"My Living Doll"? (1 Viewer)

[Steve...O]

Originally Posted by Chertok Television. /t/260678/my-living-doll#post_3844534
unfortunately when Jack Chertok passed away he took the information of where these negatives went with him.

Thanks for all that you're doing to resuurect this series. I'm curious about the above statement. Mr. Chertok was nearly 89 when he passed away so it wouldn't be what one would normally consider an untimely or early death. Does this mean that he did not trust others with his business knowledge and records? In the normal course of business there would have been succession planning for his assets and estate. Or was it the case that he simply didn't see the value of certain of his holdings and thus didn't manage them the way he would have one of his more valuable properties.

This is not to meant to be critical of his organization in any way; just an honest question about how this situationof the missing negatives came about in the first place.

 

[DeWilson]

 
Thanks for all that you're doing to resuurect this series.  I'm curious about the above statement.  Mr. Chertok was nearly 89 when he passed away so it wouldn't be what one would normally  consider an untimely or early death.   Does this mean that he did not trust others with his business knowledge and records?  In the normal course of business there would have been succession planning for his assets and estate.  Or was it the case that he simply didn't see the value of certain of his holdings and thus didn't manage them the way he would have one of his more valuable properties. This is not to meant to be critical of his organization in any way; just an honest question about how this situationof the missing negatives  came about in the first place.
  

Yeh, where's the paper trail?

 

[Neil Brock]

 
Thanks for all that you're doing to resuurect this series.  I'm curious about the above statement.  Mr. Chertok was nearly 89 when he passed away so it wouldn't be what one would normally  consider an untimely or early death.   Does this mean that he did not trust others with his business knowledge and records?  In the normal course of business there would have been succession planning for his assets and estate.  Or was it the case that he simply didn't see the value of certain of his holdings and thus didn't manage them the way he would have one of his more valuable properties. This is not to meant to be critical of his organization in any way; just an honest question about how this situationof the missing negatives  came about in the first place.
  

Other than My Favorite Martian, none of the other shows he was involved in producing stayed in his possession or were deemed by him to have commercial value. Private Secretary for instance wound up with Fox after they bought out Metromedia. Lone Ranger, Sky King, etc, all went to other places. My personal belief is that he did discard all of the elements he had on MLD, as he claimed he did. If not, when the cable explosion hit in the mid-80s, why wouldn't he have gotten a sale out of it? Similar short-run failed sitcoms were popping up all over the cable landscape - The Smothers Brothers Show, Wendy and Me, The Bill Dana Show, Captain Nice, Occasional Wife, He and She, Camp Runamuck, The Second Hundred Years, Bridget Loves Bernie and Temperatures Rising all had runs in that era. I have to believe that if the elements did still exist and Chertok still had them, then he would have been able to sell the show to CBN or USA or HA! Since that never happened, I do think that at some point, prior to the 80s, he made the decision that the show had no commercial value nor any future value and he chucked them all out. Hard to believe but that sort of thing happens every day, just not that often to prime time filmed network series.

 

[Steve...O]

Thanks, Danny. That makes a lot of sense, unfortunate as it may be.

 

[Chertok Television.]

Other than My Favorite Martian, none of the other shows he was involved in producing stayed in his possession or were deemed by him to have commercial value. Private Secretary for instance wound up with Fox after they bought out Metromedia. Lone Ranger, Sky King, etc, all went to other places. My personal belief is that he did discard all of the elements he had on MLD, as he claimed he did. If not, when the cable explosion hit in the mid-80s, why wouldn't he have gotten a sale out of it? Similar short-run failed sitcoms were popping up all over the cable landscape - The Smothers Brothers Show, Wendy and Me, The Bill Dana Show, Captain Nice, Occasional Wife, He and She, Camp Runamuck, The Second Hundred Years, Bridget Loves Bernie and Temperatures Rising all had runs in that era. I have to believe that if the elements did still exist and Chertok still had them, then he would have been able to sell the show to CBN or USA or HA! Since that never happened, I do think that at some point, prior to the 80s, he made the decision that the show had no commercial value nor any future value and he chucked them all out. Hard to believe but that sort of thing happens every day, just not that often to prime time filmed network series.

Good theory..but I knew Jack Chertok..and based on what exists in the vaults on Martian it just can't be right..the master fine grain negs went to CBS in 1965..they had distribution..then the deal was struck with NBC international and they had the show on the books into the ninties..
I will figure this thing out at some point.. I have all the transit records from the lab were the films were generated..I have a record of every negative and print that was ever struck..based on the number of elements that existed on this show I will have a break through at some point.

 

[DeWilson]

Good theory..but I knew Jack Chertok..and based on what exists in the vaults on Martian it just can't be right..the master fine grain negs went to CBS in 1965..they had distribution..then the deal was struck with NBC international and they had the show on the books into the ninties..
I will figure this thing out at some point.. I have all the transit records from the lab were the films were generated..I have a record of every negative and print that was ever struck..based on the number of elements that existed on this show I will have a break through at some point.

What's the story behind NBC international handling international rights on the show - and where did it air?
So just how many negatives and prints were struck up for each episode.
I find this all fascinating

 

[Chertok Television.]

This whole story is a major mystery..I guess that's why I have been working on it for so long..from what I can figure NBC only did 16 episodes that were dubbed into spanish.
Frankly in my whole time in the biz I have never seen anything like this before and I hope to never see anything like this again, The funny thing is I have found other Chertok "lost pilot" materials and other elements from Martian in this search.
Everything but Doll..very very strange..

 

[Jack P]

It is indeed strange and fascinating to hear these stories about how a filmed priime series from the mid-60s could enter the ranks of "lost" TV. I'm used to things that aired live in that era like TV game shows, sports, newscasts and talk shows being lost to the ages through short-sighted preservation practices of videotape wiping, but filmed shows, especially by that point (there are some shows from the 50s that unfortunately are lost or missing a number of episodes like the Irish McCalla "Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle" series and the Ida Lupino/Howard Duff "Mr. Adams And Eve") I think we tend to take for granted *have* to exist in some format. It's amazing to see this title defy all efforts to be made complete again.

 

[Chertok Television.]

Just to let you know in my searching I found Sheena it is complete and not lost, the people in question even have all the original screen tests from the show..
They just don't see the point in releasing it as the returns would be so low on dvd after transfers and alike together with pay outs no real money there.
If I was more hard nosed we have the same issues with any real return on Doll..but I did it anyway.

 

[Jack P]

Just to let you know in my searching I found Sheena it is complete and not lost, the people in question even have all the original screen tests from the show..
They just don't see the point in releasing it as the returns would be so low on dvd after transfers and alike together with pay outs no real money there.
If I was more hard nosed we have the same issues with any real return on Doll..but I did it anyway.

Whoa! Are we talking about all the original 35mm prints??? There has never been so much as one episode in that format seen over all these years and even the most diehard of Sheena fans have only made due with 16 of 26 episodes in beat-up quality. There are a lot of people I know of who would love to hear more on where these are and who owns them and how they came to have them.
It is both exciting to know the elements in fact still exist, as well as all that other material, but at the same time frustrating to know that it now enters the same realm as Universal's 35mm copies of their 50s shows like the original "Dragnet".

 

[Charles Ellis]

Likewise with The Jack Benny Program- there's a lot of things from that show still in the vaults, and despite the efforts of people like Jack's daughter Joan, the studio (I forget but it's either Universal or Paramount/CBS) won't release years of episodes covering roughly 1950-65!

 

[JamesSmith]

And here, I'm hoping someone could find the "lost" Saturday Morning Fall Preview specials that the networks used to do in the sixties and seventies. I . . . feel so insignificant now.
James

 

[Chertok Television.]

Here is the thing the Sheena film are in decent shape..but the owners do not see the point in spending any more money on them, with the huge down turn in dvd sales most small owners are just not interested in spending lots of money on transfers when chances are there will be no return.
It is in many cases just not worth it. Jack Benny is a prime example of cost not working for return.

 

[Jack P]

I hope that some day the Sheena owners (am I correct that it's still the Nassour family, the original producers who have them?) can be convinced otherwise, or at the very least to have them digitized for long-term basic preservation. IMO, a show like "Sheena" could be more successfully marketed than other 50s shows that have made it to DVD (especially if there is ever a decent big screen project someday).

 

[Charles Ellis]

Why doesn't the studio offer the Benny material to networks like TVLand or The Hub in a syndication deal to test the waters?

 

[Statskeeper]

Why doesn't the studio offer the Benny material to networks like TVLand or The Hub in a syndication deal to test the waters?

It had aired on RTV when they had the Universal package and is currently on JLTV (Jewish Life TV) weekdays @ 12:30p. The presentation on JLTV is butchered beyond belief - the early 50s open and close are tacked on to shows that obviously aired in the 60s. They often run the same show a couple of days in a row. Sponsor tags with Don Wilson are edited out (as you would expect) and the break structure is messed with badly (breaks coming in the middle of sketches or acts, obvious breaks/endings go right into the next scene.) Looks like a major restoration project would be needed to put everything in order.

 

[DeWilson]

It had aired on RTV when they had the Universal package and is currently on JLTV (Jewish Life TV) weekdays @ 12:30p. The presentation on JLTV is butchered beyond belief - the early 50s open and close are tacked on to shows that obviously aired in the 60s. They often run the same show a couple of days in a row. Sponsor tags with Don Wilson are edited out (as you would expect) and the break structure is messed with badly (breaks coming in the middle of sketches or acts, obvious breaks/endings go right into the next scene.) Looks like a major restoration project would be needed to put everything in order.

The master elements of the filmed shows are safe and sound at NBC/Universal. What JLTV is running is a package assembled from public domain live and filmed episodes, soured from various quality prints.

 

[Jack P]

And the Universal filmed shows that aired in syndication for years were always missing the sponsor stuff which on Benny were vital to the program since the spots were always integrated into the action just like on radio.

 

[Statskeeper]

I have to say the print did look better on RTV. This explains a lot and I should have thought of that first.

 

[DeWilson]

And the Universal filmed shows that aired in syndication for years were always missing the sponsor stuff which on Benny were vital to the program since the spots were always integrated into the action just like on radio.

But if you notice, they always did it in such a way they could be edited out for syndication.