HTF DVD REVIEW: The Golden Age of Television - Page 2

Originally Posted by Tim Tucker 

It's too bad that the quality isn't better, given what can be done with modern technology to restore old kinescopes.

Originally Posted by Jeff Willis 

That's a bummer about Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction getting canned.  I haven't been collecting those but I know they're popular shows here.

I hate to hear that CBS/P is slowing down as well.  They seem to be the last major studio releasing pre-70's shows.

Keep Mannix coming

Originally Posted by Gary OS 

     Quote:

Jeff, I don't know the answer to your "Boomers" question, except to say that in my personal experience (which of course is anecdotal) a majority of "Boomers" really don't care all the much about collecting older material from their childhood days.  Of course that's a generalization and I know that good and well.  But like Jeff, I see a lot of people my age and older that actually end up watching modern TV more than older stuff.  It makes me kinda sad but I've even seen people in their 60's and 70's who often seem more content with modern fare.  I know we have "Boomers" and "Busters" and many young people on this forum who do appreciate the older material and collect these series on dvd, but I think we are the exception and not the rule for people in our age bracket.

I also need to say that my comment about possibly seeing a slowdown in 70's releases is just conjecture on my part.  I know for a fact that the 50's and 60's material has slowed down.  That's just not disputable on any level.  All the data bears it out.  But since I'm not as apt to follow the trends with 70's material I don't honestly know if there's been a slowdown or if one is on the horizon for that time period.  But it certainly wouldn't surprise me.

At this point I'm just hoping we can somehow, by hook or by crook, see the completion of a few series like FATHER KNOWS BEST before the wheels completely fall off.  I'd like to believe a great seller like PERRY MASON for CBS/P will see completion, but I honestly wonder if that will happen as fast as this medium is dying.  I'm not sure we've got another 4 or 5 years left before the studios have turned to another format (other than sddvd), whether that be blu-ray (which I highly, highly doubt will carry many older series from the 50's and 60's) or the WB Archive type of dvd-r's.  Then again, the studios might move away from physical media altogether and opt for some type of downloading/streaming.  If I had to bet that would be my guess.


Gary "hope I'm completely wrong and we see a resurgence of older material released on dvd - but I'm not holding my breath" O.
 

Originally Posted by Neil Brock 

      With me, it's split about 50-50. I have 2 friends my age who don't buy DVDs at all. They just watch whatever is on. Too lazy or they just don't care or too cheap. Whatever the reason. Then I have a couple of other friends, one who's 53, the other 56, and whenver I speak to them all they do is complain about why isn't Ben Casey or Dr. Kildare or The Millionaire or Mr. Novak out on DVD. None of the 4 are what you would call hardcore collectors, of which I know many. But they're in a different category. But the latter 2 were among the first people I knew who had bought VHS decks in early 1978 when they first came out. It boils down to some people are pro-active in terms of their viewing while others are passive and just accept whatever is conveniently available to them, regardless. 

Originally Posted by Gary OS 

     Quote:

IGary "some people think all the 'best' 50's-60's material has already been released, but they couldn't be more wrong - there's still some great series that need releasing" O.
 

Originally Posted by smithb 

Doug,

As an add-on. What do you think about the comparison between radio Gunsmoke and the TV show? I never watched the show prior to seeing the first season in the last year or so. But I have to say, I think William Conrad makes a better Matt Dillon. Kitty and Chester play about the same to me across the two. And while I liked Doc in the TV show, I like him better in the radio program. I think "Floyd the Barber from the Andy Griffith Show" brings in much more personality. So while I like both I'm leaning towards the radio show as being the better of the two. The only bad part is that they share many of the same scripts. At least that can be bad if you watch/listen to both.

Brad, we also have a long commute in common (mine is a little over an hour on a good day).  I, like you, got tired of the music, and talk/news on the radio.  (I recently cancelled my satalite radio subscription)  Old time radio on Mp3 has been a godsend.  One disc can last 24 hours, and also my car (2009 Honda Fit) has a USB port in the glove box and can play from a flash drive.  I can put enough old time radio on a cheap thumb drive to last a year in my car without ever having to add more material.  Right now I am alternating between Gunsmoke and Dragnet.

I grew up with gunsmoke on TV and it was my favorite television show as a kid - it was the only night of the week that my folks would let me stay up late to watch the set.  I only recently discovered Gunsmoke on the radio.  I am about a hundred episodes into it, and would have to agree with you that Bill Conrad was a better Matt Dillon.  He was a brilliant radio actor.  It took me a little while to develop an ear for radio shows, but now that I have, it is great entertainment medium.

I will continue to support any company that wants to take a chance on putting a classic show on DVD.  Right now I am enjoying The Barbara Stanwyck Show, a really rare little gem of a set, that I can't believe has ever seen the light of day.  I think that releases such as these are soon to completely dry up.  There has got to be a better way to distribute these classic shows that don't put the manufacturers at such risk.  We can't expect them to put these sets out at a loss.  There just is not enough of us out there to support wide spread releases of these kind of shows.
 

Originally Posted by MatthewA 

 Maybe they didn't know about the process. Now that it exists there's no excuse not to use it.