Tick, Tick, Tick, stars are getting old! (1 Viewer)

[Paul Miller]

This note would have been in much better taste if it wasn't for the "Tick, Tick, Tick.." in the subject header.

This is a real issue though with the older shows though and hopefully the studios get cracking. For the life of me, I don't understand how Get Smart and Addams Family haven't been released yet.

Paul

 

[David Lambert]

Keep in mind that in some cases, the hold-up might actually BE the age of the stars. As an example: If the studio doesn't want to put out Batman without the participation of Adam West, and he's been sick and unable to participate, then they might hold off and see if he gets well enough to work on the set. If something unfortunately happens to him, then they would reluctantly move forward without him. And probably dedicate the release to him, a la John Ritter/Three's Company. But in the affirmative thinking that he would get better, they are being positive and just planning to get the best possible set released. In such a case, they would rather wait for that if possible.

Now, we all know that Adam West himself is just fine (see the picture above...wonderful!), so don't take my example as anything but that. But if that were the case with another of the mentioned stars in this thread, what would you rather the studio do? Plunge ahead right now with DVDs, or wait until he could participate (or else got to the point where he couldn't ever participate)? It's a tough position for a studio to be in, you have to admit.

 

[Steve...O]

Quite true. I'm one of many clammoring for a "Get Smart" release. At this point, getting any meaninful Don Adams input is probably a long shot. He's dealing with the recent death of his daughter, a son who has a brain tumor, and his own cancer battles. He was in an assisted living facility for awhile recently, but is now back home. I'm sure recording commentaries for a DVD is not real high on his list right now. (At least not as high as getting back to his Friday night poker games at his pal Hugh Hefner's house

Steve

 

[David Lambert]

Steve, that is a perfect example. And so, by extrapolation, we may also have a situation where the star of the show is also unavailable to use his "pull" to help convince the studio to release the DVD in the first place!

Just remember, it's not always about the obvious. In a recent issue of Variety, I read about how the film True Lies had gotten Cameron tied up in a French court due to a copy-catting charge. What happened? Did Cameron steal the idea? No, he bought the remake rights to a French film. It was the French film whose makers were charged with ripping off the story idea from an 80-year-old screenwriter's script treatment. I hadn't heard about this before, and I bet most Americans haven't. It apparently went round-and-round in the courts there, until an actress who had kept the original treatment in her personal files proved to the French court that the treatment existed years before the French film was produced. The French court, on the other hand, didn't instate any damages against Cameron himself, because he bought the remake rights to the French film in good faith, it having been represented as an orignal work. But I would bet a large sum that this overseas legal battle has had a lot to do with the mysterious lack of a Special Edition DVD release of True Lies, as well as the sequel that Cameron reportedly wanted to do. Maybe it's unrelated after all, but probably not.

Again, failure to see a DVD release for a given item is not always about the obvious!