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Any chance "The New Leave It to Beaver" will be released? (1 Viewer)

DaveM4964

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Walsh61 said:
Well considering that Frank Bank just passed away it isn't surprising that fans of The Beaver would be remembering his contribution to the series.

I'll never forget the episode where Lumpy and Eddie were riding the roller coaster together. Cracks me up everytime I think about it despite the fact I haven't seen that episode in quite a while.
"Gus and the Net...Gus and the Net :)
 

Mark Y

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Mark-P said:
You can read about the rights situation here. Apparently Universal sold the distribution rights to a company called Qintex which went out of business and the rights are now in limbo. It's a real shame because The New Leave it to Beaver was an excellent show and now it may never be seen again.
I thought that was a familiar name. Qintex was the company that did some of the first colorizations for Hal Roach Studios (the Laurel & Hardy films Way Out West, The Music Box and Helpmates). A link within your link leads one to a page about Sonar Entertainment, formerly RHI, which makes sense since RHI controls the Hal Roach library. Mystery solved?

Now, not to be a muckraker, but if RHI misplaced the restorations of several Little Rascals films (leading to the Blackhawk Films home movie prints used on the box set, later corrected on the individual single-volume reissues) can they find The New Leave It To Beaver?

BTW -- IIRC originally the show began with a TV-movie called Still The Beaver. The Disney Channel series retained that title, but when it moved to TBS it was retitled The New Leave It To Beaver.
 

Neil Brock

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Well, if the masters were on videotape and stored at Universal, then they're gone in the fire. Pretty much all of the Universal tapes burned up so if a show was produced on videotape, then its likely gone. Also, if its not a show that Universal will go to the expense of transferring, then it may not be gone but it won't be seen again. Something like Baretta for instance.
 

Mark-P

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I don't think anyone has ever claimed that the master elements to The New Leave it to Beaver are lost. The only issue is the rights which are in legal limbo.
 

Tony Bensley

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Mark-P said:
I don't think anyone has ever claimed that the master elements to The New Leave it to Beaver are lost. The only issue is the rights which are in legal limbo.
Which I'm afraid may ultimately be a non-resolvable one! I had been trying to remember which TV show got caught in a permanent release rights limbo as a result of Qintex going under, and reading this thread triggered my memory. From what I recall about the article that I read online a few years back, because Qintex went under without the rights to TNLITB being transferred prior to its dissolution, NOBODY ELSE can ever obtain release rights to this show! A profoundly unfortunate situation, indeed!

I wish I had better news as I love LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, and what I saw of the sequel series was also worthwhile viewing!

GEE WHIZ!!

Tony
 

Neil Brock

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Pretty sure that Quintex was involved in the production of the Morton Downey Jr. show and they just produced a movie about that series, using a ton of clips. So, those had to come from somewhere and if the rights were able to be obtained for the movie than they found someone who has them.
 

JMFabianoRPL

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Which series do we know were completely lost in the fire? There are many classic Uni series still around, of course.
 

Tony Bensley

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jimmyjet said:
well, someone has to own it.
Hi jimmyjet!

Here is some unfortunate but relevant information from The New Leave It To Beaver's Wikipedia page:

According to series costars Frank Bank and Ken Osmond in a May 28, 2008 internet radio interview at shokusradio.com the reason the series has not aired in American syndication since the early 1990s is because Universal sold the show's master videos and distribution rights to Qintex Productions (named after an Australian company), which served as the distributor when first-run episodes were aired in US syndication and went out of business shortly after the purchase was made, leaving the broadcast rights in limbo. This is also the reason why the series may never be released on DVD. However, according to the Bank/Osmond interview, the show does on a rare occasion air in British and Australian markets.

Again--GEE WHIZ!!!

Tony
 

Neil Brock

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IntoIt said:
Look at it this way, Tony, and everyone else in this thread: It could have been worse. They could have been lost in the 2008 fire.
And at least we have our VHS copies as a backup in case it doesn't get released.
 

Vahan_Nisanain

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Hey, one question here:

When the episodes of The New Leave it to Beaver are shown in Australia and Britain, do they suffer from PAL Speed-Up? I seem to remember reading that filmed programs, when shown in PAL territories, will be effected by PAL Speed-Up, depending on what the stations are working with. If they're working with tape masters, the speed will be left alone. But if they're working with the original film elements, then they will be sped-up.
 

jimmyjet

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well, i happen to be an optimist when it comes to releasing shows. since it seems as though it is with us still, i think we will see it some time.

as far as i know, there is always a system that transfers property.

it could be by will, by trust, or by company charter, etc.

but it does not just sit in limbo, with no one owning it.

i do not see the situation, as described, as anything that limiting.
 

jimmyjet

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the danny thomas show, as described to me, is a lot more disconcerting.

supposedly dt put in his will that the first episodes, before marjorie reynolds, were not to be released, because of some feud between him and the woman.

in that case, the owner is recognized. now just how the will really reads, i cant say for sure.

but for all his generosity in some areas, keeping millions of people from enjoying the series, to spite one person, seems extremely petty, and beneath him.

and i am hoping that at some point, the person in charge of the show will see that also as something hurting the image of dt, and release it.
 

Ethan Riley

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Neil Brock said:
And at least we have our VHS copies as a backup in case it doesn't get released.
Yeah, but this is the tv-on-DVD forum, not the tv-on-vhs forum. So your point isn't being helpful. I don't know, Neil, I thought you had worked past this kind of thing, but here you go again--rubbing people's noses in it, if they didn't have the foresight to record something off-air thirty years ago.
 

Neil Brock

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Ethan Riley said:
Yeah, but this is the tv-on-DVD forum, not the tv-on-vhs forum. So your point isn't being helpful. I don't know, Neil, I thought you had worked past this kind of thing, but here you go again--rubbing people's noses in it, if they didn't have the foresight to record something off-air thirty years ago.
Yes, and DVD will never be the cure-all solution for having had foresight thirty years ago. Because as we've seen time and time again, some shows will never come out and many that do will be tinkered with (Northern Exposure, all of the Cannell shows, My Three Sons, etc.) Unfortunately, getting on board thirty years later carries with it many disappointments. Sorry that bringing up lack of foresight is such a sore point but I suppose I would be angry as well if it was me that was in that situation. One can't go back in time and correct those choices. But, hey, you can also feel better about all of the time and money that you didn't spend on recording shows that DID come out in much better quality than those old 16mm off-air records. Two sides to every coin and look how much you saved by not recording things like Man From UNCLE, The Fugitive and hundreds of others series that eventually made it to DVD.
 

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