Best of Route 66 (1 Viewer)

[michael_ks]

Wonderful! It's as though DD read my post. And there's nothing quite like seeing this listed at their site to solidify in my mind that R66 is truly going to be a reality on DVD. Well, we were all stymied about this show being MIA and now we will soon be treated to the first 15 episodes, bearing "Naked City" like print quality. So it looks as though Roxbury Entertainment was indeed "testing the waters" to see what fan reaction would be--yet it still mystifies me at what a low key release the "Best of Route 66" set was.

In my estimation Sony made a very stupid move in relinquishing the rights to "Route 66" as the "best of" set was reportedly selling well even at near $3.00 per episode. Now this set, released in episode order which fans much prefer, and at potentially $1.65 per episode, is poised to become a big seller. Then again, if Sony still owned the rights, R66 would still be in the vaults, collecting still more dust.

As I posted above, there are (to my great surprise) a great many sites devoted to the lore of the old Route 66 highway and many of those fans will be interested in grabbing this show where the highway served as the backdrop to a major and successful tv series, even if they have scant memories of the series. Only problem for me now, is waiting the extra couple weeks for that DD sale.

 

[Bob Hug]

The mystery still remains as to who/what is Roxbury Entertainment? Other than the two "Route 66" releases, I can find absolutely nothing else attributed to them on the internet. One wonders as to what else they might have in the pipeline and whether or not they also have DVD rights for "Naked City," the rights to which Sony also apparently relinquished.

 

[docdoowop]

Deep Discount it is, ladies and gentlemen . . . . the pre-order price is $30.49. Assuming that DD runs their 20% off sale in November (and the pre-order price holds), look for a price of $24.39, a major bargain for this outstanding series.
Link: http://www.deepdiscount.com/viewprod...uctId=20727046

Excellent!

 

[Hank Dearborn]

My order is in! Glad I waited on transferring the show. Now it would be nice if we could get the final 39 hours of Naked City from someone.

 

[Gary OS]

You guys are the best! I had looked for this release late last night before I went to bed on Deep Discount but to no avail. And here I wake up today and find that Bob has the link! Great job, guys. It's in my wishlist right now. And as we've said, if someone really needs to save a few bucks, you can probably hold out till just before Thanksgiving and lower the price another $6.00 at DD.
Gary "I feel the same about the listing showing up on DD - that solidifies it in my mind too" O.

 

[michael_ks]

What a wonderful line-up of guest stars in the first half of the season of R66, with the likes of Lee Marvin, Leslie Nielson, Suzanne Pleshette, Jack Lord, Anne Francis and E.G. Marshall, among many others. Have to wait untill vol. 2 to catch Susan Oliver though--dang it.

Have a nice vacation, Gary. Hittin' the road in your '62 Corvette, no doubt?

 

[Jeff Willis]

What a wonderful line-up of guest stars in the first half of the season of R66, with the likes of Lee Marvin, Leslie Nielson, Suzanne Pleshette, Jack Lord, Anne Francis and E.G. Marshall, among many others. Have to wait untill vol. 2 to catch Susan Oliver though--dang it.
Have a nice vacation, Gary. Hittin' the road in your '62 Corvette, no doubt?

That's an awesome guest cast list, Mike. This (R66) is one that I again only had very faint memories of Dad watching it long ago but I'm looking forward to getting some "kicks on Route 66".
Gary, do you really have a '62 'vette?
- Jeff "No-car-pymts - I drive an '89 Honda Prelude for my work-commute car" W.

 

[Gary OS]

Gary, do you really have a '62 'vette?

LOL. Oh how I wish!
Gary "unfortunately, even if I owned a car like that, road trips wouldn't be the same as they were back in the glorious days of 'Route 66'" O.

 

[michael_ks]

Outside of the few times I caught this show on Nick at Nite around 1984, I've never seen "Route 66" before or since. But I've never forgotten the superlative writing, great location shooting and exceptional casting in this series. I still remember to this day a brief exchange between Barbara Eden's character and Tod Stiles (Milner) where she said to him, "What would you and I possibly have to talk about?" Tod: "I wasn't aware that a 25 year old male needed to talk". I think that might have been the last episode of the series.

 

[Bert Greene]

I'm pretty darned ecstatic at this news. "Route 66" generally tends to be the series I most often quote as my all-time favorite (although sometimes "The Fugitive" vies for that position). I still have all the episodes on tape from those long-ago Nick-at-Night airings, but I'm craving the upgrade. My tapes are easily on their last legs.

That aforementioned episode "Where Are the Sounds of Celia Brahms" was one of the first I ever saw, when a local independent station was rerunning the series late at night. The first I saw was a rather westerny one guest-starring Steve Cochran, concerning Todd joining up with a posse. I sure had a hard time figuring the series upon those initial encounters. Some episodes would be lightly comical, others would be strong, searing drama. I couldn't figure what kind of animal it was. Its variety of cross-country settings and the unpredictable nature of the stories made it wildly fascinating to me. These initial 15 episodes are (like the early stages of most series) a bit uneven at times, as its finding its footing. But, there are some real gems, starting as soon as the third episode, "The Swan Bed," shot on location in New Orleans.

 

[Hank Dearborn]

How about a list of some of the lovely actresses that guest starred on the show:

Janice Rule, Suzanne Pleshette, Deborah Walley, Joey Heatherton, Bethel Leslie, Inger Stevens, Fay Spain, Whitney Blake, Anne Francis, Anne Helm, Martha Hyer, Joanna Moore, Lois Nettleton, Susan Oliver, Julie Newmar, Tuesday Weld, Laura Devon, Madlyn Rhue, Joanne Linville, Diane Baker, Kathryn Hays, Jessica Walter, Lynda Day, Joanna Pettet and Barbara Eden.

Not a bad lineup with many of the above making multiple appearances.

 

[Elena S]

I'll buy it for the guest stars alone! It's really great news that this show is finally coming to DVD.

 

[Mike*HTF]

This is great news! Thanks for the info - I put my order in already.

 

[jdee28]

Nice to hear Route 66 is coming to DVD, but why go the split-season route? Isn't the "best of" release enough to test the waters?

 

[Chas_Michael]

Nice to hear Route 66 is coming to DVD, but why go the split-season route? Isn't the "best of" release enough to test the waters?

They make more profit by charging double for 2 parts.
for example...
around $80.00 LIST for Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea, Rawhide, the Fugitive, and all the other rips. But hey, we have to have them and they know it.

 

[Bob Hug]

Something strange is going on with the pricing on this set over at Critics Choice Video. The list price has now dropped to $29.90 and the discounted price is $23.98.
http://www.ccvideo.com/item.cfm?itemid=ROX002017
The DeepDiscount price is still $30.49. What gives??? DeepDiscount is normally less expensive than sister company Critics Choice.

 

[docdoowop]

Hmmmm....well at least it's moving in the right direction.

 

[michael_ks]

Very curious. This release was too recently announced to show up on dvdpricesearch.com at this time, so I don't know if Critic's price is a mistake or what. But if the price holds, I can go ahead and order with them and not have to wait out the DD Nov. sale. In fact maybe I should place the order now before the price goes back up. It's not like I can expect this to show up at Best Buy on the day of release for $19.99 or thereabouts.

P.S. Well, I just looked into it and there is the $4.95 shipping at CC, bringing it up to $29. I get so spoiled by DD's free shipping that I tend to forget about this.

 

[Bob Hug]

Michael, before you order, consider that CC does charge for shipping; the combined DVD/shipping cost is still a little less than DeepDiscount's current price. But, possibly, DD will lower their price as well. Remember, CC posted the Route 66 set first, followed a day or two later by DD, so possibly DD might even adjust its price a bit lower.

 

[michael_ks]

Gotcha, Bob. See my addendum above.

Holy toledo, is "The Fugitive" set really only about a month off?