Stalled series? There's Hope! - Page 5

Nebiroth · 06-01-2008, 05:06 AM

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea strikes me as being the ultimate "stalled series".

It's utterly absurd that Fox have completely released all of the other Irwin Allen series, one of them is a special deluxe collector's edition no less...but have stopped the remaining one just one season short - 26 episodes!

ChrisCook · 06-01-2008, 07:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aryn Leroux

The thing is i can't figure out if the heart-attack inducing announcement is for a show that is stalled or for a show that has not been released before period. That would make it a heck of a lot easier to try and figure out what it was knowing that.

What announcement would give me a heart attack? There's several including "The Wonder Years", "Ed", "Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place", Season 2 of "The Fall Guy"... all music intact and unedited I would hope. Please, Dave, let it be one of those. I'll take music intact "WKRP" as well.

John Pannozzi · 06-01-2008, 01:11 PM

Gord, are the studios looking to license any animated series out?

Mark Y · 06-01-2008, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Lambert

Now THERE is a possibly interesting discussion, boded by the reaction to this topic. *IF* the legal issues keeping SMDM off of shelves ever got cleared up, what would fan reaction be? What would the expectations be?

If Uni, or some other studio, started to put out SMDM in the USA (two seasons are already out in the U.K. and Australia), would fans accept it if there was not also a Bionic Woman release at the exact same time? Or, would fans buy BW instead, if SMDM was not also released at the same time? Are they all necessarily the same fans, or is BW more something gals prefer over guys?

And how should all those crossovers be handled? And, in the foreign releases, the original pilot telefilms for SMDM were included as part of "Season 1"; is that appropriate, or should it be different? How about the various "reunion" telefilms, which featured both Steve and Jaime? Which show/season are they part of ? Or are they a separate entity entirely?

As a supreme fan of both shows, I know what *I* would want. But what about all of you? It's not really on-topic for "Stalled Shows", but the discussion here proves that WHEN stuck shows get un-stuck, the studios may not have a good idea of exactly what the fan expectations are for DVD releases. What would ensure to a studio that something would make the fans happy? I mean, the two Bionic shows would be (or should be!) about as easy a sell as you can think of. But what would it take to keep fans from bitching that the studio somehow "messed it up"?

For any show I would collect...like for instance, Three's Company: Granted, it was special circumstances, since John Ritter unfortunately died while they were starting to put that together, so they just tossed out the six Season 1 shows as a single disc and saved the "extras" for future sets. So they had two "unaired pilots," which chronologically would have fit better with Season 1, but they ended up placing one on the Season 2 set and the other on Season 3. I really don't care where they put them. I'm just glad they're there! I suppose it would depend on how many seasons a show ran, and how many episodes they had, and how it would all fit together. For me personally, I am not too concerned with extras/special features. They are nice to have, but "extra" means just that...something more. I'm not going to skip over a set of a series I like because there aren't any extras. As long as it all gets out there, and the shows are presented as close to complete as possible, that's all I can ask for. As far as "restoring" material, in some cases, depending on how a show was produced and whatever elements are available...there is only so much that can be done. I mean yeah, I'd be ticked if they put a show I like out and use edited syndication cuts just out of convenience, when they could have spent a little more time and found the entire shows. (I was never a major fan of Alf or Cosby to the degree that I was chomping at the bit to see them released -- but if I was, I would certainly have been royally ticked. And you'd think for a show like Cosby, it was popular enough to have the extra effort made to get it right.)

Quote:

Substitute any other "stuck show" in that discussion, and see what I mean. What if the Adam West Batman became available? Everwood? Homefront? Ed? Dragnet? Malcom in the Middle? The Wonder Years? Simon & Simon? Night Court? Marcus Welby? Falcon's Crest? Knot's Landing? The animated X-Men series?

Whether stalled or never-released, studios announce a show for DVD release that they expect fans to go ga-ga over, and sometimes they do and sometimes the response is more lukewarm and wary. For example, LOTS of people were happy that Warner finally announce Birds of Prey, but I've also seen a small but significant amount of people respond like this: "Oh crap...I wonder how screwed up the DVDs will be." Yeah, that's gratitude. Luckily it's the minority, but you see what I mean.

Short of doing some sort of Get Smart/U.N.C.L.E. (and now Real Ghostbusters)-style "complete series" deluxe releases by Time Life, which - let's face it - not every show is gonna get no matter how "important", how do you make those fans happy?

My sincere thanks to those of you who think Gord and I rock.

Nothing in life is perfect, and even for something done really well, there is always some way in which it could have been improved. All I can really ask is that they do their homework and do the best possible job to present whatever show it is as close to complete and in its original form as possible.

If I was responsible for putting together sets for the 1966 Batman series, I would want to try and get some good cast interviews in the can by now and have it ready to go. As far as extras, it would be great to have the "in color" tags and the original vintage Fox logos at the end of the show....they wouldn't need to bother with the 1966 movie, since that's already been out on its own. I'd like to see next week previews, promos, the Batgirl pilot film from an official source, ditto for the 1970s equal rights PSA. (I saw that around 1978 -- I never would have guessed that wasn't Adam West!) But I'm just blathering on now with this...

MatthewA · 06-01-2008, 03:58 PM

I have always marveled at those who expect us to have gratitude for substandard presentation.

Dan*T · 06-01-2008, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stan

I'm really amazed at how my tastes have changed over the years. Many of the older shows I grew up with I still enjoy, but some, like the two mentioned in my previous post, you literally couldn't pay me to watch.

Then there are things like Little House on the Prairie, which I despised even as a kid, now it's positively vomit inducing. Sorry if it's one of your favorites. I would also have to put Batman in this category. Couldn't stand it then, hate it even more now.

.

It's funny how different everyone's tastes are. I love T.J. Hooker & Charlie's Angels still, just because I love the comedic action which defined the '70's & 80's. But I totally agree with Stan on th two listed above

Mark Y · 06-01-2008, 05:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary OS

Well, the first thing we have to sift through are the different comments being made. I believe Gord told us that Time Life would be putting out a "Classic" set sometime this year. And I also believe he told us it would NOT be "BATMAN", so we can rule that one out.

Although...I finally went underground for Batman in the last week. So you know how, when you get your car washed, it rains, but when you take an umbrella to work, it doesn't?

MatthewA · 06-01-2008, 06:33 PM

I am involved in a heated debate on the enforcement of copyright law on the After Hours forum. But did you ever notice that the most readily available shows tend to be the least bootlegged?

After Fox took the cheapskate's way out on WKRP in Cincinnati: The "Complete" First Season, The Wonder Years doesn't have a prayer of coming out unmolested. They use a cover of a Beatles song in their credits.

Ron Lee Green · 06-01-2008, 07:16 PM

My hope for the upcoming big announcement that is going to give some us heart attacks is... Room 222 or Alice !!!

Gord Lacey · 06-01-2008, 08:42 PM

Keep in mind a heart attack is a bad thing - no one said the show was going to be something people want.

"Small Wonder" on DVD - is that heart attack worthy? Possibly, but not because you want to own it.

Gord

MatthewA · 06-01-2008, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gord Lacey

Keep in mind a heart attack is a bad thing - no one said the show was going to be something people want.

"Small Wonder" on DVD - is that heart attack worthy? Possibly, but not because you want to own it.

Gord

That wouldn't cause a heart attack. That would cause a total cranial combustion, and if you've seen my collection that's saying something.