Classic 50s cop show on the way from Timeless!

Hank Dearborn · 03-20-2008, 11:11 AM

In the works but not officially announced yet. Think 3 season show, 1950s, half hour, Universal, not set on either coast, with a great jazz theme song. IT'S COMING SOON!

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Bob Hug · 03-20-2008, 11:17 AM

M'mmnn; sounds good!

michael_ks · 03-20-2008, 11:30 AM

Quote:

...with a great jazz theme song.

I'm hearing a certain Count Basie tune in my head right now. Det. Frank Drebin, move over--your mentor is coming back!

Charles Ellis · 03-20-2008, 01:12 PM

If it's the one with Grammy-winning Henry Mancini tune and starring Craig Stevens, Lola Albright, and Herschel Bernardi- I'll be there!

DeWilson · 03-20-2008, 01:20 PM

Why beat around the bush - It's "M-SQUAD"!

Next to "Dragnet" one of the best cop shows of the 1950's - Lee Marvin is great,plots and action are solid...and it's set in Chicago. Soundtrack isn't bad either. (Two LPs were released durring the run of the series.)

michael_ks · 03-20-2008, 01:35 PM

When I responded earlier, I was thinking to myself that it might be "Peter Gunn", but I was pretty sure we were dealing with a series that was never before released.

Tom.W · 03-20-2008, 07:35 PM

Very good news indeed. M Squad is the one that fits - actually the first two seasons of Peter Gunn have been released in Region 2 by Liberation. Hopefully season sets. I believe videotape transfers for all M Squad episodes have been available for several years.

Jeff Willis · 03-20-2008, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike

I'm hearing a certain Count Basie tune in my head right now. Det. Frank Drebin, move over--your mentor is coming back!

That's great

Can you hear me about 30 miles east of you?

This one sounds like it's right up my alley although I've never heard of M Squad. But I know Jazz

You guys here are amazing "Databanks" of classic TV history. I'd never heard of many shows that have been discussed here. I just hope, that when this set comes out, the prints will be watchable to me.

I love these old shows (Decoy! Thanks Bob!) but I have trouble watching that one due to the print conditions. I wish I had some of y'all's wider "windows" for xfr/print "watchability" abilities. Maybe I need to watch some of these sets on an older concaved tube TV set.

Hank Dearborn · 03-20-2008, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Willis

That's great

Can you hear me about 30 miles east of you?

This one sounds like it's right up my alley although I've never heard of M Squad. But I know Jazz

You guys here are amazing "Databanks" of classic TV history. I'd never heard of many shows that have been discussed here. I just hope, that when this set comes out, the prints will be watchable to me.

I love these old shows (Decoy! Thanks Bob!) but I have trouble watching that one due to the print conditions. I wish I had some of y'all's wider "windows" for xfr/print "watchability" abilities. Maybe I need to watch some of these sets on an older concaved tube TV set.

Maybe you need to have been watching TV prior to the 90s when all syndicated shows aired off 16mm prints and all we had was a rabbit ears antenna to get reception as best we could. That's how I watched TV for the majority of my life, not perfect reception cable of beautiful remastered 35mm elements. So I don't really get bothered by seeing a show the way I used to see it.

Sky King · 03-21-2008, 04:59 AM

"So I don't really get bothered by seeing a show the way I used to see it."
__________________________________________________ _________________
Hank,

Like you I grew up in the rabbit ears/antenna on the roof era and spent the first 15 years of my life watching TV on a 1955 DuMont television.
I do however, prefer to see a company to do its research and issue a DVD set with the best possible sources used.
Good example of a beautifully restored 50's show on DVD is "The Abbott and Costello Show." I remember reading it was no small feat finding all 35mm negatives for this show...they were scattered all over. The result of all that work is pristine prints of a TV show filmed more than 50 years ago.
Bad example of a released TV show on DVD is "The Adventures Of Superman." Looks as if Warners just did a rush job as cheaply as possible. I would have preferred to wait a few more years if the result was to be better quality.
Warners didn't even pay Noel Neill (Lois Lane) and Jack Larson (Jimmy Olsen) for their narrative services. Noel and Jack did it for free because of their love for the show.

Hank Dearborn · 03-21-2008, 10:39 AM

As someone who has been collecting TV shows for almost 30 years now I've learned to accept various quality. To me, it's more important to have the show than to fret over whether or not it's pristine. Yes, it's great when a company does it's due dilligence and comes up with great elements. But I'm also realistic as well. As I have documented in numerous posts, Universal does not give a damn about the majority of it's library pre-1980 and with the exception of a couple of shows (Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Leave it to Beaver) has no interest whatsoever in their 1950s properties. The only reason a show like M Squad is even coming out is that Universal doesn't have to do any work. They let a company like Timeless accumulate the episodes on their own, from 16mm prints that fell off the back of a truck and landed in collectors' hands. And Universal just gives them the rights and collects a paycheck. You are never going to get beautiful, remastered from 35mm print episodes of the majority of 1950s shows. The companies don't care, the 26 year olds working there never heard of the shows and the in-house costs are prohibitive. So if you need to see something on your 100 inch TV in perfect quality, you might as well forget seeing almost any show from the 50s. I wish that wasn't the case but that's not the reality.

Jeff Willis · 03-21-2008, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hank Dearborn

Maybe you need to have been watching TV prior to the 90s when all syndicated shows aired off 16mm prints and all we had was a rabbit ears antenna to get reception as best we could. That's how I watched TV for the majority of my life, not perfect reception cable of beautiful remastered 35mm elements. So I don't really get bothered by seeing a show the way I used to see it.

? I don't know if you were talking in general to this Bd or to myself. You posts, to me, are often possibly misunderstood as to motive. Regardless, here's some info about myself pertaining to what I assume was your reply to my previous post.

I'm a 'Boomer that was also raised in a 1-TV house with a B/W Zenith Rabbit-Ears set. I got my 1st color set in '76. I presenly own a 36" Sony "Wega" set (non-HDMI) with a std non-upconverting DVD Player. I watch std-def DirecTV programming (mostly sports, no current series). I don't insist on pristine prints for a TV/DVD set (ie I'd guess that the Combat! set is not pristine by most members' anyone's measuing sticks here. You posted to that effect recently in a reply to one of my posts on another thread).

I love the old shows as you do but I have about 5% (maybe less

) of TV series history knowlege as you do. I have a different "line" as to what is an acceptable-viewing DVD set but I'm not the collector that you and some others here are. For example. I read your post on the R66 thread about the 5-min cut episode. I'd prefer that to the print qualiy of the S1V1 set but I respect your take on it.

As for the Timeless & Alpha & PD sets, I think it's great that those who collect them have them available to them. I choose to pass on most of those sets due to the print quality but that's just my decision. It doesn't take away any

's when I see that Bob, Gary, Mike, yourself and others here see one of your "want" shows released by those companies.

Peter M Fitzgerald · 03-22-2008, 01:18 PM

Great news! Too bad Universal won't do it themselves, but I'll take whatever M SQUAD I can get!

I just hope the Season 2 episode, "The Fire Makers" (which I've never seen), makes it into a Timeless set, as it's the only time Lee Marvin and James Coburn acted together on-screen, I believe. Leonard Nimoy co-stars in that episode, too.