I was just reading a couple of the threads here about how happy some were with the upcoming release schedule and it hit me that most of the excitement was about shows that ran in the 70's or beyond. Other than a few titles coming from Timeless (thank God for that company), and one or two coming from outfits like Shout, MPI or Warners, it looks like 50's and early 60's TV - my favorite era of television - is slowly coming to a close. Shout in particular has really swung toward 70's material with the upcoming releases of Police Woman, S.W.A.T., Kojak, Police Story, The Rookies, and Adam-12. Here Come the Brides is right there as well, and then there's Webster and Designing Women which are 80's shows. CBS/Paramount is releasing Laverne & Shirley, Father Dowling, Mannix, Mission Impossible and probably some others I'm missing. Uni is going with Night Gallery, while Warners is bringing us Scarecrow & Mrs. King, Family Matters, Eight is Enough and Logan's Run.
Now, I want to be clear that I'm happy for fans of these shows. This is not meant to be a negative post about these series. I will be picking up a couple myself. It's just that most of them do not appeal to me. The era of the 70's overall doesn't appeal to me - with a few exceptions. And while we do have a few b&w classics that are lined up, with a few more set to be announced soon, the release pattern is definitely swerving away from the older material. No question about that in my mind. In fact, if it were not for Timeless striking that great deal with Universal the 50's/60's portion of my collection would probably have been cut in half last year. They've been a real life-saver in my book. And it's clear that but for them again this year (and I do know Timeless has more 50's/60's material in store for us in coming months) I'd be up a creek waiting for the shows I'm most interested in. CBS, Shout, and others will undoubtedly offer a few titles from the golden era of TV, but overall it looks like studios are definitely moving further and further away from the b&w stuff. There are still a few things coming that I'll pick up. Just not nearly as many as in years past, nor as many as I'd like to see. As I said in another thread - Oh well, it was a good run while it lasted.
Gary "at least my wallet is getting a well-deserved rest" O.
Now, I want to be clear that I'm happy for fans of these shows. This is not meant to be a negative post about these series. I will be picking up a couple myself. It's just that most of them do not appeal to me. The era of the 70's overall doesn't appeal to me - with a few exceptions. And while we do have a few b&w classics that are lined up, with a few more set to be announced soon, the release pattern is definitely swerving away from the older material. No question about that in my mind. In fact, if it were not for Timeless striking that great deal with Universal the 50's/60's portion of my collection would probably have been cut in half last year. They've been a real life-saver in my book. And it's clear that but for them again this year (and I do know Timeless has more 50's/60's material in store for us in coming months) I'd be up a creek waiting for the shows I'm most interested in. CBS, Shout, and others will undoubtedly offer a few titles from the golden era of TV, but overall it looks like studios are definitely moving further and further away from the b&w stuff. There are still a few things coming that I'll pick up. Just not nearly as many as in years past, nor as many as I'd like to see. As I said in another thread - Oh well, it was a good run while it lasted.
Gary "at least my wallet is getting a well-deserved rest" O.