Timeless Media Group - New Releases (1 Viewer)

[Bob Hug]

Ben Gazzara is also great in Run for Your Life. I got to see some episodes of this at the Museum of TV and Radio. It's good, with some excellent guest stars, including Anne Helm who plays a recurring love interest. I'd love to see Timeless put out some episodes at some point. The show's ripe for rediscovery.

It's not above the realm of possibility for Timeless to release this; "Run for Your Life" was produced by Roncom Productions (Perry Como's production company) which also produced the limited run Western series "Tate." Timeless released "Tate" last year. I guess it all depends on licensing arrangements and availabilty of prints, but I think it's quite possible that we might see this from Timeless.
Another good Roncom production was the TV noir "movie" "Nightmare in Chicago" that was directed by Robert Altman which I haven't seen in decades; Timeless has been releasing some made-for-TV western movies, so who knows?

 

[Bob Hug]

I received my second collections of both "Checkmate" and "Arrest and Trial" over the weekend and had a chance to watch several episodes on disc 1 of each set. Despite Timeless Media's claim that the episodes were "faithfully reproduced from the original NBC masters," the episodes look about the same as they did on the fist collections, i.e., they look like unrestored 16mm prints. If Timeless did, indeed, use NBC's masters, they are very definitely unrestored and are certainly not problem free.

The highlight for me, so far, is Anne Francis' performance in the episode "The Witnesses" from "Arrest and Trial." She plays a guilt ridden witness to a murder, but can't come forward as it would reveal that she is in a relationship with a high powered attorney (Robert Webber) who happens to be married. Despite a predictible ending, Ms. Francis well conveys the conflicted witness.

 

[Bob Hug]

TVShowsonDVD.com has posted artwork and some additional information for the June 17th release of "Brenner." Unfortunately, it will only be a "Best of" collection of 15 episodes rather than the full run. I'm still picking this one up.
Brenner DVD news: Announcement for Brenner - The Best Of | TVShowsOnDVD.com
Here's a link to the NYPD's web site showing television shows about the NYPD either filmed on location in New York or elsewhere . . . . .
POLICE NY NYPD on TV

 

[Stephen Bowie]

BRENNER is the perfect show for Timeless to release because it had no true opening title sequence (just a bumper that segued into the first commercial), so there's nothing for them to chop off!

 

[Bob Hug]

BRENNER is the perfect show for Timeless to release because it had no true opening title sequence (just a bumper that segued into the first commercial), so there's nothing for them to chop off!

Timeless' second release of "Arrest and Trial" includes opening credits for all episodes; that was not the case with some of the episodes in the first set. I haven't yet seen the second set of "Laredo" and that will probably be the real test as Timeless only included the opening credits once on each DVD in the first set. They've been real inconsistent with this practice.

 

[Bert Greene]

Got the second "Laredo" volume the other day. Have only watched a couple of episodes, but it looks like the opening-credits situation is the same as with the initial volume. I've also ordered the new "Arrest and Trial" set, and hope it comes in later this week. Glad they rectified the situation with it.

Looking forward to "Brenner." I used to have a friend who remembered the series very fondly and was always asking me if I had any episodes on tape. Sadly, he passed away a few years back.

 

[Bob Hug]

I've also ordered the new "Arrest and Trial" set, and hope it comes in later this week. Glad they rectified the situation with it.
Looking forward to "Brenner." I used to have a friend who remembered the series very fondly and was always asking me if I had any episodes on tape. Sadly, he passed away a few years back.

Timeless did rectify the opening title sequence on "Arrest and Trial," but the actual episodes look no better than those on the first set. If Timeless is now getting its masters directly from NBC Universal, the masters have not been cleaned up at all. Same goes for "Checkmate."

 

[Doug^Ch]

I watched the first three episodes of TMG's new Goldberg's release. I had never seen the show before so it was a purely blind purchase, and I was pleasantly surprised. While the video and audio quality is pretty much public domain quality, it is very watchable. The show itself has a lot of heart and I'm enjoying it far more than I expected. Definitely a worth picking up IMO.

 

[Bob Hug]

In other Timeless news: Amazon,Buy.com and Critic's Choice are showing a June 3, 2008 release for WILLIAM TELL. Amazon just shows the release date,Buy.com identifies it as a Timeless Media Group release as does the Critic's Choice item code. This is probably the 1958 show with Conrad Phillips but it could turn out to be the 1987-90 series.
I have the R2 Network release of the 1958 William Tell. The opening song that I remember from the U.S. syndication run was only used on one episode of the Network set. Different lyrics and a different section of the William Tell Overture were used on the rest of the episodes. If the U.S. version is on every episode in this set I may have to buy it again.

The release date for "William Tell" has been pushed back to August 19th; unfortunately, it's not a full series release . . . . 30 episodes are included, but the suggested retail price is $14.98.
William Tell DVD news: Announcement for William Tell - The Best of Season 1 | TVShowsOnDVD.com
On the same day, another of the ITC costume adventure series is being released, "The Adventures of Sir Lancelot." This one is complete (30 episodes), though there is no indication as to whether or not those episodes originally shot in color will be included. This has a higher SRP of $29.98 (though Amazon is showing this at a SRP of $14.98 and offering it at a pre-order price of $9.99).
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot DVD news: Annoncement for The Adventures of Sir Lancelot | TVShowsOnDVD.com
If the masters used for these releases are in good shape then I'll be very happy. "Sir Lancelot" has had a few ragged looking public domain releases out for some time now, and I've never seen a commercial DVD release of "William Tell" in the U.S.

 

[Bob Gu]

I hope the press release is wrong about WILLIAM TELL only having 30 of the 39 episodes. The box art does not say "Best OF". Would Timeless really bother with a later 9 episode release?

ADVENTURES OF SIR LANCELOT looks to be something I will wait on until the November DeepDiscount 20% off sale. I want to wait and make sure it has all the color episodes. If it does not I may go for the R2 release at some point.

I have not seen LANCELOT since 1958 and don't remember anything about it, but after revisiting, on DVD, ITC's: ROBIN HOOD, WILLIAM TELL and THE BUCCANEERS, I am sure Lancelot will be up to the same fun standard.

Research tells me that ABC reran The Buccaneers and The Adventures of Sir Lancelot once a week each Monday thru Friday afternoons during the 1957-1958 season. I seem to remember IVANHOE with Roger Moore was in this mix also, but I may be wrong about that. Does anybody know what other two or three ITC shows may have also been in this run? (Or did they round out the week with westerns?)

 

[silverking]

I hope the press release is wrong about WILLIAM TELL only having 30 of the 39 episodes. The box art does not say "Best OF". Would Timeless really bother with a later 9 episode release?
ADVENTURES OF SIR LANCELOT looks to be something I will wait on until the November DeepDiscount 20% off sale. I want to wait and make sure it has all the color episodes. If it does not I may go for the R2 release at some point.
I have not seen LANCELOT since 1958 and don't remember anything about it, but after revisiting, on DVD, ITC's: ROBIN HOOD, WILLIAM TELL and THE BUCCANEERS, I am sure Lancelot will be up to the same fun standard.
Research tells me that ABC reran The Buccaneers and The Adventures of Sir Lancelot once a week each Monday thru Friday afternoons during the 1957-1958 season. I seem to remember IVANHOE with Roger Moore was in this mix also, but I may be wrong about that. Does anybody know what other two or three ITC shows may have also been in this run? (Or did they round out the week with westerns?)

No idea about your query but would mention that 'Ivanhoe' wasn't actually an ITC series. The other ITC 'Swashbucklers' from this period were 'Sir Francis Drake' (complete run available here in the UK from Network) , 'The Count of Monte Cristo' & 'Sword of Freedom' the latter was due to be issued by Network last year but cancelled for some reason. There was also 'The Gay Cavalier' not sure if that was ITC though. Probably these series didn't play in the US.
I am sure some 'Ivanhoe' were filmed in colour.
I understand Timeless are also lining up several more western series including 'The Deputy' & 'Laramie' for future release. They seem to be far & away the best outfit for vintage material.

 

[Bob Hug]

I hope the press release is wrong about WILLIAM TELL only having 30 of the 39 episodes. The box art does not say "Best OF". Would Timeless really bother with a later 9 episode release?
ADVENTURES OF SIR LANCELOT looks to be something I will wait on until the November DeepDiscount 20% off sale. I want to wait and make sure it has all the color episodes. If it does not I may go for the R2 release at some point.
I have not seen LANCELOT since 1958 and don't remember anything about it, but after revisiting, on DVD, ITC's: ROBIN HOOD, WILLIAM TELL and THE BUCCANEERS, I am sure Lancelot will be up to the same fun standard.
Research tells me that ABC reran The Buccaneers and The Adventures of Sir Lancelot once a week each Monday thru Friday afternoons during the 1957-1958 season. I seem to remember IVANHOE with Roger Moore was in this mix also, but I may be wrong about that. Does anybody know what other two or three ITC shows may have also been in this run? (Or did they round out the week with westerns?)

Bob, I'm not surprised that Timeless is only releasing 30 episodes of "William Tell" instead of the full season. They did the same thing with their release of season 1 of "The Adventures of Robin Hood," which in my opinion is the best looking of all the various releases of that series here in the U.S. They've never followed up on that release and, while I hope I'm wrong, I don't think that we'll see the other nine episodes from "William Tell" either, at least from Timeless.
The Adventures of Robin Hood
I sent Timeless an E-mail inquiring whether any of the color episodes from "The Adventures of Sir Lancelot" will be included on this new release but haven't heard anything back from them. If you like "Robin Hood" you'll most certainly enjoy "Sir Lancelot;" they're pretty much cut from the same cloth. "Sir Lancelot" played on NBC and was clobbered by "The Burns and Allen Show" on CBS and "The Danny Thomas Show" on ABC. Interestingly, "Sir Lancelot" immediately followed "Robin Hood" which played on CBS. There are some public domain episodes from the series currently available from Alpha Video, Critics Choice and a few others. The episode where Patrick McGoohan makes one of his earliest television appearances is included on both the Alpha and Critics Choice discs. Supposedly, this is where McGoohan met Ralph Smart who was directing episodes of this series and others like "Robin Hood" and "The Buccaneers," and later led to McGoohan's casting in "Danger Man."
1956-57 United States network television schedule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
According to Wikipedia, the Network UK release of "Sir Lancelot" included 12 color episodes which represents most, but not all of the color episodes (Wikipedia says 14 color episodes of the 30 episodes produced). Historically, this is an important British series as it was the first UK series to have multiple episodes filmed in color. If we're lucky enough to get the color episodes on the Timeless release, surely it will be no more than the UK release. Wikipedia link:
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As Chris correctly stated, "Ivanhoe" was not an ITC series. Unfortunately, it was Screen Gems and ownership resides with Sony, so probably no chance of seeing a DVD release even if it does star Roger Moore. I hold out some hope on "Sir Francis Drake" but it would most certainly have to be released by an independent like Timeless. However, I don't think that "Sir Francis Drake" could have been in the 1957-58 rerun schedule as that show was produced in the early 1960s and, I believe, was the last of the early British "swashbucklers" series. One other possibility might be "The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel" which was produced in 1955 and had a limited run of 18 episodes. Alpha Video has released half of that series on DVD; for what it's worth, I reviewed volume 1 at Amazon:
Amazon.com: The Scarlet Pimpernel, Vol. 1: Scarlet Pimpernel: Movies & TV

 

[FrosteyV]

I understand Timeless are also lining up several more western series including 'The Deputy' & 'Laramie' for future release. They seem to be far & away the best outfit for vintage material.

Would love to see both of those series released, even if it was only in "Best Of" collections.

 

[silverking]

Bob, I'm not surprised that Timeless is only releasing 30 episodes of "William Tell" instead of the full season. They did the same thing with their release of season 1 of "The Adventures of Robin Hood," which in my opinion is the best looking of all the various releases of that series here in the U.S. They've never followed up on that release and, while I hope I'm wrong, I don't think that we'll see the other nine episodes from "William Tell" either, at least from Timeless.
The Adventures of Robin Hood
I sent Timeless an E-mail inquiring whether any of the color episodes from "The Adventures of Sir Lancelot" will be included on this new release but haven't heard anything back from them. If you like "Robin Hood" you'll most certainly enjoy "Sir Lancelot;" they're pretty much cut from the same cloth. "Sir Lancelot" played on NBC and was clobbered by "The Burns and Allen Show" on CBS and "The Danny Thomas Show" on ABC. Interestingly, "Sir Lancelot" immediately followed "Robin Hood" which played on CBS. There are some public domain episodes from the series currently available from Alpha Video, Critics Choice and a few others. The episode where Patrick McGoohan makes one of his earliest television appearances is included on both the Alpha and Critics Choice discs. Supposedly, this is where McGoohan met Ralph Smart who was directing episodes of this series and others like "Robin Hood" and "The Buccaneers," and later led to McGoohan's casting in "Danger Man."
1956-57 United States network television schedule - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
According to Wikipedia, the Network UK release of "Sir Lancelot" included 12 color episodes which represents most, but not all of the color episodes (Wikipedia says 14 color episodes of the 30 episodes produced). Historically, this is an important British series as it was the first UK series to have multiple episodes filmed in color. If we're lucky enough to get the color episodes on the Timeless release, surely it will be no more than the UK release. Wikipedia link:
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As Chris correctly stated, "Ivanhoe" was not an ITC series. Unfortunately, it was Screen Gems and ownership resides with Sony, so probably no chance of seeing a DVD release even if it does star Roger Moore. I hold out some hope on "Sir Francis Drake" but it would most certainly have to be released by an independent like Timeless. However, I don't think that "Sir Francis Drake" could have been in the 1957-58 rerun schedule as that show was produced in the early 1960s and, I believe, was the last of the early British "swashbucklers" series. One other possibility might be "The Adventures of the Scarlet Pimpernel" which was produced in 1955 and had a limited run of 18 episodes. Alpha Video has released half of that series on DVD; for what it's worth, I reviewed volume 1 at Amazon:
Amazon.com: The Scarlet Pimpernel, Vol. 1: Scarlet Pimpernel: Movies & TV

Absolutely right Bob. The Network version of Sir Lancelot has 12 colour episodes, although a couple of them look a bit washy.There are a couple more which were clearly filmed in colour but probably the prints could not be found or are lost.William Russell,the star, later went on to be one of the first companions of the original Dr.Who & is probably better remembered for this.Of the various swashbucklers Network have released the prints used on Lancelot seem below the standard of Robin Hood, William Tell etc, by no means bad though.
William Tell was very popular here & I'm surprised they never made a 2nd series. Watching it recently I was surprised how violent it was for a kids teatime show.Lots of fights , and stabbings abound, Robin Hood would usually try to trick his opponents in order to outwit them but Tell just tries to eliminate them.The entirity of one episode deals with his attempts to assainate some despot. Whereas Sir Lancelot has a young Patrick McGoohan as guest in one segment, William Tell can boast a couple of early appearances by Michael Caine.
Incidentally, Jennifer Jayne who played his wife died last year whilst Willoughby Goddard (the odious Gessler) passed on just a couple of weeks back.

 

[Bob Hug]

Absolutely right Bob. The Network version of Sir Lancelot has 12 colour episodes, although a couple of them look a bit washy.There are a couple more which were clearly filmed in colour but probably the prints could not be found or are lost.William Russell,the star, later went on to be one of the first companions of the original Dr.Who & is probably better remembered for this.Of the various swashbucklers Network have released the prints used on Lancelot seem below the standard of Robin Hood, William Tell etc, by no means bad though.
William Tell was very popular here & I'm surprised they never made a 2nd series. Watching it recently I was surprised how violent it was for a kids teatime show.Lots of fights , and stabbings abound, Robin Hood would usually try to trick his opponents in order to outwit them but Tell just tries to eliminate them.The entirity of one episode deals with his attempts to assainate some despot. Whereas Sir Lancelot has a young Patrick McGoohan as guest in one segment, William Tell can boast a couple of early appearances by Michael Caine.
Incidentally, Jennifer Jayne who played his wife died last year whilst Willoughby Goddard (the odious Gessler) passed on just a couple of weeks back.

Chris, I haven't seen "William Tell" since I was a child and, consequently, have dim memories of it but I really do enjoy these early "swashbuckler" series and so I'm looking forward to the Timeless release, abbreviated as it may be. Hopefully, the Michael Caine episode will be included. I checked IMDB.com and, besides Caine, there are some other good actors in this series including Christopher Lee (this man is simply amazing; he's in his mid-80s and is still working), Derrin Nesbitt, Edward Judd, and James Booth (who appeared with Caine in "Zulu"), among others. The half hour running times on these series really help move the stories along. Thanks for supplying the additional information on the series.

 

[Kruzer31]

Received an e-mail from Timeless on Tuesday and was informed that Laredo Season 2 Part 1 will be released on August 5, 2008. It will contain the first 13 episodes as originally broadcast. The cover art is available to view at Amazon, ignore their release date of May 20th. Season 2 Part 2 is also slated to be released before the year is out.

 

[Bob Gu]

Another "Zulu" actor that was a regular in WILLIAM TELL was Nigel Green as "The Bear". And it took me awhile, after recognizing his voice, identifying the young Frank Thornton, later Captain Peacock on ARE YOU BEING SERVED?.

And the Ralph Smart-Patick McGoohan connection is present in one of the Michael Caine episodes, which is titled "The Prisoner" and Caine plays a man called Number 6. (ROBIN HOOD features an actor named John Drake in a number of episodes.)

Chris, I agree that the violence especially, in the assasination story, was surprising. Usually when a hero character is assigned to kill someone, outright, it turns into a fair fight or the fellow sees the light. Not in William Tell.

 

[Bob Hug]

Another "Zulu" actor that was a regular in WILLIAM TELL was Nigel Green as "The Bear".

How could I forget Nigel Green, one of the key supporting players in "Zulu," as the Colour-Sargeant? Anyhow, great additional information, Bob. Can't wait for this release!

 

[Bob Hug]

I came across an article at the British Film Institute's Screenonline site. No wonder there was so much violence in "William Tell." Consider this excerpt . . . . .
"Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this juvenile-market series was the chilling analogy made between the Austrian domination of Switzerland during the Middle Ages and the Nazi subjugation of Europe during the Second World War.
The sadistic Hapsburg landburgher was clearly modelled on a Hitler-era Gauleiter, or military governor. The writers extended the narrative beyond the all-too-familiar shooting-the-apple-off-the-head fable to parallel Gessler's methods of extracting taxes from the citizens, and his suppression of the flare-ups of rebellion, with the Nazi barbarism of more modern history.
While The Adventures of Robin Hood served up its own mythology with a daring socialist sub-text, William Tell drew on the more disturbing elements of modern history to evoke the purpose of its defender of the underdog."
Full article here:
screenonline: William Tell (1958-59)

 

[Gary OS]

Nothing really new here, but since my contact at Timeless was nice enough to email me with the info I thought I'd share it here. The "Laredo - Season 2, Pt. 1" DVD set will break down like this:

DISC ONE

1. The Legend of Midas Mantee

2. The Dance of the Laughing Death

3. A Double Shot of Nepenthe

4. Coup de Grace

DISC TWO

1. The Land Slickers

2. Finnegan

3. Any Way the Wind Blows

4. The Sweet Gang

DISC THREE

1. One Too Many Voices

2. Road to San Remo

3. The Last of the Caesars-Absolutely

4. A Prince of A Ranger

5. Oh Careless Love

Gary "and as was mentioned above, this one is scheduled for an August 5th release date" O.