4-Star shows (as per Harry & Wally) & their status/potential (1 Viewer)

[Mark To]

This was a book that came out, listing TV Shows up to around 1989 with their ratings, which I found to be pretty accurate. They didn't give too many shows 4 stars so I thought it might be interesting to list the best shows in TV history and their DVD release status.

Andy Griffith Show - On its way
The Avengers - All episodes released
Barney Miller - 1st season out, ? on future seasons
Bob Newhart Show - Fox, could be one we don't see
Bonanza - Aside from the handful that didn't have their copyright renewed, it could be a problem. Now owned by Paramount, I can't imagine them doing 14 seasons of this show under any circumstances.
Carol Burnett Show - Only Columbia House so far
Cheers - 3 seasons out
Columbo - On its way
Cosby Show - Only Columbia House
Dick Van Dyke Show - All episodes released
The Fugitive - Rumored to be on its way but I've not heard any official confirmation.
Burns and Allen - Only shows from the first 2 live seasons are around. Nothing on the horizon from the 6 filmed seasons. Anything is possible but I don't hold out great hope on this one.
Gunsmoke - Only Columbia House thus far. 20 season show makes a complete run improbable.
Hill Street Blues - Fox again
Honeymooners - All episodes released
I Love Lucy - Season 2 soon, will definitely all be out.
Leave It To Beaver - Mystery for the ages as to why Universal has never done anything with this show, even on VHS. What on earth are they waiting for?
MASH - Up to season 6, like ILL, guaranteed to all come out
Mary Tyler Moore Show - Unlike the above Fox shows, at least 1 season made it out. Can't believe they have just given up on this for good.
Maverick - Warners is supposed to be cranking them out soon and this will be high on their list.
Moonlighting - Rumored to be out later this year.
Odd Couple - Paramount will hopefully get around to it
Outer Limits - All episodes released
Police Squad - Paramount again.
Remington Steele - Fox show, wasn't this one rumored?
SCTV - Coming out
St. Elsewhere - Fox. Anyone see a pattern here?
Soap - 2nd season coming soon
Star Trek - All episodes released
Twilight Zone - All episodes released
WKRP in Cincinnati - Stuck in Music Hell. And owned by Fox. Not a good combination.

 

[David Lambert]

Interesting, and pretty much accurate on the status of each. Nice.


Edit: a few quick changes I'd suggest, though:

Gunsmoke has recently had a trio of reunion telefilms released by Paramount, so this might be considered "testing the waters".

Cosby Shows' owners have no DVDs released to retail in R1, and are looking now for distributors for their various properties (including Different World, That 70's Show, Roseanne, 3rd Rock, etc.).

Remington Steele was mentioned in the last HTF chat with Fox's Peter Staddon as being in-the-works for '04.

Moonlighting was said by Bruce Willis at his website to be coming..."all episodes at once" or something like that, but Gord looked into it and found out that it's probably just the first season.

Fox said "looking at it" for Bob Newhart but it's probably tied up in the who "Mary Tyler Moore Show didn't sell well" thing, and I'd put St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues in the same boat but with less water to bail.

Carol Burnett Show has also had a slightly different set of DVDs released via infomercials, so non-Columbia House members could buy Carol.

Dick Van Dyke Show isn't actually all released yet, but the final season has been announced and will be out soon.

Needless to say, with Tony Randall's death yesterday, there is a lot of renewed interest in The Odd Couple.

 

[Gabe D]

Re: The Honeymooners, there is at least one "lost episode" that was released on VHS but was not included in any of the DVDs.

 

[Michael Alden]

Just updating this thread as of today. The only shows on this list that are not at least on the immediate horizon are:

The Fugitive (rumors notwithstanding)
St. Elsewhere
WKRP in Cincinnati
Our World
Burns and Allen

 

[Bob Hug]

It's a rumor (and clearly labled as such), but the "Show News" at TVShowsonDVD.com suggests that "St. Elsewhere" might see a release from Fox this Fall.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=5390

With respect to "Burns and Allen," as much as I'd like to see it, I'd be surprised at this point if it ever received an official, non-PD release and, if it did, I'd guess that it would be in the form of a "best of" collection along the lines of the recent "Phil Silvers Show."