Next up on the seaQuest MPS blog is the first of my "For Your Consideration" videos. Back in the days before Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital download there was this big boxy thing called VHS. The idea of being able to buy an entire season was still a dream, with perhaps two episodes per tape if the show was even released at all. The UK and some other European countries got commercial video releases of seaQuest, the US did not. With videos, the picture was not great and the sound could be spotty, but they were perhaps a little better quality than old cable TV reception. In fact, where I lived experienced a massive thunderstorm when
Splashdown first aired, rendering the picture and sound a snowy and hissy mess. Yes, you might say not being able to watch this particular episode was an improvement....talk about going off the deep end, if the deep end was kidnapped and forced to fight on another planet involving a huge amount of people you never see on screen because the extras budget had already been used up that season. Contrary to what some might say, there were some decent episodes in seaQuest's second season, but
Splashdown was not a highlight.
You don't remember
Splashdown, it was the episode were the seaQuest was stolen by a flying saucer...
To fight in a civil war because the aliens did not have advanced underwater technology...
But wait, they have mines, and there goes the seaQuest DSV 4600 II...
Not that anyone on the show every remembered it was actually the second seaQuest as they had destroyed the first at the end of last season. Grumbles over.
As for the promised VHS tape, "For Your Consideration" videos were sent out to the members of various entertainment award organizations like the Emmys to drum up votes for particular episodes of a TV show. The show's producers would pick an episode they were proud of and thought they could win in particular categories. They would push for things like best show, best actor or actresses, etc. So, for the season two finale of seaQuest, what were the producers proud of? What did they think they had a chance of winning? They were aiming high for either Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing or Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing. Still, the secondary market in these tapes meant I was able to get some better quality episodes years before the show was released on DVD. And no, unlike things like producer's cuts or other internal videos, this "For Your Consideration" VHS has not extra footage, it is just the finished episode as shown on NBC.
Below the jump are a couple of larger resolution photos of the "For You Consideration" video.
