B.J. AND THE BEAR (2 Viewers)

[vnisanian2001]

I don't think this has ever been asked (as far as what was lost in the fire is concerned), but did they lose any magnetic reel-to-reel audio tapes, that were used to record the dialogue for Universal's motion pictures and TV programs?

 

[banjo78]

Here's Richards reply to me. His answers are in CAPS.
"G'day again Richard. Thanks for the reply. MOST WELCOME
Bummer about "BJ and the Bear". Are you able to expand on that? Do you know why Universal doesn't have the complete masters? UNIVERSAL HAD A BIG FIRE A FEW YEARS BACK AND LOST A LOT OF STUFF, THEY HAVE MASTERS BUT FROM MEMORY THEY WERE INCOMPLETE EDITED BROADCAST MASTERS
Does that mean certain episodes don't exist anymore? POSSIBLE, THEY HAVE A FULL TIME TEAM PAID FOR BY THE INSURERS WHO ARE TRYING TO REBUILD THE LIBRARY BY CONTACTING OVERSEAS DISTRIBUTORS WHO MAY STILL HAVE COPIES
I'm not sure how it all works. I was afraid music might be an issue. Like "Tour of Duty" , "BJ" has lots of music but they are all cover versions by some kind of studio band, not the original artists. That obviously doesn't affect the price for music rights I take it? SHOULD BE EASIER TO RELEASE IN THE UK THEN, ARE YOU SURE THERE ARE NO ORIGINAL RECORDINGS>
I assume TOD had massive music issues, awesome that you were able to secure the rights, I didn't think it would ever happen!IT TOOK A LOT OF EFFORT!!
There is a big following for this show and no one has been able to find out why it hasn't been released yet. Your info certainly helps but anymore would be greatly appreciated. It along with "Tour of Duty" are my 2 favorite shows!!
THANKS CHRIS, RICHARD"

 

[Neil Brock]

Spoke to Richard(FabulousFilms) in email today about their "Tour of Duty" release with the original music(awesome) and I asked him about BJ. He said their company (Fabulous Films) had looked at "BJ & the Bear" but he briefly told me that Universal don't have the complete masters and there were huge music issues. I'm trying to find out more info on this.
Wonder why they don'y have complete masters?
Chris

Here's a guess. They transferred the shows to probably 1-inch tape when it went off the network. From those 1-inches, they made edited versions for syndication which were then sent out to anyone who bought the show in syndication. Or perhaps they might have still be sending out 16mm. In any event, if the 1-inch tapes were lost in the fire, that would be the reason. Of course the 35mm negatives and fine grains are still safely tucked away but then that goes back to the cost issues previously discussed. So, they don't have complete TAPE masters is what that means.

 

[vnisanian2001]

No one answered my question:
During the 2008 fire, did Universal lose any magnetic reel-to-reel audio tapes, that were used to record the dialogue for their motion pictures and TV programs?

 

[Neil Brock]

Nobody knows for sure what was lost because everyone who works at the company is sworn to secrecy and they ain't talking.

 

[Mark Y]

Nobody knows for sure what was lost because everyone who works at the company is sworn to secrecy and they ain't talking.

...which sounds like it can't be good.

 

[banjo78]

Can anyone confirm the rumor that Universal is about to release the masters/rights for "BJ and the Bear"???

 

[Neil Brock]

For the umpteenth time, my sources as Universal have told me that this is never gonna happen because 1) only syndicated tape transfers exist and 2) there is a ton of music in the shows and all of the replacement costs are exorbitant.

 

[banjo78]

I suggest you check your so called "sources". They aren't the lunch ladies in the cafeteria are they? And for the umpteenth time, the music in BJ is not the original artists, the same studio musicians/singers were used to do all the music in "The Greatest American Hero", which didn't seem to have any hurdles getting released. Overseas companies don't have the same silly rights issues with music on television shows anyway so don't be narrow minded that it will never happen, clearly music is not an issue mate.
All I'm going to say is watch this space because I think there maybe some movement on this show soon. And I have sources too.

 

[derosa]

All I'm going to say is watch this space because I think there maybe some movement on this show soon. And I have sources too.

I'll be watching!

 

[AndyMcKinney]

For the umpteenth time, my sources as Universal have told me that this is never gonna happen because 1) only syndicated tape transfers exist

So, you're saying they know for an absolute fact that none of the 16mm (or 35mm if any were made) prints for any of the episodes exist? I can believe source elements no longer existing, but find it really hard to believe there aren't any prints at all. It's going to take more than "according to my sources" for most of us to believe this. If your sources believe they went up "in the warehouse fire", then I wouldn't hold too much stock in the accuracy of their information.
That being said, perhaps music rights, remastering costs, etc. could be a hurdle, but they could always farm it out to a UK company like Fabulous Films, who did Maniman and Automan. As has been said by others, music rights issues aren't as bad in the UK as they are here (which is why Region 2 didn't have to deal with music replacements on Happy Days, for instance. Apart from the theme tune on seasons 1 and/or 2, all the '50s music in the episodes themselves was left intact, unlike the US release).
Of course, I'm not a huge Bear fan anyway. Of the two, I'd much rather have Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo get a release.

 

[Scott511]

And for the umpteenth time, the music in BJ is not the original artists, the same studio musicians/singers were used to do all the music in "The Greatest American Hero", which didn't seem to have any hurdles getting released. Overseas companies don't have the same silly rights issues with music on television shows anyway so don't be narrow minded that it will never happen, clearly music is not an issue mate.

Actually you are incorrect about the music in The Greatest American Hero. ALL of the cover music sang by Joey Scarbury in TGAH was replaced in the DVD release. It remains on the overseas discs, but the ORIGINAL songs written by Stephen Geyer for the series and performed by Scarbury remain in all releases. So...in a nutshell what that means is that the cover tunes of Rocketman, Help Me Rhonda, Space Oddity, Pinball Wizard, etc, etc that appeared in the show performed by Scarbury mind you not the original artists were a problem. Original artist or not if those songs appear dough has to be paid. The cover music in BJ and The Bear IS an issue.
If you find TGAH running on any local stations currently even there ALL the cover music is the same replacement music as heard on the DVDs. EXCEPT since such a stink was raised by fans because of the song Eve of Destruction being removed from the episode titled Operation: Spoilsport Cannell Productions has put that back (and Beautiful Morning) on the prints circulating for broadcast. Eve was a cover tune sang by Scarbury not the original artist. The 2nd season discs were being prepped before the first season DVDs were even released, and I wrote the trivia questions inserted into the 2nd set with no idea how silly it would be when one of my questions featured the song Eve of Destruction as an answer when the song doesn't even appear in the show on DVD!?! Had I been told, or the first season set had already been released with the music replaced I never would have used the songs title as a trivia answer.
I have no information on what prints are still at Universal concerning BJ, but Neil is 100% correct when speaking of the cost of music.
As for TGAH, for years I've been in touch with people who worked on the series, and at Cannell Productions. I worked on the DVD sets and information pertaining the music as heard in Hero for the television broadcasts and discs is 100% correct.
Scott
http://www.the-greatest-american-hero.com

 

[banjo78]

Thanks for your info there Scott, TGAH was another one of my childhood faves!
I'm in Australia and what I saw of TGAH was obviously an overseas DVD release as it had those covers by Joey Scarbury intact. I wasn't aware the American release had the music replaced, unlucky for you guys.
I must concede that yes music rights is an issue as I understand if it's a cover or not, money still has to change hands, I was just trying to point out that it would be a fraction of the cost of paying for the original artist release/version. Maybe I'm wrong there? Also for BJ and the Bear, I was referring to the popular songs, not the music written for the show.
My source is an overseas company who has less issues when gaining music rights for shows.
I find it quite ridiculous that overseas companies can buy your shows with the original music intact but your own release removes it ("Tour Of Duty "a perfect example). All about the bucks changing hands, and we're talking about 30 year old shows! Over here, I can think of at least 2 shows currently being broadcast (China Beach and Miami Vice) which still retain ALL the original music.
Seems the fans are the last consideration.
Good to see this thread getting some movement again though.

 

[derosa]

My source is an overseas company who has less issues when gaining music rights for shows.

Keep us posted. I'll buy any set that can play in a multi-region player!

 

[oo290]

For the umpteenth time, my sources as Universal have told me that this is never gonna happen because 1) only syndicated tape transfers exist and 2) there is a ton of music in the shows and all of the replacement costs are exorbitant.

your source is an idiot - 99% of the songs in the show were COVER versions not the original releases and they are wrong on wich cuts exist, the original tv versions do exist.

 

[qwerty]

I suggest you check your so called "sources". They aren't the lunch ladies in the cafeteria are they? And for the umpteenth time, the music in BJ is not the original artists, the same studio musicians/singers were used to do all the music in "The Greatest American Hero", which didn't seem to have any hurdles getting released. Overseas companies don't have the same silly rights issues with music on television shows anyway so don't be narrow minded that it will never happen, clearly music is not an issue mate.
All I'm going to say is watch this space because I think there maybe some movement on this show soon. And I have sources too.

What is the latest ? Which Country ?

 

[Neil Brock]

So, you're saying they know for an absolute fact that none of the 16mm (or 35mm if any were made) prints for any of the episodes exist? I can believe source elements no longer existing, but find it really hard to believe there aren't any prints at all. It's going to take more than "according to my sources" for most of us to believe this. If your sources believe they went up "in the warehouse fire", then I wouldn't hold too much stock in the accuracy of their information.
That being said, perhaps music rights, remastering costs, etc. could be a hurdle, but they could always farm it out to a UK company like Fabulous Films, who did Maniman and Automan. As has been said by others, music rights issues aren't as bad in the UK as they are here (which is why Region 2 didn't have to deal with music replacements on Happy Days, for instance. Apart from the theme tune on seasons 1 and/or 2, all the '50s music in the episodes themselves was left intact, unlike the US release).
Of course, I'm not a huge Bear fan anyway. Of the two, I'd much rather have Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo get a release.

I am not saying that prints exist. I am saying that Universal is not going to go back and transfer from film because of the costs involved. At 7K an episode they aren't going to spend the money so it they don't already have a tape transfer then forget it.

 

[derosa]

Just the other day i was surprised to see Greg Evigan pop up as a guest star the Six Million Dollar Man episode I was watching called "the Bionic Boy".
http://www.gregtheitaliansite.com/html/inglese/uo.html
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120929/fullcredits#cast

 

[banjo78]

What is the latest ? Which Country ?

I gave my word that I wouldn't say anything yet, so I may have said too much already. All I will say is when I asked them of the rumor of BJ rights/masters they said yes they are going for it. I will post any updates when I hear them.
Let's hope they can seal the deal!

 

[qwerty]

I gave my word that I wouldn't say anything yet, so I may have said too much already. All I will say is when I asked them of the rumor of BJ rights/masters they said yes they are going for it. I will post any updates when I hear them.
Let's hope they can seal the deal!

Yes seal the deal