TOP FIVE 80'S TV SHOWS YOU WISH WERE ON DVD OR BLU-RAY (1 Viewer)

Interested in knowing what your top five 80's TV shows wish list is: shows that either are not yet on home video on DVD - or are on DVD but you would kill to have on Blu-ray. I'll start the wish list with these favorites.


1. St. Elsewhere - before there was E.R., Chicago Hope, House or Grey's Anatomy there was this granddaddy of an all-star hospital drama co-starring (among others), Howie Mandel, Denzel Washington, Ed Bagley Jr., William Daniel and David Morse. Top notch acting and taut story telling. Why on earth hasn't this series made it to DVD at least - and Blu-ray - if possible?!?


2. Crazy Like A Fox - it only ran for two seasons but Jack Warden and John Rubenstein were a memorable father/son pair, living large and solving dangerous cases in San Francisco. Like St. Elsewhere, it had a great 80s theme song.


3. Cover Up - the untimely death of 26 year old co-star and rising star, Jon-Erik Hexim after only eight episodes sealed the fate of this fantastic cloak and dagger series co-starring Jennifer O'Neill that ran for only one season but made an indelible mark on the television landscape. Hexim ought to have been a major Hollywood star. He certainly had the looks and charisma to pull it off. A tragic - and never entirely explained away 'accident' on the set led to his untimely death; his organs donated so that others might live; a tragic waste of a memorable talent.


4. Murder She Wrote on Blu-ray - If they can give us Little House on the Prairie looking pristine in HD there's really no reason why this immortal series starring Angela Lansbury can't make the leap to hi-def. Universal's DVD's aren't up to snuff and the series - one of the most expensive to produce and longest running in TV history, deserves better - soon...I'm aging rapidly!!!


5. Picket Fences - a superb familial based drama written and produced by David E. Kelly who gave us - among other things - Boston Legal and Alley McBeal. Together with L.A. Law (which deserves much better than it has received via Shout! Factory's abysmal quality DVD's) Picket Fences ought to have come to DVD - and Blu-ray long before this. It's too good a series to have vanished from the pubic consciousness without a trace.


Okay - so that's my list. What's yours?

Picket Fences ran from 1992 - 1996, not the 80s, but I do agree that it's a great show which deserves a complete release. So far, there's only a Season 1 set for Region 1 and Seasons 1 & 2 sets in Region 4. I'd also like to see complete sets for 2 other unreleased Kelley shows - Boston Public and Harry's Law. Picket Fences and Boston Public are with Fox, so I'm not holding my breath.

1. I would like to see "Miami Vice" on blu-ray because it´s my favorite TV series of the 80´s.


2) I would also like to see a DVD release of "Crazy like a Fox" with Jack Warden because I loved that show.

bronson said:

2) I would also like to see a DVD release of "Crazy like a Fox" with Jack Warden because I loved that show.

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That, of course (hopefully from Shout!), and as I've said many a time, Trapper John, M.D. (also hopefully from Shout!).

The Mississippi

MacGruder & Loud

Hagen

Nobody's Perfect

Mike Hammer

1. It's a Living

2. The Hogan Family

3. Just the Ten of Us

4. 9 to 5

5. She's the Sheriff

1. Sanford


2. Tortellis


See there, I'm not greedy. I would be more than happy with just those two!!

I'd also like to see Remington Steele and Hart to Hart get Blu-ray upgrades.


One perplexing note - why is Japan afforded the exclusive luxury of carrying complete Blu-ray box sets of Colombo and Knight Rider. Both are region free offers from Universal with reported impeccable mastering and most of the packaging featured in both English and Japanese, but at stifling prices. Knight Rider is nearly $700.00 to import and Colombo is almost $500. Honestly, these could and should have come to North America long before Japan. I know the Japanese are mildly obsessed with American culture. But hey - if these discs are going to be region free, there's really no point NOT making them available in the U.S. and Canada too!!!

Mike Hammer, Miami Vice, Crime Story, Private Eye on BD.

What I want on Blu-Ray.


Top Five


Magnum PI

The Equalizer

MacGyver

The Fall Guy

Hill Street Blues


Five through Ten


Simon and Simon

Mike Hammer

TJ Hooker (cheesy, but I like it)

Matlock (May be very well impossible with some episodes)

Murder She Wrote


The Rest


Cagney and Lacey

Hunter

Vega$$

The A-Team

The Scarecrow and Mrs King

I forgot the seemingly forgotten Midnight Caller, with Gary Cole, probably dated but a compelling show at the time.

Nurse


The Last Resort


Park Place


Open All Night


Teachers Only

rmw650 said:

I have one specifically I'd like to see the entire series come out for...EMPTY NEST

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Had forgotten about this! I would really like to see this again. Hopefully it would hold up better than, for ME, "Golden Girls" has.


Now I will add one more - THE GOLDEN PALACE.


I notice that a lot of my 'wants' are short lived spin offs of more popular shows.

I would have voted hands down for a Blu-ray release of The Golden Girls except I believe the series was original shot on digital tape and therefore incapable of being transferred in a true 1080p presentation. I would sincerely wish for a better presentation than the one presently offered consumers on DVD. Various episodes are riddled in audio drop outs and severe color fading. Digital tape is a problem but it too can be stablized with dramatic improvements with just a little TLC applied. For a series as cherished as The Golden Girls, I sincerely expected no less consideration! But hey...it's Disney. Enough said!

All of the prime time soaps ought to have made it to Blu-ray by now - particularly Dallas, Dynasty, The Colbys and Falcon Crest. Warner's DVD transfers on Dallas are a faded mess riddled in age-related artifacts while their half-hearted attempt to re-launch Falcon Crest on MOD DVD is horribly marred by color bleeding, video noise, edge enhancement and the like. Both were shot on film - not tape too, people, so what we're seeing here is just sheer laziness on their part to go back to original elements and do the proper cleanup to get things looking as they should.


The argument from on high is that there's no market for TV on DVD or Blu-ray. My argument is, not if it looks like garbage and quite often much worse than the old analog broadcasts we remember from the good ole days before home video.


Herein, MGM's old motto will suffice: do it big, do it right and give it class! Again, look to NBC/Universal's Blu-ray reboot of Little House on the Prairie for inspiration. Wow! It's stunning!!! It also proves it can be done, for a cost effective price point that any collector or casual viewer will snap at, and with superior results everyone can be proud of. Don't settle for less. Expect more from your home viewing experience. At a time when HD monitors and equipment is making it possible to see a level of quality never before anticipated, substandard product like this simply won't float. Make your demands known. I know I have.