Now this thing is an oddball. The TV series Pasadena from 2001. Many times a year I go to check whether it is available as DVD. It is not. But it really should be.
Pasadena was a TV series by Columbia TriStar Television/Sony Pictures Television. It was shown on FOX in 2001 in USA until it was cancelled. It was shown in Finland in 2002. 12 years ago. Actually, Finland was one of the lucky nations where it was possible to watch the whole series on national TV. Lets get one thing straight. Pasadena was an excellent show. It was also critically acclaimed according to Wikipedia. I personally liked the dark atmosphere and suspense of the show. I think there was a bit of a love story involved also, but my memory has faded on that point. It has been, after all, 12 years without a reunion of any kind.
What killed Pasadena in the USA? Essentially the 9/11 attacks. When the nation was in mourning, there was no room for a prime time show like Pasadena due to the dark and cynical themes. Still, I wonder one thing. After 12 long years why the show isn’t on DVD? It is a quality pick. Even China Beach is on DVD nowadays! Thanks to late Osama Bin Laden and his fellow men in mountain caves, I’m unable to re-watch one of the best soap opera ever made. If you are the copyright holder of Pasadena, read my plea below. I will probably try to tweet this to appropriate parties once I have the time.
Dear copyright holder of Pasadena,
Please consider getting the series on DVD. It is one of the best and professionally made soap operas ever produced. It is a shame it still isn’t available on DVD. Pasadena has been for 12 years in the hearts and minds of the dedicated fans who have constantly been trying to see the series in full. It is possibly the most elusive modern TV series ever. And it really shouldn’t be. It should be available on disc for people like me who are willing to pay a pile of cold hard cash to be able to watch this masterpiece again. Please, consider getting Pasadena on DVD. Thanks.
Regards,
Mr. Janne Paalijarvi
Bonus! Bonus! Bonus! As I was writing this article I remembered that I once recorded the Pasadena theme as mp3. After a quick glance on my server I realized I had it still: Pasadena_Theme_bad_analog_recording.mp3 . I was an engineer back in the days and still am; recording is bad, because first I had taped the show to VHS, then digitized it to MP3. So there might be dual Shannon Law effect on the quality. The nominal bitrate of the file is 192kbps. Nevertheless, as the earlier theme on Youtube is absolutely more garbage than my file, I decided to upload a better version. Here you go, enjoy!
I remember watching the show during my summer vacation on 2002 in rural Finland. And as can be quessed, it was a blast. The ending song of the last scene really nailed it forever (Somewhere Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fahr069-fzE )
Conpletely agree, I loved the show and was able to watch the 12 first episodes on a website in streaming (they are also available on Dailymotion). But when I got to the last episode, I only found a youtube link with russian voices over original ones which was really annoying as I couldn’t understand correctly the final. I would be willing to buy the Dvd right away if it was available.