Ozzie & Harriet

If this were to come off and Mr. Sam Nelson can actually get full season sets released in uncut, pristine condition from the original 35 mm elements it would be absolutely huge for me.  First off, this dispels the nasty rumor about the elements being cut up when the series aired on the Disney Channel so long ago (which I always found hard to believe, but until now never had concrete evidence that it hadn't happened).  That in and of itself is fantastic news.  Second, I'm hoping enough people will be willing to help with such a project.  Sam says in the video he's looking at $56,000 for the restoration of all 435 episodes.  Hopefully that will be a hurdle that can easily be cleared for such an important project.  I'm trusting it can and will be.

 

Thanks for the link, John.  This news is fabulous and I hope Mr. Nelson can succeed in this all-important project.  My fingers are crossed.

 

 

Gary "just knowing there is someone working on the project is good news in and of itself" O.

Edited by Gary OS - 9/21/11 at 4:31am

^  Will keep the fingers crossed for you, Gary, on this one.  

 

Sometimes the real story takes years to get clarified about some of the original elements with the older shows.

 

Jeff "Hoping for a complete series restored uncut box set for you"  W.  (I bet you know what I'd like too,  a particular WWII 60's series restored from original elements and uncut)

 

Agreed and thanks again, John.

 

However I have a concern:

 

Doesn't the $56k figure seem really, really low for that many episodes?  That's less than $130 per episode.  From what Danny and others have posted I would have expected this to be much higher.    This   kind of budget also would only cover transfer costs and not allow for any true restoration.   Then there's going to be the cost of clearing the music, which isn't going to be cheap unless the Nelson family owns a lot of the music (including the publishing).   I'm not an O&H expert so perhaps others who are can chime in.

 

It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. 

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Thanks for the well wishes on this one, Jeff.  And yes, I do know what show you are hoping for.  You've got it, but not in perfect form. 

 

 

That was my first thought as well, Steve.  I was expecting a much larger amount for all that work.  I'm guessing there's probably a huge mountain to climb with this so I'm not getting my hopes too high just yet.  But the first step, in my mind at least, is that the elements actually have been found for all the episodes.  That's was a big hurdle for me.  As you said, we'll have to see how it plays out from here. 

 

 

Gary "keeping my fingers crossed that Sam Nelson can make this happen" O.

Sam Nelson's Kickstarter message says, "Ultimately, the accumulated footage together will be produced into a documentary that will encompass the journey of restoring and revitalizing the show from the musty vaults, all the way back to broadcast and a mainstream audience." So, it sounds like he is working on a documentary about O&H. Hopefully, he can find someone like MPI who will be willing to bring their expertise to this project, but it sounds like it is just beginning and, perhaps, Mr. Nelson has not considered all of the potential issues that might be encountered.

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Ray, I thought the same thing you did until I watched the video.  It's there where he specifically mentions getting all the episodes digitized for the ultimate purpose of dvd releases.  I think right now his main focus is on saving the 35 mm elements from any more deterioration. 

 

 

Gary "I was thinking he should try to partner up with someone like the folks at MPI or Shout (who have done O/H releases in the past)" O.

While I never bought Shout's best-of releases and am not really a fan of this show, I admire Sam's commitment to preserving television heritage so I pledged $5. I know if someone was starting a campaign for one of 'my' shows, I'd want others to do the same.

Hope he reconsiders some of his rewards. It sounds like the plan is to chop all this stuff up once the transfer process is complete...

Never heard the Disney Channel rumor and really doubt it, but I've seen it mentioned several times that Ozzie Nelson would go back and continue to edit and improve past episodes when episodes were to be syndicated.

So I'm not sure if an as aired complete set is even possible, but I would think complete episodes were possible and I'm sure any edits he did after the fact were for the betterment of the program.

They prices you see quoted around here are what a studio like Universal charges for a transfer to be done. The fee is very inflated and far higher than the actual cost of the process. So if they can work a deal out with somewhere that has the necessary equipment to do it at cost or slightly above cost, for preservation's sake, it seems believable.

And often just transferring from the original prints is all you have to do to get a pristine picture if they've been properly stored and taken care of. The elements he wants to transfer might not need intensive restoration work done to them.

And it looks like the main purpose as of now is preserving this. So let's not get ahead of the game worrying about things like music clearance issues. The 1st job is to preserve it so something like a DVD release is even possible in the future.

Whoa. Where did you come up with an outlandish theory like that? You make it out to seem like Sam Nelson's real plans are to digitally remaster them, and then butcher them beyond belief for DVD release.

I didn't say anything about butchering them for DVD release, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. I'm talking about this line...

"A personalized limited edition commemorative thank you plaque containing an original 35MM frame of the show."

I hope he realizes this stuff still has value even after doing modern digital transfers of them. It wouldn't be the first time original elements were thrown out after transferring them.

And some of those 16MM prints might be valuable as well. If what I said I've read over the years was accurate, the 35MM print of a certain episode they're holding might be the edited version done by Ozzie after the original air date and different than the 16MM prints they're planning to give away if they dates back to before he did some editing to many of the episodes.

I'm probably paranoid for nothing. I wasn't out to falsely pull the alarm, I just didn't much like the sounds of that. I hope they make quite certain whatever they sacrifice to use as gifts to more significant donors isn't anything special that should be preserved intact even after the transfer process is done.

I wish him the best of luck and hope he succeeds. While there are a couple of shows I'd like to see their complete runs on DVD unedited even more than this one (Especially My Three Sons), this one is way up there and one of my grails.

I'd be in for every season, as finances allow.

I just hope the prints they found were the original full-length versions, and not the edited-for-syndication ones. I hope they're aware that the originals were over 26 minutes long.

Where did such a rumor that the originals were lost forever after the editing was Done for the Disney Channel come from, and who started such a rumor?

For those who want an O&H fix while we're waiting, all of these episodes are available to watch on archive.org. Some of them have the original commercials in them.

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1952

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10-3 The Rivals
10-17 The Pills
10-24 The Fall Guy
10-31 Halloween Party
11-7 Riviera Ballet
11-14 David the Baby Sitter
11-21 Ricky Goes to a Dance
12-5 Thorny's Gift
12-19 Christmas Money (R)
12-26 Late Christmas Gift [on Disk 1]

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1953

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1-9 The Basketball Players [on Disk 1]
1-23 The Tuba Incident
1-30 The Rover Boys
2-6 Separate Rooms [on Disk 1]
2-13 The Valentine Show [on Disk 2]
2-20 The Traffic Signal
2-27 The Dental Receptionist [on Disk 2]
3-6 The Speech [on Disk 2]
3-27 The Bowling Alley
4-3 The Orchid and the Violet
4-10 The Pancake Mix
5-8 The Traders
5-15 Boxing Matches [on Disk 2]
5-22 A Door Key for David [on Disk 2]
5-29 The Play's the Thing
6-26 Oscillating Ozzie [on Disk 2]
9-18 The New Chairs
10-2 The Boys' Paper Route
10-9 Window Pane [on Disk 2]
10-16 David's Pipe [on Disk 2]
10-23 David's 17th Birthday (R)
11-20 The Suggestion Box
11-27 The Ladder (R)
12-11 The Insurance Policy

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1954

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3-5 The Initiation
3-19 Father and Son Tournament
3-26 Gentleman David [on Disk 3]
4-9 Overprotection
4-16 Be on Time [on Disk 3]
4-23 An Evening With Hamlet
4-30 New Neighbor
5-7 The Bird's Nest
5-14 A Friend of the Family
5-21 A Tuxedo for David
10-8 The Wedding Anniversary [on Disk 4]
10-22 The Furnace
10-29 A Load of Gravel
11-12 The Usher
11-19 The Come As You Are Party [called Wally Dipple's Garage Door on Disk 4?]
12-10 Odd Bolt
12-17 A Matter of Inches [on Disk 4]

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1955

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1-7 The Fruit Cake
1-14 The Bloodhound [on Disk 4]
1-21 The Missing Sandwiches
1-28 Individuality [on Disk 4]
2-4 The Electric Train (R)
3-18 Ricky's Blind Date
3-25 Spring Housecleaning [on Disk 4]
4-1 The Pajama Game
9-30 Homemade Ice Cream
10-14 An Invitation to Dinner
11-25 A Ball of Tinfoil
12-9 The Gay Blade

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1956

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1-20 Volunteer Firemen
1-27 The Car Mix-Up
3-23 A Day in Bed
4-13 A Beautiful Day
11-14 The Pool Table
11-21 David Picks Up the Tab
11-28 The Balloons
12-12 A Doctor in the House
12-19 Busy Christmas
12-26 The Day After Christmas

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1957

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1-2 Ozzie's Double
1-9 A Hairstyle for Harriet
1-23 The Borrowed Tuxedo
2-6 The Duenna
2-20 The Reading Room
3-13 Jet Pilot
3-27 The Editor
4-10 Ricky the Drummer
6-12 The Fishing Lure
6-26 The Loan
10-16 Treasurer's Report
10-30 Mystery Shopper
11-13 Free Flowers
11-20 Ozzie's Triple Banana Surprise
12-11 Tutti Frutti Ice Cream
12-18 Christmas Tree Lot

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1958

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1-1 The Trophy
1-8 Road Race
1-29 Harriet's Dancing Partner
2-26 The Old Band Pavilion
3-5 The Practical Joker
3-12 Scavenger Hunt
4-9 Record Trout
6-4 The Bridge Group
6-11 A Cruise for Harriet
10-29 Stealing Rick's Girl
11-12 Ozzie Spills the Beans
11-19 Rick's Riding Lessons
12-10 The Motorcycle

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1959

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1-28 Ozzie and the Space Age
2-4 Jealous Joe Randolph
2-18 Ozzie's Old Team Mate
2-25 The Newspaper Interview
3-4 The Exploding Book
3-11 Ozzie Changes History
4-1 Togetherness
4-15 Treasurer's Son
5-13 The Little Black Box
6-17 Ozzie Plans a Surprise
10-21 David, the Law Clerk
11-4 The Rancher's Daughter
11-11 The Nelsons Decide to Move
11-18 David, the Sleuth

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1960

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1-27 The Circus
2-17 Uninvited Guests
3-9 David Goofs Off
5-18 Forgotten Promise
6-8 No News for Harriet
6-15 Weekend Vacation (R)
10-5 David Gets Discouraged
10-12 Ozzie the Boat-Keeper
11-9 A Sweater for Rick
11-23 David's Almost In-Laws
12-7 A Lawnmower for Ozzie
12-14 The Girl in the Emporium

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1961

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1-11 Safe Husbands
3-1 Mr. Kelly's Important Papers
3-8 Dave's Golf Story
3-29 Manly Arts
10-12 The Newlyweds Get Settled
11-2 Ten for the Tigers
11-16 The Barking Dog
12-7 Trading Stamps (R)

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1962

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1-11 Back Yard Pet Show
2-1 A Lamp for Dave and June
2-15 Operation Barry
3-8 Lending Money to Wally
3-15 Lonesome Parents
4-19 Little Handprints in the Sidewalk
10-25 Trip to Mexico
11-1 The Tigers Go to a Dance

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1963

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1-10 June and the Great Outdoors
1-31 Roadside Courtesy
9-25 Secret Agent
10-23 The Blue Moose
12-18 David and the Mermaid (R)

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1964

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2-19 The Uniforms
3-25 Rick Is Late for Dinner
4-1 A Letter About Harriet
10-21 Kris Goes to College (R)
10-28 The Pennies
11-4 The Ballerina
11-18 Harriet's Quiz (R)
12-30 Cafe Caper (R)

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1965

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1-6 The Petition
2-3 The Trunk (R)
2-24 Breakfast for Harriet
3-3 The Desk Photo
3-17 A Painting From the Past
9-22 A Rose a Day
9-29 Kris and the Queen
10-13 The Prowler

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1966

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3-26 The Game Room

Whoever started that rumor probably wasn't taking the Nelsons' vault into consideration. It's good to know that those films still exist intact; however, I worry about them disintegrating. If they're going to restore them, it had better be soon -- !

Well, considering how Ozzie was so hands-on regarding the production, it's not surprising he kept the source materials. What is surprising is that no one has done anything about the vault materials until now! Why didn't David Nelson do something?

This sounds great but the reality is that its going to cost at least a couple of thousand dollars an episode to transfer from the original 35mm negatives with separate pic and audio tracks. So, we are talking around a hundred grand for that. And that's just making DigiBetas. From there, authoring to DVD is another expense. Also, exactly where is the market to sell this show, either to TV or to the public? Forgetting about the music issue for a moment, what network is going to have an interest in this show? Only ones that I think would even have the slightest interest are Antenna, ME-TV or RTN. As for home video, 435 episodes are an awful lot of shows to release. I could be wrong but I just don't see it. 1950s shows that have been in the public eye far more and were a lot more popular have either not come out or not done well. Make Room for Daddy bombed, although the first release was an abomination. Life of Riley, Burns and Allen, Jack Benny, December Bride, Our Miss Brooks and several others haven't even seen DVD releases. While O&H may be the longest running sitcom in history, it cracked the Top 30 a grand total of once, in 1963-64 when it finished 29th. Its not some long lost big hit show. Rather it was just a show that stayed on forever. Although I do give the grandson credit for trying to do this and certainly for being creative and getting other people to pay for it instead of him. If nothing else, he deserves kudos for that.

All I can say is I hope Sam Nelson can get this thing done.  If so, it would be one of the greatest dvd releases of all time for me - right up there with my most treasured titles.

 

 

Gary "my concern is that this thing is so far away (12/13) - so many things can happen between now and then - so I'm not getting too excited just yet" O.

^Seconded! I watched and liked O&H as a kid and still like it. This series would be yet another "must pre-order" item for me. There seem to be more and more of those lately.