Completing the 70’s (1 Viewer)

[Frank Soyke]

For the hatrick, same parameters, chances on:

Chico and the Man
Baretta
Switch
Family
Knots Landing
Carter Country
Fantasy Island
Love,Boat
Room 222
New Dick Van Dyke Show
Little People

 

[bmasters9]

Knots Landing

I've heard that later gos of that have had music that was sung by Lisa Hartman as Ciji/Cathy, so it may/may not.

 

[tlc38tlc38]

The only shows left I want from the 70s are the rest of "Alice" and "Happy Days".

 

[Brian Himes]

Ok, I'll give it a go.

Chico & The Man: Warner Bros. have stated that they want to release it but there are rights issues. Probably music related. This one might have a better shot with Shout Factory. Shout did acquire Welcome Back Kotter from Warner Bros. so I haven't counted this one out of the game yet. On a scale of 1-10 I'd give this show a solid 8.5 chance of getting released.

Baretta: Unless Universal can locate complete usable tape masters, this one is dead and buried until the cost to transfer the original film elements goes down. Chances are slim to none that this will get finished.

Switch: Probably in the same boat as Baretta.

Family: Shout Factory might give this one a go, but Shout's record with dramas is not that great. They pick up shows years after the first or second season was released and then stall it out again due to poor sales. It's a miracle that they are going to finish Police Woman. Chances are fair that this might get finished.

Knots Landing: Music issues and poor sales are holding this one up. If Warner Bros. would release it in a complete series set, it just might do better than a season by season release. Chances are fair to poor that this will get finished.

Carter Country: Why bother? This was a rotten show. From the racist deputy to the idiot mayor always going "Handle it Roy. Handle it." I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. I'm not even sure who owns it. Sadly, this show probably has a pretty good chance of being released. There are enough people who have fond memories of it to make it a success. If it was released as a complete series set.

Fantasy Island: The staying power of this show and Love Boat still astounds me to this very day. Both shows stared off really good and, in my opinion, fell to absurdist levels after the first two or three seasons. However, people just love both shows. I'd have to say Love Boat stands a better chance of reaching the finish line before Fantasy Island. I don't know why, but that's the feeling that I get. Chances are fair for Fantasy Island and pretty good for Love Boat.

Love,Boat: See above.

Room 222: I've been round the bend over this show many, many times and my original assessment still stands. Unless Fox goes back to the original film elements, does a major restoration and all new transfers, this show is dead and buried. If that is done, then the only way to erase the bad taste left from the season 1 & 2 releases is to do a complete series set. Other than that, I do not believe this show stands any chance of ever getting finished.

New Dick Van Dyke Show: Sad to say, but probably the only way this show will ever get a release is when Dick Van Dyke passes away. Warner Bros. just doesn't seem interested. There could also be issues with ownership. Doesn't Dick own part of the series? He may not have a very high opinion of it and refuses to allow it to be released. I don't know. Having never seen it, I'd be very interested in it. I'd say the chances are just about 50-50 that this could get a release.

Little People: Another Warner Bros. show. If Warner Archive releases it, it would probably get finished. Otherwise, I'd say the chances are pretty slim that this would get released.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

I posted my thoughts on the likelihood of releases in the 80s thread, so I'll just say that I agree with many of the shows Frank listed and would be happy to see Chico, New Dick Van Dyke, Switch, Carter Country, and the rest of Family, Room 222, and Love Boat.

There are numerous unreleased single-season 70s shows I'd be interested in too, but the only other 70s shows with 2 or more seasons that I would want that I can think of at the moment are The Tony Randall Show and Temperatures Rising (with Cleavon Little and later on Paul Lynde and Alice Ghostley). A Region 1 complete set of McCloud would be nice too. Beyond that, most 70s multi-season shows I would want are fortunately already available.

Edited to add: I'd also like to finally see the final season of The White Shadow released. That season originally aired in the early-80s, but I always think of the series as a whole as a 70s show, so I'm putting it here.

 

[JamesSmith]

For the hatrick, same parameters, chances on:

Chico and the Man
Baretta
Switch
Family
Knots Landing
Carter Country
Fantasy Island
Love,Boat
Room 222
New Dick Van Dyke Show
Little People

I would purchase Carter Country. There was one episode there that had me in stitches.

James

 

[Dave Lawrence]

The only shows left I want from the 70s are the rest of "Alice" and "Happy Days".

I think Alice is probably the most likely to continue seeing releases via Warner Archive, considering Season 6 came out late last year not too long after Season 5.

 

[Ron1973]

Knots Landing had one show air in the 70's, December 27, 1979, so it would technically be an 80's show.

Funny you mention Fantasy Island. I was in the AT&T store yesterday when a guy was telling several of us about the Roku box. He was mentioning all of the shows you can get and then got off on classic TV. He said "and they even have that one show with the little guy hollering about the plane!"

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Not likely to happen, but I'd like to see the short-lived Tenafly and Cool Million released, as well as more seasons of Police Story (I'd buy these in a heartbeat if the episodes were uncut).

Mostly cop shows for me, like Kodiak with Clint Walker, Bronk with Jack Palance, etc. Also, two short-lived private eye series, Banyon and City of Angels. Think these are extreme long shots by this point, however.

 

[MatthewA]

I would purchase Carter Country. There was one episode there thad had me in stitches.

James

Writing and acting aside, I wonder whether that show would have done any better under another title. It did get an afterlife in syndication in parts of the South in the 1980s before disappearing entirely; so did That's My Mama, which probably got released to DVD because of the Barbershop movies and to tie in with its more successful contemporaries. Like What's Happening!!, CC was produced by Bud Yorkin without Norman Lear, and he sold out to Columbia before Lear did, so Sony owns it. They cancelled all three of the shows he had on ABC in 1979 (13 Queens East was the last), which probably wouldn't have happened under Fred Silverman.

That show makes it all the more ironic that Carroll O'Connor followed up 12 years as Archie Bunker with the TV version of In the Heat of the Night, and also that Anne Marie Johnson went from What's Happening Now!! to that.

Sony also owns the infamous Hello, Larry, which last I heard got reruns in Brazil more than a decade ago.

The Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman box set gave us a taste of Fernwood 2Night. Hopefully that's not all we'll get, but that's likely going to be THE biggest music licensing headache of the former Tandem/TAT/Embassy library when you take into account pretty much all or most of the episodes have copyrighted music performed live.

 

[Brian Himes]

I'd say Phyllis should be added to the list. I think Shout Factory just might get this one and get it released. I don't know why, but I have a good feeling about it.

 

[Jack P]

In the I MUST have these titles completed/released to feel content category, "Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island" top the list. They represented Saturday night escapism for me during my childhood to teen years and I want to be able to sample the full scope of the runs and not just three seasons worth even though I know the series get more absurd as the years go by.

Close but not quite to that would be "Operation Petticoat" but really just the first season with John Astin etc. because the short-lived second season does not count with me because it's populated by strangers (save Melinda Naud and a couple minor characters). That was my first exposure to the concept of how rebooting a show by dumping almost the entire cast is not going to win new viewers, its going to drive the old ones away. At any rate, the sitcom was a habitual habit for me when it was on, which was also as I recall on Saturday nights too. Early role for Jamie Lee Curtis too.

I'm no longer as passionate about wanting these titles finished as I used to be, but I still would like them. "Ironside", "McCloud" (with S1 episodes fixed for R1 release), "Love American Style" and "Marcus Welby MD".

Nice if they'd come but not likely to ever happen. "Switch" and "Swiss Family Robinson."

And finally FIX "The Odd Couple" for Seasons 3-4-5!

 

[Dave Lawrence]

Until Jack's post, I'd forgotten about Marcus Welby. That's another stalled 70s series that I would hope could be completed someday, along with the 2 TV movies made in the 80s.

 

[smithbrad]

Room 222: I've been round the bend over this show many, many times and my original assessment still stands. Unless Fox goes back to the original film elements, does a major restoration and all new transfers, this show is dead and buried. If that is done, then the only way to erase the bad taste left from the season 1 & 2 releases is to do a complete series set. Other than that, I do not believe this show stands any chance of ever getting finished.

I would definitely purchase more seasons of Room 222. Having been through both seasons released, other than the intro sequence and the first few episodes in season 1, the transfers are fine to me. They are no worse than Police Story season 2 or Peyton Place, and both of those series were unstalled, so I am hopeful. My guess is that many of these licenses will be expiring soon, and Shout! is looking to see what type of return they can get before that happens. Given that classic TV releases have dwindled over the last few years, the timing may be right since there is less competition for the funds.

 

[DaveHof3]

One more '70s show for the "highly unlikely, but man I'd love to see it again" category:

https://comforttv.blogspot.com/2013...howComment=1524026660303#c9022532551973902872

 

[sjbradford]

Is Knots Landing really a 1970s show? It aired exactly one of its 300+ episodes in the 1970s.

Edit: Never mind - someone else already pointed this out. Apologies for the rerun.

 

[MatthewA]

How about The Flip Wilson Show? I could easily see Time-Life doing that since it's also syndicated in reruns by the same people who distribute Laugh-In.

 

[bmasters9]

Knots Landing had one show air in the 70's, December 27, 1979, so it would technically be an 80's show.

So would Hart to Hart-- maybe half of the first season's worth (1979-80) was in the 70s, with the balance of the run being from 1980-84, so Hart to Hart would definitely be more 80s than 70s.

 

[Darby67]

One more '70s show for the "highly unlikely, but man I'd love to see it again" category:

https://comforttv.blogspot.com/2013...howComment=1524026660303#c9022532551973902872

David:

Thanks for posting the link. I don't remember watching this series as a kid but I would love to see this out on DVD.

 

[Brian Himes]

How about The Flip Wilson Show? I could easily see Time-Life doing that since it's also syndicated in reruns by the same people who distribute Laugh-In.

I could see Tme-Life doing the Flip Wilson Show. At least with them, some effort would be given to release the episodes in as complete as possible. I doubt they could release the entire series, but they could get a good portion of it out.