You know, I was actually looking up specs on the transistors being used to see if a too low slew rate could be causing people issues. I know from experience that the same exact part number from different manufacturers can have different slew rates. This was for op-amps though. Transistors don't list it, I guess because it has more to do with the final amp design. You would probably need an oscilloscope to figure out what it is though.
If anyone is wondering, slew rate has to do with how an amplifier handles quick changes. If an amp has a low slew rate then a fast changing signal can get distorted. In video applications you typically want a higher slew rate. Same for bandwidth but the general purpose transistors look to be high enough.
I guess I'm just a bit leery of using general purpose transistors in a very simple circuit for video applications. But hey, if it works it works. But since people have been having issues between different TV's, and the instructions basically say randomly use different values for the parts until it does work, then I'd say a better alternative would certainly be nice.