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1950's TV series "Super Circus" coming to DVD via Alpha Video

#1
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9/30/08 at 3:39am
  • Joined: August 2008
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Super Circus - Volume 1 (6 Episodes) - Television on DVD Starring Mary Hartline; Claude Kirchner & Nikki The Clown; Alpha Video : OLDIES.com

Being a young fan of early TV I cannot wait. Shokus Video had previously released a few episodes but they were expensive. Ever since Alpha released "Rocky King, Detective" on DVD it seems like they will release anything they can get their hands on, from the wonderful "The Eve Arden Show" to the painfully unfunny "The Betty Hutton Show". Hopefully they will release more 50's kiddie shows if this sells well.

So, anyone hoping for "Captain Video"?

Disclaimer: I don't work for them.
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#2
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9/30/08 at 3:53am
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Re: 1950's TV series "Super Circus" coming to DVD via Alpha Video

Add this release to Timeless Media's release of "Live at the Hippodrome" and you have a mini-trend of television circus shows.

Hippodrome

Quote:
Originally Posted by DuMont_Network_Saiyan
Hopefully they will release more 50's kiddie shows if this sells well.

Check out Alpha's release of "The Pinky Lee Show" and "Diver Dan." Oops, "Dan" is a 60s series . . . .

http://www.oldies.com/product-view/5571D.html

http://www.oldies.com/product-view/5152D.html
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#3
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9/30/08 at 6:54am
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Re: 1950's TV series "Super Circus" coming to DVD via Alpha Video

I recently viewed Alpha's release of Decoy starring Beverly Garland and was impresssed by the quality of the show, even though the films themselves were PD prints. Does anyone know if the entire series is PD, or just the 8 episodes that Alpha has put out?

One genre from classic TV I'd love to see out on commercial DVD is the soap opera. There were a lot of kinescopes of episodes made from the 50s and 60s. Who knows, maybe someone can gather a good number of consecutive episodes from a classic soap like Love of Life or The Secret Storm (I don't know if the kinescopes of shows owned by Procter & Gamble like As The World Turns, The Guiding Light, and Search for Tomorrow are PD) and create a DVD set. Just an idea- are you listening, Alpha?
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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#4
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9/30/08 at 7:29am
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Re: 1950's TV series "Super Circus" coming to DVD via Alpha Video

Quote:
Originally Posted by Charles Ellis
I recently viewed Alpha's release of Decoy starring Beverly Garland and was impresssed by the quality of the show, even though the films themselves were PD prints. Does anyone know if the entire series is PD, or just the 8 episodes that Alpha has put out?

"Decoy" is one of those 1950s series where some, but not all, of the episodes are in the public domain. A cursory search at the US Copyright Office under the show's production company, Pyramid Productions, indicates that at least 15 episodes are still under copyright, perhaps more.

Liberation Entertainment has the worldwide TV & DVD rights, so they would have to license those episodes still under copyright in order that there might be a full series release.

Liberation Entertainment US | Drama | Decoy

Alpha Video will be issuing a third volume of public domain episodes at the end of October.

Decoy: Police Woman - Volume 3 - Television on DVD (1957) Starring Beverly Garland; Directed by David Alexander; Alpha Video : OLDIES.com

Finally, see BrianC's website where he documents those episodes that have been released thus far by the various public domain releasing companies.

Decoy
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#5
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9/30/08 at 9:45am
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Re: 1950's TV series "Super Circus" coming to DVD via Alpha Video

Continuing the circus theme - I remember Circus Boy with Mickey Dolenz and Noah Beery. I wonder if it might make it to DVD one day....?
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#6
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9/30/08 at 10:03am
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Re: 1950's TV series "Super Circus" coming to DVD via Alpha Video

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian K McLachlan
Continuing the circus theme - I remember Circus Boy with Mickey Dolenz and Noah Beery. I wonder if it might make it to DVD one day....?

You never know, but I'd be surprised if "Circus Boy" was released on DVD. It was a Screen Gems production, so that means that it's now likely owned by Sony, a company that, as far as I know, has not released any pre-1960 television series on DVD.

My understanding was that the Timeless Media Group was looking for episodes from another circus show, "Frontier Circus," a while ago, but we haven't seen anything on that series to date. I have no idea whether that series is still under consideration for a release or not.
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#7
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10/1/08 at 3:09am
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Re: 1950's TV series "Super Circus" coming to DVD via Alpha Video

Quote:
I don't know if the kinescopes of shows owned by Procter & Gamble like As The World Turns, The Guiding Light, and Search for Tomorrow are PD

Yes they are. All American works published before 1963 without being submitted for copyright are considered "public domain". A quick search shows that not a single 50's-era episode of those TV programs were submitted for copyright.
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#8
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10/1/08 at 5:57am
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Re: 1950's TV series "Super Circus" coming to DVD via Alpha Video

Quote:
Originally Posted by DuMont_Network_Saiyan
Yes they are. All American works published before 1963 without being submitted for copyright are considered "public domain". A quick search shows that not a single 50's-era episode of those TV programs were submitted for copyright.

That's assuming that the kinescopes and videotapes still exist. P&G was known for wiping videotapes of their soaps well into the 70s to save money. The few kinescopes of "Guiding Light" (from 1966) I've seen on You Tube are in very rough shape and probably wouldn't be good quality for a DVD release.
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