The Real McCoys (1 Viewer)

[Regulus]

I remember how sad it was, as a kid, when the 1957 episode of LASSIE "Transition" opened with the death of Gramps, and ended with Jeff leaving the series and giving Lassie to Timmy.

The Producers of Lassie originally intended to have the transition of Lassie occur at the last episode of that season. "Gramps" was to have some kind of accident that made him unable to run the farm.(The Actors who played Jeff (Tommt Rettig) and Gramps (George Cleveland) wanted out of the series). This all changed in the middle of filming when the producers ran into a small problem. Mr. Cleveland really did pass away. The producers decided to write in the death of gramps in the show, which is why the transition took place in mid-season.

Five years later the producers realized the actor who played Timmy (John Provost) was growing up and it wouldn't be long before he would be walking down the path his predecessor (Rettig) did. This time the producers were ready, so they asked themselves, who should be Lassie's new master after Timmy & Company leave the show. During seasons nine and ten the producers made nseveral "Experimental" episodes, some of which were multiple-part where Timmy and Lassie were separated for a while. During these episodes Lassie spent time with other charactures who were, among other things Truck Drivers, Barnstormers, Military Cadets and yes, Forest Rangers. The Episode with the Forest Rangers (The Dissappearence) produced the greatest feedback, thus sealing Lassie's Fate.

Now, what to do with Timmy? "Whacking" him was NOT an option, since the producers would probably get truckloads of "Flame Mail" if they did that, and Season 11 would most likely last 13 episodes and that's it! Having Timmy's Father quit farming and move to the city where they buy a house or apartment where "No Pets Allowed" was not acceptable either. The Producers searched far and wide for a bona-fide reason for lassie had to switch owners (Besides the two scenarios mentioned above). How about Paul Martin gets called back to active duty by the Military? Nope, If that happens the Military will make accomodations for his family. Paul Joins the Peace Corps? No go either, they allow volunteers to bring their pets. Then one day the solution found them. A stage Hand, who was having a day off decided to visit the set. He wanted to show his boss a new member of his family, a small, white Terrior. The dog was given to him by his neighbor. Why? His Neighbor got a new job, in Australia. Turns out this country had at this time (Mid-1960s) a SUPER STRICT Quarentine policy regarding the importation of animals that made it next to impossible to bring along your pet. At that time an animal being imported to Australia had to spend six months quarentine in Great Britain, then another six months in Australia. That was it! The first three seasons of season 11, The Wayfarers, had Paul Martin get a business opportunity in ozzy-land, because of the quarentine policy Timmy gives Lassie to Cully, who then gives the dawg to the Rangers.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

It never rang true that Jeff and later Timmy would so casually say goodbye to their constant companion who had saved their lives so many times! It would have been more realistic if there had just been another dog named "Lassie." But they wanted us to believe it was the same Lassie all the years of the series -- which, by the way, would mean at the end of the nineteen years of the series, "she" (it was really a "he," of course) was well over a hundred in human years.

 

[LouA]

While were on the subject of Lsssie, it would be nice if Sony would consider some comprehensive DVD sets on the "Jeff's Collie " and "Timmy" years .

 

[Regulus]

It never rang true that Jeff and later Timmy would so casually say goodbye to their constant companion who had saved their lives so many times! It would have been more realistic if there had just been another dog named "Lassie." But they wanted us to believe it was the same Lassie all the years of the series -- which, by the way, would mean at the end of the nineteen years of the series, "she" (it was really a "he," of course) was well over a hundred in human years.

133 "Doggy Years" to be precise! (If Lassie was a Pomeranian it would probably be feasible, According to Dogfancy Magazine the average lifespan for this breed is 17 years, and many have lived to 20 or more)!

I too would like to see a comprehensive relase, of all 19 seasons! It wasn't until the advent of the internet did I find out there wasn't three differant series, but instead was one continious series. (I was introduced to the series when it was well into its "Ranger" years). Only recently was I able to watch the episodes that were withheld from syndication.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I grew up with Timmy and thought "Jeff's Collie" was a different series, which I avoided in syndication because Tommy Rettig gave me the creeps, for some reason. Now I feel the Jeff years are the best, and it's Timmy who gives me the creeps.

 

[John Morgan]

I would love to have a legit DVD set for the Tommy Rettig years. The few episodes they have put out shows they have uncut episodes that look pretty good.
I am not a fan of the Provost and later incarnations, but would glady accept the first 4 seasons. I hadn't thought of LASSIE for years and finally looked at a few of the early ones and was reminded how sweet and charming they are. I have trying to DVDr these episodes on some cable station called COZI TV. They have about 5 minutes missing from the episodes, and being a hi def station, after put on my Pioneer DVDr recorder, they end up being a little square inside the 4x3 ratio....and not to mention the news update scrolls running at the bottom of the screen!

I had good memories of THE REAL McCOYS growing up. Then when they showed on TNN, although with syndicated cuts, I nearly taped them all. I was delighted when the seasons started coming out on official DVD sets, but they were the cut episodes that appeared on TNN...except for the initial episode that ran 26 minutes. I still have some hope that some company will be able to make new transfers from the original 35mm uncut material and release it. The last two seasons were quite poor with the absence of Little Luke and near absence of Hassie in Season 5. Season 6 seemed like a different series to me.

 

[actionsub]

Interesting, was she the first major starring sitcom character to die? I have looked into it, seems so shocking that they killed her off, sent the daughter to college, the son to the army and the Grampa randomly appears. The show sounds unrecognizable. I'd still like to see the full run though.

No, the first (AFAIK) would have been Margaret on "Make Room for Daddy". In this case, it was also due to contract disputes, as Jean Hagen got tired of working with Danny Thomas.As for Kate McCoy, Kathy Nolan got into a contract dispute as well (and Danny Thomas produced the show, coincidence?) and was written out. The major cast change occurred at the same time that the show changed networks. Walter Brennan had some other project going during the final season, that's why he was MIA for many episodes.

 

[BobO'Link]

No, the first (AFAIK) would have been Margaret on "Make Room for Daddy". In this case, it was also due to contract disputes, as Jean Hagen got tired of working with Danny Thomas.As for Kate McCoy, Kathy Nolan got into a contract dispute as well (and Danny Thomas produced the show, coincidence?) and was written out. The major cast change occurred at the same time that the show changed networks. Walter Brennan had some other project going during the final season, that's why he was MIA for many episodes.

I think that contributed to the demise of The Real McCoys. I know my sister and I pretty much stopped watching that last season as it just wasn't the same. Still, if they'd ever get around to that full series release that's been "promised" (or at least hinted about) I'd purchase it as I never got around to picking up the 4 seasons that had a release before they went OOP.

 

[LouA]

I just thought I'd mention that CD Universe still has the Real McCoys Complete Series available for pre-order, and selling for about $85.00. Inception Media who has the rights to the show on DVD, previously released seasons one and two back in late 2012. Does anyone have any updates on this ? Anyone believe we'll actually see this happen? Inception already stated they won't release any more seasons of Wyatt Earp after releasing seasons one and two.

 

[Regulus]

I checked the price on The Big River for The Real McCoys and all I can say is:



EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOWWW!!!

 

[LouA]

I checked the price on The Big River for The Real McCoys and all I can say is:



EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOWWW!!!

Yep, The out of print seasons of the Real Mccoys are going for big bucks . All the more reason for Inception to release the Complete Series box set.

 

[ChrisALM]

I have the first 4 seasons that were released individually. I hope that seasons 5 and 6 will eventually be released separately at some point in the future, but I'm not holding my breath. The only other thing would be to buy the complete series and try to resell the other 4 seasons I already have. Hmmm . . .

 

[smithbrad]

Yep, The out of print seasons of the Real Mccoys are going for big bucks . All the more reason for Inception to release the Complete Series box set.

I wouldn't necessarily say they are going for big buckets, but more likely that market place vendors are trying to artificially inflate their price since they are OOP. It is hard to tell if anyone is actually buying at that price.

The indicator I use as a form of determining going market interest is the trade-in value (without any other real indicators to work from). If there is a market, the trade-in value will generally go up, but in the case of "Real McCoys" this doesn't appear to be the case, at least it hasn't shown to be yet on Amazon's trade-in.

 

[cajunhillbilly]

still waiting for season 5 and 6 Any news?

 

[LouA]

still waiting for season 5 and 6 Any news?

Most of us who bought seasons 1-4 are hoping that seasons 5 and 6 are eventually released. So far Inception has only released seasons 1 and 2, and announced the complete series box set (about 2 years ago). If you recall the original company, Infinity, promised to release all six seasons , but stopped after 4. The new company Inception then promised to release all of the seasons, and announced the box set, but hasn't released anything since season 2 back in 2102. It's hard to figure these companies out , but what happened with the Real McCoys releases stinks!

 

[Neil Brock]

still waiting for season 5 and 6 Any news?

Yes. All seasons are going to available as Burn On Demand shortly.

 

[JoeDoakes]

Yes. All seasons are going to available as Burn On Demand shortly.

I was doing a search on Amazon for Christmas cds yesterday (yes, I know it's July), and I noticed that starting last year Amazon apparently started offering out of print albums from RCA on cd-r. This made me think of your post regarding the Real McCoys. I understand you did not reveal where the Real McCoys would be issued, but if they wanted to, Amazon could become a major player in tv shows on DVD. It would be the most easy for them to do it for shows with pre-existing transfers without clearance issues, but if they wanted, they probably could cut a lot of costs by doing their own transfers. As Amazon makes the DVD-Rs for Warner archive, they already have the manufacturing ability in-house. Amazon has so much market power, they could probably get cooperation from many majors, especially on shows that the majors had no plans for. It's certainly one of the most exciting things about the hobby that there continue to be a stream of surprises and new developments. Just a thought.

 

[LouA]

Yes. All seasons are going to available as Burn On Demand shortly.

Does this mean we probably won't see further DVD releases of this show?

 

[LouA]

According to TV shows on DVD site all six seasons of The Real Mc Coys will be released on Mod discs this fall. I'm not sure if these will be replicated discs or DVD-r's .

 

[Ron1973]

According to TV shows on DVD site all six seasons of The Real Mc Coys will be released on Mod discs this fall. I'm not sure if these will be replicated discs or DVD-r's .

Likely they will still be butchered episodes. I believe I'll pass.