CBS/Paramount Releases and Demographics (1 Viewer)

[jimmyjet]

wednesday - wagon train, naked city, dobie gillis, beverly hillbillies, dick van dyke, armstrong circle theatre, us steel hour, virginian.

going my way and our man higgins lasted one season - no recall

eleventh hour - lasted 2 seasons - no recall

 

[Ethan Riley]

I checked 1967 just for fun. Here are the scripted shows, leaving out all movies, game shows and variety shows. Please correct if I missed anything:

Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea: Yes
The FBI: Yes
Lassie: No
Gentle Ben: No
Mission Impossible: Yes
The Mothers-in-Law: Yes
Bonanza: Currently up to Season 6
High Chaparral: No
Cowboy in Africa: No
Rat Patrol: Yes
Felony Squad: N0
Peyton Place: Stalled
Big Valley: Half-season released; Now stalled
Gunsmoke: Currently up to Season 8
Lucy Show: Yes
Andy Griffith Show: Yes
Family Affair: Yes
The Monkees: Yes
Man From UNCLE: Yes
I Spy: Yes
Garrison's Gorrillas: No
The Invaders: Yes
NYPD: No
Daktari: Yes
Good Morning, World: Yes
I Dream of Jeannie: Yes
Legend of Custer: No
Second 100 Years: No
Lost in Space: Yes
Beverly Hillbillies: Stalled
Green Acres: Yes
He & She: No
Dundee and the Culhane: No
The Virginian:Yes
Run For Your Life: No
Batman: No
The Flying Nun: Yes
Bewitched: Yes
That Girl: Yes
Cimarron Strip: No
Daniel Boone: Yes
Ironside: Yes
Dragnet: Yes
Hondo: No
Guns of Will Sonnett: Yes
Judd for the Defense: No
Wild Wild West: Yes
Gomer Pyle: YesTarzan: Stalled
Star Trek: Yes
Accidental Family: No
Iron Horse: No
My Three Sons: Stalled
Hogan's Heroes: Yes
Petticoat Junction: Stalled
Mannix: Yes
Maya: No
Get Smart: Yes

Additional/Variety: Some of these 1967 episodes appear sporadically in "best ofs." There are no actual season sets for any of these.

Ed SullivanSmothers Brothers: (selected episodes are available on dvd)
Walt Disney: (selected episodes are available on dvd)
Carol Burnett Show
Danny Thomas HourHollywood Palace
Red Skelton Hour
CBS News Hour
Jerry Lewis Show
Kraft Music Hall
Good Company (News/interview show)
Dean Martin Show
Off to See the Wizard (anthology)
Bell Telephone Hour
Dating Game
Newlywed Game
Lawrence Welk
ABC ScopeJackie Gleason Show (some episodes appear on dvd as "The Color Honeymooners")

 

[Ethan Riley]

1967 Wrap-Up:So out of 58 scripted series that aired in the Fall, 32 of them have appeared on dvd. That's more than 50%. I am using the "Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946-Present" for the Fall '67 graph; it does not list mid-season replacements.

Some of the shows will come eventually; CBS is churning out Bonanza and Gunsmoke and will catch up to 1967 eventually. Some of the Westerns may come out from Timeless at some point. Hondo and High Chaparral looks like Timeless possibilities. And somebody will sort out the mess with series like Batman and the Henning shows, someday. The other stalled shows: The Big Valley looks likely to go back into dvd production someday. Who knows if they'll ever sort out the mess with My Three Sons and Peyton Place. They probably will.

The variety shows are the least likely. There are "best ofs" out there for some of them, but usually we don't even count variety shows in these types of discussions. Some miracles happen, though.

That only really leaves really obscure stuff like Accidental Family and Dundee and the Culhane; I wouldn't bet on shows like those. But I would expect to see Gentle Ben and Garrison's Gorillas someday. Judd for the Defense? Maybe. In conclusion, I think that the majority of the shows will likely see a release somewhere down the line. I think if we check this thread in a few years, it'll be more like 75%.

 

[Frank Soyke]

Great analysis. One small correction. Good Morning World is actaully available in a full season set that came out a few years back.

 

[Frank Soyke]

Lets not be misled by the numbers and assume that the percentages of DVD releases compared to aired series of these mids 60's shows represent an overall idea of percentages across decades. The 60's and early 70's are a bit of an anomole in that regard. That time period seems to have far better representation in the DVD market than the other decades pre 2000. If you did this same study on an arbitrary season from the 50's, late 70's, or 80's, you woul see a substantial drop in %'s. For example, if you look at the 55-56 season, out of 126 weekly shows, only 11 have seen DVD releases. That comes to 9%.

 

[Gary OS]

Lets not be misled by the numbers and assume that the percentages of DVD releases compared to aired series of these mids 60's shows represent an overall idea of percentages across decades. The 60's and early 70's are a bit of an anomole in that regard. That time period seems to have far better representation in the DVD market than the other decades pre 2000. If you did this same study on an arbitrary season from the 50's, late 70's, or 80's, you woul see a substantial drop in %'s. For example, if you look at the 55-56 season, out of 126 weekly shows, only 11 have seen DVD releases. That comes to 9%.

Bingo, Frank. The late 60's up through the early 70's do have better representation than the 50's and early 60's (as well as other points in time, but I mentioned the section that is most important to me). Don't anyone kid yourself: there is still a lot of material from the b/w era that has not been released at all. And if we add Season Set releases into the mix, the number rises even more. It's not as low as Neil initially said, but it's nowhere near 50%.


Gary "what we have gotten are most of the real popular, well-known b/w titles - but there are plenty more" O.

 

[jimmyjet]

hi frank,

i was too young to know about shows from only the 50s. so that may be true.

and most shows past the 70s i dont care to know too much about !!!! (there are some good ones)

but there are 2 philosophies in life. one is to run around like a chicken with his head cut off, trying to see everything in the world.

the other is to lay back, relax, enjoy your life, and let the world come to you.

i stick with my statement. if the show had much popularity during its day, it will most likely be released at some point (assuming the material still exists).

isnt there stuff that has been permanently destroyed ?

i have been interested in the release of tv shows for quite awhile. and a lot of the "experts" on this site kept saying this show wont be released, and this show wont be released.

only to have them come out.

shows that originally lasted for a short time - there was a reason. some of them may have been good quality, and for whatever reason not well received. but probably most of them were somewhat lacking.

as i am going thru the random year of 1963, it seems like almost all the shows that only lasted 1 season, i have no memory of.

plus, there is so much stuff already available on dvd, that it would probably take the average person 2 lifetimes to watch it all !!

thanks for starting the thread.

 

[Ron1973]

One small correction. Green Acres is stalled also but it is somehow a MGM property (I believe) instead of CBS HE.

 

[jimmyjet]

hi frank,

i do think that you are correct though, in your basic statement about a major studio putting out stuff.

the 1-season shows may come out, but probably licensed to one of the smaller companies.

i think many of them would still sell ok, cuz many of us, including myself - would get it, just to view it and have it as part of our collection.

if i hadnt seen the show before, i would be curious about it, just as a matter of interest in the times.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Bingo, Frank. The late 60's up through the early 70's do have better representation than the 50's and early 60's (as well as other points in time, but I mentioned the section that is most important to me). Don't anyone kid yourself: there is still a lot of material from the b/w era that has not been released at all. And if we add Season Set releases into the mix, the number rises even more. It's not as low as Neil initially said, but it's nowhere near 50%.


Gary "what we have gotten are most of the real popular, well-known b/w titles - but there are plenty more" O.

I did a quick check of the 1955 season. I counted 120 shows overall, yet roughly EIGHTY of them were of the game/variety/news/anthology genre. I don't think we generally worry about those kinds of programs when discussing potential dvd releases. Variety shows...I'm sorry, but they're really not a part of the tv-on-dvd landscape, in terms of season sets. With few exceptions, they never have been. I know we want them, but at this point in the game I don't think we realistically expect to see anything more than the occasional Best Of set.

That leaves about 40 scripted comedies or dramas for 1955. I counted 12 that got (at least) decent releases. So that's 30% of prime-time, scripted shows now available on dvd. Again, this is for the sake of realistic arguments...unless somebody really wants to see programs like "Midwestern Hayride," or "Gillette Cavalcade of Sports" on dvd. It would be nice, but it ain't gonna happen, so that's why I lop off those 80 shows and leave them out of the argument. Since there were so few scripted programs that year, just a handful of releases can push it towards 40% or more. You never know when they'll finally get around to Lassie, or Topper or Bob Cummings. So we shall see.

Let's try 1957 and see what we come up with. Now keep in mind that there were way more 1/2 hour shows that year as opposed to hour-long shows, so there's simply more shows overall. So here's the sitcoms and dramas:Maverick: Yes
Lassie: No
Jack Benny: Best ofs
Bachelor Father: No
Alfred Hitchcock Presents: Yes
Sally: No
Robin Hood: Yes
Burns & Allen: No
Danny Thomas (Make Room for Daddy): Yes
December Bride: (PD cheapies)
Restless Gun: Yes
Tales of Wells Fargo: Yes
Cheyenne: Yes
Sugarfoot: Yes
Legend of Wyatt Earp: (This would be season 3; season 2 was released very recently)
Broken Arrow: No
Phil Silvers Show: Stalled for years. Let's yell at Paramount.
Eve Arden Show: No. (There is lone PD cheapie floating around out there with a few episodes)
Meet McGraw: No (There's one episode on PD)
Nat King Cole: (Variety show: there's like two episodes released)
Bob Cummings Show: Only some PD crap
The Californians: No
Tombstone Territory: Yes, and it just came out
Ozzie & Harriet: (PD stuff exists, and Best Ofs, and supposedly there'll be an official release. Let's say "No" for now).
Lucy/Desi: Yes
The Millionaire: No
Wagon Train: Yes
Father Knows Best: Yes
Circus Boy: No
Zorro: Yes
Real McCoys: Yes
O.S.S.: No
Sgt. Preston of the Yukon: (was coming out as PDs years ago; seems to have stalled before getting to this season)
Harbourmaster: No
Dragnet: (PD Best Ofs for this season)
People's Choice: No
Rin Tin Tin: No
Adventures of Jim Bowie: Yes
Date With the Angels: (a PD "Best of" exists)
Colt .45: No
Leave it to Beaver: Yes
Mr. Adams and Eve: No
Mark Saber: No
Life of Riley: (PD Best ofs)M Squad: YesThin Man: No
Perry Mason: Yes
Dick & The Duchess: No
Have Gun, Will Travel: Yes
Gunsmoke: Yes


And about 50 anthology, game and variety shows (I'm not going to list them; there's too many!!)

 

[Ethan Riley]

So, anyway, that's 20 out of 50 shows, (and I'm actually counting "Lucy" as her five specials from Desilu Playhouse, which are on dvd). So 1957 is 40%. Not bad, and much improved over 1955. If Timeless continues with their Western releases, we should fill in a lot of the holes for this season. I only marked "Yes" for PD releases if they were at least acceptable PD releases. The fact that a lot of these particular shows have a lot of PD crap flying around might make it more difficult for official releases--as we often theorize when discussing the Beverly Hillbillies. However, I like to keep in mind that PD junk hasn't hurt Bonanza (at least).

So, in conclusion, we're actually doing a little better than we thought, at least for the 1957/1958 season. Let's see what's on the horizon--

 

[Frank Soyke]

I seem to recall hearing an announcement on Sugarfoot recently, so you can check that one of the list.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Thanks, Frank--I updated it.