AFP: American Fighter Pilot - Closed Captioning Logs

Contents:

  1. Introduction
  2. Thanks
  3. Links
  4. The Logs
  5. Frequently Asked Questions
  6. Contact Info
AFP News (Updated 20-May-2005)
Well, I just received my copy of the DVD! Amazon.com had shipped it and it arrived. I have only reviewed the first two episodes and they're identical to the originally aired episodes. I have not viewed any other episodes yet, so I cannot comment on how well the re-editing was done.

First Impressions: The DVD is quite bare - it's just the 7 episodes plus an hour-long commentary. For the first two episodes at least, there are no DVD subtitles, nor are there any closed captioning information. I will keep the closed caption logs below up since there are no captions. Additionally, I have found that the DVD does not work very well under Apple's DVD Player (at least under MacOS X 10.4 "Tiger") - it has too many artifacting which makes the show unwatchable. Your alternative is to use a different DVD player, like the excellent VideoLAN Client which works across many platforms, including OS X. It plays the DVD just fine on my Mac. On Windows, WinDVD played it just fine, so it's not a DVD problem, nor a problem with any of my computers. Other DVDs do play fine.

Retail Sales: Greg Leding (of Hannover House) has said that Amazon.com will remain the exclusive retailer of the DVD for the time being. They are in negotiations with a few retail outlets, but the only way for them to proceed on this is if the Amazon.com sales ranking moves up. Otherwise it will remain exclusively through Amazon.com. So for the time being, that's the only place where you can buy the DVD.

(20-May-2005) I have received word that people are starting to receive their DVDs from Amazon. Mine won't be in for a couple weeks I think (unfortunately - Canada Customs is a bit slow lately), so I won't be able to see it for a while. Oh well.

(15-May-2005) Guess what? It's shipped! Amazon has just confirmed my order. Of course, I don't have it yet, but I'll update these pages when it has shipped! For those interested - Amazon has those DVDs here. For those waiting for notification - I'll be sending out some notificaions now, and the rest of them when I actually get the DVDs. And yes, I'll have my review posted. Please be aware that I'll be going backwards in time in notifications - in the past 3 years I have changed e-mail systems so it'll take a while for me to get to everyone.

(23-Apr-2005) No, I have not received my DVDs yet, and Mr. Greg Leding hasn't even responded to anymore of my e-mails. Amazon has not shipped, nor have I seen it in stores. Some others have surveyed local stores (Walmart, Best Buy, Circuit City, etc), and they either have not heard of the DVDs, or have it in their systems with an unknown release date.

For those wondering why I haven't contacted them: I did not forget about you. However, until I have the DVDs in my hands, I will not want to announce to the world their availability and have it be another false lead like last time. While I believe this is probably the best bet for getting DVDs (it's on Amazon.com, so it should be finalized), we've heard this before, and rather than try to raise the alert, I'd rather wait until it's actually shipping first. There have been enough rumors in the past.

(14-Apr-2005) Yes, April 12 has come and passed, and no DVD. I have contacted Greg Leding and this is what he had to say:
The official release was supposed to happen 12 April. Unfortunately, there were minor delays during the manufacturing process, which have translated into a few days delay for the release. I know how much anticipation's out there for this film, and I can only say how frustrating it's been on this side of things trying to get it out there--though I doubt that helps much.

The DVD set should begin shipping by week's end, or by the beginning of next week (18 April), placing it in stores days later, depending upon locality. The title is still available for pre-order at Amazon.com.
Here's to waiting a few more days.

(21 March 2005) Greg Leding of Hannover House (the DVD publisher) has stated that the release date is not March 22, 2005, but April 12, 2005. The official announcement of this date is supposed to be tomorrow, March 22nd. Stay tuned... For those who wonder, when I get my DVDs, I will post a review!

(6 March 2005) Amazon.com has AFP DVDs listed for pre-order, with a shipping date of March 22, 2005. Pre-order it here.

A more exact date of MARCH 15, 2005 is when the AFP DVDs are due to come out. I've posted rumored dates before, but this one has credibility in that it's an exact date, rather than a timeframe. The news item below has the link to Hannover House, which is supposed to be publishing the DVDs. Other details include that it will be 7 episodes (again, see the old information below for reasons), and sell in Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Amazon.com for around $30 (29.95 I'm told). For Canadians: I don't know if Best Buy Canada, Wal-Mart Canada, or Amazon.ca will carry them (let's hope, though). But Amazon.com will ship to Canada if they don't. For the rest of the world - I have no idea if you guys will ever see it. Amazon.com will probably ship it to you if you're willing to pay the extra shipping fees. I'm in Canada, so I won't know until it actually happens here - and I don't have the resources to ship DVDs everywhere cheaper than what Amazon.com would (I know there have been a few Australians and Europeans wanting it - you guys *have* contacted me). Watch this space.

Another web site with the AFP DVD information has been found. I would presume the DVD release date of December 2004/January 2005 might be accurate after all. Go Here for DVD Info!

Some interesting updates in the Links section below.

Vote to put AFP on DVDs! It is listed as "AFP: American Fighter Pilot".

What's happened since this site was last updated (over 6+ months ago!) was that the DVD was to be released. However, since then, the official AFP web site (note - not this site) was removed, and all attempts to contact the producers and other people about the show have gone silent. Thus, it is no longer possible to pre-order the DVDs, and instead, I have put a link to a site called TV Shows On DVD, which collects votes as to what kinds of shows are to be put on DVD. I suggest registering there and voting! And please join the Yahoo group (see the Links section) for any updates.

MAJOR UPDATE - AFP DVDs are now available for PRE-ORDER. CBS has not shown any interest in rebroadcasting AFP (at least, not from the information that I've heard). Note that this currently is a pre-order only. The DVDs are not currently available (but hopefully soon!). Visit the official AFP site, and add yourself to the pre-order list!.

Note - Because the DVDs are going to be made available soon, this site will not be updated with any more AFP logs. I don't have the equipment to capture closed-captioning information from DVDs. However, expect more updates shortly as I update the page to include information about the upcoming AFP: Navy series (which hopefully won't suffer the same fate as AFP), as well as when the DVDs start to ship. 

SPOILER ALERT - AFP was filmed nearly two years before it was shown - if you wish to find out how each of the pilots is doing, visit this UPDATE page. If you don't wish to be spoiled, move along.

Please contact me! (please change "(at)" to @). If you've come here as the result of a Google or other search engine search, please send me an email (replacing "(at)" with @) describing your reasons for coming - I would really like to be informed if AFP has been showing outside of North America, or if there has been a sudden renewed interest in AFP. Thanks. A quick email is all I want. Of course, if you are from the Armed Forces, all the much better! NOTE: The address has changed. The old address is getting too much spam and will be retired.

Introduction:

Being the sort of person who is interested in aviation, I've decided to put up a page to which I capture the closed-captioning  (CC) text as it came from the captioners. I'll update this page as new episodes come along (to which there are currently none scheduled).

Honestly, I'll write more here as the words come to me. In the mean while, enjoy the logs. They should be posted up a few minutes after they are broadcasted here (i.e., around 9:05pm PST/PDT).

From sources, I hear that the show will be shown again. I have been given some dates, but it's apparent that it isn't going to show by then. I have also heard that the first few shows might be re-done. To accomodate this, I will recapture the logs and have both up.

I apologize for the lack of updates - it is not due to the lack of time, but the lack of materials. I would not mind updating this page a bit more frequently, however, I do want to put up high-quality content. If you wish to contribute something to this page about AFP, feel free to first send email regarding this. I can be reached at aft at worf dot net (sorry - I have enough spam, and would rather not filter out AFP mail). Also contact me if you spot any errors or wish to make a correction. I'll try to keep everyone up to date as I find out when AFP will show again.

Thanks

I'm going to use this section to give thanks to everyone who has helped out so far. Firstly, A BIG THANK YOU goes to the person that sent me a copy of the promo tape for AFP. I've reviewed it, and while a few of the scenes are familiar, there is more awesome footage yet to come! Note that I will NOT post a copy of it up - as a request by by the sender, as well as several other reasons (documented in the FAQ below).

Additionally, thanks goes out to all of you who have literally bombarded CBS with requests to keep it on the air. Your efforts have changed the "cancelled" to "on haitus," and which I hear will be showing late May (a few more weeks!) to early June. These include the petition, as well as using the feedback link on the CBS web site. Update: After searching the online TV listings, I don't know when...

UPDATE - Well, instead of waiting, the DVDs are available for pre-order!

Links:

Because of recent events (no, not 9/11, although 9/11 did turn the show from an original 1 1/2 hour program to an 8 episode miniseries), AFP is not currently being shown anymore. It has been discontinued (to the dismay of many of fans, including the few of us not serving our countries (I am Canadian)). Thus, I felt it important to put up a few vital links ahead of the usual spot for them on a page like this.

I highly suggest joining the Yahoo mailing list. Yes, I hate all the marketing crap that comes with it, but the people on the group are a varied bunch - some (most, judging by the active posters) come from military backgrounds, while others are just enthusiasts. It also helps to shorten the wait, and news that comes around will tend to pass through this group a lot quicker. I will post updates to the main content on this site there.

The links below are of various newspaper articles, photos and other material that feature the pilots on AFP.

The Logs:

OK, here are the logs that you've all been waiting for.

  1. American Fighter Pilot Episode 1 (Title Unknown)
  2. American Fighter Pilot Episode 2 - The Emergency
  3. (Unscheduled) - (Not shown) *
  4. (Unscheduled) - (Not shown) *
  5. (Unscheduled) - (Not shown) *
  6. (Unscheduled) - (Not shown) *
  7. (Unscheduled) - (Not shown) *
  8. (Unscheduled) - (Not shown) *

These are raw text files that I've captured, and represent (minus the vertical positioning information) the actual text of the closed captions. I've found them to be helpful in understanding the sometimes garbled words (too much background noise).

It is known that CBS might redo the first few episodes that have aired. If this is the case, I will recapture the logs and put up both versions here. (It could use some improvement...). I will not update the logs if the DVDs differ. The logs are captured from the TV showings, and the equipment I use cannot capture from DVD without extensive work.

* - Thanks to everyone who participated in the petitions, and the bombardment of CBS with your disappointment. As a small consolation, the DVDs may be pre-ordered here, so we don't have to slave ourselves to CBS anymore.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What happened to the petition?
A: The petition is now closed. I thank all of you who have shown your support for AFP and signing the petition.

Q: What can I do the help now that the petition is closed?
A: While the petition is closed, you may still let the people in charge know your displeasure. The easiest way to do this is to go to CBS's web site (http://www.cbs.com), scrolling to the bottom of the front page, and click on Feedback (you'll need JavaScript for this). In the popup window, enter your details, and pick "AFP: American Fighter Pilot" for the show, and express your disappointment at the discontinuation of AFP.

Q: Would you make the promo tape available for download?
A: A big fat NO right now. It was requested by the sender that I not do this.. So I wouldn't - it feels 'unfair', but I have to respect the wishes of the producers (so series similar to AFP may continue to be produced). I do have permission to do snippets from it, but that's it, so I may do it later. Why not now? Because the promo tape has a few spoilers. (For those who don't know - a spoiler is basically third-party information which reveals information not already known beforehand.) And it wouldn't be fair to those who want to wait for the rest of the episodes (remember, it's only a few more weeks!) to learn what happens.

Q: Why was it cancelled?
A: The answer officially is "ratings." AFP did not draw in the crowds it was supposed to. Now, I'd agree with this, however, consider the following:

  1. CBS hardly did any promotion on AFP. (I read about it in the newspapers when the first episode was airing, and only noticed it when the 10 second spot for it aired on a local channel)

  2. CBS picked the worst possible timeslot for it. I'm sorry, but Friday Primetime is not historically a crowd puller. Expecting people to program their VCRs to catch the show? Well, VCRs don't count towards ratings.

  3. CBS did not even publically state the show was being cancelled! I had to find out from the news articles (Sir Links A Lot has a bunch of them). I did not read about it in my local papers, CBS' web site on AFP (which is now unlinked from CBS' main page), heck, the only reason I knew was because of the AFP Yahoo! group.

Q: What happens to Giggy?
A: I will not spoil it for you. I know what happened (it's easy to predict), however, why not do some discovery while we wait? Hint: Check out the photos in the photo gallery on the Tyndall AFB AFP page. Hint 2: There are a few spoilers posted in the Yahoo mailing list as well. You will do well to check out the archives. Especially around the time when the series was cancelled and a couple of weeks afterwards. Heck, if you want to be spoiled, visit my spoilers page!

Q: How will I know when it's back?
A: Simple. Either check your TV Guide regularly, or read about it from the Sir Links A Lot or Reality TV pages (they have news article links they update fairly regularly as the news comes in). Additionally, a more passive way would be to just observe the Yahoo mailing list and wait for the announcement. Of course, now that the DVDs will be made available shortly, you can just get those instead.

Q: Could the series be cancelled because of a personal request as a result of war?
A: I would be an idiot to discount this reason. I do know that the U.S. is fighting a war on terrorism as a result of 9/11 (I am Canadian, remember). And most likely, the pilots shown during the show (Love, Gregory, and Giggy) are doing their part to ensure that freedom is preserved (I use the term lightly - there are several bills passed which are highly disturbing). However, I also have not found any evidence of this. If you have, contact me, and I'd be happy to post it up (and mirror it). I would rather like to believe this is the case - for it means a lot more than "ratings." And CBS would be stupid to call it "ratings" (they take the heat for this), rather than "a personal request by the family of one of the pilots" (to which we all understand).

Q: DVDs? AFP didn't show it in its entirety, what is the point of the DVD?
A: Correction - CBS didn't show AFP in its entirety. And they seemed to have distanced themselves from AFP. However, these DVDs encompass the entire series run. You'll note that the pre-order page says episodes 1 through 7. The original 8th episode has been combined with the 7th in the DVD set. Since we never really saw the last episode, I can't judge what we will be missing. By the way, the DVDs are coming out nearly a year after the show went off the air.

Q: Are there going to be any special features on the DVD?
A: I've been told there will be special features, and that they'll be more than just "interactive menus" that many DVDs list today. I don't have the exact list of features, though, but have been reassured they are relevant and interesting.

Q: Will it be available in VHS?
A: I don't know. It might be, if people are still using those to watch movies (although, given that a DVD player is extremely cheap these days...). If there is significant demand, I expect there might be. Of course, I can't say if the special features will make it onto VHS.

Q: Will you update this page to tell us what is on the DVD?
A: I'll try my best to when I get the DVDs. Expect at least an update when the DVDs are available - which should be around Summer/Fall 2003. But what's certain is that the entire series will be on it, plus some bonus features.

Q: Oh, enough talking about the DVDs? Where can I get them?
A: You can't, yet. However, you can pre-order them.

Q: That pre-order page isn't very complete. Who should I send the questions I have to?
A: You can send them to me, so I can forward them on and have them addressed. Questions asked often will also be answered here.

Q: What region is it?
A: It's currently scheduled as a North American (region 1) release.

Q: What is this talk about AFP: Navy?
A: I haven't been given any specific information (aka, I'm guessing), but AFP: Navy will probably be about a set of student pilots learning to fly fighter jets for the Navy. This ought to be very interesting - and I'd expect a number of interesting aircraft carrier shots. Of course, anybody could come up with that. However, it's an upcoming series, so stay tuned to find out what channel(s), and when.

Q: Will AFP: Navy suffer the same fate as AFP?
A: I certainly hope not. And I hope the station(s) carrying it would show the entire series, and not do what CBS did.

Q: Who are you? And why are you doing this?
A: No, I am in no way related to the military, and I definitely am not a pilot (yet). While my dream is to one day fly one of these highly maneuverably aircraft, I do realize that in no way would I ever physically qualify for the job. However, if you really want to, and can, I'd be happy to go for a test flight. Heck, I'd be extremely honored to go through all the training as well (and serve, if possible). My contact information is below if you want to offer me this opportunity. Alas, since that will remain an unfulfilled dream, it does not mean I can't have an interest in it.
As for myself personally, I'm a computer engineer doing software development. Yes, I like my job, and it'll be a tough decision whether to give it up for a career flying.

Q: I think this site sucks, the layout sucks, AFP sucks, etc.
A: That wasn't a question. Now, to answer your upcoming question, good for you. I'm no webmaster, nor do I know XHTML very well. I prefer functional web sites over pretty web sites. As for AFP, well, you don't have to watch it, but would you rather watch a new show or a rerun of JAG or CSI? And you don't have to come to this web site.

Contact:

Feel free to contact me regarding AFP. You can contact me via email directly at afplog @ worf . net. (Just remove the spaces - I'm getting way too much spam these days). Ideally though, you would contact me through the Yahoo Groups as you'd be able to reach many more of us (as well as myself).

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Author: James "Worf" Ng. Most of the content on this page is © 2002 by James "Worf" Ng.  Any content not owned by me (such as the actual CC logs) is copyrighted by their copyright holders.