What are your "Holy Grails?"

Dear Guys:

There are quite a few tv "Holy Grails" that I hope would come out on DVD some day. These were tv shows/specials that were shown on tv once, before being lost somewhere. . . where we can find them, I do not know?

Young/New Maverick episode where Susan Blanchard joined a criminal bridal ring, where young pretty thieves married a young cowpoke and than ran off with their money. Only ran once.

Spy Games: Four unaired episodes

Salvage 1: Four unaired episodes

the 1982 NBC Christmas Special

the 1970 ABC, CBS, NBC Saturday Morning Preview Specials that were only aired once on the Friday before the new Saturday Cartoon/Line up began. I'm really trying to find the NBC 1973-74 hosted by Jimmy Osmond and the 1972-73 one hosted by Lee Majors. I think there were about 30 of them.

1987/88 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Loved the Jett's performance of the Chip N' Dales' Rescue Ranger theme--I had it on video before it got accidentally got erased.

Guys: Do you remember how lost we were before VCR's and shows were only on television one? Do you remember that feeling that if we missed it--we missed it. Boy! were things savage back than.


So. . I've shared with you some of my obscure favorites. Can you tell me what some of yours are?

James

Two Animated Series that were aired on ABC from 1969-1971.

Hot Wheels

Skyhawks

I loved these series as a Child, in 1971 a Children's Advocacy Group forced ABC to take these shows off the air. (They said they were both oversized Commercials). If that was so how come they allowed later series like Transformers, G.I.Joe, He-Man, and that is just the tip of that Iceberg!

If these two became available I'd buy them both in a heartbeat!

One of my Grails that hasn't been released is a miniseries from '77-'79 "How the West Was Won" / MGM (James Arness, Bruce Boxleitner).

I guess the other one would be a Region 1 release of the Bionic Woman (70's) with interviews & extras.  Also, the 6M$M R1 but with remastered transfers for that one.

I've been fortunate that a lot of what I've wanted has been completely released: Combat!, Time Tunnel, Dick Van Dyke, Bewitched, Earth 2, Mission:Impossible, Shogun (miniseries), Wild Wild West, Winds of War & War & Rememberance (both miniseries).

I can't think of any major Grails at the moment besides that HtWWW minisieres which I'd pay almost anything for that one studio pressed/remastered.

There's a lot of shows I'd probably buy if available....Sea Hunt, Dennis the Menace, Fury, ....but there are a lot of incomplete shows on my list,  I guess those would be semi-Grails for me, # 1 among them would be "The Big Valley", and others....Leave it to Beaver, Flipper, Adam-12, Who's the Boss.  All here probably have a long list of the incomplete shows.

Like Jeff, there are many shows I'd still purchase if they were released onto dvd, but I wouldn't label them as "Holy Grails."  I reserve that designation for shows that I'd put into my Top 25 favorites of all time.  Of those, a couple are stalled:

Leave it to Beaver
Big Valley
Rawhide
Have Gun, Will Travel (I believe this one will be un-stalled soon)


A few more are not completed, but I don't have any knowledge that they are actually stalled right now:

Father Knows Best
Perry Mason
The Fugitive
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Route 66


Only three "Holy Grail" shows left that have no season set releases of:

Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet
Wonder Years (never gonna happen. I know, I know...)
In the Heat of the Night

There are many, many other 50's and 60's shows I'd like to see either completed or started up.  Too many!  But I won't call them holy grail shows, although I reserve the right to have others remind of some more. 


Gary "always a good question to think about - 'Holy Grail' shows" O.

Good post, Gary.  My lists would be about the same as yours.  Those "stalled" shows are really a pain, right?

I'll probably think about a "grail" sometime this week for this list but can't come up with another one for now.  When we list these shows, I realize that we've been fortunate in this TV/DVD mkt during those "boom" years when a lot was getting released.

Oh well, if I only get to pick 3

1. 77 Sunset Strip
2. Hawaiian Eye
3. Surfside Six or Cheyenne I can't decide.

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See, I'd pick up all three of those WB detective series if they were released.  No doubt about it.  But they just aren't in my personal "Holy Grail" list.  But they are all great shows that I wouldn't hesitate to buy!

Gary "I always enjoy reading other people's favorites" O.

gary,

why do you say "wonder years" is never gonna happen ?  is there some sort of copyright squabble ?

All the top shows that I love have come out either complete or incomplete. But if there's a show or two that would throw me off a chair if they ever get released would be:

Oscar Wilde's "The Selfish Giant" and "The Happy Prince"

Two of my favorite animated Christmas specials ever.

Also, why not add to the list, two shorts that were omitted from Tom & Jerry's collection volume 3. It would be nice to have them on a future Looney Tunes "From the Vault" extra feature.

 

They would have to relicense all the music for DVD and that would cost a huge amount of money.

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Two words:  Music Rights. 

The show will simply never be able to clear all the classic music that was prominent in most every episode.  In fact some episodes had 6 or more song clips, and the music was so integral to the action on the screen that most everyone agrees that trying to sub out the original for generic music just wouldn't work.  So no, I can't ever see this show being released onto dvd.


Gary "and I'm not alone in that opinion - I believe most everyone agrees this one is a lost cause" O.

i see - i dont really care about the music - just the story line, itself.  and of course, if i could get rid of the older brother stuff - LOL.

is that the same problem with ozzie and harriet ?  there was a lot of music in that show, being that ricky was part of it.

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No, I don't believe that would ever really be a problem with Ozzie & Harriet.  The only problem with that show not being released in season sets is that no one thinks it's worth releasing. 


Gary "I'd buy up those releases in a heartbeat" O.

oh, then i think ozzie and harriet will be released, at some point.  heckuva good show, with quite a few seasons.

btw, i see the first 4-5 seasons of happy days have been released.  wouldnt there be more music rights problems with this show than with wonder years ?

while the first season was complete, the next three have had music replaced and live performances from Richie's band snipped

i see - thanks for all the info, guys.

Can't remember who it was, but a while back after the last season release of HAPPY DAYS someone mentioned watching their homemade videos of the next season up for release and commented on how it seemed to have more music than any of the previous releases and doubted CBS would go any further with that series.  Looks like that individual was right because the show is definitely stalled at this point, if not completely abandoned.

Gary "I would have bought another couple of seasons of HD, but I have to admit I was getting annoyed with the music subs on the dvds" O.

It was Hank Dearborn who said that.

And as crazy and scary as this may sound, he still posts here as Neil Brock. I even noticed him under two different names before 2007 (Mark_to and Michael Alden).

I knew it was the same person because of the same styles of posting.

Another problem with Ozzie & Harriet is that the show is (rightly or wrongly) perceived as public domain. 

I guess my ultimate Holy Grail would be the discovery of more missing episodes of Doctor Who.  But that's like asking for a pony for Christmas -- not completely impossible, but highly improbable. 

 

So next in line would be the Adam West Batman series, but I'm not holding my breath on that one either.

 

Other shows I'd like to see in season sets one day:  the '50s Dragnet, Maverick, and a short lived series from the '80s that I adored, Q.E.D. starring Sam Waterston. 

dont give up hope on wonder years or happy days.

there are so many shows to put out, and they have to play catchup.  so the shows that cause the least problems will tend to get done first.

but i think the above 2 shows, as well as ozzie and the gang will get released.

okay, one show that i would love, that even i am skeptical about, is the mitch miller show.

i thought that public domain (pd) means that no one owns the rights to the show ?  "being perceived" doesnt seem to make sense to me.  if my definition of pd is correct, then there is no perception - either it is owned by someone or it isnt ?

Holy Grails:

-The continuation of Fantasy Island(so I can pair it up with the Love Boat)

-Man called Slone complete series

-Creature Feature and Son of Svengoolie horror shows from the 70's and early 80's.

-You can't do that on Television, Pinwheel, and Special Delivery

-The Star wars Holiday Special(just for laughs) along with special features

-In Search Of from the 70's complete series

-Misfits of science

-Grizzly Adams(so I can pair it up with the Muppet show)

That's all I can think of right now.  Other than that I'm pretty happy with my tv dvd collection.

If the Nelson estate still owns the show, they are not doing much to enforce their copyright, given the numerous PD releases that are out there. 

i see - the bootleggers are getting away with it, cuz no one is stopping them.  but a legal studio does not want to take a chance, cuz they dont legally own it ?

cant a copyright be checked out, such that it can be precisely determined who owns the rights ?

i know in music, that there are still hangups with chubby checker being released.

Not a series, but a TV movie:

THE MORNING AFTER (1974), with Dick Van Dyke in a heartrending performance as a hopeless, self-destructive alcoholic.  I've got a rotten quality multigenerational VHS copy of this, and it's still amazing, even in such a lousy state.  I'd love to be able to toss it in the bin in favor of an official remastered release, ideally with a Van Dyke commentary and/or interview.  I fear, however, that a release may be impossible because of a certain pesky Beatles song that's inextricably intertwined with the narrative.  Not only is "Yesterday" on the soundtrack in instrumental form, but Van Dyke's character sings it to himself onscreen.  Sigh...

The revived FANTASY ISLAND - darker, edgier than the first.  Better!

MAVERICK - I will continue to list it til WB releases it.

SANFORD - sequel to Sanford & Son and just as funny.

GET A LIFE  -  absurdist comedy starring Chris Elliot from Fox's early years.

so unless someone claims to own a tv series, we cant find out who does own it ?

I was asking the same question myself a few months ago. There were rumors circulating on some other boards stating the 1960s TV Show 12 O Clock High was now Public Domain. It sounded too good to be true, so I wanted to know if this was true or not. (Turned out, as usual, that it was FALSE) I posted a Thread, and someone steered me to where you can find out who owns the Copywright on TV Shows, I updated that Thread to make it easier to find, its called "Is a Show Public Domain?" Go check it out Jimmyjet.