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Navy Log and Silent Service

post #1 of 14
3/12/07 at 5:30pm
Thread Starter 
There were two television shows in the 50s that I remember quite well. There were NAVY LOG and THE SILENT SERVICE. Since I am an ex-submariner in the Navy myself, I was wondering if any one knows if there are available somewhere. They were on NBC.

I've tried to find out who at NBC to talk to about perhaps licensing them myself but have never been able to find out the right contact info.

One other show was STEVE CANYON.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 14
3/12/07 at 5:58pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

I've always been curious to see some episodes of "The Silent Service." Maybe if some of the sub commanders routinely encountered things like giant sea-monsters and mad scientists a la "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (ouch!), it would have a better chance of being released. Actually, I'm sure I would love such half-hour military anthologies as "Silent Service" and "Navy Log," and would pick them up the very moment they made it to dvd. But, the way things are, they just don't seem likely candidates anytime soon.
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post #3 of 14
3/13/07 at 6:08am

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

I have to agree with Bert that "Navy Log," "The Silent Service," and "Steve Canyon" are probably not candidates for any sort of mainstream DVD release, though you never know. I checked over at IMDB.com for company credits for each of the shows and here's what I found (it might help you with your contacts).

Navy Log:

Distributors
CBS Television (1955-1956)
American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1956-1958)

The Silent Service:

Production Companies
California National Productions
Twin Dolphin Productions Inc.

Note: California National Productions was owned by NBC for a time, but the company was later divested.

Steve Canyon:

Production Companies
Pegasus Productions
Distributors
National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

"Steve Canyon" was based on the Milton Caniff comic strip and one of Caniff's other comic strips that was adapted for television was "Terry and the Pirates." Alpha Video has released three 4-episode DVDs to date, with a fourth on the way.

I seem to recall that some years ago the mid-1950s "West Point" series received a private, limited DVD release and was sold only at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. There have also been limited DVD releases of shows like "Sky King" and "Cimmaron Strip," though these have been very costly (several hundred dollars).
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post #4 of 14
3/13/07 at 10:32am

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

The Classic TV Archives site has more production information and episode guides. You may want to contact the contributors who compiled the information. Some of them list their email address.http://aa.1asphost.com/CTVA/US/Military/_USMilitary.htm

And Dale, you should contact the fellow running this site: usssealion.com, he says he has been trying to get the rights to The Silent Service and Navy Log for over 20 years. He has been in contact with NBC/Paramount on the Silent Service.
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post #5 of 14
3/13/07 at 12:20pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

My father is a big WW2/Navy buff. He remembers Silent Service as a kid. But, not Navy Logs. If anyone knows if either of these shows are available on vhs or on tv anywhere please let me know. And hopefully, someone will get the rights to these shows and release them. I figured they would be in the private domain after so many years.
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post #6 of 14
3/13/07 at 7:23pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

Moviesunlimited has two volumes (3 eps) of Steve Canyon, on VHS, I believe.
There are a few eps of Navy Log floating around among collectors. I recall seeing one called The Spearfish Delivers or something close to that on somebody's list. Hopefully Navy Log and Silent Service (the fifties version) will find some sort of release.
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post #7 of 14
11/17/07 at 1:33am

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

Though there is another thread going concerning the Steve Canyon Restoration Project, I thought I'd give this a nudge as I have enjoyed Navy Log and would like to see it released on DVD. There is one episode with Dean "Steve Canyon" Fredericks (credited as Norman Frederic) and Richard Jaeckel that's pretty good called "War of The Whaleboats" about the Korean War. (By the way, Dean's real name was Frederic J. Foote, though until Steve Canyon he performed on screen as Norman Frederic, which wasn't dynamic enough for the series so they asked him to change it.)

I understand that Navy Log played on local Los Angeles TV not too many years ago (sometime since late '82 at the earliest), so somebody might still be syndicating it...
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post #8 of 14
11/17/07 at 10:35pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

Navy Log is owned by Paramount and Silent Service is controlled by MGM. All episodes of both series are under copyright.
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post #9 of 14
11/18/07 at 5:43pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

So you're saying "buried deeper than Jimmy Hoffa"?
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post #10 of 14
2/8/08 at 12:54pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

In going through the files from the Steve Canyon TV series I just found a notation that Dean Fredericks (as Norman Frederick, his previous stage-name) appeared in at least one episode of THE SILENT SERVICE. I have dug-deep in attempting to research further but have so far come up empty. Anyone here remember Dean in an episode and the title or airdate? Any help is greatly appreciated.
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post #11 of 14
2/8/08 at 1:03pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

John, I checked IMDB.com . . . . . didn't see anything for "The Silent Service," but Dean Fredericks did appear in "Navy Log."

"Navy Log" War of the Whale Boats (1957)
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post #12 of 14
6/17/09 at 7:19pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

Abel Fernandez just told me he was in an episode of SILENT SERVICE and helped me to figure out which one...and between the two of us these are the details:

The Silent Service
Season 1 - Episode 27 - THE LAST DIVE
Twin Dolphins Production #5627 (copyright date September 5th, 1957)
Airdate: Saturday, Sept. 7, 1957 KRON-TV Channel 4 San Francisco
Written by Joseph Calvelli
A broken propeller, an internal explosion and damaged instruments plague an outmoded American submarine assigned to attack Jap transports.
Starring:
Christopher Dark
Ed Platt
Joe Flynn
Abel Fernandez

We already knew he was in NAVY LOG.
Now we just need to figure out which Silent Service episode Dean Fredericks (Norman Frederic) was in...which has been elusive...
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post #13 of 14
6/17/09 at 7:27pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Hug
John, I checked IMDB.com . . . . . didn't see anything for "The Silent Service," but Dean Fredericks did appear in "Navy Log."

"Navy Log" War of the Whale Boats (1957)

Hey Bob...sorry I got all wrapped up in my previous post and didn't respond to you first.

I actually have this episode of NAVY LOG with Dean Fredericks! I have (I figure) approx 75% of all of his film and TV appearances on either film or tape or DVD...that I have tracked down for both research for my documentary/bio on him (for Volume 3 of STEVE CANYON) and also to give to his family who have little or nothing.

And I'm still hunting...
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post #14 of 14
6/20/09 at 1:47pm

Re: Navy Log and Silent Service

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hank Dearborn
Navy Log is owned by Paramount and Silent Service is controlled by MGM. All episodes of both series are under copyright.

Are you sure on that? Because the last time I checked IMDB, there was no indication that both shows were owned by either of the respective companies at all-simply because Navy Log was on CBS for a while before it was on ABC doesn't really mean anything.

As a side note, I had considered editing the Wikipedia entries to say so, but then I backed off from that. Is there any proof that both shows were owned by the companies in question?
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