I can usually track down just about anything on video but these series are being extremely difficult. I'm also hoping to get English subs with them but if there's any kind of subtitle files, I can at least do a translation from those.
The series I'm looking for hardest is also the most recent. I really need these for an article I'm writing about series that are remade in other countries and the changes they go through.
The first series is PROFESSOR T. I have the original Belgian series but I need to find the 4 seasons of the version produced and broadcast by ZDF in Germany. Season 4 ran earlier this year, so I'm hoping somebody has gotten these.
There is also a French version that I don't have a lot of information for, only that it exists. Given the fact that the original Belgian series premiered around 5 years ago, the French version should be fairly recent. Any help getting both of these series is greatly appreciated.
The other series is the Italian light mystery series, DON MATTEO (aka Father Matteo). The series stars Terence Hill as a Catholic priest who solves murders in addition to running a small parish in rural Italy. It's a prime example of the "and they solve crimes" television genre. Some of the early seasons were available in the US for a while but now none of them are available and they have been extraordinarily difficult to find. Again, any help finding these would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance for any assistance!
Tardisjockey
I guess the remakes just aren't as popular as the original Belgian version, as I could only locate s1 of the german one (no eng subs), and there are no subs for the french one either. I had a look for separate subs but couldn't find any. (Also couldn't find any Don Matteo)
Here are some links in case anyone else can help:
the French show, called Prof T (2016):
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5816814/
https://www.thetvdb.com/series/321746-show
the German one, called Professor T. (2017):
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6127960/
https://www.thetvdb.com/series/professor-t-2017/
To add to your workload, there is a British version on its way:
https://www.radiotimes.com/news/tv/2020-...a-filming/
There is a site that specialises in ZDF shows with eng subs, but I can't remember what it's called right now, but I'll ask around for you and will post back here if I have any luck.
As you're asking for 4 seasons of the german one, and 1 season of the french one, all with eng subs, I was wondering how much of a rush are you in as it may take some time to locate all these (if anyone can even find them). Do you have a deadline for the article you're writing, or is it more of a labour of love where you can take your time?
Thanks for the info! Sorry about the reply delay - COVID suck, hm'kayyy?
MHz Choice (streaming system in the US that specializes in non-US TV series) has series 1 and 2 of the ZDF series with subs. They're just a pain to download from so any help with that would be appreciated. I am a paid subscriber so I don't feel
too bad about archiving the content.
Mhz is one of those operations that use VIMEO and their streams are always a nightmare. I've actually got series 1 & 2 but they're all in their chopped-up format that has to be reassembled and all that crap. I can't seem to find any programs or apps that will do that work reliably. So any help you might be able to provide would help me out enormously.
ZDF just finished running Series 4 in late August. I was able to pull beautiful copies from the ZDF website but of course, they don't have any subtitles. Series 3 is in the wind. The big problem is that the Belgian series ran 3 seasons so most searches bring those up instead of the German series. I think it's out on DVD (again, out of Region and without English subs) and I'd be willing to order it if I knew someone or a subgroup willing to do the subs in exchange for the nice video to work from.
A website that focuses on ZDF subtitles would come in very handy! I find a lot of their stuff that looks really interesting but I can't find subs for a lot of them.
Yeah, I've been looking for the French one as well and that has been just as big of a nightmare. At least the UK version looks like it's a co-production with MASTERPIECE US (formerly known as PBS), so I'll actually get press notes for that.
No hard deadline yet so if I can't find everything on my own, I can use the press credentials to make some requests to the networks and the distributors.
I'm glad you responded because I have picked up so many great foreign series from you over time and wanted to thank you for them, especially the stuff from SBS where they did their own subs. You can always spot their subs immediately.
I appreciate any and all assistance. If I can help you with anything, just ask!
Man, you're good. This is coming from someone who has made part of a living finding "doesn't exist" media! LOL
Don Matteo 1-8 were all run in the US and sold on DVD by MHz back when they were still a broadcast network. RAI started asking for a LOT more money that MHz could afford to pay (their channel ran on digital subchannels to PBS affiliates and adopted the same attitude toward advertising, particularly in-program ads). After they lost the rights, it just disappeared from English-speaking markets, as far as I can tell. I'm surprised it's not being subbed by anyone as it was a fairly popular series in the US, particularly considering its distribution. Those hardsubs probably came from the MHz releases, which is fine because MHz subs tend to be pretty good. Not as good as some independent groups who go all out and translate background signage but still pretty good. Most of the MHz people are fans so they a little harder than some of the other 'professional' subtitle sources I've seen.
Many thanks on the Professor T.'s! I know what you mean about FileFactory. I just tagged ep 3X01 and it's giving me an ETA of 6 hours, so that's better, I guess. If I need to, I guess I could spring the $13 for 30 days of "Premium" but I hate it when I'm kinda forced to do it so if I don't have to, I won't. Are they really that much faster when you pay them? [Quick addendum -the estimate has actually gone UP so they are throttling above & beyond the call. I hope I can just find subs for Season 4 because now it's kind of a principle kind of situation. I really don't want to reward that kind of behavior.]
Apparently, the official title of the French series was PROF.T. Knowing that might make it easier for us to track down. I guess the official title of at least the first season of the Belgian series was just "T." and it was sort of retroactively changed for syndication, although the title is still just the capital letter T. on the chalkboard.
On the subject of foreign adaptations, a couple of titles that were part of the conversation with the editor were the various remakes of Dick Wolf productions, particularly the LAW & ORDER remake made by Russian television. I've kinda wanted to see those since I first heard of them because I'm dying to see just how that series got adapted for the Russian legal system ("We've proven he's indisputably innocent but Putin says to plug him, anyway, soooooooo... Sorry, Dimitri..."). L&O is probably the best example of US to foreign adaptation while T. is one of the best and most current examples of foreign series to other countries and now, England & the US. Kind of like all those remakes of THE BRIDGE a while back. It'll be interesting to see if they lean more towards the original approach with all of the bizarre hallucinations or the German take where he's more like a criminologist version of HOUSE, just with a few more mental issues. I will say that the German version is definitely a lot more, well, German. You could easily mistake the German version with Mads Mikkelsen's portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. There's potential evil under his skin while you didn't get any sense of evil in the original Belgian character. The production challenge of making the same thing, only different, is one of the things that kind of fascinates me with the whole remake genre and sold my editor on the idea.
Another was a Korean adaptation of CRIMINAL MINDS. I think it only ran one season and every time I look for it, I keep getting Korean subtitled versions of the first season of the original.
Hopefully, this won't get me another MOD warning for multiple requests but since I'm just asking you, I might be okay.
Thanks again for your help. You're a rockstar, man!
I've always found MHz subs to be alright, so if those are MHz, they should be watchable. Plus they usually do nice thick subs with a black shadow to make them more readable on bright backgrounds.
If you ever come across the eng sub files for Prof T, let me know as I can get the files, just no subs. I searched the main sub sites but no luck.
I had a quick search for the russian law and order but couldn't find anything under that exact title, and a google search gave me nothing on its original title so I'm not exactly sure what the correct name is. You're welcome to post as many requests as you like btw, there's no limit. It's best to post one request for each show you want.
There's a Russian version of Law & Order: SVU called "Закон и Порядок: Отдел оперативных расследований" (Law & Order: Division of Field Investigation), which ran from 2007 to 2011 (4 seasons, totalling 84 episodes), but no Russian version of 'vanilla' Law & Order.
Here's the first episode (No subs, I'm afraid) :
https://mega.nz/file/hjRlnKbL#E9poJV9c-D...3y1eJQiI8k
(The episode is called 'Fairies", and is a remake of the American SVU season 2 episode, 'Pixies'. All the Russian SVU episodes are remakes of American SVU episodes. No original material at all.)
The entirety of Russian SVU is on YouTube, but without subs of any kind. Not even Russian subs, as far as I could see.
I will look later for English subtitle files for these episodes.
Quote:The entirety of Russian SVU is on YouTube, but without subs of any kind. Not even Russian subs, as far as I could see.
I will look later for English subtitle files for these episodes.
I'll have to check those out. Thanks!
Even if you can't find English subs, I've taken another language sub file, converted it into (usually awful) English via Babelfish or another translator and then "clean up" the translation into something readable. It can be a tedious process but certain things are worth the effort.
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