Steve Canyon (1958)

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

I only remember being pulled away from an episode with a UFO plot to go to the garden center with my Dad. Never quite forgave him for that. Nice to see the original 35mm film masters are extant.....I'll be a happy buyer if the whole season makes it to DVD.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Wow, that's one that I've heard of but never seen and so I can't comment on it, but it's a real surprise to see come to DVD, especially as it appears to be a private release through the Caniff estate with no mass market distributor (paging Infinity Entertainment).

I do have most of Caniff's earlier "Terry & the Pirates" series. That series had 17, possibly 18 episodes produced and Alpha Video has released 16 of the episodes, unrestored, utilizing some pretty ragged (but watchable) prints. "Pirates" is a real low budget affair and I think it unlikely that it would ever get any kind of proper release. If the production values of "Steve Canyon" are better than "Pirates" then I might consider it . . . . a bit on the pricey side, but it does help with the series restoration . . . . but I would need a little more background on the series before commiting to buy it.

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I actually ordered this 4 episode Steve Canyon sampler a couple of days ago,and expect it next week sometime. It is pricy by TVONDVD standards, but I was very impressed by the talent: writing,directing and acting listed in the episode guide and shown in stills (check out "Miss Landers" and Mary Tyler Moore) and clips. Plus the prospect of a restoration headed by John Ellis who has a pretty impressive resume at IMDB.

One interesting thing mentioned on the Steve Canyon blog was the possible existence and inclusion, on the DVD complete series set, of additional episodes that may have been shot but never assembled before the show was cancelled and taken off the air.

The Steve Canyon film elements appear to have been in the hands of Milton Caniff or his estate all this time. Steve Canyon was owned by Caniff. Terry and the Pirates was owned by the comics syndicate.

Dark haired Dean Fredericks,who stars as blond Steve Canyon, is a very recognizable face from fifties westerns. He was the Indian doctor in the feature "The Lone Ranger And The Lost City Of Gold" and the Indian Chief that fights Cheyenne in the "Quicksand" episode.

Bob Hug, as a comics fan,you may notice,from looking at the stills of Fredericks as Steve Canyon, that Joe Kubert, (a Caniff influenced comic artist) used stills from or sketched Fredericks from TV for some of his late fifties Korean War jet pilot stories that apeared in DC war comics.

http://stevecanyondvd.blogspot.com

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Mike, John Ellis, in a post over at the IMDB and on his Steve Canyon blog,says that the show was the most expensive show on the air that 1958 season.

Being a 1958 show I should have a more vivid memory of watching Steve Canyon but I don't. It was on Sat. at 9:00PM, so it was not really a kid's show. I do remember having some kind of Steve Canyon promo-tie-in toy. But I don't remember what it was.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Amazing how all of these shows are coming out of the woodwork now in the DVD age. There's finally a market for some long buried series. To me, it's worth it to get 4 shows with the original commercials. I wonder if they do the whole series if they would still include commercials.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Now there's a DVD I'd like to get my hands on! I have an episode of SC on VHS on a double bill with Caniff's other comic "Terry and the Pirates". While T&P had its eyes on the kiddie market, SC was definitely aimed at the adults with all its Dragnet-like technical jargon and aerial photography... the show even originally had "Dragnet's" sponsor, Chesterfield cigarettes as its main sponsor.

In keeping with the "Dragnet" parallel, several crew members from the original "Dragnet" worked on this show as well; Michael Meshekoff was one of the line producers, while Walter Schumann, who composed the legendary "Dragnet" theme, wrote the theme march for SC, which if you listen closely, almost sounds like "Off We Go Into the Wild Blue Yonder".

"Steve Canyon" was even filmed on the Universal backlot, where the color version of "Dragnet" would be filmed eight years after the last SC episode. I almost expected Jack Webb to pop up as Canyon's superior officer, lol.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Sounds interesting. I'd always been curious about this series, which I rarely ever heard referenced. I used to purchase the "Steve Canyon" reprint magazines that Kitchen Sink was putting out in the early-80s (alongside their "Spirit" mag), covering the first few years of the comic-strip. I'll definately try out the sampler dvd volume. I recall Dean Fredericks mostly from that old "Phantom Planet" (1961) movie. And speaking of Joe Kubert, I have to admit he wasn't my favorite when I was a kid (tended to prefer Russ Heath's take on Sgt. Rock), but in later years, seeing his work on "Hawkman" and "Viking Prince," I became a big fan. Anyway, this "Steve Canyon" tv-series seems to have some top-flight talent behind it, and sounds to be miles ahead of the earlier, very low-budget "Terry and the Pirates" concoction.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

I wonder if the show was cancled due to raitings or due to the high cost to produce the show.

It's a really good show.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Re: Cancellation: Part of the problem may also have been the fact that Steve Canyon had it's day and time slot moved three times in it's one season. Another factor may have been the U.S.A.F. not wanting stories that, to them, showed the Air Force in a bad light. Since Steve Canyon was a troubleshooter, if nothing could go wrong with men,equipment, or procedures, that Steve could fix, there could not be much of a story. (See John Ellis's post on the Steve Canyon page at Internet Movie Data Base.)

I emailed John Ellis and asked a couple of questions about the Steve Canyon DVD release.

1)What's the full series going to cost to buy and how will it be distributed?

John Ellis:"We don't know how much the set will cost, or if it will be split into two vol's, or what just yet. I hope to do it as one big box set, with the original commercials included. We are negotiating a deal with a dvd distibution company right now, so we'll see what happens. I can tell you it will be priced as low as we can afford to make it, comparable with other box sets. Our distribution deal looks good. It's with an old friend of mine, and will hopefully include putting the discs on military bases as well as regular stores, netflix, amazon.com and many other venues".

2)Possible lost episodes that were filmed but never aired?

John Ellis: "We have a script for one episode that isn't accounted for, and there are two gaps in the numbering of episodes, and a two week gap in filming in Nov of 1958 that coincides with the extra script Production #9216 (PROJECT B-58)...Davis Haft (producer) can't remember, but did remember there were "unfinished things" at the end of the series. We are still searching for nearly 2 tons of film, soundtracks and other materials that we hope will turn up somewhere. I just went through 5 boxes of memos, letters, photos, and other documents, copying/scanning anything that relates to the series, which I will study in detail..There is a lot of exciting info and clues there, and what I don't include on the dvd set and blog, will probably go into a book that appears likely".

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

I received my copy of Steve Canyon yesterday and watched it last night. I loved it; the quality was extremely good (if Route 66 could only look so good). It was definitely a real he man's show; my wife didn't care for it - too much technical stuff; not enough plot. I could not really understand her not liking the show as it seemed pretty exciting to me. I will for sure pick this up when it becomes available in its entirety. This is one show worth preserving. It included all the original commercials for Chesterfields and L&M Cigarettes and promos for other ABC shows like The Donna Reed Show, some westerns and a trial show whose names escape me at the moment.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Hello all!

I have been following this forum and am very interested to hear comments from those of you who ordered the Special Edition DVD...

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

The episode you appear to be missing is #9 Operation B-52 and aired on November 15, 1958. For a complete episode guide, go here:

http://aa.1asphost.com/CTVA/US/Military/SteveCanyon.htm

Hopefully you will be able to locate all 39 episodes.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Well, OPERATION B-52 is one of the four we just released on the Special Edition DVD...in fact it was the very first episode we had transferred from 35mm to digital video. I'm not sure where you got this info, but we DO have ALL 34 broadcasted episodes (there are not 39), and all but one is a 35mm original broadcast print from either NBCs original run in 1958/1959, or is from the ABC repeats in 1960.

We are still looking for certain things related to the series, such as an original STEVE CANYON RETURNS! ABC promo from 1960, and The Eddie Fisher show that aired on NBC September 30, 1958, in COLOR, with Milton Caniff and Dean Fredericks promoting the series.

I have referred to the CTVA Steve Canyon page many times in the past...but our "Steve Canyon On DVD Official Episode Guide" (see the link in my signature below) is the only fully ACCURATE guide on the web. I actually offered our credits info to CTVA a while ago, and I need to follow up on this with them (I've been bad). Their site is the VERY BEST around otherwise, but they don't have the benefit of having the original studio files that we do.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

If you can get the Eddie Fisher show, please include the entire episode, not just the bits relevant to Steve Canyon. If you can not do that, then at least list that these clips are just excerpts. I have purchased classic tv series with similar material as bonus feature believing it to be the whole show and was a bit upset to find it not. I would still buy it anyway though. I know Steve Canyon is the focus of the release but I would like to see the material as it was presented within a whole episode.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

I've enjoyed watching the 4 episode sampler, (and the promo with excerpts from six other episodes) of Steve Canyon and plan to buy the complete series set when it's available.

The Steve Canyon episodes look as good if not better than any other black and white TV show in my DVD collection. I hope the rest of the episodes are in equally good shape.

I like the half-hour adventure format of 50's and 60's TV, and the one season shows like Steve Canyon are fun to collect. It's always nice to see a character actor like Dean Fredericks get a chance to play a lead in a series.

The show itself has a lot of visual interest with all the footage of different types of Air Force planes and helicopters. I guess a lot of this film was real Air Force photography of actual tests and operations provided to the show and blended with scenes shot with the cast for the show, with the Air Force providing the real planes and pilots.

Say John Ellis, I hope you will include the script for "Project B-58" on the DVD as an extra along with any film you might find. A little quick research shows that the B-58 "Hustler" was the first USAF supersonic bomber. In developement during the '50's and deployed in 1960. Maybe the story was shelved for security reasons?

And,John, after you complete Steve Canyon maybe you could get Paramount/Desilu interested in releasing "Whirlybirds". (Or go low tech with a one season show like "Tales Of The Vikings").

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Tory, your comments have been noted. There can be issues relating to amount of time/space on the discs, as well as "clip fees" that are usually charged by the minute and can be extremely exorbitant! Having said all of that, I just hope we are able to find this and other things we are looking for. There WILL be significant extras on the discs.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

33 of the 34 episodes are from well preserved 35mm film elements with superior clarity of picture and sound. There are two episodes that we (so far) are using Milton Caniff's personal 16mm file copies of, which are the only copies that we have been able to locate at this time. Yes, that makes 35 shows! One is the episode BLACKMAIL and the other is the original pilot version of OPERATION TOWLINE. Here is a still of a scene from the pilot that was not included in the broadcast version of TOWLINE:

IMAGE MISSING-10 POST FORUM RULE

That's Nancy Valentine (Nurse Cluney) on left, Susan Alexander (Nurse Jeets) middle, and Dean Fredericks (Steve Canyon, of course) on right.

Did you know that Dean Fredericks (real name: Frederic J. Foote) appeared in well over 100 movies and tv programs during the 10 years his onscreen career lasted?

They did purchase a certain amount of stock footage from the USAF, but for the most part they went out and shot their own. Apparantly pre-astronaut Gordon Cooper shot aerial footage for the series. I've been aware of footage that also appeared previously in Sabre Jet and Islands In The Sky, both features from 1953.

We have plans for this script as an extra on the box set. Most likely this script was a victim of the aforementioned conflict between the Air Force and the show's producers over content. I am in the middle of research into this issue so there will be more to tell later.

I love WHIRLYBIRDS...Dean Fredericks (under his previous nom de plume Norman Frederic) appeared as a heavy in the episode titled LADY LUCK. I would love to try to restore other series after this (such as FLIGHT or MEN INTO SPACE, or (yes) WHIRLYBIRDS, I confess I don't remember VIKINGS)...time will tell. Being in charge of Steve Canyon means I can spend whatever time I want to complete things to my satisfaction. Believe me I have spent a lot of time over the years working for people with "just get it done and throw it out there" attitudes, which I have never appreciated.

I thank all of you for your interest and appreciate the opportunity to respond the comments here. Keep 'em comin' (and flyin')

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

It's my pleasure. I enjoy talking about the show because I'm having a great time and I like sharing information with like-minded fans. For me this project is the ultimate treasure-hunt!


I'm familiar with that show, apparently theres a group of ex-submariners who have been trying for years to get a release of the show. Perhaps there will be some clout to be had after this project...it's just insane to not release the older shows, and a pity to let them fall into the hands of the public domainer's...companies who although they DO release rare stuff, it's mostly inferior prints. If a show was shot in 35mm, it shouldn't be released from 16mm prints unless there isn't another option. Just my 2 cents.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Nice review on the "Steve Canyon" special edition DVD over at DVD Talk, though the reviewer, Stuart Galbraith, had some issues with the audio portion. Galbraith gives the disc a "Highly Recommended" rating.

DVD Talk Review: Steve Canyon - Special Edition DVD

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

I had been meaning to order "Steve Canyon" when it was first released and missed out when the initial pressing sold out. The DVD has been reissued and DeepDiscount is offering this for a bargain price of $7.38 shipped. No excuses this time around for me.

Action/Adventure - Steve Canyon Not Rated / Tempe Video / DVD

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Thanks for noticing. Stuart did an excellent job with his review, a very well thought out and researched piece that we appreciated very much. Note that he added an update concerning the audio issue (at the bottom).

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

I will be interested in hearing your comments after you have a chance to view the episodes. When we finally went "wide retail" last month the demand caught us off guard and we ran out of the 1st press run rather abruptly. It took a couple of weeks but the 2nd pressing is now in stock (and has been shipped to Amazon and all of the others who were back-ordered)...so there shouldn't be a problem getting them anywhere you choose to do business with. Thanks again for the interest and comments!

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

John, I should have the DVD by, I'm guessing, the end of this week. Stuart Galbraith (at DVD Talk) is one of my favorite vintage TV-on-DVD reviewers and I'm confident that I'll enjoy this DVD based on his review. I'm just sorry that I had not ordered it earlier . . . . . just got preoccupied with "other things," but I'm now glad to be able to add "Steve Canyon" to my vintage TV-on-DVD collection.

And, John, let me add my thanks to you for bringing this "lost" show back to the public in such great shape.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

It's been quite some time since we've heard any update on the complete set. I'm hoping that we see it before the year is up if at all possible. Anyone?

Gary "really looking forward to this" O.

Re: Steve Canyon (1958)

Ok, I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high... The Steve Canyon blog is reporting that some big news is coming Saturday. Here's hoping that the news is about a complete dvd set headed our way before the end of the year.

Gary "boy I really want this set by Christmas" O.