Completing the 80s (1 Viewer)

[Frank Soyke]

major shows still incomplete. No one season wonders. What are the odds on these stalled /unreleased?

Fall Guy
Silver Spoons
Falcon Crest
Knots Landing (70’s overlap)
Head of the Class
Dear John
Midnight Caller
St. Elsewhere
LA Law
Trapper John (70’s overlap)
It’s a Living (covered in another thread)
Private Benjamin
Goodnight Beantown
A Different World

 

[MatthewA]

If they can restart Perfect Strangers after 10 years in limbo when it wasn't even on that long to begin with, then anything is possible.

 

[bmasters9]

If they can restart Perfect Strangers after 10 years in limbo when it wasn't even on that long to begin with, then anything is possible.

And the same is true of Hart to Hart-- first two gos (1979-81) from Sony, then an almost-decade dry spell, before Shout! rescued it and completed it (1981-84).

 

[tlc38tlc38]

I honestly think the hold up with "A Different World" is the theme song being sung by Aretha Franklin.

As for 80s shows, I'd love to see these completed:
A Different World
Amen
Archie Bunker's Place
Benson
It's a Living
Mr. Belvedere
Perfect Strangers (in the process)
Silver Spoons
Small Wonder
Too Close for Comfort
227
Who's the Boss?

 

[Robert13]

major shows still incomplete. No one season wonders. What are the odds on these stalled /unreleased?


Trapper John (70’s overlap)
It’s a Living (covered in another thread)
Private Benjamin

I'd be in for these shows. I'm surprised TRAPPER JOHN has not been revived at all. It was such a popular show, definitely one I'd love to have complete on dvd.

I had asked Warner Archives about PRIVATE BENJAMIN years ago and actually got a response saying it was definitely a possibility. There is a remake in the works of the movie. So either they are waiting for that or it just hasn't been on their radar yet. I would love to see it on dvd. It's a short series and could be complete very quickly. First 2 seasons should be grouped together as there are only a handful of episodes in Season 1. Maybe we should all request it on their Facebook page.

I honestly think the hold up with "A Different World" is the theme song being sung by Aretha Franklin.

As for 80s shows, I'd love to see these completed:
Archie Bunker's Place
It's a Living
Too Close for Comfort
227

I'd be in for these as well. I was just thinking about TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT this week and how I'd love to watch the entire seasons but I only have the 2 seasons released by Rhino.

IT'S A LIVING seems to still have a lot of interest from dvd collectors but music clearance seems to be holding it back. Shout would do a hell of a job with this show. I could see them doing a round table reunion with Ann Jillian, Gail Edwards and any other surviving members but it would have to be done soon. We're all not getting any younger.

ARCHIE BUNKER'S PLACE, I have a feeling Shout is going to pull a "complete series" surprise announcement of this at some point. With only 3 seasons remaining, it would seem easier than other series they have released. However, there is a small amount of music clearance in an episode or 2. I recall at a party for Stephanie, Blondie's "Rapture" is playing and I think some other song too. AITF fans will be eager to collect this for the infamous episode where Edith "dies" and how Archie reacts to losing her. A very sad episode. I've seen it many times and it always gets ya, especially if you watch it in continuation from AITF. Jean Stapleton is in much of Season 1 of ABP so she's still around. When she is gone for good at the Season 2 opener of ABP, viewers really feel it.

 

[MatthewA]

What people watched for free 40 years ago does not always translate to what people will pay for today. And sadly, some of those people are now dead.

Silver Spoons appears to be in the same boat (or should I say on the same train?) as It's a Living where the music is enough to make the difference between profit and loss. Make cuts and you risk losing sales because of that. It makes me think that part of the reason Gimme A Break! was able to get done without cutting music was because it was done in Canada and the joint rights ownership between Universal and FremantleMedia worked to its advantage there.

Amen is likely up for grabs since Carson Productions made it and Universal syndicated it but didn't even try for a first season release. Even 227 got that out of Sony, but nothing else. They also have music to contend with. The latter show used the Pointer Sisters' "Jump" when Sherman Hemsley was a guest star, and I'm sure there were others. The former show also still owes money for songs used on what might be one of the most bizarre talent shows in TV history, including but not limited to an old Al Jolson song called "Sonny Boy" that Rolly Forbes actually sings to Deacon Frye! I kid you not. Thanks, Disney, for extending the copyright law another 20 years!

Too Close For Comfort should have been an Anchor Bay release like Three's Company was. They must have passed on it, but perhaps they would have made an effort to release an uncut version of season 1. Rhino only did that for season 2 because fans complained, then Rhino basically ceased to exist except in name and IIRC a lot of key people there moved to Shout! The latter show's spinoff and sequel, which followed the same patterns as the UK's Man About the House, are still nowhere to be found. Ditto Golden Palace. And getting into unavailable, long-running shows that started in the 1980s and continued into the 1990s, two words: Empty Nest.

After the Lou Grant season 5 debacle, I don't trust Fox with its own library, be it St. Elsewhere or Small Wonder. Their new owners at Disney saved enough of The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh and Chip 'n' Dale's Rescue Rangers to remaster them in HD, but Fox loses a whole season of a live-action network show while others survived.

And if they can finish these, then they can finish Webster, too.* Maybe someday Warner Archive will get around to the show Chad Allen left it for, Our House**, and maybe if we're really nice to them they'll settle the Valerie legal nightmare regarding who, if anyone, is owed anything for home video. And of course, there's Knots Landing.

*Some TV reference books I'd seen don't even mention the last two seasons, and these were published in the early 1990s when the show was relatively recent. If only my family had been a Nielsen family.
**As far as I know, they never used the Crosby Stills and Nash song of that name, nor Helen Reddy's cover of it.

 

[Frank Soyke]

I realize the problem with most of the shows on my list and the follow up list are Fox/Sony/Universal which is probably most of the problem even not considering music rights. I just wonder if any of them will ever see the light of day. Fall Guy and Silver Spoons are the main 2 I would like to complete.

 

[bmasters9]

And if they can finish these, then they can finish Webster, too.*

IIRC, the last two gos of that had Paramount Television's then-new CGI Mtn. w/the Star Wars-esque jingle; I don't know if Shout! will leave that logo on or whitewash it, on top of the question of if those last two Webster seasons will be released in the first place.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

I'll admit to growing a bit (okay, maybe more than a bit) pessimistic when it comes to the state of TV on disc. I think it's possible that at least some stalled shows might eventually get additional releases. The recent sets for Green Acres, One Day at a Time and Lou Grant are wonderful proof of this possibility. However, for most shows prior to the early 2000s, if there hasn't been at least 1 season released by now, I don't expect anything to happen.

I hope for the best and will hopefully enjoy occasional surprises over the next few years, but most remaining shows, even from the 80s, seem to either have music rights difficulties, or need to be remastered at an expense many companies aren't willing to pay, or are considered too obscure (even for companies like Shout that deal in obscure) to be considered worth a company's effort when they can easily re-release a previously completed series. (Or it's some combination of all of those reasons.) As a fan of older TV, I don't like that things are this way, but from a business perspective I can at least understand the situation.

That said, I agree with many of the choices that Frank and others have listed so far, along with having a few others not mentioned. I'd purchase any of these series (following Frank's request not to list any 1-season-and-done shows, of which I could list several of interest to me):

Archie Bunker's Place (the rest)
Benson (the rest)
St. Elsewhere (the rest)
Too Close for Comfort [later renamed The Ted Knight Show] (the rest)
Adderly
Amen
Brothers
Check It Out
Dear John
Down To Earth
Duet/Open House
Empty Nest
Goodnight Beantown
Harper Valley P.T.A. (which dropped P.T.A. from the name for Season 2)
House Calls
Love, Sidney
Mr. President
Private Benjamin
Sanford
Teachers Only
The Bronx Zoo
Trapper John, M.D.

[Notes: I already have the rest of L.A. Law via the Region 2 sets, so a Region 1 release would be nice but not a must-have for me. I'd probably get the remaining seasons of Fame if released and not too butchered, but I prefer the NBC years to the syndication years, so if the 1st 2 seasons are all we ever get, I'm okay with it. I have recordings of the syndie episodes from when Ovation showed reruns a few years ago.]

 

[MatthewA]

Sanford is certainly a possibility if Grady got a release.

And thanks for remembering Fame's name. I wondered where the syndicated seasons were.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

The syndie years of Fame did more covers of then-current songs, whereas the NBC years seemed to primarily do more made-for-the-show songs, which was probably easier to deal with for the DVD sets. I recall, for example, that Lee Curreri (Bruno) wrote several of the songs he sang/performed during those 1st 2 years. So I haven't been surprised by the lack of Seasons 3 - 6 on disc.

 

[Rick Thompson]

I didn't realize I was in such good shape for the 80s. The only "must" for me on that list is St. Elsewhere, though the last season of The White Shadow would also be good. My only hope for them is Shout. Maybe now that they've gotten out of all the work they had to do on Season 5 of Lou Grant, they'll get those two MTMs. Apparently Lou Grant sold well enough to make it worth their while, so maybe St. Elsewhere is next. It is, after all, the last major MTM show left.

 

[Rick Thompson]

The syndie years of Fame did more covers of then-current songs, whereas the NBC years seemed to primarily do more made-for-the-show songs, which was probably easier to deal with for the DVD sets. I recall, for example, that Lee Curreri (Bruno) wrote several of the songs he sang/performed during those 1st 2 years. So I haven't been surprised by the lack of Seasons 3 - 6 on disc.

There were also a few by Albert Hague, who played Mr. Shorofsky. Hague was actually a Tony Award-winning composer, with four musicals to his credit, two of them being hits — Plain and Fancy and Redhead, which won him a best score Tony. Hague's other claim to fame is his score for the 1966 cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas, with the song, "You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch."

 

[Jeff Flugel]

There aren't many unreleased TV series from the 80s that I want, personally, but I do hope more of the shows listed above are released for their fans.

However, I would be interested in the single season Bring 'Em Back Alive being released. Of the two Indiana Jones ripoffs from 1982, it's not as well remembered as Tales of the Gold Monkey, but I thought it was a fun show in its own right, and it starred the likable Bruce Boxleitner.

 

[mrz7]

major shows still incomplete. No one season wonders. What are the odds on these stalled /unreleased?

Knots Landing (70’s overlap)

Not to be nit picky here....but "Knots Landing" actually only had ONE episode in the 70's. It premiered on December 27, 1979. So it's not really much of 70's overlap. It is in the right era.....the 80's.....and it ran thru the 90's (Last episode was on May 13, 1993)......which I always pondered the thought......if a series like this ran for 14 seasons......WHY ISN'T IT FINISHED ON DVD YET!!!!! This is my #1 holy grail show I would like to have on DVD!!!! Come on Warner Brothers.....if you can't deliver.....give it to some other studio to release.....I know music rights are the issue, but you have been working on the music rights since 2009?!?!?! Considering there is currently a petition out there with 1,318 signers (so far) wanting the remaining seasons to come out!!! So frustrating!!!

https://www.change.org/p/warner-bro...utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink

This also goes for "The Drew Carey Show" (this would be more of the "Completing the 90's category) which is also under Warner Brother's umbrella......also not released because of music rights....my #2 holy grail show to be released. Again, Warner Brothers.....if you can't deliver.....give it to some other studio to release. Ugggh!!!

 

[MatthewA]

What's Happening Now!! also has two seasons left to go. Sony didn't do their homework on their season 1 release; the menu for the third disc had Martin Lawrence and Ken Sagoes (the latter of whom was apparently supposed to be "the new Rerun"), who were only in the last season, on it!

I realize the problem with most of the shows on my list and the follow up list are Fox/Sony/Universal which is probably most of the problem even not considering music rights. I just wonder if any of them will ever see the light of day. Fall Guy and Silver Spoons are the main 2 I would like to complete.

Didn't Fox actually visually alter an episode of The Fall Guy for season 1 to get out of paying royalties for whatever song the band was playing?

 

[bmasters9]

Didn't Fox actually visually alter an episode of The Fall Guy for season 1 to get out of paying royalties for whatever song the band was playing?

Indeed so-- Paul Williams on the pilot in a bar scene, IIRC (which is, also IIRC, why the IMDB forums at the time on The Fall Guy seemed to insist that I shouldn't have blown the $60 I did; then again, hindsight is 20/20).

 

[LeoA]

To add another one, I'd like to see Major Dad (although it barely qualifies as an 80's show). It premiered in September 1989 and ran for four seasons.

Any major roadblock to this one?

 

[Blimpoy06]

However, I would be interested in the single season Bring 'Em Back Alive being released. Of the two Indiana Jones ripoffs from 1982, it's not as well remembered as Tales of the Gold Monkey, but I thought it was a fun show in its own right, and it starred the likable Bruce Boxleitner.

Tales Of The Gold Monkey owes more to "Only Angels Have Wings" than it does "Raiders Of The Lost Ark". But I'm sure the time period was enough to sell the network that audiences would be interested in something similar.

I have never seen even a second Of Bring 'Em Back Alive. It was never syndicated as far as I know, so I never had a chance to view it.This may be hard to believe, but I didn't watch prime time TV in the 80's. I was in High School and had more important things on my mind. Even Tales, Airwolf, Magnum and all my other 80's favorites I missed in first run. I discovered Magnum reruns in college. And when Quantum Leap came out I watch the credits and thought, I know these names from somewhere else.

That's when I made the connection that writers, directors and so much more unseen talent are the key to a show's success. I started taping and collecting in the mid 90's. And that was the birth of TV as a hobby for me. I really want a chance to see all the 80's shows I missed be released.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I have never seen even a second Of Bring 'Em Back Alive. It was never syndicated as far as I know, so I never had a chance to view it.This may be hard to believe, but I didn't watch prime time TV in the 80's. I was in High School and had more important things on my mind. Even Tales, Airwolf, Magnum and all my other 80's favorites I missed in first run. I discovered Magnum reruns in college. And when Quantum Leap came out I watch the credits and thought, I know these names from somewhere else.

That's when I made the connection that writers, directors and so much more unseen talent are the key to a show's success. I started taping and collecting in the mid 90's. And that was the birth of TV as a hobby for me. I really want a chance to see all the 80's shows I missed be released.

I was 15 years old when both Bring 'Em Back Alive and Tales of the Gold Monkey premiered. As a big fan of Raiders and old-time serials, these two shows were right up my alley (I wouldn't see Only Angels Have Wings until a few years later - fantastic movie!) I preferred Gold Monkey, but Bring 'Em Back Alive was a lively, action-packed show in its own right. Viewer interest wasn't enough to sustain either show past a single season (Bring 'Em Back Alive didn't even make it that far - only 17 episodes, compared to Gold Monkey's 22. It didn't help that it was up against The A-Team on NBC and the double-whammy of Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley on ABC). My memory jibes with yours, that once Bring 'Em Back Alive left the air, it was never repeated. As far as I recall, it stayed light and frothy fun, unlike Gold Monkey, which became a little too bogged down in melodrama in its later episodes.

That's interesting that you didn't start watching the big 80s action hits until later. I can't recall a time when I wasn't a big TV watcher, both as a child and young adult. I probably watch a lot less TV now than I did back then...never seem to have as much free time as I did as a youngster (even a high schooler).