BIONIC WOMAN (original series) COMING TO DVD (Kenneth johnson announces)

Tell me this same news again on April 2, and I'll believe it.

Nothing against you... I went and checked out Kenneth Johnson's site and exactly what you reported is there... but the news sure showed up on a bad day.

If this is soon to be released, I wonder... Universal or Shout!?

Have them all from overseas releases for a couple of years now. But thanks anyway. I'd rather Universal put out something like Owen Marshall or The Bold Ones. Something that hasn't already come out somewhere.

Well, one must assume that both Bionic Woman and Six Million Dollar Man are free from legal limbo and will be coming to R1 DVD at last.  While not among my most wanted titles, this will be great!

Well, I sure hope this is true (and also for SMDM) but yesterday's date makes me skeptical. Hopefully, Johnson (who has always been upfront about his shows on DVD) will clarify soon.

If this is true (I'm sure the Folks behind this Board and tvshowsondvd will verify it today), you can count me in on purchasing both series!  

Now if only something could be done about a certain "Superhero" Series!

And hopefully a French language track!

Quote:

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Six-Million-Dollar-Man-DVDs-Planned/13551

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bionic-Woman-DVD-Plans/13550

Wow, wonderful news!  Thanks for confirming the latest info, Dave!!  I think I hear shouts from the Dallas, Texas area. 

Gary "even though I have some of the R2 releases, I'll double-dip for better transfers (which I'm sure these will have)" O.

Don't much like the sound of that "in partnership with Time-Life" though. I smell an exclusive.

Waa-Hoo! At last! This is really great news. Can't wait to get these in Region 1 sets and perhaps have the entire run of both series. Of course, I'll be double dipping on seasons 1 and 2 for both series but no big deal to get better transfers. I'm so excited about these.

It would be nice to get the first 3 SMDM movies as they originally ran instead of the horribly padded 2-part versions.

As much as I want this series on DVD I held out for an R1 release and finally it is getting closer.  This is very exciting news which could only be made better if we see a complete series set for both shows released from the onset.  Either way whether it be individual seasons on the entire series I'm in as soon as they are available.    

As excited as I am about these releases, I am a little concerned about this too.  The last time I purchased a Time-Life exclusive, (The Odd Couple Season 1), they ended up not releasing the rest.  I had to rebuy season 1 with the rest of the series once it became avail in retail.

Yeah, Christmas is coming early this year!  I can now retire my R2 sets and cut-up Sci-Fi Channel dubs permanently.  Hopefully we are getting new interviews with all the principal cast members on these sets (Lee Majors just turned up a couple weeks ago on an episode of "Community" and looks to be in good shape still).
It sounds like Universal is giving these episodes the same quality treatment that CBS-Paramount does with some of their more popular shows, plus lots of extras.

As for the episodes that were split between both series (i.e. Kill Oscar), I think they should be included complete on both sets, as originally aired.  (In other words, have all 3 "Kill Oscar" parts on both sets--BW Season 2 set should have Kill Oscar Part 2 that aired on SMDM as a bonus episode, and SMDM Season 4 should have Kill Oscar Parts 1 and 3 from BW as extras on that set).  That way both series will truly be complete.

I don't think we'll have anything to worry about regarding an incomplete release of the series, if TimeLife is involved.  My guess is that they'd release them like Get Smart -- as a complete set.  The major drawback is that the price will be higher.  If complete series sets are all that is offered, fans who'd like to buy certain seasons -- or can't afford the sets -- would have to wait for the general retail releases.  I purchased Get Smart from TimeLife when it was first released.  I believe I paid $150 (discounted from the $200 SRP.)  A few months later it was at Costco for $100.  Individual seasons are readily available for about $15 each.  I guess that's the price to pay (literally) for having to have it immediately.

The purpose of partnering with TimeLife -- and granting them an exclusive sales window -- is that TL shares in the mastering costs and pays for the upfront marketing.  Their very experienced (and costly) marketing ability (TV & radio informercials/direct-mail catalogs/website, etc.) is a very valuable tool that benefits Universal when it comes time for them to release their own general retail versions.  The marketplace will have already been flooded with advertising from TL, making the general consumer base aware of the product.

What you said makes sense. If price is a concern, one needs to be patient for the general release, which based on Get Smart will be a year or more after a Time/Life release. The individual season set releases of Get Smart were without the extras on the complete series set.
The $99.99 Costco price on Get Smart was more than a year after its Time/Life release.
It was even cheaper Christmas 2009. As long as its not announced as a limited edition, everyone should be able to get the sets at the price they are willing to pay with patience
Time/Life also had an exclusive on The Man From Uncle complete set. I don't think that series was ever released as season sets though the complete series is available now at retail.
Great news for fans of the shows.  Also remember Time/Life usually has a 25% coupon in the fall. This is not a guarantee but it could happen again.

While it's probably a longshot, I'm hoping Universal springs for 5.1 audio remixes.  But what I'd really love is for Uni to release these shows as the first of their "classic TV" on Blu-ray.  They were 100% shot and posted on 35mm film (except for the three "reunion" movies), so they should look fantastic on Blu-ray (think Star Trek.)

Snippets from an email I received today from Kenneth Johnson:

"I'm delighted to report that all the episodes of the two Bionic series will be released on DVD later this year. The Six Million Dollar Man will be done by Time-Life and my original series, The Bionic Woman, will be released by Universal. I will be recording a full length commentary for both my Ghosthunter and Doomsday is Tomorrow episodes. There are numerous additional special features in the works. Details will be at my web site when available. I know that all of the Bionic fans are as pleased as I am that the shows are finally going to be out on DVD."

Here's KJ's web link:  kennethjohnson.us/


It seems odd that Uni would split the distribution method for the two shows.  Hopefully, all three cross-over episodes will be presented properly within both releases.  I'm extremely encouraged by Kenny's comments about "numerous special features" being "in the works".  I've already offered him access to my extensive collection of materials from the shows.  He told me he'll pass along the offer to the producers of the DVDs next week.

Yeah, you heard something from Dallas :) If the Bionic Woman series will be distributed by Uni and the 6M$M set by T/L.  If that's what pans out, for me, that might work out a little better since I'm a BW fan first and 6M$M fan second.  It'll be interesting to compare transfer Q between the R2/4 BW S1&2 sets vs the R1 Uni sets since the R2/4's looked good.  I held off on getting the German BW S3 set and glad I did.

The 6M$M fans will get a big payoff in transfer Q with the R1's. 

Either way everyone decides, double-dipping or those that waited, that's great news :)

I'd bet Oscar's secret vault records that Lindsay will be doing interviews for extras :)
Edited by Jeff Willis - 4/2/10 at 6:07pm

Maybe she'll throw in a sleep number mattress ad as an extra 

:)

I have only one "fear" remaining.... I wouldn't like to see an exclusive Blu-Ray release with no Std DVD release but I haven't seen that (have we?) with any of the older TV/DVD shows.

I have to admit I'm a bit bummed about SMDM being rented out to Time/Life because it will undoubtedly carry a higher than normal price tag.  But regardless of this I'm sure I'll pick this set up at some point.

Gary "I figured those shouts of joy I heard were coming from your place, Jeff" O. 

Start saving your "Mad Money"!

Yeah, I thought about renting a sky-writer plane to get the news out all over North Texas but the cost prohibited me from that idea :)

Same here if it's T/L.  That may be a tougher decision for me, depending on how Uni packages the BW sets.  If they include all 6M$M crossovers in the BW set, I can wait a year or longer for the 6M$M set if it's priced high.  But, I'm forgetting about the guy from the North Pole :)  I hope these sets get released before Dec.

Best case is that Uni and T/L will give the fans a choice of complete series sets and individual season sets.

As long as they're presented as originally aired (i.e. with the proper opening/ending credits to the series they originally went out (i.e. "Kill Oscar part 2" as a Six Million Dollar Man episode) and with nothing edited out (retaining the "to be continued...on The Bionic Woman caption instead of fading to black, for instance), then I'll be satisfied, whether or not they include all the episodes on both releases or not.

One other benefit that no one has mentioned (but I'm sure many are aware of)...no PAL speedup.

Let's just hope that whoever is in charge of selecting the masters knows what they're doing, as there's a lot of potential for screw-ups in selecting the wrong versions of some episodes, since some originally aired in movie-length, some originally as multi-part, etc. and if that person isn't knowledgeable enough, they'll take advantage of the knowledge of a "super-fan", perhaps.

OMG!!!!  I cannot believe what I'm reading here!  I will definitely be picking both series up.....I loved them both growing up.  Having them in my collection is an equivalent to having the holy grail.  Bring them on!

I posted the following response to a similar concern over at the yahoo bionicfans site:



They'd better be. I've made every effort to make sure the people involved at Universal are well aware of the show's history -- specifically regarding the cross-overs and SMDM's pilot eps. For the most part, Universal has been fairly accurate with their TV show releases...at least in the U.S. International releases are another matter. We all know the syndication versions were used for all foreign releases, with the rare exception of the Mexican SMDM Season One featuring the proper pilot eps in their original "movie" format.

One example of fan intervention (including myself) that prevented Universal from making a similar blunder on a related show was their "The Rockford Files" Season One set. Like SMDM, the original pilot movie was a 90-minute "movie", later edited and "padded" with filler to form two parts for syndication. It was the two-part version that was set to be utilized for the DVD release, until fans informed Uni about the issue. They decided to release the set sans pilot, so they could locate the proper elements for the "movie" version. It was then
presently properly on the Season Two release. Better late than never...or in its bastardized version.

So, we can't assume the folks involved in the studios' DVD production have a clue about the shows they're working on. I'd bet most of these people weren't even born when the shows were originally aired. At this stage of the game, with as much time as they've had -- not to mention the amount of fan input/suggestion/begging/demanding, etc. -- there's really no excuse for them to release anything but the shows as they were originally aired. But I'm just sayin'. :)