Black and White One-Hour Shows (1 Viewer)

[Neil Brock]

I've never seen The Nurses, but I've always wanted too. I have a bunch of old TV/Movie magazines from the 60s and there are a bunch of articles on actress Zina Bethune (one of the stars of the show). She was popular when her show was on the air, but I never heard about her since. I was curious to find out what happened to her, so I googled her name, and discovered she died tragically earlier this year! So sad. Hopefully, I'll get to watch the show someday.

The Nurses is a very good show. Not quite at the level of The Defenders, but quite similar. I know there are those on these boards who prefer shows which are traditional crime drama/courtroom series but if you enjoy shows that are actually about something, i.e., social issues, The Nurses was essentially The Defenders in a hospital. Unfortunately the show was never syndicated or rerun anywhere, even though there were 98 episodes made and the show ran 3 seasons. While not as consistently excellent as The Defenders, there are some great episodes.

 

[Berkshires]

Originally Posted by Charles Ellis /t/323719/black-and-white-one-hour-shows#post_3987284
Now that Warner Bros. is preparing special compilations for its 90th Anniversary (e.g.: the new Superman set with samples of everything from the Fleischer carttons through Kirk Alyn, George Reeves, Dean Cain and Tom Welling as well as the more recent animated shows), it would be a perfect time to do a special compilation set of select episodes from the classic B/W WB detective shows:
77 Sunset Strip
Hawaiian Eye
Surfside Six
Bourbon Street Beat

Excellent idea, Charles. Warners has indicated that they have been working on rights clearances for the music on all these shows. Have they been successful in working out deals with the music publishers on at least a few episodes of these series? If so, the kind of compilation you suggest would give them the opportunity to gauge interest in the shows, and let them know whether further clearance efforts would be cost-effective.

 

[shoeshineboy]

Neil, you mentioned Mr. Broadway among your list. While it starred Craig 'Peter Gunn' Stevens, just the list of names behind the scenes make this an automatic buy from me should it ever be released. Garson Kanin, Susskind, theme by Brubeck.... An assortment of guest stars and cameos... It was only 13 episodes but the glimpse I caught on YouTube made it intriguing.

 

[DeWilson]

My guess would be that all of the detective shows are a music clearance nightmare. Hawaiian Eye had Connie Stevens singing at least one song, sometimes more, in every episode. All either have to be cleared or cut. Roaring 20s and The Alaskans both have Dorothy Provine singing. Not as familiar with Sunset Strip, Surfside and Bourbon Street but I'm pretty sure that they all have nightclub scenes in the majority of episodes as well. If I had to guess, I would bet that you would see Lawman, Bronco, Sugarfoot and Colt .45 before you ever see the detective series.

Yes, you are correct, Sunset Strip.Surfside 6 and Bourbon Street Beat has music in ever episode, so those will also need clearance.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Yes, you are correct, Sunset Strip.Surfside 6 and Bourbon Street Beat has music in ever episode, so those will also need clearance.

And remember Music does not just mean Songs. It includes instrumental music which is the case with many Warners B & W shows that frequently used music themes from movies. This music has to be cleared as well episode by episode. This occurs with every season of Cheyenne and is part of the hold up for Lawman, Bronco, Sugarfoot and Colt .45
But I much prefer Warners way of making us wait and if it can be cleared then giving us the original show vs. the PAramount way of just replacing the music with new music.

 

[Gary16]

No, the show was produced in color, although since ABC didn't do color at the time it aired in black and white.

That's incorrect. The first episode (pilot) was black and white and then the series was filmed and shown in color. ABC started color broadcasting in 1962 and "Greatest Show on Earth" was one of the first. I watched it, in color, every week.

 

[PatrickGoodluck]

But I much prefer Warners way of making us wait and if it can be cleared then giving us the original show vs. the PAramount way of just replacing the music with new music.

Totally with you there, Randy.

 

[Neil Brock]

Neil, you mentioned Mr. Broadway among your list. While it starred Craig 'Peter Gunn' Stevens, just the list of names behind the scenes make this an automatic buy from me should it ever be released. Garson Kanin, Susskind, theme by Brubeck.... An assortment of guest stars and cameos... It was only 13 episodes but the glimpse I caught on YouTube made it intriguing.

There are a handful of 60s series that have really fallen through the cracks in terms of where the elements actually ended up and Mr. Broadway is unfortunately one of them. Even if miraculously someone got the inclination to try to do something with this series, I sincerely doubt they could put their hands on it. The only place that I know of that even has 16mm prints is University of Wisconsin and it's easier to deal with Fox than it is with them. An interesting show, although they tried to make Stevens into a press agent who acted like a P.I. Really cool music. I have 3 of them and Ive seen a couple of other partial episodes at the Paley Center.

 

[shoeshineboy]

There's an interesting article on the history of Slattery's People at Television Obscurities : http://www.tvobscurities.com/articles/slatterys_people/
This is one show that has been fairly forgotten, and while it was in its time a "darling of the media" that wasn't in the bad sense; certain members of the 4th estate really got behind this intelligent, coherent and passionate show and kept it alive during its turbulent production.
While to be taken with a grain of salt until someone confirms or clarifies, an interesting comment by one of the article's readers suggests the ownership of the TV rights are Rysher Enterprises, the Richard Crenna Estate and CBS Television Distribution -- and that it should/may/could be on Me-TV in 2013!
Again, that post didn't have the sound of authority to it, but maybe...

 

[Rick Thompson]

One can always hope about Slattery's People. That's about all that can be done. I haven't even heard about "alternative" sources for it. Ditto another black-and-white CBS show, The Great Adventure, a well-made history anthology series from the 1963-64 season. As CBS Productions filmed it, I'd assume The Great Adventure would be a CBS/Paramount release were it ever to happen.

 

[Neil Brock]

Both shows are safely tucked away in the CBS vaults where I'm sure they'll stay. Until a market developes for great, unremembered black and white television shows, as there is for movies, I can't imagine these ever seeing the light of day. If a show like The Defenders, which lasted 4 seasons and won Emmy Awards every year for best drama, hasn't come out, what hope is there for shows that weren't nearly as popular or long lasting.

 

[Rick Thompson]

I have to agree with you. The only chance for The Great Adventure would be if something like History Channel got interested in it. History Channel, however, has morphed into the Ice Road Truckers/Pawn Stars Channel. That's where the ratings seem to be. As for Slattery's People, it has an outside shot as MOD. Not likely, though.

 

[Neil Brock]

The problem becomes transfer costs. Most older and obscure shows which haven't run in decades do not have existing elements, other than the 35mm prints and negatives. Those cost a pretty penny to run off and there just isn't enough of a market for those types of shows. At least many of the short-run color series had runs on TV Land or SciFi Channel so there were tape transfers made. I think there is some hope for things like The Immortal, The Magician, Barbary Coast, Paper Moon, Love Story, Coronet Blue, Shane, The Young Lawyers, Petrocelli and some of the other failed series that at least have been put on tape. But the black and white obscurities have never been put to tape and that's the problem.

 

[Gary16]

The problem becomes transfer costs. Most older and obscure shows which haven't run in decades do not have existing elements, other than the 35mm prints and negatives. Those cost a pretty penny to run off and there just isn't enough of a market for those types of shows. At least many of the short-run color series had runs on TV Land or SciFi Channel so there were tape transfers made. I think there is some hope for things like The Immortal, The Magician, Barbary Coast, Paper Moon, Love Story, Coronet Blue, Shane, The Young Lawyers, Petrocelli and some of the other failed series that at least have been put on tape. But the black and white obscurities have never been put to tape and that's the problem.

But what is the issue with the WB shows such as 77 Sunset Strip. Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, etc., all of which exist on tape from 35mm transfers but have never been released on any home video format? Is it music rights?

 

[Gary OS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary16
But what is the issue with the WB shows such as 77 Sunset Strip. Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, etc., all of which exist on tape from 35mm transfers but have never been released on any home video format? Is it music rights?

So they say. It seems like a bit of a stretch to me only because I thought those shows utilized music from the WB films as it was. But apparently that either isn't the case, or somehow doesn't matter.
Gary "fortunately for me many of those WB series aren't high on my wishlist anyhow - but I feel bad for fans that are still waiting" O.

 

[Richard V]

But what is the issue with the WB shows such as 77 Sunset Strip. Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, etc., all of which exist on tape from 35mm transfers but have never been released on any home video format? Is it music rights?

Surfside 6, 77 Sunset Strip, and Hawaiian Eye all had regular "nightclub" elements with frequent songs by Connie Stevens on Hawaiian Eye and Margarita Sierra on Surfside 6, 77 Sunset Strip and Bourbon St. Beat did not have singing regulars, but both those shows had frequent jazz music played during the shows. So I guess that would account for potential music rights, but I find it curious that Peter Gunn and Johnny Staccato both had HEAVY music elements, and yet both of those have been fully released. I've always wondered if WB, just has NO interest in releasing them, and just uses music clearance rights as a convenient excuse. JMO, I have no knowledge to the contrary.

 

[Gary16]

     Quote: So they say.  It seems like a bit of a stretch to me only because I thought those shows utilized music from the WB films as it was.  But apparently that either isn't the case, or somehow doesn't matter. Gary "fortunately for me many of those WB series aren't high on my wishlist anyhow - but I feel bad for fans that are still waiting" O.

I think you may be right about WB owning most of the music used in the shows. I know I've looked up several titles of popular tunes and they do indeed own them. Also, WB frequently used the same or similar songs in their cartoons yet I know of no instance where any of the cartoons released on home video had music changed or eliminated. Anyone?

 

[bryan4999]

Was THE ROARING 20s with Dorothy Provine a half hour or one hour show? I have always been curious about it, as I enjoy the two LPs the show generated. I have never seen an episode, however.

 

[Gary16]

Was THE ROARING 20s with Dorothy Provine a half hour or one hour show? I have always been curious about it, as I enjoy the two LPs the show generated. I have never seen an episode, however.

It was an hour. I watched it every week.

 

[Neil Brock]

But what is the issue with the WB shows such as 77 Sunset Strip. Hawaiian Eye, Surfside 6, etc., all of which exist on tape from 35mm transfers but have never been released on any home video format? Is it music rights?

In just about every one of those shows you mentioned, since the stories and plots were pretty paper thin, in order to fill out the 50 minutes they would have music numbers once or twice in every episode. I've probably seen Hawaiian Eye the most out of those shows and Connie Stevens is belting out at least one song in every episode. Same with Dorothy Provine in Roaring 20s and The Alaskans. I imagine that its the same in 77 Sunset Strip, Surfside 6 and Bourbon Street Beat since they were all clones of one another. If they are going to release those shows intact, that's an awful lot of music to clear.