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SEA HUNT: Showing on THIS network- New hope for DVD release?

post #1 of 20
9/5/09 at 7:01pm
Thread Starter 
I stumbled across two episodes of SEA HUNT tonight, which were show on the MGM/THIS  network.

The episodes looked great!

Since two other shows in the THIS mix of programing are coming out soon on DVD, THE PATTY DUKE SHOW S-1, from Shout Factory and MR ED S-1 from MGM, I am hoping that Sea Hunt's resurfacing on THIS will give the show the visibilty to create some interest, so MGM or one of the independent DVD producers will get this classic out there on DVD.

Sea Hunt starred Lloyd Bridges, as SCUBA diving adventurer Mike Nelson, in 156 episodes.  The show was  syndicated and produced between 1957 and 1961. In my area it was show once a week on Saturdays until about 1971.  I have not seen it again until tonight.

Sea Hunt, like BAT MASTERSON, also being shown on THIS network, was produced by  ZIV. Both Sea Hunt and Bat Masterson look in really nice shape. It's nice to see after all this time that MGM has done a nice job preserving these ZIV shows.

I'll try to record some of these Sea Hunt's, but with the odd scheduling, digital breakup with the old rabbit ears, THIS logo, and commercials, I really hope Sea Hunt makes it to DVD, soon.

 THIS has scheduled four more Sea Hunt episodes: 3:30-4:00 AM EST on Friday Sept 11, Sat. Sept 12, Tuesday Sept 15,and Wed Sept 16.
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post #2 of 20
9/5/09 at 7:32pm
This is just so frustrating.  This meaning the situation, not the channel.  One again, just like with the RTN locals, we have another channel that is willing to show some vintage material - but it's not national!!!!!!  I cannot emphasize enough how utterly maddening this is. 

I'll say it again: Until one of these stations is carried nationally by Direct TV it means zilch to me.  If it's not on Direct TV it's not national, plain and simple.

Gary "only cable company subscribers are benefitting from this arrangement, but I'm not giving them a dime of my money - it's satellite all the way for me (and many, many others)" O.
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post #3 of 20
9/6/09 at 6:15am
Unfortunately, even though I found out I have an RTN channel, I found it difficult to watch. There are logo's and then there are logo's. RTN channels use a rather large RTV logo in a mix of orange, blue, and green lettering. I personally found it very distracting. If you have to use a logo, why make it so bright and garish to take all the attention. I'm ok with ones that are fairly translucent but the RTV logo is ridiculous.
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post #4 of 20
9/6/09 at 11:10am
A single episode of Sea Hunt titled "Mark of the Octopus" has surfaced (no pun intended) on several "Lost TV Shows" collections including one from Alpha, one on the defunct Diamond Entertainmnet, one on a set from Mill Creek, and another on a classic TV set of 1950s shows from the Falcon Entertainment Group.  It's a good episode but just leaves you wanting more.  I left a note on the Shout! boards for Sea Hunt, Bat Masterson, and Highway Patrol in the 50s section under the banner "Where are the ZIV television shows?"  Feel free to leave a comment or two there . . . . can't hurt.  Boston Blackie might be another one that people migh want to see.
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post #5 of 20
9/6/09 at 2:44pm
Brad,

Thanks for the info on RTN.  From yours & other posts here, I'm not sure that, if the channel was carried by nat'l providers, I'd be that interested in viewing since the shows aren't being aired in their series order and the "Sta Bug", 16mm prints.  The more info that's posted from RTN viewers doesn't sound too good for me.  I guess it's another way to see why owing the show[s] pm DVD is the best way to watch something.

Bob, thanks for the "Sea Hunt" info.  Like you said, it makes us want more of this one.  I'd get this on DVD without hesitating if it ever sees a season release.

I like the idea that Charles posted (premium channel offer).  That's something I'd add to my DTV programming in a flash.  Adding an Encore channel is an interesting idea.  I just think that if they added a channel of solely classic shows, there's enough 'Boomers and other fans of older shows out there to make a go of it.

Jeff "Now, back to 'Flipper' on DVD" W.
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post #6 of 20
9/7/09 at 12:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by smithb View Post

Unfortunately, even though I found out I have an RTN channel, I found it difficult to watch. There are logo's and then there are logo's. RTN channels use a rather large RTV logo in a mix of orange, blue, and green lettering. I personally found it very distracting. If you have to use a logo, why make it so bright and garish to take all the attention. I'm ok with ones that are fairly translucent but the RTV logo is ridiculous.

It doesn't bother me that much. I suspect they do it to cut down on someone taping the shows (many of them aren't on video and haven't been seen in a while) and selling them on E-Bay. I'm more bothered about shows out of order - both broadcast order and occasionally running order. One night they ran the last segment of Adam-12 in the 2nd block and just continued on. That's the type of sloppiness that will drive viewers away.

The biggest problem for those of us who like classic TV is finding these stations. Since both RTN and This are digital subchannels publicity can be scarce. There have been no promos for RTN or This on main channels. So you either have to hope they are carried on the local cable system (and if they are you can bet they are far away from the main broadcast channels; on my Comcast system all regular broacast channels are between 2-21 but any subchannels are carried up in the 200s) or you can get an over-the-air digital signal. It cuts down on the "stumble-on" possibilities. And because they're set up to be digital subchannels I don't see either channel being offered on Direct or Dish anytime soon. Another possible audience lost.
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post #7 of 20
9/7/09 at 1:58pm
On my cable it shows up at channel 205. I'll admit I probably wouldn't have noticed it if not for this thread. However, I don't watch a lot of TV or movies through cable. Mainly just DVDs.

I will admit out of order programming is worse, but I never would have gotten far enough to notice that with the obtrusive bug on the screen. Bright orange, blue, and green is a bit much when a translucent one would more then suffice. Oh well.
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post #8 of 20
9/7/09 at 7:24pm
Thread Starter 
At least the This logo is translucent and comes and goes.

I am very happy to have found SEA HUNT, looking so great.

When fans have wondered, "Where are the ZIV shows and when are they coming to DVD", we were told by those "in the know" that, " The ZIV shows are locked away in the MGM vaults, rotting away, never to be seen again".

Well, the MGM vault is open and the Sea Hunt episodes on THIS look to be  fresh 35mm transfers.

I believe Sea Hunt has a good shot at coming to DVD from MGM itself.

THIS network shows movies and five classic TV series.  The Outer Limits has already been released on DVD. The Patty Duke Show and Mr.Ed are being released shortly.  My hope is that, the other two, the ZIV shows, Sea Hunt and Bat Masterson will also make it out on DVD, soon, in season sets.

There are 28 episodes of Sea Hunt available to view at the IMDB, which doesn't help me, since I have lowly dial-up. 
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post #9 of 20
9/7/09 at 7:56pm
That's good to know they are on IMDB. I may have to watch a few to see what I think. I like Bridges and the concept. I might be interested in Materson as well if it ever comes to DVD. After watching the first two seasons of Hill Street Blues on DVD I noticed season 3 is up on IMDB and have debated watching it that way as well.

Updated: I just noticed my cable has THIS (station 206) and is playing Sea Hunt next Friday and Saturday, and the following Tuesday and Wednesday but at 4:30 am. Not sure why the odd days in the scheduling but I'll have to set the DVR and check this out.
Edited by smithb - 9/7/09 at 8:33pm
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post #10 of 20
9/7/09 at 9:23pm
Thread Starter 

Brad, now you got me worried that I am misreading the THIS schedule I found online.  I think I'll set my recorder for  3:30 am  and 4:30 am Friday just to be on the safe side.

One of the tricky things about the THIS schedule is that if they show an unedited/longer version of a movie, or show more commercials, it may delay or prempt a scheduled  show like Sea Hunt.

The This schedule online is also showing two episodes of Sea Hunt for Saturday afternoon Sept 19, 12 noon to 1:00PM.

A bit of Sea Hunt trivia: Wende Wagner who played Lenore Case on the Green Hornet tv series was an expert Scuba diver and was a stunt diving double for some of the women guest stars on Sea Hunt. She also worked on the Aquanauts and Flipper.   

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post #11 of 20
9/7/09 at 10:40pm
Bob, I checked the Comcast online schedule for my area. I haven't set the DVR yet so I'm not sure what it will say. It is possible the Comcast schedule is wrong.

Earlier this week when I found out about RTV channels I checked my Comcast provider and saw that they had a channel. However, it appeared Comcast in my area had slightly different programming from what I saw on the generic RTV site. So there may indeed be some slight differences across areas. I might just set my DVR with a wider time slot just to make sure.
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post #12 of 20
9/11/09 at 8:26pm
Thread Starter 

Trying to record SEA HUNT is starting out to be quite the 'adventure'.

Thank's to Brad for his post about the 4:30AM start time instead of the the 3:30AM listed on the titantv online THIS schedule, I decided to stay awake and check.

Sure enough, no Sea Hunt at 3:30AM. A movie was showing. The onscreen schedule display showed that Sea Hunt was on at 4:30 as Brad's schedule said. I checked the THIS schedule on line and it still showed  3:30AM starts for Friday and Saturday's episodes.

I had already set the VCR, (yes I am that low-tech), for both 3:30AM and 4:30AM. So I rewound the tape. 

So I did get the complete Sea Hunt episode shown this early morning.

Since I need my beauty sleep, and can't be checking all the time to see what's actually on, I'll tape the times shown on the THIS schedule, and an hour later at SP speed.  I've got a second VCR/Digital turner set up that I  will let run at the SLP for 6 hours any day/night around the time they have Sea Hunt scheduled.

This is pretty obsessive, but I have not seen Sea Hunt in 38 years! 

THIS seems to be showing only four episodes a week, so getting all 156 episodes is going to take awhile. Especially with the nutty changeable schedules.  I may not last or remember to set my machines.

Sea Hunt needs to be on DVD.
 

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post #13 of 20
9/11/09 at 9:01pm
Bob,

VCR?  "The pain"   Just kidding.  I still have a VCR but haven't taped anything in years, just keep it for playback.

Sea Hunt: You're right...it needs to be on DVD.  I couldn't go through your vigil but admire it,

After reading on the Retro thread, I'm not missing RTN as much as I might, given the scheduling and print qualty issues, and not airing the shows in order, but I guess to each his own.  There's just no substitue for a studio TV/DVD release, imo.

I have so much un-viewed stuff on the shelf anyway.  But if this one ever sees a DVD release, I'm there.
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post #14 of 20
9/11/09 at 9:04pm
Glad it worked out for you Bob,

I noticed I have one saved on the DVR but haven't had a change to watch it yet.

It may be time though Bob to move up to a DVR or Tivio. It is so much easier. I just select one of the various Maverick, Cheyenne, or Sea Hunts in the guide and tell it to record all occurrences (regardless of time differences). I can hold some 90 one hour shows at a time, so I can easily wait until a weekend or to to move stuff off.

Having just captured almost all the Mavericks and Cheyenne's over the last few months I couldn't imagine doing it any other way. Also, all the Maverick's show teasers about the episode at the beginning. So once I get it on the computer it is easy to remove it.

Wish you well in capturing the Sea Hunts.
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post #15 of 20
9/11/09 at 9:12pm
Bob,

Brad's right.....make that jump to DVR.  It's awesome.  I'm a late-entry into this stuff myself.  I have DirecTV and upgraded to HD last summer.  The upgrade included a DVR in the Receiver Box.  I have a few movies on the hard drive but I need to transfer them to DVD soon.
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post #16 of 20
9/11/09 at 9:15pm
Jeff,

I'm anxious to see how the quality is of Sea Hunt off the THIS network. The good news is that THIS doesn't have the obtrusive orange, green, and blue bug like RTV. It is a subdued translucent one like Encore. Hopefully, it is worth the effort.

Like you I have plenty of unwatched content. However, I'm still mad at myself for not capturing the Rifleman while it was on Encore. I kept believing it was near a DVD release and delayed getting the equipment I needed to pull it off. You just can't predict what is going to make it and what won't or how many seasons will be produced. So I figure I might as well capture what I can based on one's I have a high interest in. If it comes out on DVD later, no harm. But if it doesn't I'm covered.
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post #17 of 20
9/11/09 at 10:10pm
Thread Starter 

Early on when I started collecting  DVDs I decided I was not  interested in recording anything myself or even transfering my  B-Western VHS collection to DVD-R.

Like you said, Jeff, commercially produced DVDs are the best.
 

I am cable free, dish free, and cell phone free. Heck, I waste enough time watching DVDs  and buying DVDs that I don't get around to watching. (I am sucker for sales.)

I have not really done any serious taping for years.  So this SEA HUNT obsession is a one-time thing. (Unless they start showing WHIRLYBIRDS. Then I would consider a major upgrade in technology.  But, what would I tell my horse?

Brad, I am interested in what you think about Sea Hunt, both the picture quality and the show itself once you see a few episodes. I think it looks great.

THIS does seem to be showing Sea Hunt according to the episode guide at IMDB more or less.  The episodes shown or scheduled so far since I noticed the show was on, are Episodes 23-26,28-33.    

 

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post #18 of 20
9/12/09 at 3:00am
I hear you Bob. To tell the truth I never did any taping back in the VHS days (other then to watch something I missed and then erase). I didn't even have a DVR or video capture device until this past May, so I'm pretty new to this stuff myself. And I really don't even trust the longevity aspect of DVD-R's. I to would much prefer just buying commercially available sets of DVD's. But I guess I just got burned once too many times regarding a series either not coming out or stopping after only one season and reading about how others had their personal collections to fall back on, so I guess I decided to give it a try. What really helped was that the Western Encore channel plays some shows of interest, has acceptable quality, and no commercials. I checked out TV Land one time and found it not worth the trouble. I also don't mind the technology aspect of transferring them to my computer, editing them, converting them to the DVD format, and burning them.

Like many I assume hear, I haven't watched regular cable or network TV programming in years (other then some sports). I much prefer being my own programmer and watching what I want to watch when I want to watch. Mostly vintage stuff. I'm sure this type of viewing is in the minority, but it does make me wonder what broadcast TV will be like in years to come. Who knows it may even become more of a medium where the viewer is in ultimate control and not the broadcast stations. Also there is the take off of classic TV. It reminds me of a Stallone movie "Demolition Man" where he is revived into the future and finds everyone listening to classic TV commercial jingles like "Oscar Meyer Weiner". Hopefully, it won't turn out like the future presented in "Robocop" where silly reality/game shows rule (heck we may already be half way there).

It's a busy weekend, but I hope to watch a few episodes of Sea Hunt this Monday evening and then I'll report back what I think. I've never seen the show before other than a few snapshots over the years. I like the whole Bridges family as actors so I'm anticipating a positive response.
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post #19 of 20
9/12/09 at 4:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Gu View Post

I am cable free, dish free, and cell phone free. Heck, I waste enough time watching DVDs  and buying DVDs that I don't get around to watching. (I am sucker for sales.)
 


Man, that's a real challenge these days   No kidding, admire that.  If I wasn't a big sports TV fan, that might be possible for me.  But no chance with that sports on DTV.

As for recording, I've nearly bought a standalone DVR over the last few years but it seemed that when I was about to pull the trigger on it, a show would get a DVD release.,  This was mainly back a couple of years ago when the classic TV/DVD mkt was peaking.  I remember when Encore was showing "Time Tunnel", that nearly got me to buy the DVR.  Then it got released.  Somehow, I've not yet bought that DVR but that said, if some of the shows, like Sea Hunt, were getting a strip release on an Encore channel, I'd buy the DVR for sure.  I remember when "Big Valley" was being shown in order with remastered prints on Encore Western a couple of years ago.  A  friend recorded those on DVD-R's so I have the complete series.  As we all know here, that one was abandoned after the 2 1/2 season release.

Quote=Brad:
I hear you Bob. To tell the truth I never did any taping back in the VHS days (other then to watch something I missed and then erase). I didn't even have a DVR or video capture device until this past May, so I'm pretty new to this stuff myself. And I really don't even trust the longevity aspect of DVD-R's. I to would much prefer just buying commercially available sets of DVD's. But I guess I just got burned once too many times regarding a series either not coming out or stopping after only one season and reading about how others had their personal collections to fall back on, so I guess I decided to give it a try. What really helped was that the Western Encore channel plays some shows of interest, has acceptable quality, and no commercials. I checked out TV Land one time and found it not worth the trouble. I also don't mind the technology aspect of transferring them to my computer, editing them, converting them to the DVD format, and burning them.
 

Brad, good points,  As I mentioned earlier, Encore has done a great job of airing some of these shows with remastered prints and in episode order.  I also thought about recording "The Rifleman" during the Encore run.  I have those MPI Box sets containing most of the series, but the transfers and audio Q isn't as good as the Encore versions.  I still think that we'll see that complete Box Set someday but there's no guarantee at all, for sure.

Warning: Spoiler! (Click to show)

Quote=Brad
It's a busy weekend....     I like the whole Bridges family as actors....

 
Same here on both....football season's started :)  I have several "Bridges" movies in the collection.  I still remember an early Lloyd B appearance in one of the "Blondie" series movies...."Blondie Goes to College".

Jeff "not a fan of this HTF software...where's the Forum Jump pull-down bar?" W.

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post #20 of 20
9/12/09 at 5:26am
Jeff,

Ahhh...to have the Big Valley shows would be nice. I just hope Encore brings back Big Valley and the Rifleman for another viewing. They had them once and I missed out, but it shouldn't be too big a reach for them to air again.

We know Big Valley didn't work out on DVD so the chances are slim they will ever continue. My fear with the Rifleman is that the rights seem to be owned by a small group that appears to be trying it themselves. I believe it's been two years since we first heard about the possibility. I just wish they would farm it out again to one of the smaller producers that knows how to get something out, like TMG or Shout. And that they will do full season sets in order, unlike MPI.
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