Could The Defenders Be Released on DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Ian K McLachlan]

I would have to say that I really enjoyed every single episode of The Defenders. The only one out of them all that I did not like as much was Gideon's Follies. I hope that there is some good news coming about the release of season 2 soon.

 

[Neil Brock]

Does anyone have an idea of when news of a season 2 might be released?
James

When season one sells a few thousand more copies.

 

[JamesSmith]

When season one sells a few thousand more copies.

I thought it was already selling pretty well.
James

 

[Darby67]

When season one sells a few thousand more copies.

So we are still that far off, huh Neil?

 

[Darby67]

Here is my purely subjective ranking of the episodes:


Excellent

The Quality of Mercy

The Man with the Concrete Thumb

Perjury

The Attack

The Best Defense

The Point Shaver

The Hickory Indian

The Naked Heiress

The Benefactor



Very Good

Killer instinct

Death Across the Counter

Young Lovers

The Search

The Bedside Murder

The Empty Chute

The Crusader

The Iron Man

Reunion with Death



Good

The Riot

The Boy Between

The Hundred Lives of Harry Sims

The Accident

The Trial of Jenny Scott

The Treadmill

The Prowler

Storm at Birch Glen

The Locked Room

The Tarnished Cross

The Last Six Months

The Broken Barrelhead



Redheaded Step Children

Gideon’s Follies

Along Came a Spider

 

[Doug Wallen]

Sean, I agree with your list!!!

 

[Darby67]

Sean, I agree with your list!!!

Thanks, Doug! It took me a while to come up with it as i wanted to watch the whole set a second time. It's hard to categorize them since I thoroughly enjoyed the vast majority of the episodes. Heck, even the few stinkers have some charm to them.

The Defenders is definitely my all-time favorite television series (and there is some exceptional strong competition at the top of that list). The comprehensive, in-depth, and intellectually and emotionally stimulating exploration of the issues in the cases, the incredibly literate scripts, and the outstanding performances of E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed (honestly one of the great representations of a father-son dynamic in a television series) and all the great stars are among its hallmark achievements which insures that this set will get multiple repeated viewings in the future.

Having read the episode descriptions of seasons 2 through 4, it would be a real loss and a crying shame if the sales of season one fell short of motivating Shout to release the rest of the series.

 

[Flashgear]

Sean, Like Doug I agree nearly fully with your fine episode rankings...and, I too have been perusing the IMDB episode guide for The Defenders season 2 - 4...often bereft of plot synopsis, or with rudimentary synopsis... but with full cast details...phenomenal guest stars and solid supporting casts...and intrigued like yourself, I yearn to see them released by Shout to find their deserved audience again...Stephen Bowie's blog post archives are another great resource for more detailed articles on some episodes, as are his posts concerning his appreciation of The Nurses (damn, I want that show so much too)...I would consider my B + W classic American Television collection to be lamentably incomplete without having them...I love Westerns, and thankfully, almost have just about everything I really wanted in that genre...considerably less so in my most desired sitcoms and variety...and, way, way, short on my most desired list of 1955 - 1965 Dramas...it's a crying shame, and we could all name at least a dozen such drama series from the live NY studio anthology era (Playhouse 90, Studio One, Suspense) through to the filmed continuing drama series of the early '60s,(Defenders, Nurses, Bus Stop, Ben Casey, Dick Powell Theater, East Side/West Side, Slattery's People, Mr. Novak, Channing, Richard Boone Show etc), and into the first Hollywood color productions (Bob Hope Chrysler Theater, Run For Your Life etc)...to use a term of your own, B + W drama itself seems to be the redheaded step child of home video...

What I'm thankful for and never took for granted: Route 66, Naked City, The Fugitive, Stoney Burke, Wide Country, Combat!, Dr. Kildare, The Lieutenant, Gallant Men, Secret Agent/Danger man, The FBI, Going My Way among others...to go along with the often extraordinary drama found in the best Westerns like Gunsmoke, Rawhide and HGWT...and the best of Science Fiction and Fantasy drama as found in TZ and Outer Limits...

 

[Wvtvguy]

87th Precinct isn't as good as Naked City but it's really solid. It was a blind buy for me & I haven't finished the series yet but I've enjoyed it so far.

 

[jim_falconer]

I recently started watching Naked City. I was gonna start with the 60 minute episodes, but decided to go back and begin at the beginning (with the 30 minute shows from '58 - '59). John McIntire and James Franciscus are outstanding in their roles. The first episode (much like The Defender's first show) is incredibly powerful. And to see some of the landmarks around NYC at that time, which are now long gone, is a real treat too.

 

[Darby67]

I recently started watching Naked City. I was gonna start with the 60 minute episodes, but decided to go back and begin at the beginning (with the 30 minute shows from '58 - '59). John McIntire and James Franciscus are outstanding in their roles. The first episode (much like The Defender's first show) is incredibly powerful. And to see some of the landmarks around NYC at that time, which are now long gone, is a real treat too.

Jim:

I wholeheartedly agree with everything you said in your post; Naked City is an outstanding television series, right up there with The Defenders and Route 66. And to be able to see old New York is a real treat.

 

[jim_falconer]

Sean, completely agree with your ranking of the season 1 Defenders episodes...nice job!

 

[Darby67]

Sean, completely agree with your ranking of the season 1 Defenders episodes...nice job!

Thanks, Jim.

I really hope sales for season one picked up and they are making progress to whatever profit point Shout needs to reach in order to consider releasing further seasons.

 

[John Karras]

Thanks, Jim.

I really hope sales for season one picked up and they are making progress to whatever profit point Shout needs to reach in order to consider releasing further seasons.

The big problem with The Defenders is that Shout is required to deviate from their usual practice of using prepared transfers.
In this case, Shout has taken on the additional expense of having to make new transfers, which has raised the sales targets.

 

[Darby67]

The big problem with The Defenders is that Shout is required to deviate from their usual practice of using prepared transfers.
In this case, Shout has taken on the additional expense of having to make new transfers, which has raised the sales targets.

John:

That is exactly the issue at hand.

 

[Darby67]

ME TV's website has a blurb about Robert Reed's roles other than Mike Brady: http://metv.com/lists/8-times-robert-reed-was-not-mike-brady

 

[jim_falconer]

Not to derail off The Defenders, but I've just started season 3 of Naked City. While this show does not have the ratio of "hit it out of the ballpark" episodes as the first season of The Defenders (but I mean really, what show could?), it is still an incredible ride. The NYC locations are amazing. The actors truly sound like they are from NY. The first show of season 3, "Take Your Hat Off When A Funeral Passes Bye", is simply a tour de force of acting, writing and directing!

 

[Neil Brock]

ME TV's website has a blurb about Robert Reed's roles other than Mike Brady: http://metv.com/lists/8-times-robert-reed-was-not-mike-brady

If ME-TV decided to pick up the series and funded the film transfers, that would increase the likelihood that Shout could release more seasons, if the costs were reduced. It could happen. CBS would have never done anything with Our Miss Brooks if ME didn't pay for the remastering.

 

[Darby67]

If ME-TV decided to pick up the series and funded the film transfers, that would increase the likelihood that Shout could release more seasons, if the costs were reduced. It could happen. CBS would have never done anything with Our Miss Brooks if ME didn't pay for the remastering.

It would be great if ME TV picked The Defenders for broadcast and funded the film transfers (and always provided more exposure for the show thereby helping to push sales of season one). I have emailed ME TV in the past about licensing The Defenders for broadcast and got back the following generic reply:

"Thank you for contacting WCIU.

We truly appreciate your feedback, and value you as a viewer of our programming. Because we receive so many emails every day, we are unable to answer them all personally. However, we do read them all, and direct them to the appropriate personnel at the Station for review and consideration.

Many of the emails we receive concern programming changes to our schedule. Many times these changes make viewers happy because one of their favorite shows has been added to the WCIU schedule. In other instances, a favorite is removed, which is disappointing. Hopefully as we rotate through our program library, your favorite WCIU program will be on the air.

If you are contacting us regarding technical issues, we will forward your email to our engineering teams.

We truly appreciate the time you spend watching our Station as well as the time you’ve taken to write us.

Thank you!"

I sent them another email this evening. If anyone else is interested in contacting them, here is the contacts page for ME TV: https://www.metv.com/contact/

And here's the contacts page for WCIU (their parent company): http://www.wciu.com/contact/

Hell, to get the remaining three seasons released, I'd definitely support a crowdfunding effort to help pay for the cost of the transfers.

Neil, do you have a finger on the pulse of where sales figures for season one are currently at?

 

[Flashgear]

Has anyone checked out this very funny Defenders/Nurses blooper reel? E.G. Marshall was a hilarious and profane guy behind the scenes...there's some minor nudity here as well, so be forwarned... and a "suggestive" birthday cake ...Shirl Conway, Zina Bethune and Ed Binns are seen in bloopers from The Nurses...these clips are in very good shape... featuring Keenan Wynn, Robert Webber, Larry Gates, Ralph Meeker, James Coburn among others, from later seasons of The Defenders...Jack Klugman does a rather aggressive shoe fitting for a lady, ha, ha...Robert Reed has issues with the elevator door...these clips were certainly sourced from someone behind the cameras at Plautus...references to director Stuart Rosenberg and producer Herbert Brodkin are heard in sarcastic asides from the rapier wit of E.G. Marshall...not sure what Liz Taylor had to do with all this...an inside joke...?

I want more Defenders please!

"These Guinnies sure know how to cook" ha, ha...
"No second sticks!"
"He's a friend of Kenny Utz"

Sean, I continue to admire your efforts to promote The Defenders...