Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

One old television series that I remember is Mr. Terrific. So far it has not made its way onto DVD. Does anyone know if it might in the near future along with Captain Nice (which I have never seen). I have heard rumours that all of Mr. Terrific might not still exist. Does anyone know for certain please?

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Well I was able to tape 2 episodes of this series when they aired on Tvland and it was pretty interesting! lol. I wouldn't mind seeing it released on DVD. I never heard about episodes "not existing anymore". If anyone can spread some light on that bit...I'd be interested in hearing it as well.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Both MR. TERRIFIC and CAPTAIN NICE were midseason replacements and each only lasted that one half a season before cancellation, so there aren't many episodes of either series to even preserve.

Of the two, I much preferred CAPTAIN NICE (made by the same folks who did GET SMART so it was much more satiric, and Alice Ghostley who played Williams Daniels' mom on NICE was always hysterical.)

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

I caught one of the episodes of "Mr. Terrific" on TV-Land. A bit silly, but nonetheless colorful and easy-to-take. I think I read that the gent who played him died not too long ago. As for a dvd-release, yep, I'd grab it, but I do have an inordinate fondness and/or curiosity for vintage, short-lived series. Actually, a lot of them are quite good (although, ahem, I'm not quite ready to grant such an appraisal on the pill-popping "Mr. Terrific"). It's happened repeatedly that decent series often find themselves in killer time-slots, and can't overcome them, no matter the level of quality they offer. The small number of episodes for such series would make for such nice done-in-one dvd releases.

"Captain Nice" seemed a little more intriguing, especially due to William Daniels and Alice Ghostly. But, when viewing some, I grew a bit weary of how every character (other than Daniels, who played the bookish hero) had the same style of Maxwell Smart wisecracks. It was indeed like "Get Smart," but with EVERYONE except Daniels talking like Max. It didn't seem to really work out as well, with that approach. That is, the whole cast dropping those nonstop smart-alecky comments (even if they were pretty funny on occasion). Just my opinion, though.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Since "Mr. Terrific" and "Captain Nice" were each partial seasons, and sort of the same offbeat kind of show, maybe they could be a single box set.

I remember (vaguely) watching several of each of them when they originally aired.

Which of these series had the father always sitting in an easy chair in the living room, and never really spoke any lines? And, sort of like a precursor to Wilson on Home Improvement, you never saw any of him except for maybe the top of his head, if even that (over the newspaper) and his hands (holding the newspaper). At least that's the shadowy image I have in my mind.

DG

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Still no news of a possible release of this series on DVD....But when it was shown on TV Land does anyone know how many episodes were shown please? I believe that only 17 episodes were made - were they all kept? Thanks. Ian.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Unless a show is "orphaned", of course it is kept. Universal owns the show so unless they go through a radical restructuring, they have shown zero interest in mining their vast 50s and 60s television catalog. Captain Nice, however, at least had some rerun exposure in the early 90s, running on WOR satellite service as well as HA. So at least we were able to record that show.


There is a re-edited Mr. Terrific movie called The Pill Caper, which is 4 episodes strung together. That ran a lot in the 80s.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

It's being released on Region 2 in Germany (according to the description, English audio should be included as well)

Immer, wenn er Pillen nahm - Die komplette Serie Folgen 01-17: Amazon.de: Stephen Strimpell, John McGiver, Richard Gautier: DVD & Blu-ray

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Great news. Thanks for letting me know. The print quality looks very good.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

I remember loving both of these (hey, I was nine years old!). I'd love to see them again.

Similarly, do y'all remember "Run, Buddy, Run"? This was another half-seasoner, in late '66-early '67.

I liked 'Buddy' even more than The Captain & Teriffic.

Jon

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

That was Captain Nice. The character was the father of Carter Nash (aka "Captain Nice.") His lines typically consisted of little more than "yes, dear."

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Stephen Strimpell gave an interview to Filmfax (or Outre) magazine around 2001, a really candid chat about how much he disliked working on the Mr. Terrific show but he was also very funny, a great wit. He died a few years ago.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

After reading this thread, I wandered over to YouTube, and sure enough, there are a few clips of both Mr. Terrific and Captain Nice available for viewing. Although I remember watching these short-lived series, I had no recollection that William Daniels was the lead in Captain Nice or that Buck Henry and Jay Sandrich (among others) were responsible for it. In hindsight, it looks like both of these 1967 series were designed to cash in on the runaway success of the 1966 campy Batman series, but they quickly faded into oblivion... And Batman followed them in early 1968.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

I wonder if this would ever be released in the US? I guess many reasons why older shows do not get released are due to sales projections and the cost of preparing/restoring the show for dvd release. At least the show has already been transferred to disc and is available in english. I would rather buy it in the US as it would be less expensive and I would like the package to be in English.
I guess if the price was really good, I may buy it from outside the US.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Perhaps it was a cult hit in Germany?

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Is there a way to translate the German to English at the German amazon site?

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

I remember all 3 shows. They were great little comedies. Would love to see them again.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

One noteworthy thing about Mr. Terrific is that it didn't do badly during its brief run on CBS in the ratings. If you look at the 1966-67 ratings list (compiled by AC Nielsen for all 90 shows that year), Mr. Terrific ranked a healthy 36th - ahead of The Invaders (39) F Troop (40), UNCLE (42), Lost in Space (44), Gilligan's Island (49), The Fugitive (50), Star Trek (52), Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (63), Girl from UNCLE (70), Time Tunnel (76), etc.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

Not that I saw, hoerver I used

Yahoo! Babel Fish - Text Translation and Web Page Translation

which helped me stumble around enough to be able to order it. Apparently the series aired a couple of times on a cable channel over there.

Re: Could Mr. Terrific appear on DVD?

I'd buy the complete box set of Captain Nice. It's spooky how much Ann Prentiss looks and sounds like her sister, Paula. I never heard that they were twins, but they could almost pass for them.
***
"Mother, what would you do if I told you that I have discovered a way to take on the characteristics of a giant bird?"

"I think I'd lay down some newspapers." -- William Daniels and Alice Ghostley in "Captain Nice."

I got my DVD set of Mr. Terrific in the mail today (ordered in Germany) this is certainly one show I thought I'd NEVER see released on DVD! Anyways quality is fantastic for what it is. The discs are in PAL Region 2 (but anyone with a $60 Philips multi-region converting DVD player will be fine (I have an actual PAL/NTSC multi-standard monitor so the picture looks even better There is Enghish audio on audio track 2 (the only drawback is to remember to switch the audio before playing otherwise it's in German on the default) also the beginning title card is in German ("Immer, Wenn Er Pillen Nahm" instead of )Mr. Terrific", but no big deal.) I also noticed the English voiceover during the beginning credits of the first episode is missing, but is intact in the other episodes I saw (first 4). Anyways what a rarity and great to finally have on DVD! WELL worth the extra effort to get! Now bring on Captain Nice!

I remember both Mr Terrific and Captain Nice, but I would never have been able to remember the titles of either if it weren't for this thread. I would have been 9 when these came out. I seem to remember that I liked one of them (Captain Nice, probably) and thought the other one was cheesy (funny, since they're both really cheesy from looking at the YouTube clips). I'd love to see these get a US release.

What was the total cost including shipping in US money?

I bought it together with season 3 of Bionic Woman. You never know what obscure US shows will turn out to be popular in other countries. I remember reading many years ago in TV Guide about how Garrison's Gorillas was hugely popular in China. Hey, maybe we'll find out some day that The Good Guys is considered a classic somewhere.

What do you think all that secrecy in North Korea is really about? 

And don't forget, in Papua New Guinea they worship Jack Sheldon from RUN, BUDDY, RUN like a god. 

Thanks for the tip on the Mr. Terrific German DVD....might wait a few months and see if there's a US announcement, but I need to have this one way or another.  Now, where's Captain Nice???

Betting that these don't hold up well at all, after being horrified at how downright awful The Banana Splits was in retrospect.

Actually, I think Captain Nice, being a product of the Get Smart team, holds up well.

William Daniels: "Mother, what would you do if I told you I could, at any moment, take on the characteristics of a giant bird?"
Alice Ghostley:  "I think I'd lay down some newspapers."

Now that Shout Factory has an agreement with Universal to release Leave it to Beaver,  I thought that Mr. Terrific would be a good idea for a release that Shout Factory should consider.  Since this was released in Germany last year,  it may not be very costly to introduce this to the US, since the video has already been prepared in English (and German) for the Germany release.  I hope that there may be a possibility that Shout Factory could work with this studio to make this a reality.  This is a fun show and I have noticed many people who remember this and would love to see it again!  (I did post this on their message board)

     
     We already have seen it again - by buying the German release. If I were going to suggest Universal shows for Shout to release, I think I would be more inclined to maybe think about the couple of hundred shows that aren't available already elsewhere.