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Burke's Law/Honey West

#1
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4/26/07 at 4:16am
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I received VCI Entertainment's "Video Gazette" sales catalog in yesterday's mail. At the back of the catalog, VCI lists several items that they're preparing for upcoming releases. Included were the following:

Honey West - Original season one premiere

Burke's Law - Original season one premiere

That's all the information that was listed and when I tried to search at VCI's web site, I found nothing. There was no indication as to any release date for either of the above. I'm interpreting the above to mean just a single episode of each, but I could very well be wrong.

Also, for TV westerns fans, VCI listed . . .

Zane Grey Theatre - Original season one premiere
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#2
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4/26/07 at 5:08am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

This is bizarre as I understand it, FOX owns both shows as part of the Four-Star catalog. Did FOX lease both titles to VCI, or is this a 'grey area' release?
Bring "The continuing story of PEYTON PLACE" home on DVD: the one that started it all- from Dallas and Dynasty to Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl!!! Starting this May, see the legendary saga starring Mia Farrow, Ryan O'Neal, Barbara Parkins, and Oscar-winner Dorothy Malone on DVD thru Shout!...
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#3
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4/26/07 at 5:23am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Ellis
This is bizarre as I understand it, FOX owns both shows as part of the Four-Star catalog. Did FOX lease both titles to VCI, or is this a 'grey area' release?

Charles, I have absolutely no idea as to why VCI is involved with these two series other than the possibility that Fox may be licensing out older catalog titles along the lines of what Universal is doing with Shout! Factory (McHale's Navy, Ironside). There is a single episode of Burke's Law ("Who Killed Jason Shaw?") that's been circulating on a few public domain labels like Platinum Disc and Diamond, but that's the only domestic release that I've seen of either of these series.
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#4
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4/26/07 at 8:59am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Hopefully,Bob, all three are full season releases and the catalog descriptions should have read "Original Premiere Season One".

It would be really strange if these are all single episode releases. VCI seems to be going backwards. I have not received the catalog yet, but online I see they are re-releasing collections of Annie Oakley and My Little Margie as Vol 1 and 2 instead of the 12 episode pack.

If would be great if Alpha and VCI would go the full season or at least multi-episode route with their PD releases. Save us the trouble of trying to figure out what's out there from all sources.

Of course, Burke's Law S1 and Honey West S1 can be purchased in Region 2,from amazon.co.uk together for around $84.00 plus postage. I was planning on getting them eventually,but now I will wait to see what VCI is up to.

I am also waiting for Vol 2 from VCI of Craig Kennedy, Criminologist.
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#5
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4/26/07 at 9:51am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Gu
If would be great if Alpha and VCI would go the full season or at least multi-episode route with their PD releases. Save us the trouble of trying to figure out what's out there from all sources.

Mill Creek seems to be headed in that direction, e.g., "The Buccaneers," "Sherlock Holmes," "Victory at Sea," etc., etc. I just noticed on their site today that they are offering all 17 PD episodes of "The Lone Ranger" along with an earlier movie serial version of TLR.

As far as BL/HW is concerned, I have set off an e-mail to VCI asking for a little more information on these releases. If they respond, I'll be sure to post here.
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#6
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4/26/07 at 10:01am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Hug
As far as BL/HW is concerned, I have set off an e-mail to VCI asking for a little more information on these releases. If they respond, I'll be sure to post here.

Gee, Bob, makes me wonder if I should have bought HW R2 Not really, great set. Thanks to Mike_KS for the info on it!

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#7
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4/26/07 at 12:43pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Well, looks like we have some great news . . . I just received this E-mail message from Penny at VCI . . . .

"Hello,

These three series will be the complete 1st season. Release dates will be in the 4th quarter. We don't have a firm schedule yet.

Thanks"

Note: The third series (not in my thread subject) is "Zane Grey Theatre" . . . don't want to slight fans of this series. Bob
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#8
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4/26/07 at 1:54pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Interesting about "Honey West"--hope I don't regret my purchase of the UK release which came out last year. Strange business where classic tv on dvd is concerned, one never knows what to expect.

Great news about ZGT, that's another classic western series I can add to the collection, provided some restoration work is going into this.
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#9
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4/26/07 at 2:06pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Hug
Well, looks like we have some great news . . . I just received this E-mail message from Penny at VCI . . . .

"Hello,

These three series will be the complete 1st season. Release dates will be in the 4th quarter. We don't have a firm schedule yet.

Thanks"

Note: The third series (not in my thread subject) is "Zane Grey Theatre" . . . don't want to slight fans of this series. Bob


Great news for classic television lovers! Thanks for posting the result of your email, Bob.
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#10
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4/26/07 at 2:59pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Fantastic news! And I must confess I was worried about the same thing Bob Gu mentioned when I first read the titles. But now that we know these will be entire 1st Season releases, I'm pleased as punch! All three will be must buys.

Gary "I think Honey West is the one I'm most looking forward to of the three mentioned" O.
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                                             ...CHARLIE CHAN ON TREASURE ISLAND

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#11
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4/26/07 at 6:27pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Add my thanks to this good news, Bob. I picked up the R2 release of BL/HW and happy with what I've watched till now (although I've only scratched the surface). Really looking forward to Zane Grey, which has had very limited exposure since it's initial run. Lots of good guest stars in an anthology type western. It's good to hear that VCI is taking an aggressive approach with more of these classics. I'll be checking out their site more now.
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#12
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4/26/07 at 6:30pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

It's nice that both VCI and Mill Creek have responsive customer service reps answering e-mail questions. It too bad the folks writing catalog descriptions and keeping the websites up-to-date, have either incomplete information or no information.

I always thought of VCI as a fan run company and it's great that they are getting into complete season releases. The 4th quarter seems like a long way off, so I hope nothing goes wrong,with these,I gather, licenced releases

ZANE GREY THEATER was also a Four Star show. I was reading over the guest star list: Robert Ryan,Jack Palance,Sterling Hayden,Jack Lemmon,Mary Astor,David Niven...well too many stars to list, in addtition to the usual character actors, Jack Elam,Strother Martin, etc.,and the host, and one of the Four Stars, Dick Powell (who also played Amos Burke in the BURKE'S LAW pilot.) ZGT S1 also includes the TRACKDOWN pilot, starring Robert Culp.
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#13
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4/26/07 at 7:10pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Great news! Thanks for letting us know. I've been tempted to buy "Honey West" R2, but will wait. I'll probably buy "Burke's Law," too. That was sort of like the Love Boat in its day. Lots of fun guest stars. I know my favorite, Elizabeth Montgomery, appeared on it twice during the first season -- one year prior to starting "Bewitched."
Hopefully, we won't have to wait too long since they've already been transferred to disc for R2.

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#14
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4/27/07 at 5:10am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

I really hope that this is the start of the major studios taking a more serious look at licensing the older, vintage titles to the independents. I see a good trend here . . . the three Four Star/Fox shows mentioned in this thread being licensed to VCI, and Universal licensing "McHale's Navy" and "Ironside" to Shout! Factory and "Banacek" to Hart Sharp.

It would be great to see Warner license their classic westerns and detective shows from the late 50s/early 60s, MGM with the ZIV catalog, and Sony with "Route 66," "Father Knows Best," etc., etc. Paramount is the only major studio that I'm not too worried about, save the split season trend; they've done the best in demonstrating their growing commitment to classic TV.
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#15
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4/27/07 at 5:18am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Unfortunately Warner isn't into licensing out to other studio, unlike Universal and Fox have in the past. However, there's still no explanation as to how VCI got the rights to these Four-Star shows: were they leased by Fox, or did a third party own these shows all along, outside Fox's control?
Bring "The continuing story of PEYTON PLACE" home on DVD: the one that started it all- from Dallas and Dynasty to Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl!!! Starting this May, see the legendary saga starring Mia Farrow, Ryan O'Neal, Barbara Parkins, and Oscar-winner Dorothy Malone on DVD thru Shout!...
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#16
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4/27/07 at 5:31am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Ellis
Unfortunately Warner isn't into licensing out to other studio, unlike Universal and Fox have in the past. However, there's still no explanation as to how VCI got the rights to these Four-Star shows: were they leased by Fox, or did a third party own these shows all along, outside Fox's control?

Though I can't be entirely certain, I'd bet that they're licensed from Fox. The Wikipedia entry shows that Four Star is owned by News Corporation, the parent of Fox. I guess a similar question could be asked as to whether or not "The Rifleman" was licensed to MPI by Fox. Again, I'd assume that was the case, but who knows? One thing is for certain . . . Fox's only release of a Four Star Production, "The Big Valley," was in color while all of these other series are black & white, suggesting that Fox might be a little skittish when it comes to releasing b&w series on their own (save a few seasons of "guaranteed winners" from the Irwin Allen stable).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Star_Television
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#17
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4/27/07 at 12:07pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Hmmm... maybe there's hope that Peyton Place (which is half B/W), and Adventures In Paradise (all B/W) may see the light of day soon through a leasing agreement with another company.......
Bring "The continuing story of PEYTON PLACE" home on DVD: the one that started it all- from Dallas and Dynasty to Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl!!! Starting this May, see the legendary saga starring Mia Farrow, Ryan O'Neal, Barbara Parkins, and Oscar-winner Dorothy Malone on DVD thru Shout!...
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#18
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4/27/07 at 1:06pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

I'm impressed! Based on the recent news I ordered a copy of VCI's catalog yesterday, and it arrived today! Pretty fast "snail mail".
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#19
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4/27/07 at 1:27pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

VCI is one of the good independent companies, and they have a great reputation among collecters of B-westerns of the 1930s through 1950s. Though not extensive, they have a nice catalog of classic TV-on-DVD titles, including the largest collections of "My Little Margie" and "I Married Joan" on commecially available DVDs, and carry some oddball TV titles like "Fractured Flickers" and "The Littlest Hobo." They're a little pricey if you order direct from them, but their titles can be found for less at most all of the usual online stores; however, they're not the easiest to find at brick & mortar stores.
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#20
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4/27/07 at 2:19pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Quote:
I guess a similar question could be asked as to whether or not "The Rifleman" was licensed to MPI by Fox.

I think the thread below (see last post) implies that Levy-Gardner-Laven still owns the series outright. IIRC, the MPI videos and DVDs and the old NuVentures tapes credit L-G-L as the licensor, with no Fox logo or any type of acknowledgement of a major studio as the owner.

While the lack of a syndicator's fanfare/logo at the end of a show may not be telling, I take it to mean--regarding The Rifleman reruns now on the Westerns channel--that L-G-L owns them but has no syndicator fanfare.

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...fleman+mpi+dvd

Great news in your first post above, Bob. VCI has gotten my money (via DDD) for some of their Kit Parker films, and I plan to buy all three of these series.
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#21
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7/12/07 at 4:31pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Have we heard anything new on this front? I thought the initial scuttlebutt was that the first Four-Star offering from VCI (Burke's Law, I believe) was slated for September. But that's getting pretty close now. VCI, as much as I love 'em, has a history of being a little bit too optimistic with their release-date projections, so I won't be surprised if plans have been pushed back.

Whatever the case, I hope this 'leasing from Fox' situation works out well, because there are a host of other Four-Star series that I'd love to see. Same with Shout Factory and their Universal offerings. With VCI's propensity for westerns, I can easily imagine them as being a good outlet for more Four-Star westerns (besides "Zane Grey"), like "Black Saddle," "Trackdown," "Law of the Plainsman," "Stagecoach West," and whatever others. Although, my own preference might be for sets devoted to Four-Star's non-western items "The Dick Powell Show" and "The Rogues."
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#22
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7/12/07 at 6:20pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

I coincidentally e-mailed VCI this morning, and I was told that Burke's Law is due out in September, price to be determined.
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#23
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7/12/07 at 6:35pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

I'd love "The Dick Powell Theater" on dvd. It was the last of the great anthologies and his death in 1963 changed the future of television by ending the concept of the anthology in television programming. "Dick Powell Theater" was a brilliant series that utilized the best in writing, directing, and acting. Had Powell lived, he might have beat Lew Wasserman to the punch in inventing the tv movie.

Charles Hoyt

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#24
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7/13/07 at 5:43am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

You're forgetting Dick's protege Aaron Spelling, who made the popular The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, and Hotel years after his days producing Burke's Law for Dick Powell's Four-Star Productions (the other stars being Charles Boyer, Ida Lupino and David Niven).

Those shows were anthologies, with multiple stories in either comedic or dramatic vein that were wrapped up by the episode's end. The only difference was that the Spelling shows had a basic supporting cast to 'host' each show (e.g., the crew of the Pacific Princess, Mr. Roarke and Tattoo, and the staff of the St. Gregory).
Bring "The continuing story of PEYTON PLACE" home on DVD: the one that started it all- from Dallas and Dynasty to Desperate Housewives and Gossip Girl!!! Starting this May, see the legendary saga starring Mia Farrow, Ryan O'Neal, Barbara Parkins, and Oscar-winner Dorothy Malone on DVD thru Shout!...
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#25
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7/13/07 at 5:58am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Quote:
I can easily imagine them as being a good outlet for more Four-Star westerns (besides "Zane Grey"), like "Black Saddle," "Trackdown," "Law of the Plainsman,"

Westerns where Peter Breck, Russell Johnson, Robert Culp and Michael Ansara saddle up? I'm there!
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#26
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7/13/07 at 8:35am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

By "anthologies," I mean in the context of short stories and early tv ("Playhouse 90," Studio One," "Four Star Playhouse") with independent casts, genres, and stories. On BURKE'S LAW (a terrific series), the pilot (by Pulizer Prize winner Frank Gilroy) was originally shown on THE DICK POWELL THEATER with Powell playing Amos Burke. Ronald Reagan was one of the suspects, and I hope they include it on the BURKE'S LAW dvd.

Charles Hoyt

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#27
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7/13/07 at 9:17pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Looking forward to Burke's Law if it really happens - but in the meantime I don't regret picking up BL and HW (R2, Delta), they did a great job with them. I hope this means we will eventually get BL season's 2 and 3 (Amos Burke, Secret Agent)!
.

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#28
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7/14/07 at 10:29am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Quote:
I can easily imagine them as being a good outlet for more Four-Star westerns (besides "Zane Grey"), like "Black Saddle," "Trackdown," "Law of the Plainsman," "Stagecoach West," and whatever others.

Let's not forget Johnny Ringo with Don Durant in the title role and the feisty Mark Goddard as his deputy. Ringo was packaged with Plainsman, Black Saddle, and The Westerner in the eighties as part of The Westerners in syndication of Four-Star shows.

I'd also like to see anthologies from other studios like Bob Hope Chrysler Theater and Kraft Suspense Theater. These were somewhat inconsistent in quality, but still are fascinating depictions of the culture of that period. Many people probably remember the pulsating theme used in the intros and credits of KSP.
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#29
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7/14/07 at 2:24pm
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Ah, forgot about "Johnny Ringo." Haven't seen one of those in ages. But, I do recall it being a component of that aforementioned catch-all syndicated package, "The Westerners." The added openings with host Keenan Wynn always made me suspicious the various episodes were snipped a bit, to make room for that. I don't know what year all those were syndicated, but they did date back to the 60s. The last time I recall encountering them was on CBN in the mid-80s. Smart move, to batch all those short-lived series together. At very least it gave exposure to the high-quality "Westerner" series with Brian Keith, which had so lamentably few episodes to its name, and would otherwise have been rendered unseen and forgotten.

It does seem that those various Four-Star westerns are now freed from that "Westerners" construct, though. When the Nostalgia Channel (now AmericanLife) aired "Law of the Plainsman" and "The Westerner" in the mid-90s, they all had their original openings. They aired a big batch of Four-Star series around that time, like "Dante," "The Law and Mr. Jones," "Richard Diamond," and "Stagecoach West." I also seem to recall TV-Land running a few episodes of "Trackdown," back in their early days, when they were an interesting network. Hard to imagine nowadays, considering what they've become, but they were initially prone to dig up some intriguing rarities. Heck, I even recall them showing an "Amos Burke: Secret Agent."
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#30
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7/16/07 at 12:17am
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Re: Burke's Law/Honey West

Quote:
The added openings with host Keenan Wynn always made me suspicious the various episodes were snipped a bit, to make room for that.

Those were pretty interesting, almost to the point of being comical non-sequitors. Wynn's comments seemed rather unrelated to the plots of the ensuing Ringo episode. But agreed they were used as filler, and must have been recorded not long after the series ended, circa 1960.

Quote:
Hard to imagine nowadays, considering what they've become, but they were initially prone to dig up some intriguing rarities. Heck, I even recall them showing an "Amos Burke: Secret Agent."

Yeah, I managed to pick up a few eps of The Detectives (60 minute version) from TVLand's Detective theme programming. That was probably the last time period anything of interest aired on the network (in the mid nineties). Too bad Nostalgia - Goodlife - ALTV followed the same path to blandness. Although until this month they did air the Warners shows to those few folks lucky enough to receive the network.


Quote:
They aired a big batch of Four-Star series around that time, like "Dante," "The Law and Mr. Jones," "Richard Diamond," and "Stagecoach West."

Except for RD (which may have too many episodes), these would seem prime candidates for DVD release from an independent company that would be interested in securing leasing rights. Each aired for a season or a season and a half in the case of TLAMJ. Since they're not PD, that probably rules out Mill Creek.
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