BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Any updates about the release date, scope of BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER said to be coming from VCI Entertainment this fall?

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Nothing's showing at VCI's site but, to be fair to VCI, they are only showing new releases for August and September. The VCI print catalog that I received earlier this year said a fourth quarter release for the above three series. I checked Amazon and Deep Discount, and neither of them are showing any listings yet. My limited experience with VCI tells me that we probably won't know much in advance until maybe a month before the actual release.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Bob,

Thanks for the release trend at VCI. I previously bought that H.W. PAL set so I have to pass on the R1. The PAL set is a good view for me though. Great series. That one I owe to "Mike_KS" for the tip/info

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

I also bought the English Honey West set but held off on Burke's. I await word of the VCI release and wonder if this means VCI might get access to some other Four Star series.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

I just received an e-mail from someone at VCI saying that Burke's Law is still planned, but no date is set. Sometime "next year" is likely.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

That's really too bad. I was looking forward to seeing both "BURKE'S LAW" and "HONEY WEST" within the next couple of months. But the silence was deafening as we moved through the summer and were getting release dates for the rest of the year. I feared these series were not coming out anytime soon, even though we had previously been told to look for them this quarter or, at the worst, the last quarter of the year. Obviously not.

Gary "I'm also slightly nervous about the Timeless releases for September, but not as nervous as I was about these VCI releases - still, it would be nice to get some cover art or details about the Timeless Media releases supposedly just around the corner" O.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Gary,

You probably know but Honey West is available in R2. "Region-Free" player = Mike_KS tipped me about the H.W. release a while back.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Yep, I'm well aware of that release in R2. That's why I'm closer than ever to purchasing one of those players. Guess I'll have to start really examining a certain email link someone sent me.

Gary "yep, I'm going to have to invest in a region-free player" O.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Burke's Law & Honey West from England are actually Region 0 DVDs. So you don't need a region free player so much as you just need one that can convert PAL to NTSC for you. Some US DVD players can convert, you may already own one that does. You might want to search around the internet for information on your model DVD player. Also, if you have a DVD-Rom drive in your computer, you can watch them that way, as a computer monitor is neither PAL nor NTSC, it'll play either standard just fine, as long as region coding isn't an issue. And with these two releases it isn't. Also, portable DVD players with their own screens will play both PAL & NTSC without issues. So those are a few options you might already have available to you. But, still getting a region free player is a good idea, I certainly wouldn't want to be without one.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

I was looking forward to 'blind buying' "Zane Grey Theater" sometime this year but I'm beginning to think that it's a dim possibility now. Such a dearth of vintage westerns on the horizon, unfortunately, save for "Wanted: Dead or Alive" S3. No Paladin, Gil Favor, McCain or Barkleys out there...just blowing tumbleweeds.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

ZANE GREY THEATER was going to be a blind buy for me too, but boy was I looking forward to it along with the other two VCI sets. And since I haven't seen either of them in many, many years they would almost be like blind buys for me as well.

And you're correct about the recent drought of Westerns. A number of good series have been missing in action for some time now. What a shame...

Gary "still trying to decide if I'll take the R-Free dvd player plunge or wait for these a bit more" O.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Gary, as you'll see in my signature, I've become increasingly pessimistic about "Rawhide" that I actually altered my season by season wish list to reflect this.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

I received VCI Entertainment's latest catalog and, unlike an earlier catalog which touted the three series for the fourth quarter of this year, there is no mention made of BL, HW, or ZGT and nothing is showing for those series at the company's web site. Presumably, we'll see these sometime in 2008.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Well that is unfortunate, especially (for me, anyway) where ZGT is concerned. I do hope we'll see this in '08.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Number me amongst the sorrowful if this signals the postponement or cancellation of these three releases. I was very much looking forward to all of them.

Gary "with this news I'm closer than ever to buying a region-free player" O.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Hi Gary,
Pull the trigger! I don't regret for a minute having bought the UK sets of the first season of Burke's Law and all of Honey West (wish they had captions for the hearing impaired though)!

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

OK, here's the deal, no release date yet from VCI but they definitely ARE working on these . . . . from their web site, which was just updated this morning . . . .

"Here is a ‘sneak peak’ at some of the new movies and DVD collections that we have acquired or are working on for a future release. Stay tuned as more details will be added as they become known.

Classic TV Series on DVD

BURKE’S LAW – TV SERIES SEASON ONE (32 total episodes)

“Burke’s Law” was a hit prime-time TV series that aired on ABC in 1963 and ran until 1966. It starred Gene Barry in the title roll (for which he won a Golden Globe – Best TV Actor Award in 1965) of an LA chief of detectives, who also happened to be a millionaire! Each episode featured unusual plot twists, glamorous settings and a fabulous list of guest stars. So good it was brought back for a brief run in 1994! VCI will be releasing season one in two separate collector’s sets of 16 episodes each. Digitally remastered from the original 35mm master, each collection will also include ‘bonus’ original commercials and previews.

ZANE GREY THEATRE – TV SERIES SEASON ONE

A series of western adventures based on the novels and stories of best-selling author Zane Grey. Each episode was hosted by Dick Powell (who was often also the star) and featured a stellar collection of guest stars.

HONEY WEST – TV SERIES SEASON ONE

Beautiful Anne Francis starred in the title role of Honey West, the sexy head of a high-tech private detective firm."

Link: http://www.vcientertainment.com/SneakPeak.aspx

Note that "Burke's Law," a show designed for a one-hour time slot will be released in the "split season" format. No mention about split seasons for "Zane Grey Theatre" or "Honey West," but they were both half hour shows so, presumably, each will be complete in a single release.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Bob,

Thanks for the info! Makes me wonder if I should have passed on that Honey West "R0" PAL set but since the PAL speed-up thing doesn't bother me I guess the only question that I'd wonder about with the PAL HW set is if the xfrs would be better quality from VCI (R1).

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

I just wonder if this means that VCI is going to have access to the Four Star library. They had some great shows like Saints and Sinners, Dick Powell Theatre, Target the Corrupters, etc. We know Fox would never touch any of these in a million years so licensing to another company is the only chance.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Time will tell!

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

The site also mentions a release for the Canadian sci-fi series The Starlost which was created by Harlan Ellison and syndicated in the US via 20th Cenury-Fox TV. I wonder if this is part of the Four-Star package, too.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

I hope we'll get all the Burke's including the freaky Amos Burke, Secret Agent.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

I imported long ago. I hope these are of the same quality so a repurchase is not wanted but remaining unfulfilled. Why split Burke's Law up? It is the trendy thing to do. I am most excited about the Brenda Starr Serial collection.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

VCI Entertainment is now showing a March 4th release date for season 1, volume 1 of "Burke's Law," plus there are a couple of preview clips (with Elizabeth Montgomery) here:

VCI Entertainment: Home

No definitive release dates for either "Honey West" of "Zane Grey Theatre."

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Bob,

Thanks for the VCI update info about Burke's Law. I'm looking forward to this release.

Jeff "Yet ANOTHER great late 50's-early 60's tip from you guys" W.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Maybe I'll pick up the UK Burke's release after all. At least they put out the full season set at once.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Thanks, Bob! The episodes that currently air on American Life TV are sparkling clean so I would expect these DVDs to be equally so. I've always wanted to get into this series and look forward to picking these up. Hopefully VCI will be able to bring the entire series to DVD using full length 35mm prints.

Steve

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Steve, the two preview clips were pretty clean looking, at least to my eyes, so hopefully that will be indicative of the release. Outside of a single public domain episode ("Who Killed Jason Shaw?"), I haven't seen this show in decades.

Re: BURKE'S LAW, HONEY WEST, and ZANE GREY THEATER?

Amos Burke was part Hugh Hefner, part Matt Helm, part Bat Masterson (a dandy dresser), but the great attraction to the series for me was every episode featured 3-4 great Hollywood stars-of-yore as the prime suspects in a murder. This show was like the resting home of well-known feature actors who were no longer a bang at the box office now getting a little small screen time and having a lot fun. If you're a fan of the golden age of Hollywood, you'll be amazed who shows up here. And there was always a lot of beautiful young starlet window dressing if the famous wrinkle set didn't excite you enough.

Any updates on the season(s) 2 for BURKE'S LAW and  ZANE GREY THEATER?  VCI is meticulous in their restorations, but it would be nice and reassuring to know that/if those seasons actually will be coming.