Good 1st quarter 2009 for vintage TV-on-DVD fans (2 Viewers)

Following up Gary OS' post for the 4th quarter of 2008, the early months of 2009 are shaping up nicely for vintage TV fans (and I'm sure I'm missing a few):

Mannix, season 2
Laredo, season 2, pt. 2
The Invaders, season 2
Emergency!, season 5
Laramie, season 3, pt. 1
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, season 4, vol. 1
Route 66, season 3, vol. 1
The Beverly Hillbillies, season 3
Bewitched, season 7
The Love Boat, season 2, vol. 1
The Partridge Family, season 4 (thanks Gary)
Get Smart, season 2 (thanks Bert)
The Baron, complete series (thanks Bert)

Money's going to be tight. :frowning: (Who ISN'T in this situation?!) However I should be able to scrounge enough money to get Season 5 of Emergency and Season 4, Vol. 1 of VTTBOTS, along with Season 7 of Bewitched when they come out. After buying 3 to 5 Box Sets each month these past two years I will probably go down to 1 or 2 each month, mainly continuations of series I've already begun purchasing. (Examples are Hawaii Five-O, JAG, & Walker, Texas Ranger, among others.) As always I'll be keeping my eyes out for Bargains such as BOGO Sales and "Wally/Targhee Cards" to give me the most bang for my bucks. Meantime, as you can see from my Signature, I have PLENTY of Shows to chew on!

I know what you mean I've been limiting myself to Amazon.com sales as well as Region 2 dvd's currently as the shipping costs and possible customs charges over £18 purchases are too much for me currently. So will probably be getting the R2 versions of The Invaders. Are they different or the same, anyone know?

Well, you beat me to the punch Bob. I was going to do a comparison toward the end of December and look at the 4th Q of '08 and the 1st Q of '09. I'm sure the economy is a huge factor, but my early analysis (and this is of course only my opinion) is that the 1st Quarter of 2009 is very underwhelming even though there are some great shows coming out that I'm sure to purchase (most of the ones on your list).

When you look at how many vintage shows have been released between October and December of this year (not counting repackaged "Complete" collections) I see close to 4 dozen different vintage TV shows that were released. Depending on what one would consider "vintage", you could probably push that number up well over 50.

I also went over to TVShowsonDVD.com and looked at the first quarter from this year ('08) and counted a good 30+ vintage releases. Again, I realize "vintage" is a subjective term, but I'm thinking of shows from the 50's, 60's, and some that started their run in the 70's. I still buy a few things that actually started in the 80's (like FAMILY TIES), but that's a rarity for me. I'm mostly interested in 50's/60's stuff.

So it looks to me like the boom for vintage material is slowing down big time. But that's not necessarily a bad thing for me, because my pocket book couldn't have taken another hit like it's done these past few months. But if money were no object, I'd have to say the 1st quarter of 2009 is signaling a large slowdown with vintage material releases. Right now we are looking at a huge decline. I guess one could argue that as we move along and release more and more shows, this is bound to happen. But there's still some gold to be mined, and I hope we still get to see much of it in the months ahead.

Thanks for starting this thread, Bob. I think this is a great subject for us to talk about - and it helps us to look forward to some more classics on the way early next year!

Gary "hope everyone is having a Merry Christmas season thus far!" O.

Quantity may not be very high, but quality is very high on your list Bob. I will be looking to add all of those sets to my collection over time

Oh, I'll add the final season of THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY to the list, Bob. I don't know if it qualifies as "vintage" in everyone's book. But it does in mine.

Gary "I agree that the quality is solid for the releases Bob mentioned, and for that I'm happy" O.

I was initially a bit concerned about the seeming lack of announcements covering the post-holiday months. However, slowly but surely, the schedule started filling in. As usual, I plan to get most of the 'vintage' releases, as long as my wallet allows. Three other additions, slated for March, which I plan to get:

Get Smart, s-2
Suspense, v. 3 (not quite verified)
The Baron (complete series)

Bert, I'll go ahead and add Get Smart since it's verified. What company is issuing "The Baron?" I'm assuming that it's the ITC series starring Steve Forrest. Is this a Region 1 release? If it is, I'm as surprised about this as I was with Image Entertainment's release of "Jason King" a while back.

Bob, the news on "The Baron" was posted a few days ago, over at tvshowsondvd.com. I believe it was stated that Koch was releasing it.

I was one of the goofballs that sprung for the Complete "GET SMART" set from Time Life so unfortunately that particular announcement didn't affect me personally. Don't know anything about "THE BARON", Bert. Thanks for that info.

Things are slowly but surely coming in, announcement-wise. I still believe we will see a cut back overall with vintage releases, but as I said before that's just fine with me because my finances have definitely tightened up.

Thanks for adding "THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY" to the list, Bob. I know it's a kinda corny show, but for some reason I've enjoyed these releases.

Gary "I think VTTBOTS is probably the release I'm most excited about even though that last season pales in comparison to the first one" O.

I somehow missed this announcement, but what a pleasant surprise; this is certainly one of the ITC series that I really didn't think would ever be released here. What's next . . . Gene Barry's "The Adventurer" or, more importantly, Richard Bradford's "Man in a Suitcase" (the only set that I've ever imported from overseas)?

I like the chemistry between the various actors in PF myself, still adore Shirley Jones and still groove to the music after all these years. There, Gary. I said it--feel much better now. Time for you to confess also.

Too bad The Lucy Show isn't included in this list. The sooner this TV series is released, the better!

Partridge Family, Beverly Hillbillies, and Invaders are on my buy list. With Gomer and Andy done, I'm looking forward to a couple of seasons of FATHER KNOWS BEST in 2009 as well.

How I wish we could be looking forward to rounding out the second season of "The Fugitive" if this had only stayed on track. I mean I can just taste it.

Anyway, looking forward to more "Mannix", "Invaders", "Partridge Family", and "Route 66".

My name is Gary "insert quote here" O., and I'm a PARTRIDGE FAMILY fan.

Ok, I too find the chemistry between the actors to be solid and the music still appeals to me as well. Ahhh... I feel better now too, Michael.

Gary "I'm hoping for more FKB releases as well - that show ranks very high on my list at this point so I hope it's selling well for Shout" O.

A long shot but am hoping for more Quincy, Charlie's Angels and Baretta in 2009

Well I'll have 5 to pick up in the first 2 months of 2009:
Emergency Sesaon 5
The Invaders Season 2
Bewitched Season 7
Friday The 13th: The Series Season 2
Simon & Simon Season 2

Funny, because all day yesterday I was considering mentioning that we might get STEVE CANYON, V. 2 some time in the 1st quarter of '09. Well, TVShowsonDVD.com has posted a news blurb reminded us that Volume 2 will be coming soon. So while it's not official and it might fall into the 2nd quarter, it will certainly be a nice addition if we get word that it's coming between January and March.

I was also thinking about one more big, long-rumored set that could potentially see a release in the 1st quarter (although time is quickly slipping away for any more announcements for that time period). It's the huge RIFLEMAN mega set that has been talked about for so, so long now.

So what I'm saying is that we've got a nice, although smaller than usual, line-up for the 1st quarter of next year. And we have the potential to still add to that list with a couple more vintage releases. And then there's the fact that Alpha and Mill Creek sometimes don't get their info out as quickly as the big studios and they might still spring a few surprises on us.

Gary "thanks again to Bob Hug for starting this thread, and others for contributing" O.