Have Gun Will Travel Question

Hank Dearborn · 04-22-2008, 07:46 PM

Does anyone know how far Columbia House got on their VHS releases? Did they do the whole series or if not, how many volumes did they do?

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Kenneth V · 04-22-2008, 09:52 PM

I believe they did the entire show. I think it is 4 episodes running across around 50 VHS tapes.

jdee28 · 04-22-2008, 11:59 PM

They did in fact release the entire series on VHS, across 56 tapes. I still have a complete set.

CBS/Columbia House used the video masters that they had from the VHS release when they put the show on DVD, resulting in less than optimal picture quality.

BobSchneider · 04-23-2008, 01:20 AM

Well I got s1 and s2 of HGWT , the video and sound on season one is watchable I'd give a B grade. Season 2 starts out well but half way though there a noticable drop off in capture quality(c- to d) in fact making allot of the night scenes almost unwatchable. This is really a massive bummer to me on two fronts one I'm reluctant to by season 3 because I know that cbs has abandoned HGWT with s3 and second I'm reluctant to spend money on s3 due to poor video quality and other posted complaints about defective sets. I bought s1 and s2 on a blind buy (well not really I loved the few oldtime radio plays of HGWT) . HGTW is great fun show and it amazing how much story telling could be pack into a 30 minute show its sad to see how poor the sets were produced and abandoned only after three seasons, (there was only 6 seasons) when you consider the garbage that have gotten full series releases yet cbs kills HGWT after three? Sad.

Hank Dearborn · 04-23-2008, 09:15 AM

It all has to do with sales, not the quality of the show. And unfortunately many times the sales are tied into familiarity of younger viewers. I know HGWT had run for awhile on Chopmark and earlier on TV Land when few people got the network. It's a great show but I guess it just didn't sell well enough. CBS doesn't usually abandon shows so I'm assuming by season 3 the sales must have been abysmal for the releases to be discontinued. Taxi is really the only other show I can think of that they stopped in the middle like that.

BobSchneider · 04-23-2008, 11:05 AM

yeah I know sales drive releases, but studios continue to make stealth releases which hurts sales . And I'm not talking about pricey tv aid campaigns, for example with HGWT if they ran some banner ads at ORCAT (makes mp3 cd's of classic radio dramas like HGWT) and websites that focus on classic tv and radio shows could have help sales, even if CBS got some of there ad people to sign up to forum's like this to make shill post for new dvd set would be helpful. Im just bummed that the consumer get blamed for poor sale but how the heck is the consumer going to buy something if we dont know its available?

Mitchum22 · 04-24-2008, 04:07 PM

Hiya, Bob.

With Season 3, again the video is up and down. And one must be careful to not get stuck with one of the defective sets released by CBS. (I think they've been pulled.)

However, the show quality of year 3 is through the roof. The top ten eps from this year can be matched with anything produced by American dramatic television. The great Ida Lupino directed many of them, and some were directed by Richard Boone himself. A must buy/

BobSchneider · 04-24-2008, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mitchum22

Hiya, Bob.

With Season 3, again the video is up and down. And one must be careful to not get stuck with one of the defective sets released by CBS. (I think they've been pulled.)

However, the show quality of year 3 is through the roof. The top ten eps from this year can be matched with anything produced by American dramatic television. The great Ida Lupino directed many of them, and some were directed by Richard Boone himself. A must buy/

Hmmm good to hear the story quality didnt fad maybe if I can find s3 HGWT at a decent price I might pick it up.

But it still is a bummer CBS bailed after s3.

silverking · 04-25-2008, 02:26 AM

Disappointing that CBS pulled the releases considering it was a big success for Columbia House who released the whole run on tape whilst some of their other VHS releases ,stuff like Route 66 , Dragnet, Wanted Dead or Alive never got beyond the initial batch.
Mind you HGWT came out before the penchant for split seasons. Maybe they could consider this route, don't like them myself but if it keeps the releases going !

jdee28 · 04-25-2008, 09:07 AM

The Have Gun-Will Travel sets were some of the first for CBS DVD. They're from a period before CBS DVD adopted their current high standards for picture and audio quality.

I wish they could redo seasons 1-3 and bring them up to the standards of their Perry Mason, Untouchables, and Fugitive releases. If they ever do continue with HGWT, we'll be left with seasons 4 and on sporting excellent picture quality, while seasons 1-3 will still look rather bad, especially in comparison.

Gary OS · 04-25-2008, 09:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdee28

The Have Gun-Will Travel sets were some of the first for CBS DVD. They're from a period before CBS DVD adopted their current high standards for picture and audio quality.

I totally agree with this and was about to say the exact same thing. I believe this series simply suffered from being released too early in the TV on DVD game, so to speak. At the time CBS/Paramount wasn't doing the restoration they are now and the show suffered the consequences. I truly believe that had "HGWT" been released, oh... let's say last year instead of 4 or so years ago, it would have succeeded. It's just a victim of poor timing as much as anything else, IMHO.

Gary "and it would be awkward to have seasons 4-6 look stellar while 2 and 3 looked poor" O.

Hank Dearborn · 04-25-2008, 09:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary OS

I totally agree with this and was about to say the exact same thing. I believe this series simply suffered from being released too early in the TV on DVD game, so to speak. At the time CBS/Paramount wasn't doing the restoration they are now and the show suffered the consequences. I truly believe that had "HGWT" been released, oh... let's say last year instead of 4 or so years ago, it would have succeeded. It's just a victim of poor timing as much as anything else, IMHO.

Gary "and it would be awkward to have seasons 4-6 look stellar while 2 and 3 looked poor" O.

Well, that was kind of what happened with a few shows. Mad About You comes to mind, as does Mary Tyler Moore, both released early, stalled and then revisited a few years later.

jdee28 · 04-25-2008, 11:47 AM

Gunsmoke: The 50th Anniversary Collection; Rawhide Season 1; and Wild, Wild West Season 1 are other sets that were released before CBS DVD adopted their current high standards for picture and audio quality. As a result, these sets are hard for me to watch; I wish they'd re-do them.

Mitchum22 · 04-25-2008, 01:30 PM

Hi again, Bob.

Don't know if we're allowed to do this -- and I certainly don't want to upset Gary anymore than I already have

-- but I took the bite on this and am very, very happy:

Link removed by moderator. Do not repost.

This guy shows ultimate respect for the show, a serious collector and the quality is great. (No, he's not my brother.)