Will Sony ever give us Route 66?

Michael Alden · 01-31-2007, 07:47 PM

We know they won't license it. Will they ever do it themselves? A black and white drama series? That must scare them something fierce.

Gary OS · 01-31-2007, 08:24 PM

Will Sony ever give us Route 66? Yea, when pigs fly.

Gary "no way & no how is Sony - a company by the way that is allergic to anything in their library that's in black & white - going to ever release this through their own studio" O.

Bob Hug · 02-01-2007, 07:31 AM

Shout! Factory has recently created a community forum with a thread on "Classic TV I'd love to see on Shout! Factory DVD." I know it's a real longshot given Sony's stance on licensing, but I posted a request for "Route 66" (and "Stoney Burke") there. The people at SF do read the forums as evidenced by a response that I received to an inquiry I posted about the upcoming "Ironside" release. Now that Shout! is beginning to take on a few of the Universal titles, maybe they could work out some sort of deal with Sony. And there is a Shout! Factory/Sony connection . . . Sony Music is the distributor for Shout! Factory's products. I'm not holding my breath on this, but "nothing ventured, nothing gained."

Charles H · 02-01-2007, 09:58 AM

Ditto for the remaining NAKED CITYs. These Herbert B. Leonard shows were terrific. ROUTE 66 had guest stars that ranged from Ethel Waters, Buster Keaton, Robert Redford, Joan Crawford, Lee Marvin, Robert Duvall, Alan Alda, Jon Voight to Rin-Tin-Tin (Leonard produced the old "Rin Tin Tin series.

Bob Gu · 02-01-2007, 11:19 AM

Bob Hug, thanks for the tip about the Shout! message board. I left a question. It's great that a company seems agreeable to answering fans/customers questions about what their plans are. It's odd that in this age of information that the major's websites are devoid of any advance information about releases.

**HTF Ads**

Bob Hug · 02-01-2007, 11:22 AM

Just for everybody's reference, the board is located here . . .

http://www.shoutfactory.com/community.aspx

Lenny Rakes · 02-01-2007, 03:12 PM

After hearing so much good stuff about this show, I wish some company , any company would release it on DVD.

Sky King · 02-02-2007, 04:59 AM

Michael,

In addition to "Route 66," I'd also like to see "77 Sunset Strip," "Hawaiian Eye" and "Ben Casey" released on DVD.
I feel sooner or later the studios will empty their shelves of their newer shows and start looking at their B/W libraries gathering dust.
"There's alotta gold in them thar hills."

John

michael_ks · 02-02-2007, 10:09 AM

Though I'd collect all four seasons of "Route 66", it's really the George Maharis episodes that I'm after. Some of the edginess was lost when Glenn Corbett took his place. Stirling Silliphant, who penned the majority of the episodes was an exceptional writer with a wonderful flair for dialogue.

Michael Alden · 02-02-2007, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sky King

Michael,

In addition to "Route 66," I'd also like to see "77 Sunset Strip," "Hawaiian Eye" and "Ben Casey" released on DVD.
I feel sooner or later the studios will empty their shelves of their newer shows and start looking at their B/W libraries gathering dust.
"There's alotta gold in them thar hills."

John

I would buy just about any show from that era but I singled out Route 66 because:

A) Quality of the series. It stands alongside Naked City as one of the great series of the 1960s. Ben Casey is also a favorite of mine but since it's owned by Paramount now I just don't know where it is on their radar since they own so much.

B) Sony seems to be very aggressive with getting their shows on the market, going back to the cable explosion in the mid-80s when they were able to get sales out of many of their obscure shows. If Route 66 was owned by any of the other majors (except maybe Paramount) I wouldn't give it any chance at all.

C) I spoke with someone at Image and they tried but Sony won't even talk of letting it go to another distributor. That indicates to me they at least know how good of a series it is and may have plans for it at some point.