Is the b&w era of TV on DVD slowly coming to an end? (7 Viewers)

[John Hermes]

Did the last volume of "Steve Canyon" ever get released? I had that show on my watch list for awhile for eventual purchase but lost track of it. The last I remember reading was that delays had occured but the gentleman working on the releases was working diligently to make it happen. He seemed like a stand up guy when he posted here and came across as one of the good guys in the business especially since he was working on something that nobody else would have touched.

I agree with Maskedmala above that "Bilko" was a terrific series and more releases would be welcome. Hopefully now that CBS/P has finished some long running series more "slots" will open up and releases won't be competing with so many others coming out.

Steve Canyon Volume 3 is still not out. I guess my take is different. To me, the guy keeps promising release dates, misses them, and always has an excuse. I think the first date was June 2012, and it's still not out. Of course, he's still saying it's almost ready to go the the replicator. Talk about the boy who cried wolf. Forget the extras and just put the show out, for Pete's sake. I put my money up for it, what, two years ago?

 

[Jack P]

I wouldn't be hard on John regarding the "Steve Canyon" situation. He's been a veritable one man operation for this show, and unlike all the labels out there he's actually making this show available from the original 35mm masters, something we'll NEVER see for all these other titles we've been seeing put out by Timeless. We shouldn't be surprised that some formidable obstacles to pull this off could come up and even though it annoys me to have that sleeve meant to accomodate all three volumes with only two inside, I'm going to keep being patient with him until I hear news that would *really* constitute a breach of trust, and so far he hasn't done that.

 

[John Hermes]

I wouldn't be hard on John regarding the "Steve Canyon" situation. He's been a veritable one man operation for this show, and unlike all the labels out there he's actually making this show available from the original 35mm masters, something we'll NEVER see for all these other titles we've been seeing put out by Timeless. We shouldn't be surprised that some formidable obstacles to pull this off could come up and even though it annoys me to have that sleeve meant to accomodate all three volumes with only two inside, I'm going to keep being patient with him until I hear news that would *really* constitute a breach of trust, and so far he hasn't done that.

I appreciate his work on the series and have bought the two prior volumes, but he has to stop coming up with release dates on volume three he can't meet, and then getting defensive when people become annoyed.

 

[Mike*HTF]

I wouldn't be hard on John regarding the "Steve Canyon" situation. He's been a veritable one man operation for this show, and unlike all the labels out there he's actually making this show available from the original 35mm masters, something we'll NEVER see for all these other titles we've been seeing put out by Timeless. We shouldn't be surprised that some formidable obstacles to pull this off could come up and even though it annoys me to have that sleeve meant to accomodate all three volumes with only two inside, I'm going to keep being patient with him until I hear news that would *really* constitute a breach of trust, and so far he hasn't done that.

Did you actually receive the sleeve? I read that it would be forthcoming and then...nothing.

 

[Gary OS]

Did you actually receive the sleeve? I read that it would be forthcoming and then...nothing.

FWIW, I received mine. I firmly believe John's intentions are pure as gold. It really is a matter of him trying to finish this task all on his own. And without help it doesn't take much to derail planned release dates. But I'm positive John will continue to do everything he can to get this last volume completed as soon as possible.


Gary "Mr. Ellis is one of the good guys in this business" O.

 

[Jack P]

Yes, I received the sleeve more than a year ago. To help maintain its integrity, I've now stuck another case of another item inside it.

It'd be daunting enough for one man to do this with a title using just 16mm elements, but to have the 35mm elements and put them out is nothing short of amazing.

 

[LouA]

TGG direct has announced the November release of Bat Masterson - season 3 completing the series . B&W programming isn't totally dead yet!

 

[LouA]

Warner Archives has announced Maverick Season 3 , and Sugarfoot season 2, both shows B&W and proving that there's still little bit of life left in this genre.

 

[David Weicker]

Doctor Who will have 5 B&W stories coming out in the next several months - including two stories that had been 'lost' for the past 45 years.

 

[PatrickGoodluck]

Very positive news for B&W TV fans with the new and upcoming releases of Maverick (S2), Sugarfoot (S2) and Bat Masterson (S3) as Lou has mentioned.

David, I can't wait to see "Enemy Of The World" and "The Web Of Fear" which I've pre-ordered. Having watched the trailers on You Tube, the restoration looks magnificent!

Also, can't forget the Naked City complete series!

 

[Gary OS]

Very positive news for B&W TV fans with the new and upcoming releases of Maverick (S2), Sugarfoot (S2) and Bat Masterson (S3) as Lou has mentioned.

David, I can't wait to see "Enemy Of The World" and "The Web Of Fear" which I've pre-ordered. Having watched the trailers on You Tube, the restoration looks magnificent!

Also, can't forget the Naked City complete series!

While I'm excited for fans of the WB westerns being released, it does absolutely nothing for me personally. These have all been aired on Encore Westerns in recent years and on top of that I've always found the WB westerns to be very cookie-cutter in their recycled plots and, of course, too studio bound for my liking. The Dakotas is the only WB western I'm interested in at this point.

On the other hand, the Doctor Who news is most welcome as Troughton has long been my favorite incarnation of the character (with Matt Smith coming in a close second).

What I'd really like to see is something a bit more rare. Something that hasn't had a lot of recent play on national channels like Encore. Maybe a release of The Millionaire. Or something like Our Miss Brooks, Bachelor Father, Waterfront, Ben Casey, Danger, Ellery Queen (50's), or maybe an anthology like Studio 57, Robert Montgomery Presents, Fireside Theater, etc.

Of course the biggest, and really only major "holy grail" left for me is Ozzie & Harriet. If that one can someone see the light of day, release wise, I'll be as content as I can be. But I'm not very confident right now that Sam is making the kind of progress he initially thought he'd have made by this point. We'll just have to wait and see.


Gary "looking for rarities more than anything else at this point" O.

 

[PatrickGoodluck]

What I'd really like to see is something a bit more rare. Something that hasn't had a lot of recent play on national channels like Encore. Maybe a release of The Millionaire. Or something like Our Miss Brooks, Bachelor Father, Waterfront, Ben Casey, Danger, Ellery Queen (50's), or maybe an anthology like Studio 57, Robert Montgomery Presents, Fireside Theater, etc.

Of course the biggest, and really only major "holy grail" left for me is Ozzie & Harriet. If that one can someone see the light of day, release wise, I'll be as content as I can be. But I'm not very confident right now that Sam is making the kind of progress he initially thought he'd have made by this point. We'll just have to wait and see.


Gary "looking for rarities more than anything else at this point" O.

I must say I'm totally with you there, Gary. Although, I think it's always encouraging that other not-so-rare shows continue to surface, if just to provide hope for further demand for some of the rare or lesser known shows. The fact that the Dr. Who Troughton newly found episodes became a big smash on itunes, reassures me that there is still a big demand for B&W. Frazer Hines and Deborah Watling stated in an interview recently that they loved seeing b&w shows because they felt it was more atmospheric and the lighting and shadows added to this atmosphere.

 

[Jack P]

The remaining unreleased B/W grail title for me remains "Sheena, Queen Of The Jungle." Ten episodes that have never made it to the PD releases, plus the lost color version of the pilot that we now know exists would make for a great release (and for bonus items, throw in Irish McCalla's appearances as Sheena on the Steve Allen and Milton Berle shows). I'll keep making do with the DVD-R transfers from the Moviecraft VHS releases (the best PD versions out there) of 16 of 26 episodes, but this is one cult show of the 50s that would deserve deluxe treatment for being a groundbreaking entry in the whole superhero on TV genre.

Burns and Allen remains the only B/W sitcom that could excite me even though I know the first two filmed seasons probably won't duplicate the Columbia VHS releases which left in the ads. For B/W cop stuff, I'd be more excited by "The Lineup" than "Dragnet" because I have repeatedly discovered that 50s "Dragnet" plays much better on radio than TV and since I have all the radio shows, that's more than enough.

With the Warner titles, they've hit all the right buttons for me in terms of what to start with, because "Maverick" is the greatest of all their westerns. So great that I have no interest in any of the other Warner Westerns, other than "The Alaskans" for the novelty of Roger Moore before becoming Beau Maverick and also the change of pace in the setting (studio sets don't bug me in the least for this era). The detective shows I might be more open to getting several titles (especially "77 Sunset Strip") but I'm in no rush to see them.

For MGM titles from Warner Archive, I expect to see eventually "Cains Hundred" and "The Eleventh Hour" and I'd definitely get those. "Mr. Novak" I might get if it were to be the kind of quality but not pretentious agenda drama I've come to enjoy in other MGM shows of this era like "Dr. Kildare" and "The Lieutenant".

And in the B/W stalled categories, I'll be restless until "Burke's Law" and "One Step Beyond" are completed. "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" is thankfully back on track at last (DVD-R notwithstanding). It'd be nice to see more volumes of "You Are There" as well but I know that'll never happen. And we should also get all the filmed Jack Benny Shows from the syndicated package. Give me all of this (and okay, throw in "The Rogues" too) and I'll consider myself 100% B/W satisfied!

 

[bretmaverick2]

For me, I am most please that WB is finally digging deeper into their westerns from the 50s/60s. Sure, my primary interst is in Maverick, but I am gonna try the first season of Sugarfoot to see how I like it. And I still need to get season 2 of Cheyenne if for no other reason that to see that first appearance of Samantha Crawford.

 

[Jack P]

When you see it, you'll have a deja vu experience because the "Cheyenne" episode that introduced Samantha was recycled as the S2 "Maverick" episode "Yellow River" only this time with a Samantha clone (though Bart at one point twice asks this woman "You wouldn't happen to have any relatives named Crawford would you? Samantha Crawford?" It's one of the earliest examples of how Warner would do this a lot.

 

[Vic Pardo]

I recently watched 22 episodes of "Dragnet" (1950s) on a box set released by Echo Bridge Entertainment. I assume it was p.d. because the prints were generally in poor condition. But I loved watching them. I'ld love to see more. There were hundreds of episodes. Have there been other releases? Has there ever been a legit release by the copyright owner? (Not sure if this was discussed earlier, but I came to this thread late and I'm not gonna plow through 91 pages of posts.)

Thanks.

 

[Jack P]

THe various public domain releases over the years are all the same episodes with a few random differences here and there. I have the old Madacy release of about 25 episodes I think. They all use the same 16mm source material so you'll never see any difference in video quality on any of them. The Shout release of 60s Dragnet S3 (I think) has one additional 50s episode as a bonus not included in other PD releases.

I still prefer 50s Dragnet on radio, especially with Friday's first partner, Ben Romero played by Barton Yarborough who tragically died after doing just the first two TV episodes in late 1951 and after doing the role on radio for two and half years. I've never fully warmed up to Ben Alexander as Frank Smith by contrast.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I found this collection on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Dragnet-6-Episodes-Jack-Webb/dp/B003HYM7IO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3S3CGSUS0K5S1&coliid=I3UO7ZMVVL15IK). I haven't watched it, but there seem to be at least some fairly unique episodes (The Human Bomb), as well as some Jack Webb rarities.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I still prefer 50s Dragnet on radio, especially with Friday's first partner, Ben Romero played by Barton Yarborough who tragically died after doing just the first two TV episodes in late 1951 and after doing the role on radio for two and half years. I've never fully warmed up to Ben Alexander as Frank Smith by contrast.

Anyone interested in this show should really check out the radio programs. They're terrific. Some of the best OTR ever.

 

[Silverking]

I found this collection on amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Dragnet-6-Episodes-Jack-Webb/dp/B003HYM7IO/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=3S3CGSUS0K5S1&coliid=I3UO7ZMVVL15IK). I haven't watched it, but there seem to be at least some fairly unique episodes (The Human Bomb), as well as some Jack Webb rarities.

Not as common as some of the episodes but has appeared on previous compilations.

I think there are 61 odd episodes on the various PD releases.