things that frustrate you most about an abandoned series (1 Viewer)

[Bonnie*F]

RickP-
I saw it on pre-order for Amazon.com.uk and am hoping that means that it is on the horizon for the US. Definitely NOT holding my breath though.
Thanks!

 

[Charles Ellis]

How anyone can consider Fox the best is beyond me with its endless Buffy repackaging while we're still waiting for more Malcolm In The Middle! Personally, I'm still waiting for Peyton Place, Dobie Gillis, Batman, Land of the Giants, Judd For The Defense, The Green Hornet, Burke's Law, Honey West, Room 222, Julia, and the rest of Son of the Beach!

Wezzo, Jay B: wake up and smell the decaf!! All of the above shows are languishing in the Fox vaults, and each show has a devoted following. Instead of exploring the great TV classics in their possession, Fox has decided to devote DVD releases to shows of recent years that only lasted a single season or two, like Firefly and Tru Calling. Is anyone actually willing to call either show a classic that has stood the test of time compared to the unreleased classics in the Fox vault? I don't think so!

 

[Robert Ringwald]

I thought it was common knowledge that Malcolm was tied up in MUSIC RIGHTS HELL at the moment... and that's why we're not seeing season 2. Season one DID sell rather well, at least according to FOX when asked why no further releases have seen the light of day.

 

[Lafe F]

Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew Mysteries (Universal) No sign of season 2, which was my favourite.

Five Mile Creek (Disney) Nicole Kidman didn't appear until the third season but we've only got the first one. All her fans are waiting.

 

[Jay_B!]

if you read what I said... I said I am predominantly fans of shows from the past 25 years. In terms of shows >>I>I

 

[Wezzo]

I'm with JayB here. I don't feel I can complain about shows that I have no interest in not being released. A lot of my favourite shows are Fox from the past 25 years too, and when they get a good treatment on DVD - subtitles, extras, nice packaging - I'm not going to complain.

Others are more than welcome to criticise them for not releasing shows from the '50s, '60s and '70s. But at 15, I have little interest in such shows. The earliest show I own is Diff'rent Strokes, which started in 1978, and is Sony anyway (and might I point out, lacking English subtitles).

And denying Firefly was worth a release is crazy. What do you think would sell more, a modern show with a loyal, devoted fanbase who would probably buy three copies apiece if it meant the show would come back on TV; or 1950s gems that, realistically, don't have the widest target market.

 

[Charles Ellis]

I think I need to clear a few things here. JayB- don't put words in my mouth. I don't hate Joss Whedon- in fact, he's one of the best writers of the past decade and I watched Buffy thru its entire run. My criticism was at Fox, not Mr. Whedon. Buffy and The X-Files have already had their entire runs on DVD- why rehash with new collections of previously released episodes while other worthy shows deserve to be released? Also, I am not against cult shows: I'm a big fan of Dark Shadows and The Adventures of Brisco County, and proudly have both series in my collection (and in the case of DS, that's a lot of episodes!)

Fox has been shamefully narrow-minded in its release of TV shows on DVD as opposed to say, Paramount and Warner Brothers. Paramount just released the first seasons of Perry Mason and Rawhide, and they're both selling in huge amonuts according to Amazon and other sources. On the other hand, this is the same studio that has just put out the first seasons of both J.A.G. and N.C.I.S., two more recent hits.

Weezo, you've a lot to learn about TV history! Ever hear of I Love Lucy or The Andy Griffith Show? Paramount has been putting these classics on DVD for the past few years, and they're big sellers, too!! So much for your theory on older shows that "don't have the widest target market". I'm 41 years old, and grew up watching a great deal of those Fox shows I mentioned, in either reruns or during their original network runs. At 15, obviously you do not have the money to spend on these titles, but I do!

Both Paramount and Warner Brothers have been smart by both releasing recent hits and TV classics. Warners has recently put out its first dramatic series Cheyenne on DVD, along with other vintage classics like F-Troop and The Adventures of Superman while also taking care of more recent hits like Smallville. It's a pity that Fox hasn't been as forthcoming in releasing classic series from the 50s-70s like the other studios. There IS an audience for these shows, and the people who are likely to buy them are the ones with money. While Paramount and Warners are counting up their profits from the DVDs of I Love Lucy and The Adventures of Superman, the Fox Home Video execs are scratching their heads trying to figure out what they can do to sell yet another compilation from X-Files. Pity they don't realize what treasures they have, and the profits they can bring.....

 

[Wezzo]

Of course I've heard of I Love Lucy, The Andy Griffith Show, and numerous other pre-1970 shows. I haven't, however, heard of a lot of the shows in your post up the page. Shows that are still well-known now, such as those two, will of course have a decent target market. But a lot of those you mentioned are shows that don't get mentioned much nowadays, almost forgotten. I simply don't think a lot of those you mention would be a profitable venture for Fox. I may be wrong; but I'd expect I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith sets to sell well, I doubt Judd For The Defense and The Green Hornet would.

As for money.. well, maybe so. The 40+ set do have more money. But I'd also argue they, as a whole, don't spend as much of their disposable income on DVDs. (Correct me if I'm wrong). I don't have as much TV-DVD product as a lot of you, indeed. But I do have over 150 sets, I'm no casual buyer.

It is a shame that Fox aren't releasing more pre-1970 product, but for me, they remain the best at TV-DVD. Maybe that's not the case for everyone else, but they meet my needs easily. Releases for the shows I want. Decent packaging. Extra features. HOH Subtitles. = The best in my book.

 

[RickER]

Wezzo, just because you never heard of say...Perry Mason does not mean it is not popular. I am 42, and was only 3 when Perry Mason finished its network run. Trust me that it is very popular with not only older folks, but also people that love mystery shows. Rawhide is popular with western fans, and of course Clint Eastwood fans.

Have you ever sit down to watch a classic black and white show? They will sell. I watch a show for a good story, not because its in color and has a 5.1 surround mix.

 

[Wezzo]

I have heard of both Perry Mason and Rawhide. I was specifically referring to the post where Charles listed "Peyton Place, Dobie Gillis, Batman, Land of the Giants, Judd For The Defense, The Green Hornet, Burke's Law, Honey West, Room 222, Julia, and the rest of Son of the Beach!". I haven't heard of a lot of them.

Not that they, or any black and white show you care to mention, isn't good. I'm not one for overblown special effects and audio mixes myself. But I'm questioning whether these shows are worth Fox's effort to release. I could be completely wrong.

 

[RickER]

I see your point Wezzo. I have to admit some of those shows i have not seen in 30 years, and others i never saw (Burkes Law). Green Hornet could happen, only ran 1 season and became more popular after its run because it had Bruce Lee. Some of those other shows like Room 222 and Payton Place dated really bad or became quaint. But nostalgia knows no limits. You know its quaint, and love it anyway. The secret is do enough people want to relive it. Shoot i bought Land of the Lost and still love it cheese and all. My kids, about your age, cant get past the cheapness of it. But they were not the target market for it...i was. Older shows can sell as much as new ones, but not always. The studios need to find who the target is and market for them, as well as scale sales to match. Rhino made money off Land of the Lost. Shoot i have a bunch of old obscure shows in my collection from and a number of them didnt finish their DVD run, but i am happy to have what i got.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Wezzo, of course you haven't sice you're a) a teenager and b) British, though I do know that some of those shows were shown in the UK years before your birth. Some of those shows you don't know about have great cultural and artistic significance:

Peyton Place was America's first primetime soap- based on the popular novel by Grace Metalious about the scandalous secrets of the residents of a New England town. Think of it as Desperate Housewives set in the Sixties. This show made stars out of Mia Farrow, Ryan O'Neal and Barbara Parkins, who you may know from the movie Valley of the Dolls. It ran for 5 years, won several Emmy Awards, and led to everything from Dallas and Dynasty to Melrose Place and the current mega-hit Desperate Housewives.

Dobie Gillis was Fox's first sitcom hit (1959-63), and starred Dwayne Hickman in the title role, a teenager who was just trying to cope with everyday life. Think of it as Malcolm In The Middle in B/W. By the way, Warren Beatty was a cast member during its first season, but the show is best known for bringing Bob Denver (the future "Gilligan") to stardom as Dobie's best friend, the hip beatnik Maynard G. Krebs.

Burke's Law was the first hit show produced by the late Aaron Spelling. Gene Barry played Amos Burke, who was the Chief of Detectives for the Los Angeles Police Department. The gimmick here was that he came from a socially prominent family and was a playboy millionaire. This may have been the only show in which the police car that responded to a crime scene was a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce! Every week he and his LAPD staff solved crimes, and most every episode had a lot of guest stars of classic Hollywood stars from the 20s-60s (like the later Murder, She Wrote).

Honey West starred Anne Francis as a glamourous female private eye who wore minks, drove a sportscar, used karate to fight off bad guys, and had a pet ocelot named Bruce! This was a spinoff of Burke's Law. Though the first season was successful, ABC cancelled it when the network officials figured it would be cheaper to import The Avengers than shell out more cash for a second season! Weezo, this is a great example of a single-season show that has kept a cult audience through the years!

Julia starred Diahann Carroll as Julia Baker, a widowed nurse who worked on a military base and was raising her young son. This was the first major sitcom to star an African-American performer. It ran for three years and paved the way for Sanford & Son, The Cosby Show and other shows starring actors of color.

The Green Hornet was another single-season show with a cult audience. A good reason is the presence of martial arts legend Bruce Lee in the role of Kato, sidekick to the title character, a masked crimefighter played by Van Williams.

Judd for the Defense was a 1960s drama that starred Carl Betz as a high-priced defense attorney loosely based on F. Lee Bailey, who helped get O.J. Simpson off on murder charges in the 1990s.

Land of the Giants was produced by Irwin Allen- the same guy who made Lost In Space, and The Time Tunnel for TV and made The Towering Inferno and The Poseidon Adventure for movie audiences. The show had a group of space travelers crash landing on a foreign planet where the inhabitants are- you get the picture....

Room 222 was an early "dramedy" that looked at life at a big city high school, and had all of the social issues of the late 60s-early 70s.

And of course you know Batman starring Adam West.......

 

[Jay_B!]

well, I got defensive because I explained where I was coming from being a fan of Fox and you asked why.

Warner has been good at releasing one season for shows, but outside of several current WB dramas (and even then, Everwood has been abandoned), they are not good at all with following up with sets. Fox has done the same crap with Malcolm, but all in all, they have been good at following through with sets. Granted, it took MTM three years for season 2 to come out, but it actually came, Sony, Warner and Universal would've never given it a second chance. And for hour-long shows that were pricey, Fox came up with a cost-efficient solution by splitting season sets of shows like Lost In Space and Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea into half-season sets, and they did quite well. Warner never thought about "hey, let's do Everwood season 2, Vol. 1 or Without A Trace season 2, Vol. 1" about those shows, it never crossed their mind.

Fox is also definately one of the best companies in terms of special features, of course, MASH is the prime exception to the rule and I don't think it's cute the way Fox screwed the fans over with that. But I do think Fox has done a much better job than Warner, Sony, Universal and Paramount in terms of continuing to follow through with sets they've released. Even with Malcolm, I do think one of these days we will see seasons 2-7, they already proved us wrong and showed us with MTM and NYPD Blue that they don't completely give up on their stuff.

The only reason I assumed that about Joss (which I'm sorry for) was why you questioned why Firefly came out on DVD. Plus, awhile back I was on another thread, getting torn to shreds by older posters who prefer 50's and 60's television for liking Buffy and Angel.

 

[Jay_B!]

I've never seen Peyton Place, but I understand why it'd have a market on DVD. I know a lot of soap buffs who'd cut off a limb to see the series on DVD, I'm not the biggest soap fan myself but Iknow a lot of hardcore fans and they are every bit as devoted to soaps as Trekkies, X-Philes, Lost or Buffy/Angel fans are to their shows.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Jay B, my main beef is that Fox has been woefully inadequate in releasing older series as opposed to other studios, and they're shooting themselves in the foot for it.

I can easily say that Peyton Place and Batman are at the very top of my 'most wanted' list. Yes, I'm a longtime soap viewer, but my fan interests include Dark Shadows, Buffy, Brisco County, the Bond films, films of classic Hollywood, and yes, classic Star Trek!

 

[Bill>Moore]

I have been frustrated with the partial release of Baa Baa Black Sheep/Black Sheep Squadron. There would only be another volume to go. Just a measly set of another 12-15 episodes or so. It's already bare bones, so slap 'em on a disc already! So close to having the entire series, and yet so far...

 

[RickER]

Bill, Black Sheep ran for 2 years. It was the second season that was renamed Black Sheep Squadron. We only got Volume 1, Discs 1 and 2. We would have 3 more Volumes to go.

 

[MarkHastings]

Shooting themselves in the foot? Why? IS Fox losing money? Are they going under?

 

[Walter C]

I wonder if The Amazing Race has been abandoned. I thought there would be at least 1 season per year, but no news of further releases.

Anybody know how the sales were?

 

[Jonny P]

Yeah...I loved the first two releases of "The Amazing Race," but sadly there has been no further word on future releases...