Is the b&w era of TV on DVD slowly coming to an end? (3 Viewers)

[LouA]

Season 6 of Rawhide was something of a mixed bag., has some excellent episodes 'Incident at Gil Flats' 'Incident at Hourglass' & some real duds 'incident of the Geisha' 'Incident of the Peyote Cup'. Overall the good outweighed the dull ones.

Hopefully we will get Season 7 this year, as apart from the last half season' this will wind the show up . Pete Nolan does return in Season 7, in the episodes 'Texas Fever' which is a bit odd as it seems to be stitched together from scenes in earlier segments.

With 'Wagon Train', 'The Virginian' Have Gun all completing their runs on disc this year, Cheyenne almost there, nearly all the major westerns are done & dusted.

As for B/W in general. We have had a good run lately and things are inevitably slowing up. In truth there are not many major shows left in the field apart from those previously discussed. Timeless appear to be hanging in, bless them, but with Shout calling the financial shots & that companys avowed policy of moving away from classic TV even this may change. Here in the UK, Network seem more interested in acquiring vintage films lately so the outlets for the older series are diminishing quite rapidly..

It's true , most of the major B & W shows have been released , but let's hope for some of the minor shows like Tightrope, People's Choice , Waterfront , My Little Margie , Rough Riders etc.etc.

 

[Frank Soyke]

It's true , most of the major B & W shows have been released , but let's hope for some of the minor shows like Tightrope, People's Choice , Waterfront , My Little Margie , Rough Riders etc.etc.

I would love to see Tightrope released too. I picked up most of the run on VHS in the early 90's, but would love to upgrade.

 

[Neil Brock]

I would love to see Tightrope released too. I picked up most of the run on VHS in the early 90's, but would love to upgrade.

Me too. I think I have all but 3 episodes and its a very good show, much better than I had expected.

 

[Professor Echo]

I completely agree. After Sheb left the show wasn't quite the same for me either. I abhorred the late S4 and S5 experiment with "Clay Forester" as the new scout. I just hated his personality and never felt he fit in. I was glad they nixed him after S5. And "Pete Nolan" will return for some episodes in S7, so that will be nice.


Gary "long live Rawhide - my favorite western of all time" O.

The last time I watched the series was probably 25 years ago in syndicated reruns. Was Forester really that bad? I remember at the time liking his character because it added some new spice to the show. I trust your opinion on this and I know you are never very keen on cast changes, but I remember thinking he wasn't so bad, even if Sheb was irreplaceable.

 

[Richard Gallagher]

The first half of 2013 has actually been very good in terms of B&W releases . And we have Mckenzie's Raiders , and Harbor Command coming up soon. Let's hope the second half of 2013 is just as productive.

This has indeed been a good year. Highway Patrol. Sea Hunt and Season Two of Maverick have kept me busy.

 

[Gary OS]

The last time I watched the series was probably 25 years ago in syndicated reruns. Was Forester really that bad? I remember at the time liking his character because it added some new spice to the show. I trust your opinion on this and I know you are never very keen on cast changes, but I remember thinking he wasn't so bad, even if Sheb was irreplaceable.

It's only my opinion, Glen, but for me Forester did nothing. His attitude was that of a jerk a lot of the time. I just didn't care for him at all.


Gary "again, that's only one man's opinion" O.

 

[John Hermes]

It's only my opinion, Glen, but for me Forester did nothing. His attitude was that of a jerk a lot of the time. I just didn't care for him at all.


Gary "again, that's only one man's opinion" O.

Besides, he couldn't sing 'The Purple People Eater" like Sheb either.

 

[Ron1973]

Besides, he couldn't sing 'The Purple People Eater" like Sheb either.

Nor could he give you the Ben Colder persona like Sheb did.....lol

 

[Jeff Willis]

It's only my opinion, Glen, but for me Forester did nothing. His attitude was that of a jerk a lot of the time. I just didn't care for him at all.


Gary "again, that's only one man's opinion" O.

Make that 2. The only thing I liked about that guy in the show was when he was introduced before Sheb left the show, when he was the "rebel" or semi-bad guy with the shady past.

But as the trail scout, it didn't work for me. Pete was the perfect scout in this show, imo.

Besides, he couldn't sing 'The Purple People Eater" like Sheb either.

True

Purple People Eater

Nor could he give you the Ben Colder persona like Sheb did.....lol

Right

 

[Professor Echo]

Well, I'll chime in again with a renewed perspective once I've watched the show again. I'm not willing to completely dispute my 25 year old memory just yet!

 

[John Hermes]

Make that 2. The only thing I liked about that guy in the show was when he was introduced before Sheb left the show, when he was the "rebel" or semi-bad guy with the shady past.

But as the trail scout, it didn't work for me. Pete was the perfect scout in this show, imo.



True

Purple People Eater



Right

Furthermore, could Clay Forrester do the Wilhelm scream?

The Wilhelm scream originates from a series of sound effects recorded for the 1951 movie Distant Drums. In a scene from the film, soldiers are wading through a swamp in the Everglades, and one of them is bitten and dragged underwater by an alligator. The scream for that scene was recorded later in a single take, along with five other short pained screams, which were slated as "man getting bit by an alligator, and he screamed.
Research by Burtt suggests that Sheb Wooley, best known for his novelty song "The Purple People Eater" in 1958 and as scout Pete Nolan on the television series Rawhide, is likely to have been the voice actor who originally performed the scream. This has been supported by an interview in 2005 with Linda Dotson, Wooley's widow. Burtt discovered records at Warner Brothers from the editor of Distant Drumsincluding a short list of names of actors scheduled to record lines of dialogue for miscellaneous roles in the movie. Wooley played the uncredited role of Private Jessup in Distant Drums, and was one of the few actors assembled for the recording of additional vocal elements for the film. Wooley performed additional vocal elements, including the screams for a man being bitten by an alligator.[6] Dotson confirmed that it was Wooley's scream that had been in so many westerns, adding, "He always used to joke about how he was so great about screaming and dying in films."

Wilhelm scream sound effect: http://ia600303.us.archive.org/11/items/WilhelmScreamSample/WilhelmScream_64kb.mp3

 

[Ron1973]

Sheb was also quite influential to the first season or two of Hee Haw. Great actor and great comedian. He was the Weird Al Yankovic of country music imho. My favorite spoof song of his, though, was when he spoofed Billy Ray Cyrus:

 

[tonysam2]

There is so much out there now of vintage television, I can't begin to keep up with it. I don't think we are near the end of the b/w era for television yet.

There are LOTS of collectors out there.

If I weren't so broke, I'd be buying them all up.

I have a wish list which looks like a mile long.

 

[Ron1973]

There is so much out there now of vintage television, I can't begin to keep up with it. I don't think we are near the end of the b/w era for television yet.

There are LOTS of collectors out there.

If I weren't so broke, I'd be buying them all up.

I have a wish list which looks like a mile long.

Same here, my friend, same here!!! If I see someone discussing a show I find interesting, I hop over to Amazon and put it in my cart for a later date. I have several CD's I've saved and a two or three "blind buy" series I intend to get based on feedback I see from Gary and others on here.

 

[LouA]

There is so much out there now of vintage television, I can't begin to keep up with it. I don't think we are near the end of the b/w era for television yet.

There are LOTS of collectors out there.

If I weren't so broke, I'd be buying them all up.

I have a wish list which looks like a mile long.

I agree. With companies like Timeless, TGI Direct, MPI , I think we'll keep seeing surprising releases in this genre. Also, I'm not so sure Shout Factory is totally done with B&W - they just released all 4 seasons odfDobie Gillis!

 

[oldtvshowbuff]

I've yet to buy Wagon Train S8 and The Virginian from S3 on up to S9, but with those series now complete at Timeless, they should turn to Tales of Wells Fargo's remaining seasons 3-6. Just started watching WF S1-2, so complete the rest of the series, TMG and NBC Uni.

 

[Silverking]

Unlikely to see further Wells Fargo as I think there is a problem with the prints S3 onwards which is why Timeless have not released them.

 

[Richard V]

Unlikely to see further Wells Fargo as I think there is a problem with the prints S3 onwards which is why Timeless have not released them.

I have copies of Season 6 which aired on the Lone Star network years ago, and they look great.

 

[Silverking]

Timeless did release most of S6, at least those that were in colour. Just out of interest Richard, were all the ones on the Lone Star channel in colour. The last few only seem to be available in black & white.

 

[Richard V]

Timeless did release most of S6, at least those that were in colour. Just out of interest Richard, were all the ones on the Lone Star channel in colour. The last few only seem to be available in black & white.

I think about 70-80% are in color, would have to go back and check. I'm pretty sure that not ALL are in color.