Other short lived shows I'd buy if available (1 Viewer)

[LouA]

The crystal ball shows that you may be very Happy soon!

I'm Happy already , just reading your post !!

 

[mark-edk]

So many shows I would love to have in my library are in this category of short-lived. Not even sure I can remember them all...

Adams of Eagle Lake (Andy Griffith) really short-lived: two episodes!
Breaking Away (with both versions of episode one: original broadcast and re-edited/re-scored version shown on A&E)
Cliffhangers!
Cool Million (James Farentino)
The Delphi Bureau (Laurence Luckinbill)
The Feather and Father Gang (Stephanie Powers)
G.E. True (Jack Webb, producer/host)
Glitter (Arthur Hill)
Lannigan's Rabbi (Art Carney)
Lime Street (Robert Wagner)
Love Boat: The Next Wave (OK, just kidding about this stinker)
Masquerade (Rod Taylor)
McCoy (Tony Curtis)
The Most Deadly Game (Ralph Bellamy, Yvette Mimeux)
Mr Deeds Goes to Town (Monte Markham)
The New Perry Mason (Monte again)
Nero Wolfe (William Conrad)
Project UFO
Take a Good Look (Ernie Kovacs)
Supertrain - it had two different awful/wonderful disco themes in its short run
That's Life (Robert Morse)
The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters (Dan O'Herlihy) ideally restored to original edits/running order
Veritas: The Quest
VR.5 (Lori Singer)
What Really Happened to the Class of '65?

I'm sure there are others I forgot but these are the ones that come to mind. Thinking about these old favorites reminded me of tv movies I'd love to have copies of:

Reflections of Murder (stylish updating of Diabolique)
One of My Wives Is Missing (twisty mystery with Jack Klugman)
Death Takes a Holiday (Monte Markham yet again)

and lots more but that's for a different discussion.

 

[FanCollector]

One of My Wives is Missing was released on DVD in a "twofer" with Charade. It's still available.

 

[mark-edk]

As I recall it's a PD release and the quality is pretty bad. I made a DVD of my own from one of the cable movie channels years ago that at least wasn't mastered from a beat-up 16mm print. But a properly licensed DVD from whatever master that channel used would be even better.

 

[jperez]

One the great mysteries for me is why a series like Empire (1963), starring a movie star (Richard Egan) and with Ryan O'Neal and Charles Bronson as costars, and filmed in color, has never seen the light of day.

 

[Alf S]

One the great mysteries for me is why a series like Empire (1963), starring a movie star (Richard Egan) and with Ryan O'Neal and Charles Bronson as costars, and filmed in color, has never seen the light of day.

Could be as simple as low audience ratings and little popularity. I can't imagine it would be worth printing discs/boxes since very few would even buy it.

From Wikipedia:

Empire had mediocre ratings opposite CBS's The Red Skelton Show and the last season of ABC's detective series, Hawaiian Eye with Robert Conrad and Connie Stevens.[14] The series was reduced to a half-hour the second year, as Redigo.[5] Redigo had by that time secured his own smaller ranch.[5]

The shorter format made it difficult to develop complex characters, and the show was soon canceled. Still on Tuesday evenings, Redigo fared poorly against Red Skelton and ABC's military situation comedy McHale's Navy starring Ernest Borgnine

 

[jperez]

Could be as simple as low audience ratings and little popularity. I can't imagine it would be worth printing discs/boxes since very few would even buy it.

From Wikipedia:

Empire had mediocre ratings opposite CBS's The Red Skelton Show and the last season of ABC's detective series, Hawaiian Eye with Robert Conrad and Connie Stevens.[14] The series was reduced to a half-hour the second year, as Redigo.[5] Redigo had by that time secured his own smaller ranch.[5]

The shorter format made it difficult to develop complex characters, and the show was soon canceled. Still on Tuesday evenings, Redigo fared poorly against Red Skelton and ABC's military situation comedy McHale's Navy starring Ernest Borgnine

No, I understand it wasn't a ratings success, apart from the fact that apparently it was a very expensive series to make, which seems to have been the deciding factor, from what I've read. But there's many short, failed series from that era that have made it to DVD: The Lieutenant, The Wide Country, Gallant Men, Stoney Burke, among them. And I would think that the name recognition factor of Bronson and O'Neal would amount to something.

 

[Neil Brock]

No, I understand it wasn't a ratings success, apart from the fact that apparently it was a very expensive series to make, which seems to have been the deciding factor, from what I've read. But there's many short, failed series from that era that have made it to DVD: The Lieutenant, The Wide Country, Gallant Men, Stoney Burke, among them. And I would think that the name recognition factor of Bronson and O'Neal would amount to something.

As we've discussed here more times than I can count, which shows make it to DVD and which do not have nothing whatsoever to do with popularity, quality, star power or most any other reason one might come up with. The 2 most important factors above all else are which studio or entity owns it and their desire to release or license shows and the second thing is availability of existing usable elements. Empire is a Sony show and they have shown minimal interest in releases or sublicenses of their library. When Empire did run on CBN, it was from old 16mm faded color prints so any release would require remastering, cost prohibitive for a show of this type.
The above shows you mention were either put out by Warner Archive, who are committed to maximizing the value of their library, or Universal and MGM, both of whom have at various times been willing to let other companies release their series.

 

[LCD22]

Peacemakers
Lone Star (if they clear all of the music for all 6 episodes including Mumford & Sons)

 

[Richard Gallagher]

A few which come to mind:

The Richard Boone Show
Hec Ramsey
Michael Shayne (a rarity in that many of the scripts were adaptations of Brett Halliday's novels)
Boots and Saddles (1957-58 syndicated series about the cavalry in the Arizona Territory)

I've been pleasantly surprised by how many short-lived series have actually made it to DVD - Yancy Derringer, Custer, The Loner, Mr. Lucky, The Westerner (coming soon), etc. There obviously is a market for them.

 

[LouA]

A few which come to mind:

The Richard Boone Show
Hec Ramsey
Michael Shayne (a rarity in that many of the scripts were adaptations of Brett Halliday's novels)
Boots and Saddles (1957-58 syndicated series about the cavalry in the Arizona Territory)

I've been pleasantly surprised by how many short-lived series have actually made it to DVD - Yancy Derringer, Custer, The Loner, Mr. Lucky, The Westerner (coming soon), etc. There obviously is a market for them.

Hi Rich, I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard that the masters for Boots And Saddles were lost in a fire. As I said I'm not sure if that's true. That show featured a young Gardner McKay who later went on to star in Adventures In Paradise , a show which deserves to be released on DVD. Apparently problems with the James A. Michener estate have held up it's release .

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Hi Rich, I'm not sure if this is true, but I heard that the masters for Boots And Saddles were lost in a fire. As I said I'm not sure if that's true. That show featured a young Gardner McKay who later went on to star in Adventures In Paradise , a show which deserves to be released on DVD. Apparently problems with the James A. Michener estate have held up it's release .

Hi, Lou. That could be the case. The production company is the same one which made The Lawless Years, which has been released on DVD by Timeless. I remember that the first episode was about a Gatling gun, and I remember thinking that Davy Crockett could have used one at the Alamo!

 

[Dave Lawrence]

Two shows I haven't previously mentioned here are both early-70s sitcoms I've never seen but am curious enough to blind buy if they ever became available:

The Partners (1971/Universal; with Don Adams)
Needles and Pins (1973/Sony; with Norman Fell)

Has anyone ever seen either of these? Thoughts?

 

[Elizabeth S]

EZ Streets - 1997-1998 (with all 12 episodes, not the Brilliant But Cancelled DVD with 3 random eps)
Nothing Sacred - 1997-1998 (20 episodes)
Houston Knights - 1987-1988 (30 episodes -- though it sure feels like there were a lot less)
Jack & Bobby - 2004-2005 (22 episodes)
Touching Evil - 2004 - 2005 (12 episodes)

 

[LouA]

Incidentally ZIV have several shows which fall into this category . I wouldn't be surprised if Timeless/SF didn't occasionally release one as part of the Walmart deal.

 

[Xphile620]

"Jack & Bobby" has had a listing on Amazon for years. And you used to be able to purchase the episodes on Amazon as well as iTunes. Netflix once streamed it. I have a bootleg DVD, but the show deserves a DVD release. Tragic how forgotten it's become, because it had some terrific writing and acting.

 

[LouA]

A few which come to mind:

The Richard Boone Show
Hec Ramsey
Michael Shayne (a rarity in that many of the scripts were adaptations of Brett Halliday's novels)
Boots and Saddles (1957-58 syndicated series about the cavalry in the Arizona Territory)

I've been pleasantly surprised by how many short-lived series have actually made it to DVD - Yancy Derringer, Custer, The Loner, Mr. Lucky, The Westerner (coming soon), etc. There obviously is a market for them.

Is the Westerner out ? I was at Walmart today , but couldn't find it .

 

[Richard Gallagher]

Is the Westerner out ? I was at Walmart today , but couldn't find it .

I don't know what the status of it in stores is, but my ship-to-store order came in last Tuesday.

 

[LouA]

The crystal ball shows that you may be very Happy soon!

Hi Neil, Will be getting an announcement soon about the "crystal ball" show (shows?) that may be released ?

 

[LouA]

Just wondering - we're halfway through June . Any news on possible "crystal ball" shows ?