looking good. I think the main issue with the transition to dvd is the amount of copyrights involved (ie. a show like WKRP or My Name Is Earl), or else a copyright holder that is simply being difficult. Hopefully, neither of those will be an issue with the final two seasons of Magnum.