1950's Television . Westerns , Sitcoms , Variety , Drama , etc . (1 Viewer)

[Silverking]

'The Westerner' supposed to be coming in October, probably as a Walmart exclusive. 'Death Valley Days S2' is listed on Amazon for wide release Oct 16.

I'm disappointed with Warner Archive this year with only 'Lawman S4' released earlier & 'Eleventh Hour' which I passed on after reading comments. Where is 'Colt 45.' Alaskans,' Hondo' 'Sam Benedict' ''Thin Man' etc. ?

 

[Bert Greene]

So many dozens upon dozens of 1950s series I'd love to see more of. To pick one little oddity that always intrigued me, an obscure filmed anthology series, "The Visitor" (1952-53). There's long been a singular episode of it widely circulating, a nifty suspense tale about a fugitive hiding out in a suburban home, posing as an ex-GI friend of the deceased son of the woman of the house. It starred Charles Bronson and Beulah Bondi, and was directed by Robert Aldrich. A very well-done little item.

One thing that always confused me about the series is that reference books stated that the series was originally entitled "The Doctor," and was categorized as a 'medical' anthology series. And that it was hosted by Warner Anderson, a few years before he headlined "The Lineup.". The series name was changed to "The Visitor" when it went into syndication. Whatever the case, this episode (and others I've encountered descriptions of) seem to have nothing whatsoever to do with medical issues or doctoring. The series appears more in the suspense-anthology vein of "The Whistler," "Inner Sanctum," and "The Passerby.". Whatever the case, "The Visitor" was still apparently available in rerun syndication in the early-1970s. A fledgling UHF station (which lasted only a couple of months) I know of was running it. In fact, it was one of the only series it actually ran in its short life, during it's limited five-hour a day broadcasting schedule, alongside a package of weather-beaten PRC features. Must have been awfully cheap to run.

 

[Likecats]

There is another episode of the Visitor in circulation, The Christmas episode "A Tale of Two Christmases".

 

[LouA]

'The Westerner' supposed to be coming in October, probably as a Walmart exclusive. 'Death Valley Days S2' is listed on Amazon for wide release Oct 16.

I'm disappointed with Warner Archive this year with only 'Lawman S4' released earlier & 'Eleventh Hour' which I passed on after reading comments. Where is 'Colt 45.' Alaskans,' Hondo' 'Sam Benedict' ''Thin Man' etc. ?

All of the above plus Room For One More , and all of the detective shows. I know that WBA is aware of the appeal of shows like these to old codgers like us , but apparently varying rights issues keep them from being released . It's a shame - none of us are getting any younger !

 

[LouA]

So many dozens upon dozens of 1950s series I'd love to see more of.

The show you mention "the Visitor " sounds interesting. I wish there was a way that these obscurities could be seen again either on DVD, MOD or on Cable . It's very possible they might find new audiences .
I recall a Civil War show that was on NBC during 1961 called "The Americans" . It featured Darryl Hickman and Dick Davalos playing brothers that fight on opposing sides during the Civil War . I don't think that show ever aired after it's network run. I was 12 years old when that ran. I'd like to revisit it as an adult .
I often find that shows like the Visitor , or the Americans are enjoyable if you can find them. I was glad I was able to buy shows like Destry , 87th Precinct , Going My Way , The Lawbreakers , all of which were very entertaining once I got the chance to see them .

 

[LouA]

Re, the above discussion of the Roy Rogers Show , has anyone noticed , that when a star owns a TV show it often winds up in the PD .
Examples besides Roy :
Jon Hall, and Ramar Of The Jungle
Guy Madison, and Adventures Of Wild Bill Hickock,
Ozzie Nelson , and Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet ,
Buster Crabbe , and Captain Gallant .
I'm sure there are others - are Gene Autry's productions PD?
George Burns ?
I guess movie and TV stars should have business managers and so should their heirs !

 

[Bob Gu]

I think Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok is with Columbia/Sony.
Gene Autry bought the rights to all his movies, not only from Republic and Columbia, but also one from 20th Century Fox, called "Shooting High". That one was a Jane Withers movie and Gene was the guest star. It's mentioned over at the Gene Autry official site that Gene kept the rights to THE GENE AUTRY SHOW, but sold off the prints/rights to RANGE RIDER, ANNIE OAKLEY, BUFFALO BILL JR., and THE ADVENTURES OF CHAMPION. The Autry site says the shows are now with Spelling Entertainment, which means Paramount/CBS. Range Rider has been on cable in the past and looked in nice shape. "Flying A Productions" also produced some of Death Valley Days, but probably never had any ownership.

 

[LouA]

I think Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok is with Columbia/Sony.
Gene Autry bought the rights to all his movies, not only from Republic and Columbia, but also one from 20th Century Fox, called "Shooting High". That one was a Jane Withers movie and Gene was the guest star. It's mentioned over at the Gene Autry official site that Gene kept the rights to THE GENE AUTRY SHOW, but sold off the prints/rights to RANGE RIDER, ANNIE OAKLEY, BUFFALO BILL JR., and THE ADVENTURES OF CHAMPION. The Autry site says the shows are now with Spelling Entertainment, which means Paramount/CBS. Range Rider has been on cable in the past and looked in nice shape. "Flying A Productions" also produced some of Death Valley Days, but probably never had any ownership.

Yes , The Gene Autry Show seems to available as a legitimate
release . All of the other Autry productions would appear to be in the Public Domain .
I've always wondered why Wild Bill Hickock has never been released on home video in any form not even VHS , but there are a lot of shows that fit that description .

 

[ChrisALM]

Changing the topic from westerns for a moment,

A couple of shows (among others), I would like to see released are Jungle Jim and Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. I believe films of these exist, so we should be able to get good looking DVDs for these shows, if someone were interested in doing a release.

And other possible releases - what about I Married Joan and Love that Bob. Jim Backus and Robert Cummings are so good in these shows.

Adding to my wish list - how about December Bride and Pete and Gladys? I remember watching reruns of Pete and Gladys on CBS WTVT Channel 13 in Tampa during the mornings when I was on summer vacation.

In addition - I'm still hoping for the Warner Brothers westerns and detective shows. Warner's has done a good job on the westerns so far, now it's time to get the detective shows releases going.

Fox - whatever is happening at your television library - please release, "The Life of Riley". (The series with William Bendix). (Another WTVT Channel 13, summer rerun, in the morning for me.).

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - C'mon Sam, give us something - especially from the 50's and early 60s episodes! Repeat! Give us something here - do you realize how much time is (has) going by? We aren't as young as you.

I understand how far we are removed from these shows today, but I would purchase all of these on release day if a company stepped up and made them available on DVD.

This is not everything I am interested in seeing released, but it would be a great beginning!

 

[LouA]

Changing the topic from westerns for a moment,

A couple of shows (among others), I would like to see released are Jungle Jim and Rocky Jones, Space Ranger. I believe films of these exist, so we should be able to get good looking DVDs for these shows, if someone were interested in doing a release.

And other possible releases - what about I Married Joan and Love that Bob. Jim Backus and Robert Cummings are so good in these shows.

Adding to my wish list - how about December Bride and Pete and Gladys? I remember watching reruns of Pete and Gladys on CBS WTVT Channel 13 in Tampa during the mornings when I was on summer vacation.

In addition - I'm still hoping for the Warner Brothers westerns and detective shows. Warner's has done a good job on the westerns so far, now it's time to get the detective shows releases going.

Fox - whatever is happening at your television library - please release, "The Life of Riley". (The series with William Bendix). (Another WTVT Channel 13, summer rerun, in the morning for me.).

The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet - C'mon Sam, give us something - especially from the 50's and early 60s episodes! Repeat! Give us something here - do you realize how much time is (has) going by? We aren't as young as you.

I understand how far we are removed from these shows today, but I would purchase all of these on release day if a company stepped up and made them available on DVD.

This is not everything I am interested in seeing released, but it would be a great beginning!

I agree 100%, and I'd add My Little Margie , and People's Choice to the list . Remember when Shout Factory was still releasing old sitcoms - we got stuff like Dobie Gillis , Father Knows Best , Patty Duke Show , McHales Navy , That Girl, Leave It To beaver , Sgt Bilko, Mr Ed , Hazel, You Bet Your Life , Goldbergs ,etc.
I wish someone would look into the feasibility of releasing the shows you mention in sets similar to those released by Shout . Maybe Shout could still do it through Timeless, who have released some non-western shows like Hey Mulligan , and the Loretta Young Show.

I'm not sure who owns JUNGLE JIM - is that in the public domain?
And there are a number of frustrating releases of ROCKY JONES , some containing the feature film versions , some missing some episodes, and some missing the opening and closing credits .
I think Rocky is PD so it would be nice if one of these companies that specialize in out of copyright shows could compile all 39 episodes into a set like the recent ones containing One Step Beyond , and Mr. And Mrs. North.
Incidentally , Rocky Jones was a Roland Reed Production. Reed produced My Little Margie , Waterfront, Beulah, and Trouble With Father , all shows it would be nice to have comprehensive releases on.

 

[ChrisALM]

I remember when Shout was releasing some great black and white comedies. I think I have all that you mention - so much fun to watch.

Warner's has released some Jungle Jim movies - not sure if that has anything to do with the TV series.

I am not sure of the status of Rocky Jones. All of the episodes are available on You Tube - ranging in condition from watchable to atrocious. So, a decent release would be most welcome.

I have always been surprised that One Step Beyond, a sci-fi series, wasn't a better release sales-wise. I would have thought CBS would have had a big success with this - the release looks beautiful - back when CBS was remastering just about everything in HD.

You can add My Little Margie to my list - and - how about the final season of Mr. Peepers? And one I forget, Private Secretary and The Ann Sothern Show.

Bottom line - too much from the 50s is in somebody's vaults, gathering dust and going nowhere.

 

[LouA]

I remember when Shout was releasing some great black and white comedies. I think I have all that you mention - so much fun to watch.

Warner's has released some Jungle Jim movies - not sure if that has anything to do with the TV series.

I am not sure of the status of Rocky Jones. All of the episodes are available on You Tube - ranging in condition from watchable to atrocious. So, a decent release would be most welcome.

I have always been surprised that One Step Beyond, a sci-fi series, wasn't a better release sales-wise. I would have thought CBS would have had a big success with this - the release looks beautiful - back when CBS was remastering just about everything in HD.

You can add My Little Margie to my list - and - how about the final season of Mr. Peepers? And one I forget, Private Secretary and The Ann Sothern Show.

Bottom line - too much from the 50s is in somebody's vaults, gathering dust and going nowhere.

Again I agree about all of the shows you mention, and like you said they're gathering dust in vaults somewhere, while fans like us settle for copies of copies obtained from other collectors or people out to make a "quick buck".

 

[LouA]

According to the TV SHOWS ON DVD site one of the Love That Bob Christmas episodes will be included on MPI's upcoming re-release of "Classic TV Comedy Christmas " DVD. I'd love to think that more Love That Bob episodes might be forthcoming !

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Quite a while ago, someone here at the HTF said "Our Miss Brooks" had been remastered and would likely show up on MeTV and/or DVDs (probably on-demand). It looked like it wasn't happening, but now it has happened. It's on MeTV Mon-Fri at 5:00 A.M. Eastern time.

The episode I saw this morning was 64 years old and looked good! The '50s aren't dead yet.

 

[Bert Greene]

Well, I was hoping for "Our Miss Brooks" DVDs, but at least it's good news that the series is now circulating. So rarely does some 1950s series get remastered and saved from the dustbin. I hope CBS/Par can follow this up with its longstanding partner in neglect, "December Bride.". Always had a thing for Frances Rafferty.

I've also been viewing of late the "Lone Wolf" series with Louis Hayward. The old Nostalgia Channel had dug that up over twenty years ago, but I would have really loved an official DVD release. I always found this series to be a cut above the usual early-tv detective fare. Well-filmed, varied plots and locales, and good, old-fashioned pulpy dialogue. Have no idea who actually owns the series these days, but it was one of those Gross-Krasne things like "Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal."

 

[Bob Gu]

According to the METV online schedule, my area is showing infomercials instead of Our Miss Brooks (and Trackdown on Saturdays.). I am hoping the online schedule is wrong. I'll check tomorrow morning.

 

[LouA]

Well, I was hoping for "Our Miss Brooks" DVDs, but at least it's good news that the series is now circulating. So rarely does some 1950s series get remastered and saved from the dustbin. I hope CBS/Par can follow this up with its longstanding partner in neglect, "December Bride.". Always had a thing for Frances Rafferty.

I've also been viewing of late the "Lone Wolf" series with Louis Hayward. The old Nostalgia Channel had dug that up over twenty years ago, but I would have really loved an official DVD release. I always found this series to be a cut above the usual early-tv detective fare. Well-filmed, varied plots and locales, and good, old-fashioned pulpy dialogue. Have no idea who actually owns the series these days, but it was one of those Gross-Krasne things like "Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal."

I like that you mention December Bride and Our Miss Brooks together. Two excellent shows featuring iconic stars that should be better remembered - the stars AND the shows. I think they come right after Lucy, Margie (Gale Storm) and Joan Davis in terms of being beloved fifties ladies . While all of Lucy's antics are available on DVD and even Blu-ray , and some of Margie's and Joan's are available via VCI , there's really nothing on the other 2 . A shame , and if you told me in the early days of home video neither show would be released I would have doubted you.

Regarding "lone Wolf ", I just checked Amazon -UK to see if the show was released in England or Europe , but it hasn't . I wonder if the show is now inn the Public Domain?

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Now that I've seen several episodes of "Our Miss Brooks" on MeTV, I'm reminded of the old saying, "Be careful what you ask for, because you might get it."

At best, I find it disappointing. Some episodes were terrible, as stupid as anything I've ever seen on television, and that's really saying something.

It's also surrealistic. The stories almost always involve just five people at a high school, Miss Brooks, Mr. Boynton, Mr. Conklin, Walter Denton and Harriet Boynton. These five people seldom interact with anyone else at school.

You never see Miss Brooks in the classroom. Most of the time she's hanging out with Walter Denton. Why? He's supposed to be dumb and weird, which he certainly is. Why is she so close to him? And what teenage boy talks like that, except the radio character Richard Crenna stole the voice from (I can't remember the character, now)?

Everyone speaks at the top of their voice (Desilu rules, I guess), and nothing ever seems natural or real.

The 1950s had some good things in it, but I have to face the fact that 90% of it was worthless junk, just as in the decades that followed.

 

[Kevin Segura]

To talk about the other 10% for a moment, though...

As is often the case with this rabbit-hole we call the InterWebs... I was searching for information on another topic, and came across the late-2015 press release that Shout Factory put out regarding its license extension with the Kovacs estate. There were no details, but they mentioned that the company was planning a fairly comprehensive collection of Ernie's material for what I gather will be the 100-year anniversary of his birth, in 2019!

- Kevin

 

[LouA]

A very big surprise release from CBS : the late 50's sitcom HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE with Barbara Eden . CBS is releasing the entire series . I'm not sure what other early sitcoms CBS controls but I think I heard Our Miss Brooks mentioned. The People's Choice also possibly ? I hope HTMAM is successful enough to get CBS to issue other popular B&W series from the 1950's .