Fall Guy Television Series: A Preservation Project in HD
The Fall Guy Television Series, a classic action-comedy show, has had a complicated history regarding its release on DVD and broadcast television. Early DVD releases of seasons 1 and 2 in the USA and Europe were marred by copyright issues, resulting in the removal of original music and scenes. While ITV4 in the UK aired seasons 1 through 3 with the original soundtrack, only season 3 was widely captured and shared. For years, seasons 4 and 5 remained elusive, existing only in poor-quality TV rips from US broadcasts in letterbox format or from low-quality UK channel airings.
The release of the Ryan Gosling film “The Fall Guy” sparked renewed interest in the series. The Heroes & Icons (H&I) channel in the US began broadcasting the show, albeit with the problematic DVD masters for seasons 1 and 2. Season 3 matched the existing ITV4 captures, although the ITV versions boasted superior quality due to H&I’s 16:9 formatting and inconsistent frame rates, resulting in a jumpy picture in SD. Furthermore, H&I omitted episodes from seasons 4 and 5, presumably due to music clearance issues. Two episodes were dropped from season 4 and three from season 5.
Fortunately, the aired episodes from seasons 4 and 5 included the original music, marking the first time in years that these versions were available to viewers. The discovery of German HD broadcasts of the show on Nitro and Sky 1 provided a new opportunity for preservation. These broadcasts were in 1080p resolution and a 4:3 aspect ratio. While seasons 1 and 2 were HD masters of the flawed DVD releases, albeit with improved quality, they offered a significant upgrade. These German broadcasts included both German and English audio tracks, enabling the acquisition of seasons 1 and 2 in HD with the original English audio.
Season 3, while available in HD, was only in German. A dedicated re-dubbing project utilizing the UK ITV4 copies as a sound source has restored approximately 80% of the season to English. This painstaking process involves meticulously syncing the English audio with the German video. The H&I broadcasts, despite their flaws, breathed new life into the project. Using the H&I audio as a source, the German HD broadcasts of Season 4 were re-dubbed into English. Alternate English audio tracks were sourced for the two missing episodes, resulting in a complete HD set of Season 4 in English.
Work is currently underway to re-dub Season 5 into English using the German HD broadcasts. While alternate sound sources exist for two of the three episodes dropped by H&I, one episode, “Trail by Fire,” remains missing from both the German broadcasts and the H&I airing. Consequently, a complete HD version of this episode is currently unavailable. This ongoing project represents a significant effort to preserve a beloved television series. The Fall Guy, now owned by Disney, may never see an official release in its original broadcast format. This fan-driven restoration aims to ensure that future generations can enjoy the series as it was intended to be seen.
