Cannon And Others Coming Back Courtesy Of VEI (1 Viewer)

[Professor Echo]

As Beaver once said about Wally, I was "all messed up with girls" by the mid-70's so didn't see CANNON, BARNABY or PETROCELLI and never caught them in reruns. Those are the three listed here that I am most interested in. All would be blind buys, but I think I would like them based on other series from that era I have seen and enjoyed, like THE DELPHI BUREAU, LONGSTREET and SEARCH.


Think they are a safe blind buy?

 

[Kasey]

I meant problems like glitchy discs or strange, destructive packaging.

I have their Complete Series sets of GIMME A BREAK, CAGNEY & LACEY, as well as individual releases for THE MOD SQUAD, KATE & ALLIE, and THE STOCKARD CHANNING SHOW and have had no issues with defective discs, pixelation, etc. The packaging was fine on all though the outer case for the GIMME A BREAK set isn't as thick and sturdy as those that Shout used for MAUDE, MARY HARTMAN, BARNEY, WKRP, etc.

 

[GMBurns]

I meant problems like glitchy discs or strange, destructive packaging.

I've had no problems with the discs and the cases have been good quality. The cover art as well, as they usually follow the format and style initiated by the first releases from CBS or Universal. While VEI hasn't released a lot of stuff, I've been extremely pleased with the content and quality of their products.

 

[Randy Korstick]

Nothing for me on the list. Hopefully they will add My Three Sons. Happy for those who are getting shows they were waiting for.

 

[smithbrad]

I remember watching at least some of Cannon and Barnaby Jones growing up and enjoying them both. However, the tricky part when fast forwarding to today with the idea of watching them again is 1) do they still relate, and 2) how much was my enjoyment due to limited programming available at the time.


In the case of Cannon, I have watched the first few episodes from the season 1 release and still enjoyed it, even though they didn't get the CBS remastering treatment. I haven't done so with Barnaby Jones yet but will before I contemplating picking up anymore. But my gut is that the results will be similar as with Cannon.


Those are probably the only two of interest to me.

 

[GMBurns]

As Beaver once said about Wally, I was "all messed up with girls" by the mid-70's so didn't see CANNON, BARNABY or PETROCELLI and never caught them in reruns. Those are the three listed here that I am most interested in. All would be blind buys, but I think I would like them based on other series from that era I have seen and enjoyed, like THE DELPHI BUREAU, LONGSTREET and SEARCH.


Think they are a safe blind buy?

I've never seen Delphi Bureau, Longstreet or Search, so I can't compare. But I would say Cannon and Barnaby Jones are very typical of that era of detective show. In fact, the plots and guest stars on both shows tend to be the same. But William Conrad just oozes charisma and is so much fun to watch, even on the lousy prints that CBS has released on the first three seasons.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

The first season of Barnaby Jones, which is quite short, is so terrific I'm yet to meet people that didn't enjoy it I'd say it's definitely a safe blind buy for '70s crime drama buffs. It's a similar detective genre approach as say Columbo, in that the killer is (usually) known to the viewer from the start with the culprit thinking he or she can outsmart oldtimer Jones.

 

[smithbrad]

Nothing for me on the list. Hopefully they will add My Three Sons. Happy for those who are getting shows they were waiting for.

Based on all these announcements, it does give me a bit of hope that My Three Sons could follow at some point. My Three Sons is on my short list of seven titles I would really like to see released someday, but have shown little chance of happening to date.

 

[classicmovieguy]

VEI might even get the rights for the "Dynasty Reunion" miniseries.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Hopefully we'll eventually get The Magician (1973-74) with Bill Bixby and The Marshal (1995) with Jeff Fahey and maybe One Step Beyond one fine day, then I can relax totally knowing most everything I want is out from Paramount's vaults.

 

[smithbrad]

But William Conrad just oozes charisma and is so much fun to watch, even on the lousy prints that CBS has released on the first three seasons.

While I have limited memory of Cannon when first broadcast, I've listened to William Conrad on the Gunsmoke radio show several times over the last few years. I think that in itself probably helped me in enjoying Cannon when revisited. His voice is very commanding to the role. Too bad he didn't have the physical presence to play Matt Dillon in the TV Gunsmoke. Of course he has the perfect physical attributes for Cannon.

 

[Professor Echo]

Thanks for all the helpful responses. I think what all three shows have going in their favor for me are that I am genuinely enthusiastic in my praise and admiration for the three stars of each, William Conrad, Buddy Ebsen and Barry Newman.

 

[Darby67]

I wish CBS would license out The Defenders for a complete series by Shout, VEI, or a similar operation.


Darby

 

[Jack P]

Well this is good news in general, though the only part of the glass I would consider a quarter empty is that it means we will have to make due with old masters that will not look as good as the remastered "Barnaby Jones" S1. "Cannon" of course was the one title CBS/Paramount never remastered to begin with, so there's no difference there but I was hoping I wouldn't have to see Lee Meriwether on lower quality prints!


But no matter, I will gladly buy these when they come out and it is great that we've had this shot in the arm to the matter of unreleased series on DVD. "Petrocelli" I remember having some reruns on TV Land in the 90s.


Now if only "Love Boat" were also part of this since *that* at least has remastered seasons unreleased by CBS!

 

[classicmovieguy]

Now if only "Love Boat" were also part of this since *that* at least has remastered seasons unreleased by CBS!

The first 3 or 4 seasons *at least* have been remastered in HD and they look wonderful. Hopefully we hear some news on "Love Boat" soon.

 

[Ron1973]

We obviously know the quality will be a little lower on Barnaby Jones BUT.....


If the prints of The Phil Silvers Show provided to Shout! are any indication (and it's a LOT older show), it should do pretty well on a decent player that upscales to 1080. I'm well pleased with little exception on the quality of that show, but maybe I'm easy to please!

 

[dressedtokill]

I'm conflicted about this…While I'm happy we're finaaaaaally getting more Barnaby Jones, Hotel and the final season of Matt Houston, the fact it won't be remastered kind of sucks. Hopefully the elements are in good condition.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I remember watching at least some of Cannon and Barnaby Jones growing up and enjoying them both. However, the tricky part when fast forwarding to today with the idea of watching them again is 1) do they still relate, and 2) how much was my enjoyment due to limited programming available at the time.


In the case of Cannon, I have watched the first few episodes from the season 1 release and still enjoyed it, even though they didn't get the CBS remastering treatment. I haven't done so with Barnaby Jones yet but will before I contemplating picking up anymore. But my gut is that the results will be similar as with Cannon.


Those are probably the only two of interest to me.

Personally, I think that the detective/police genre holds up the best of any genre from the 1970s. So much of the humor from 1970s sitcoms is bogged down with All in the Family style "realism." Although detective/police shows (and I would include within that a great show like Kolchak) sometimes deal with hippies or Vietnam, the basic plot within them tends to be timeless.

 

[classicmovieguy]

Somebody has uploaded the bulk of "Hotel" (dubbed into German) on Youtube. If this is an indication of the quality I'll still be happy:

 

[JoeDoakes]

I would still like to believe that there is some hope for a US release of McCloud.