The beginning of the end for classic shows?

Joe Lugoff · 10-11-2006, 10:00 AM

I'm in a very pessimistic mood today. Other than the so-called "I Love Lucy Seasons 7, 8 and 9," there haven't been any announcements for Season Sets of TV Shows from the 1950s or 1960s in quite a while. Having no word yet on "Leave It to Beaver Season 3" is also quite ominous.

I've heard that sales of some classic movies have been embarrassingly low, and it wouldn't surprise me if the same has been true for classic TV shows.

The only real hope for the future will be if companies start to make everything available for download. Of course, the downside of that is that there will probably be no restoration done and we'll just be offered old, beat-up, syndicated prints or something.

So many abandoned series ... I guess I should be grateful for what I've got, but I don't like incomplete series.

MatthewA · 10-11-2006, 10:33 AM

How do the studios measure these sets' sales? Do they use sales to stores or sales to individuals? That may have something to do with it. Go to your Best Buy or Circuit City's TV DVD section. You'll see 50 copies of Friends, Will & Grace, and Survivor and 3 or 4 of I Love Lucy and Leave it To Beaver.

Someone else here opined that few people in the DVD business know how to treat these shows or how to time their releases. If they do, they're usually at an independent company like Anchor Bay or Shout! Factory where most studio material is off limits, or a freelance producer like Paul Brownstein. I agree with them. Warner has George Feltenstein for classic movies, but who have they got for TV shows? Especially after the "Mama's Family" incident.

Phyll · 10-11-2006, 10:53 AM

I really love the older shows. I hope this isn't true. Maybe it just takes the studios longer to get the prints, restore them etc and that is why more dvds have not been announced lately. Whenever I go on Amazon.com I am constantly reminded that people seem to just want the new junk that is being released. Maybe the big studios should hand over the job to smaller companies within their companies like Paramount did with the Odd Couple. They obviously have blown it. I mean there is so much more out there that could be mined. I am waiting for more of my favorites to come out like the Wild Wild West and Rawhide. I wish the studios would hurry. And Sony is so slow. I do like the job Paramount has done with Perry Mason. Very nice and worth the price. I am waiting for more All in the Family, Jeffersons and the Mary Tyler Moore Show. So get cracking you big studios. Hopefully more releases will be announced for next year. Has anybody asked the studios what their plans are for older shows. Maybe someone on this forum could find out for us and let us know. I noticed that cable channels don't play as many of the older shows as they used to because of ratings but I do miss them.

Bert Greene · 10-11-2006, 11:21 AM

I've also been rather dismayed at the slow-down of vintage (50s/60s) sets. Late last year and earlier this year, there were usually 4 or 5 sets each month that would interest me. But lately, it's trickled down to one (or two, if I'm really lucky). I'd hoped it was just a minor speed-bump in terms of releases, but more and more months have been passing by, with very little promising news.

True, I've probably always let my expectations get the better of me, with occasional pipe-dreams regarding season-sets to a wide variety of unlikely miscellanea. But since I'd go for virtually 95% of all 50s/60s-era product, I did tend to figure there would be enough sets to keep me quite contented. Now, I'm not so sure. I hate sounding like a complainer, because this whole tv-dvd advent has been so marvelous, and my viewing situation has improved dramatically compared to a decade ago. But, darn, I sure hope things pick up in 2007.

michael_ks · 10-11-2006, 11:51 AM

I've had this sinking feeling for some time now that in retrospect 2006 might very possibly be the pinnacle for golden/silver age tv on dvd releases. I'm beginning to think that most of the titles in my 'wish list' have a scant chance for being announced in '07. Maybe "Man from U.N.C.L.E.", perhaps even "The Fugitive" as these have been rumored for release, but "Route 66"...? "The Untouchables"...?" "Sea Hunt"...?

The unlikelihood for announcements to series pre-1970 grows stronger as I become more tuned to shifting demographics and the "incongruity" potentially caused by a phase-in HD-DVD/phase-out DVD format and how it relates to B&W/early color shows. Then there is the issue of follow-up and the dreaded "Season 1 and done" syndrome with classic shows that have been released. "Rawhide" is one I'm biting my nails over as I just can't envision all eight seasons getting released but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. I would feel a lot better about the marketablity of classic shows if this whole tv on dvd thing had been started in 1990...

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Bob Hug · 10-11-2006, 12:03 PM

I'm actually a little more optimistic here, but a lot of that optimism varies depending upon which studio we're discussing. For me, Paramount "walks the talk." Consider that in 2006 we've seen "Gunsmoke," "The Phil Silvers Show (Bilko)" "Rawhide," "Wild, Wild West" and "Perry Mason" plus pretty much full series commitments to shows like "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Hogan's Heroes" and "Mission: Impossible" is coming. And I'm among those who believe that Paramount will eventually release "The Fugitive." Warner has committed to the full run of "The Adventures of Superman" and released "Cheyenne" and "F-Troop" this year. Fox did "The Time Tunnel" and is rolling along with "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" and pleasantly surprised and delighted me with "The Big Valley." Sony showed a little life with "Gidget," "The Flying Nun" and "Hazel" but they seem to steer clear of black & white shows and anything that's not comedy oriented ("Rat Patrol" excepted) when it comes to classic TV. Universal is a hugely frustrating company for me in terms of classic TV, in that it has arguably one of the very best catalogs of classic shows, but can't get seem to get past a season or two for most of its releases. So while the pace for new releases may have slowed down a bit, it's certainly not all doom and gloom.

I believe that the independent releasing companies like Image, Rhino and Shout! Factory, among others will continue to release classic TV shows. The issue for them, of course, is either getting their hands on shows that are not owned outright by the big studios or, and I still hold out some hope on this, that licensing arrangements can be secured with the major studios for those shows that the majors don't want to take a risk on.

Michael Alden · 10-11-2006, 06:41 PM

Well, I can't mention names as this was given to me as confidential information but I can tell you that one of the major studios (think one and done) has been quietly sending out lists of shows to independents that they would be willing to license. Unfortunately they are asking for a licensing fee that makes the shows cost prohibitive.

MatthewA · 10-11-2006, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Alden

Well, I can't mention names as this was given to me as confidential information but I can tell you that one of the major studios (think one and done) has been quietly sending out lists of shows to independents that they would be willing to license. Unfortunately they are asking for a licensing fee that makes the shows cost prohibitive.

I think I know which one it is.

If they're going to jack up the cost, why license it at all? Isn't that the problem to begin with? They don't have any interest in these shows (or anything before 1990, really), and when they do agree to let them out they charge more than any independent can afford.

Stephen Wight · 10-12-2006, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Hug

For me, Paramount "walks the talk."

Really? I think Paramount are the worst.They haven't comitted to the full runs of Happy Days,Laverne & Shirley,Mork & Mindy and Taxi.Paramount also has a habit,more than the other studios I find,of saying they're going to release shows and not following through.They said they were going to release Family Ties and Bosom Buddies and they never,and they also said they were going to release The Love Boat this year,which we haven't heard anything about yet and I doubt we ever will.