Bachelor Father Starring John Forsyth (1 Viewer)

I know this show in shown on RTV I believe. I don't get RTV, but I caught some episodes while I was on vacation. I like this series. Does anyone know if there is any chance of Bachelor Father getting released on DVD? Who owns this, is it Universal? Maybe Shout could pick this up. I wish some studio would. Any news, information, and comments are appreciated!

God Bless!

Robert

Universal does indeed own it. We know they won't put it out. Just not sure if one of the other companies would have interest in a show of that vintage although at least we know that there are good tape elements. However, Universal doesn't license cheaply and I don't know how much this show could sell.

Just a heads up for any fans of this show. Antenna TV started running it today with the first 2 episodes (not the pilot which was on GE Theatre) and they are complete and uncut for anyone who is interested. Also running uncut is Jack Benny and Kraft Suspense Theatre. Have not had a chance to time Hitchcock yet as it will be a while before they get to the non-DVD seasons.

Count me in for Bachelor Father on DVD in season sets. Shout! should go for it or maybe A&E could take a stab at it, just like when they released Mike Hammer starring Darren McGavin.

I happened to notice that Antenna TV isn't carrying the complete 157-episode Bachelor Father because a woman named Kari told me in a reply to my e-mail to the network that some of the series episodes were either lost or damaged by the distributor, which obviously is NBC Universal. Must have been due to the 2008 vault fire on the studio lot. Remember?

Neil Brock said:

Just a heads up for any fans of this show. Antenna TV started running it today with the first 2 episodes (not the pilot which was on GE Theatre) and they are complete and uncut for anyone who is interested. Also running uncut is Jack Benny and Kraft Suspense Theatre. Have not had a chance to time Hitchcock yet as it will be a while before they get to the non-DVD seasons.

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You are enticing me more and more to purchase a rooftop antenna, Neil!!!!

i think this show will be released, if it is available.

so i will re-ask the same question that another one did - does anyone know for sure if some of these episodes were damaged ?

rmw650 said:

The show airs on Antenna TV still but on the weekdays now as of late, in the late morning hours...check your local schedule to see when and if you get this channel.

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It is a sub-channel on one of the Memphis stations.....will have to get a rooftop antenna though

I sent Antenna TV another e-mail and Kari replied back by saying they have 118 out of 157 BACHELOR FATHER episodes on hand. Still must have been the 2008 vault fire and they still haven't gotten around to replace those video transfers.

Does anyone know if the episode, "Bentley and the Revolving Housekeepers," (guest-starring Barbara Eden) is available or missing?

oldtvshowbuff said:

I sent Antenna TV another e-mail and Kari replied back by saying they have 118 out of 157 BACHELOR FATHER episodes on hand. Still must have been the 2008 vault fire and they still haven't gotten around to replace those video transfers.

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More like they just don't want to spend the money on a show with limited sales.Wouldn't be the first time Universal Did this - The Jack Benny TV package is missing episodes that they've syndicated in the past as well. Problem is, this is most likely affecting any possible 3rd party DVD release.

and SALES.

most of the time when someone posts that such and such did not sell well, i can simply go over to amazon, and read the complaints.

the reasons are many - poor transfer quality, poor audio, edited versions, replaced music.

NEVER is the reason that the show wasnt any good.

that is why i continue to state - these shows will sell, if THEY ARE RELEASED PROPERLY.

and by that, i mean sell enough to cover costs, and make some profit.

some shows have much more ability to make profit than others do. which for the most part, is why they get released first.

if we dont get panicky, and dont get anxious, and dont act impulsively, time is on our side.

set back and watch the ton of stuff that is already out. and in the meantime, enjoy each month as a new show comes out, that you did not think was coming !!!

that is why i dont care what order they want to release the shows. i am extremely confident that most of the shows will eventually be released.

jimmyjet said:

that is why i dont care what order they want to release the shows. i am extremely confident that most of the shows will eventually be released.

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Based on what? How many of the Universal shows that only exist on 35mm film elements are going to get released? I would say the chances for any of them are slim and none. Maybe if there are decent 16mm prints, then there's an outside chance but if not, then no way in hell will anyone pay the transfer costs. Fox? We know they couldn't care less about their pre-1990 library and they don't even have a clue as to what they inherited from Metromedia for instance. Be confident all you want but for most shows not already released, it ain't gonna happen.

oldtvshowbuff said:

I sent Antenna TV another e-mail and Kari replied back by saying they have 118 out of 157 BACHELOR FATHER episodes on hand. Still must have been the 2008 vault fire and they still haven't gotten around to replace those video transfers.

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I don't think it has anything to do with elements as much as it does music rights. From what I've been told, apparently there are music clearance issues and that's why those 39 episodes are no longer made available.

Neil Brock said:

I don't think it has anything to do with elements as much as it does music rights. From what I've been told, apparently there are music clearance issues and that's why those 39 episodes are no longer made available.

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All this despite the fact that the first season had David Kahn's theme and library music, Jeff Alexander and Larry Orenstein's theme in season two, with Alexander and later Johnny Williams scoring those episodes. Williams wrote his own BF theme and scored all S3 eps. Last, but not least, Conrad Salinger wrote the last BF theme for S4-5 and scored all of them as well. You tell me there are music clearance issues there?

Jimmy Boyd was a regular on the series and sang songs quite often. Just because the themes and underscore wasn't a problem doesn't mean there wasn't any other bits of music besides that.

Neil Brock said:

Based on what? How many of the Universal shows that only exist on 35mm film elements are going to get released? I would say the chances for any of them are slim and none. Maybe if there are decent 16mm prints, then there's an outside chance but if not, then no way in hell will anyone pay the transfer costs. Fox? We know they couldn't care less about their pre-1990 library and they don't even have a clue as to what they inherited from Metromedia for instance. Be confident all you want but for most shows not already released, it ain't gonna happen.

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I completely agree with Neil. I'm going to state what is sure to be an unpopular opinion here, but I really feel that more than 50% of what have not been released will stay buried and never come out. I can name a bunch that will probably eventually come out (Henning shows, Happy Days, Love Boat, and hopefully Batman/Hornet and Wonder Years), but those are very popular series, Quite a lot of shows have been put out already in at least a volume or two and "most" of whats left have either rights problems or there is not sufficient interest for the distributors to make a profit. So I am not misunderstood, I think there will be "some" new series (other than than ones I mentioned) here and there, and many of the ongoing releases will continue but IMO the watershed time of seeing a bunch of "new" stuff being released in over.