CBS Status Report (2 Viewers)

[smithbrad]

Thanks for the update. BTW, the TV GUNSMOKE is great, but the radio version with William Conrad is even better.

I have to agree. i downloaded and have listened to the radio version on my way to work. I've been through the series twice so far over the last few years. William Conrad protrays a better Dillon, I prefer Howard McNear as Doc, and Kitty and Chester are pretty much equal between the two variations. The negative is that the stories are virtually the same between the two for the first few years. So in my case, I watched the show after having listened to the radio version, so most of the TV episodes were already known to me even though it was my first time viewing them.

If interested, two other western radio programs I thoroughly enjoyed were "The Six Shooter" staring Jimmy Stewart that was later turned into the TV show "The Restless Gun", and Fort Laramie staring Raymond Burr. All three of these shows are available in great quality free for the download in mp3 format allowing 40+ shows to fit on a single CD.

 

[Jack P]

I've tried listening to some of the radio shows but unfortunately I know those voices too well to buy credibly the idea of William Conrad as Matt Dillon or Howard McNear as Doc. The TV cast is just too iconic for me and born to those roles to ever let me accept anyone else in them.

I was prepared to stop getting Gunsmoke after S9 and the end of the Dennis Weaver era (I still can't stand Festus) but S10 has the only chance to see a post-"Shane" Jean Arthur on film (barring the unlikely release of her short-lived 65-66 sitcom series) and that's something I can't pass up.

 

[smithbrad]

I've tried listening to some of the radio shows but unfortunately I know those voices too well to buy credibly the idea of William Conrad as Matt Dillon or Howard McNear as Doc. The TV cast is just too iconic for me and born to those roles to ever let me accept anyone else in them.

Makes sense, first impressions and all, with why i can't help but favor the radio version since it was my first take on Gunsmoke. William Conrad had such command of the role with his voice, but unfortunately wasn't the build to ever play the role on TV.

 

[Walsh61]

Makes sense, first impressions and all, with why i can't help but favor the radio version since it was my first take on Gunsmoke. William Conrad had such command of the role with his voice, but unfortunately wasn't the build to ever play the role on TV.

But he certainly had "the build" to play Frank Cannon and I wish CBS would give that series a first rate release - which it certainly deserves. The video quality on the first three seasons was sub-par to say the least.

 

[smithbrad]

But he certainly had "the build" to play Frank Cannon and I wish CBS would give that series a first rate release - which it certainly deserves. The video quality on the first three seasons was sub-par to say the least.

Yes he did. He finally received a role "tailor" made for him and he made the most of it. I have all three seasons myself, and while I would have preferred the more standard CBS approach to video quality, I am still glad to have them.

It is hard to figure CBS sometimes. While the majority of the shows get a quality release, there are those times when they get the music rights bug and become too conservative (e.g., Fugitive, Odd Couple), or decide not to remaster (Bonanza season 2, Rawhide season 4), or worse go the DVD-R route as well (e.g., Cannon). It's almost as if in their wisdom of trying new approaches (to save or generate more money) they flop from time to time. And unfortunately, the shows that were experimented on and the fans of those shows suffer the results. It would appear as if Cannon didn't get the respect it deserves, fell prey to one of these alternate approaches, and now we have to live with the consquences.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Never forget, it took them four years to continue up the Streets of San Francisco again... Time spent on remastering perhaps, but still a substantial wait and a good outcome.

 

[Jack P]

The only other instance where CBS has gone back and "Fixed" an earlier release besides "The Fugitive" is S10 of "Hawaii Five-O" which wasn't remastered in its original release but was remastered for the complete series set (and that's the only reason I got it as a Christmas gift).

 

[smithbrad]

You have to think they will go back to Bonanza and Rawhide at some point and remaster the few seaons that were originally missed. The questions is when and in what form it will be made available to us (e.g., DVD, Blu-ray, or only streaming). The timing of the remastering may have a lot to do with how it is finally distributed.

 

[Bob_S.]

Anyone who is interested in downloading old time radio and listening to thousands of great radio shows try this site https://archive.org/details/oldtimeradio. Give "Bold Venture" a try, It starred Bogart and Bacall. I enjoyed it, great chemistry.

Back to Gunsmoke, I started with the radio series first as well and agree that some of the radio episodes are better than the tv versions but tv Gunsmoke will always be my favorite western with Bonanza second. The thing I liked about Gunsmoke was that the stories were completely unpredictable. There were few happy endings. You'd get emotionally involved in characters just to see them get mowed down in cold blood before the show was half way over. Sometimes the killer would get away scot free.

The Six Shooter and Fort Laramie were also my favorite radio westerns after Gunsmoke. Great shows.

 

[FanCollector]

Updated to reflect the announcement of the continuation of Bonanza and the forthcoming completion of Dynasty. Also, this summer makes a year since Becker had its last release, so in the absence of any announcement, I moved it to the Stalled column.Continuing: Petticoat Junction (4 seasons)The Beverly Hillbillies (5 seasons)Happy Days (6 seasons)Bonanza (7 seasons; 14 releases) Gunsmoke (10 seasons; 20 releases) Stalled: Mork and Mindy (1 season) Becker (1 season)Dave's World (1 season)Cannon (2 seasons)Caroline in the City (2 seasons) One Step Beyond (2 seasons) Matt Houston (2 seasons) Early Edition (2 seasons) The Phil Silvers Show (3 seasons)*Nash Bridges (3 seasons) Evening Shade (3 seasons) Jake and the Fatman (3 seasons; 6 releases) Hotel (4 seasons) Sister, Sister (4 seasons)Love, American Style (4 seasons; 8 releases) Moesha (5 seasons) Barnaby Jones (7 seasons; 14 releases) The Love Boat (7 seasons; 14 releases) My Three Sons (10 seasons; 20 releases) Licensed:Webster (2 seasons)

 

[jcroy]

... and the forthcoming completion of Dynasty.

Is it known whether the season 9 Dynasty dvd sets will include the reunion movies?

Or will the reunion movies be released separately? (ie. Similar to how the original Dallas reunion movies were released as a separate dvd set).

 

[LeoA]

Hopefully come September or so, we won't have to move Petticoat Junction and the Beverly Hillbillies to the list of stalled shows. That was right about when the CBS Syndication Bible was updated and the Wal-Mart deal was announced last year.

I wish that they'd redo My Three Sons and put it out on Blu-Ray. I think online sales, so important for most successful DVD releases these days, were killed for that one by the outcry of fans that let their opinions be known in reviews (And rightfully so).

Now that they've seemingly worked around their heebie jeebies with the Capitol cues, I'd love to see them take another crack at it with a proper release. The first 9 seasons is my top holy grail for classic tv (The last 3 aren't as great, but I'd certainly finish the set if the chance ever happened).

Hopefully if The Phil Silvers Show does well, maybe at the very least they'd consider a similar outside licensing deal. I just hope it would include further remastering of the series even if CBS wasn't releasing it themselves (There's still some syndication value there as well which would benefit from it).

 

[FanCollector]

Is it known whether the season 9 Dynasty dvd sets will include the reunion movies?Or will the reunion movies be released separately? (ie. Similar to how the original Dallas reunion movies were released as a separate dvd set).

I don't have any outside knowledge, but the description at TVShowsonDVD.com mentions 11 episodes on each half-season set and does not allude to the movies, so I assume they would have to be released separately. Also, in almost every case I can recall, CBS has only released follow-up movies separately or in a series set.

 

[FanCollector]

Yes, Leo, I agree--besides the inherent value of the release of The Phil Silvers Show (my personal most wanted CBS stalled title), I hope it is the beginning of a new phase of licensing stalled shows. What I really think would be the best solution for them is to revive their MOD program for those shows with only one or two seasons left unreleased, and to license out the shows with more than that left to go.

 

[jcroy]

I don't have any outside knowledge, but the description at TVShowsonDVD.com mentions 11 episodes on each half-season set and does not allude to the movies, so I assume they would have to be released separately. Also, in almost every case I can recall, CBS has only released follow-up movies separately or in a series set.

Perhaps CBS may go a similar route as they did with The Wild Wild West, where the reunion movies are only in the complete series dvd set.

From what I can recall of the Dynasty reunion movies, I thought they were kinda crappy. (I haven't seen them since their original first-run broadcasts). I don't know how well the reunion movies would sell on their own, if too many other Dynasty fans don't think too highly of these movies.

At this point, I may very well be inclined to just wait for a possible "complete series" set of Dynasty, which includes the reunion movies, and possibly also an HD restoration of the season 1 episodes which are repressed as single-sided dvd discs. (The season 1 dvd set was originally released as double-sided flipper discs by 20th Century Fox back in 2005).

(Even scavenging through the local bargain bins, the Dynasty half-season dvd sets are still around $15 each. Basically $30 per "full season").


It appears season 1 has not had an HD restoration yet.

http://syndicationbible.cbstvd.com/series/dynasty/dynasty.htm

 

[Ron1973]

I know The Return of the Beverly Hillbillies movie wasn't a CBS property and went through MPI but I said when it was released last year that I felt CBS was going to be gauging how it did. It wasn't too long after that we saw S4 announced. Maybe I'm grasping at straws but this gives me some hope! If the horrible reunion movie can get a release (it sort of picked up as almost a S10 episode carrying over somewhat from the last season) then surely the season sets would do well.

 

[LeoA]

Can officially move the Phil Silvers Show to the continuing category for North America.

 

[FanCollector]

The Phil Silvers Show leaps from "stalled" to off the list entirely with the impending release of the complete series set licensed by Shout. Let's hope it's the first of many such announcements.Continuing: Petticoat Junction (4 seasons)The Beverly Hillbillies (5 seasons)Happy Days (6 seasons)Bonanza (7 seasons; 14 releases) Gunsmoke (10 seasons; 20 releases) Stalled: Mork and Mindy (1 season) Becker (1 season)Dave's World (1 season)Cannon (2 seasons)Caroline in the City (2 seasons) One Step Beyond (2 seasons) Matt Houston (2 seasons) Early Edition (2 seasons) Nash Bridges (3 seasons) Evening Shade (3 seasons) Jake and the Fatman (3 seasons; 6 releases) Hotel (4 seasons) Sister, Sister (4 seasons)Love, American Style (4 seasons; 8 releases) Moesha (5 seasons) Barnaby Jones (7 seasons; 14 releases) The Love Boat (7 seasons; 14 releases) My Three Sons (10 seasons; 20 releases) Licensed:Webster (2 seasons)

 

[Ron1973]

I wish Shout! would take over some the stalled series, especially Barnaby Jones and My Three Sons.

 

[Tooncy]

I don't trust Shout with anything. They put out lousy releases most of the time. Old tape masters, edited episodes, the whole gamut of what I do not want.