Crystal Ball time once again! (1 Viewer)

[Gary OS]

Hmmm, interesting... color me guardedly optimistic!

But has One Step Beyond been “much requested here”? That’s the part that doesn’t fit with the description, imho. I realize every show has its fans and advocates, and OSB is a nice series, but I didn’t see it being M-U-C-H requested.

Gary “nor did I know it had a rights issue after its S1 release” O.

 

[MatthewA]

EDIT: Condensed two postings into one.

 

[MatthewA]

Archie Bunkers Place?

--Jamwes

That's a Sony-owned property, that only aired on CBS. It was they and Carroll O'Connor who overrode Norman Lear's wishes to end in 1978 with Mike and Gloria going to California. "Edith's Death" and other S2 episodes are now on Crackle, but that is barely a substitute.

When Neil first mentioned a stalled show possibly being released yesterday, my mind thought of things like:

Benson
Love American Style
Ozzie & Harriet
White Shadow
Happy Days
Archie Bunker’s Place
Rookies
Donna Reed Show

Gary “English is a great language, and I especially like acrostics done in it” O.

Well, he couldn't possibly have meant

It's A Living
Silver Spoons
ALF (a real Region 1 release)
Webster
What's Happening Now
Hogan Family
Amen
Too Close For Comfort
You Bet Your Life
Our Miss Brooks
Unsolved Mysteries
Darkwing Duck
Ironside
Dave's World
T.J. Hooker
Head of the Class
Empty Nest
Room 222
E! True Hollywood Story

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

But has One Step Beyond been “much requested here”? That’s the part that doesn’t fit with the description, imho. I realize every show has its fans and advocates, and OSB is a nice series, but I didn’t see it being M-U-C-H requested.

Gary “nor did I know it had a rights issue after its S1 release” O.

Hence why I said "guardedly" optimistic. "Much requested" is, of course, subjective. Also, I went back and re-read the preceding recent posts... Neil has never said anything, thus far, about this mystery release having a rights issue, only that it is now being licensed out by its rights holder (CBS Paramount).

I happened to mention rights issues, regarding this overall guessing game, reasoning that some stalled CBS series have had music rights issues (notably Petticoat Junction), others having the issue of not (to our knowledge) being remastered or transferred to digital (The Defenders), and the possibility of underlying story issues, if a series or given series episode is an adaptation of a published work (which is why, I guess, we haven't seen Universal release the bulk of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour on disc, stateside).

Within those parameters, One Step Beyond might have a better shot, as it would be a 'path-of-least-resistance' release... already clean, remastered episodes (assuming CBS has done this in the intervening years), no additional fees or costs to deal with, so basically, off the shelf and ready to go to the third party company and then to market.

Actually, from what little I know, if One Step Beyond has any rights issues at all, it's with the Season 2 two-parter, "The Peter Hurkos Story", starring Albert Salmi, which was omitted from syndication, due to undefined "rights limitations", and Season 2's "The Sacred Mushroom", also omitted from syndication, which was a documentary-style episode where host/director John Newland ingests the title fungi, to see if its effects enhance psychic powers.

The CBS Syndication Bible, which is still up, only mentions the two "Peter Hurkos" episodes not being part of the package (and does list "The Sacred Mushroom"), and that the first 23 episodes of the series, Season 1, are transferred to HD, but the Syndication Bible entry for it hasn't been updated since 4/16/2009.

http://synbible.cbstvd.com/syndicationbible.htm

 

[Gary OS]

Hence why I said "guardedly" optimistic. "Much requested" is, of course, subjective. Also, I went back and re-read the preceding recent posts... Neil has never said anything, thus far, about this mystery release having a rights issue, only that it is now being licensed out by its rights holder (CBS Paramount).

I consider a TV series getting unstalled because its “rights holder” is finally licensing it out to be a rights issue. That’s how I read that. Even if the issue is as simple as the owner/rights holder having previously been unwilling to continue releasing the series. Doesn’t have to mean music rights. And there can be some wiggle room as it regards CBS, depending on how you view it.

Gary “whatever it is, someone will be happy - and that’s always a good thing” O.

 

[Neil Brock]

I'm sorry that quoting the One Step Beyond post that it obviously wasn't that and saying obviously not was too obtuse. Yes, its One Step Beyond and the show was licensed to Reel Vault and the second season is being worked on now.

But then again, saying it was owned by CBS didn't stop people from guessing Sony and Fox properties, so there you go.

 

[Flashgear]

Within those parameters, One Step Beyond might have a better shot, as it would be a 'path-of-least-resistance' release... already clean, remastered episodes (assuming CBS has done this in the intervening years), no additional fees or costs to deal with, so basically, off the shelf and ready to go to the third party company and then to market.

Peter, I hope so! And with Neil Brock's encouraging but cryptic followup post to consider, we all know of examples where properties that once enjoyed a defacto public domain marketability nevertheless were suddenly taken back by the original corporate overlord with the mere suggestion that they were reasserting copyright control and were willing to unleash their lawyers in pursuit of firmly establishing that reality.

Yes, its One Step Beyond and the show was licensed to Reel Vault and the second season is being worked on now.

Great to hear, Neil Brock! Thank you for this news...I've never heard of Reel Vault...

I've been expecting to hear of at least one more classic American TV series to be coming from Kino Lorber, as they responded to my query in a positive way about releasing more classic TV series when I asked them about that 6 months ago...the KL rep said that (paraphrasing) they were looking into doing more classic TV series...they previously licensed Coronet Blue from CBS of course...so, maybe something nice and highly desired might come from KL as well...

 

[Sky King]

I confirmed this via my crystal ball a couple of weeks back.
Gary “that one’s coming next month” O.

GREAT NEWS if this is in fact true.
I follow this site closely and didn't see any recent mention of a Ben Casey release.

 

[Gary OS]

GREAT NEWS if this is in fact true.
I follow this site closely and didn't see any recent mention of a Ben Casey release.

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/community/posts/4781716/

 

[Sky King]

Gary,

Don't know how I missed this.
Great news. Although I'm sure these wont be remastered, I do hope that they are unedited like the YouTube poster County General was posting a few weeks back.
Also... get rid of that Worldvision logo and bring back the BCP production ending.
Looking forward to this release.

John

 

[Joe Lugoff]

It's not a matter of English, it's a matter of logic. "Stalled" and "finally licensed" don't go together, unless the rights holders at one time licensed the show then changed their minds, then changed their minds back again.

AND -- for the tenth time -- since you finally say what the shows are, why the guessing games all the time? I honestly don't get it. We had to sit through PAGES of guesses, which are a waste of time, and I've reached the age where that's something I'm running out of, fast.

 

[potnoodle]

I'm sorry that quoting the One Step Beyond post that it obviously wasn't that and saying obviously not was too obtuse. Yes, its One Step Beyond and the show was licensed to Reel Vault and the second season is being worked on now.

But then again, saying it was owned by CBS didn't stop people from guessing Sony and Fox properties, so there you go.

Great news about OSB. A great show that deserves a complete release. Thanks for the update.

 

[Arthur Powell]

I'd be lying if I said that I'm not disappointed about the selection not being "Petticoat Junction. Oh well. At least the best seasons were released (I'm so risking the fury of the Mike Minor fans right now). That said, I did enjoy going through a cheap PD DVD set of "One Step Beyond" a few years back so I might be interested in doing an upgrade.

 

[Gary OS]

I'd be lying if I said that I'm not disappointed about the selection not being "Petticoat Junction. Oh well. At least the best seasons were released (I'm so risking the fury of the Mike Minor fans right now). That said, I did enjoy going through a cheap PD DVD set of "One Step Beyond" a few years back so I might be interested in doing an upgrade.

Completely agree with your wish that the release would have been Petticoat Junction instead (although I knew it wouldn’t be that). And I completely disagree about the best seasons already having been released, but certainly not because of Mike Minor, but rather because of the lovely Meredith MacRae. I feel like that 4th season was best, and that the show had finally hit on the right combo of actresses to compliment one another as the Bradley girls.

Gary “I can only dream about how great the series would have been if Meredith, Lori, and Linda had been together from day one” O.

 

[LeoA]

I'd be lying if I said that I'm not disappointed about the selection not being "Petticoat Junction. Oh well. At least the best seasons were released (I'm so risking the fury of the Mike Minor fans right now).

While I'm in agreement that the first three were the show's best (Although I sure do love Meredith MacRae like Gary), I'd still love at least a couple of more seasons.

Especially season 4 would be nice to see, since it was before any cast members were lost (Beyond the obvious changes with Billie and Bobby Jo). Charley passing away after season 4 and then Bea Benaderet after season 5, were losses the show never recovered from in my opinion.

And a lot of the themes from the first seasons were still intact here, which so often made for excellent episodes like the branch line being at risk with the excellent Charles Lane playing his part perfectly, or Kate struggling to keep up with the mortgage. Those themes aren't there much, if at all in seasons 6 and 7.

And Betty Jo was still very much a tomboy in season 4, which was a part of her character that would disappear with her marriage. The other two girls had been completely changed up though by this point. Lori Saunders was no longer playing the part of a bookworm (They still tried to portray her as such a bit in season 3) and Meredith MacRae became the singer of the family for obvious reasons (And also never played the part of a boy chaser like the first two Billie Jo's spent most of their time doing).

 

[Arthur Powell]

While I'm in agreement that the first three were the show's best (Although I sure do love Meredith MacRae like Gary), I'd still love at least a couple of more seasons.

Especially season 4 would be nice to see, since it was before any cast members were lost (Beyond the obvious changes with Billie and Bobby Jo). Charley passing away after season 4 and then Bea Benaderet after season 5, were losses the show never recovered from in my opinion.

And a lot of the themes from the first seasons were still intact here, which so often made for excellent episodes like the branch line often being at risk with the excellent Charles Lane playing his part perfectly, or Kate struggling to keep up with the mortgage with the hotel at risk.

And Betty Jo was still very much a tomboy in season 4, which was a theme that would disappear with her marriage. The other two girls had been completely changed up though by this point. Lori Saunders was no longer playing the part of a bookworm by that point (They tried to portray her as such a bit in season 3) and Meredith MacRae became the singer of the family for obvious reasons (And also never played the part of a boy chaser like the first two Billie Jo's spent most of their time doing).

You're not going to find me disagreeing with your post. While showing some of the initial signs of weakening, season 4 is still pretty good. Actually, subtract Mike Minor and his singing, and it'd be almost as good as season 3. Season 5, with the emphasis of the Betty Jo and Steve romance and the frequent but sadly understandable absence of Bea Benaderet, is when the show really started to suffer in my opinion. Still, second rate Petticoat Junction is still better than first rate most everything else so I would be a buyer for the whole series. Oddly enough, I know several people who have the exact opposite of my opinion - that the show significantly improved with the Betty Jo/Steve romance and that the first three seasons are the weak ones! As a rule, I dislike music edits to shows, but I wouldn't be all that upset if some the Minor solos were cut out. Well, that's why we have the fast forward button, right?

To go on record, I would say that the third season was the best. As much as I like Pat Woodell, my preference has long been the lovely and exquisite Lori Saunders. I also prefer the more flirtatious personalities of Jeannine Riley and Gunilla Hutton, but I also do like Meredith MacRae. The earlier plot lines dealing with the hotel and Cannonball are also better than the syrupy plot lines of the latter seasons. So, to rank the seasons: third season, followed by a tie of the first and second, followed by the fourth, fifth, seventh and sixth in that order.

Speaking of PJ, the miniature of the Shady Rest that was used during the course of the series brought $8000 at auction just a few days ago. The wedding dress that Linda Kaye Henning used on both the series and in real life also was in the same auction, but it didn't attract any bidders.

 

[Gary OS]

You're not going to find me disagreeing with your post. While showing some of the initial signs of weakening, season 4 is still pretty good. Actually, subtract Mike Minor and his singing, and it'd be almost as good as season 3. Season 5, with the emphasis of the Betty Jo and Steve romance and the frequent but sadly understandable absence of Bea Benaderet, is when the show really started to suffer in my opinion. Still, second rate Petticoat Junction is still better than first rate most everything else so I would be a buyer for the whole series. Oddly enough, I know several people who have the exact opposite of my opinion - that the show significantly improved with the Betty Jo/Steve romance and that the first three seasons are the weak ones! As a rule, I dislike music edits to shows, but I wouldn't be all that upset if some the Minor solos were cut out. Well, that's why we have the fast forward button, right?

To go on record, I would say that the third season was the best. As much as I like Pat Woodell, my preference has long been the lovely and exquisite Lori Saunders. I also prefer the more flirtatious personalities of Jeannine Riley and Gunilla Hutton, but I also do like Meredith MacRae. The earlier plot lines dealing with the hotel and Cannonball are also better than the syrupy plot lines of the latter seasons. So, to rank the seasons: third season, followed by a tie of the first and second, followed by the fourth, fifth, seventh and sixth in that order.

Speaking of PJ, the miniature of the Shady Rest that was used during the course of the series brought $8000 at auction just a few days ago. The wedding dress that Linda Kaye Henning used on both the series and in real life also was in the same auction, but it failed to sale.

I think the storylines were indeed better in the first 3 years, but for me the gals were best from S4 forward. So I’d rate that fourth season just a hair above S3. Then I’d go with S2, S1, S5 and the final season.

Gary “loved Meredith and Lori” O.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

All this Petticoat Junction talk is very interesting. I've only recently gotten into the show, and am still way back early in S1 in my viewing, so while I'm aware of some of the eventual cast changes, I don't have any opinion on how to rank the seasons at this stage. As it stands, I'm finding the first season of the show delightful, in its low-key way. I've picked up seasons 1 through 3, and would be down for the 4th if it were to ever see a release. Not sure I'd bother with the show without Bea Benederet, though, so the first four or five seasons would likely be enough for me. So while it remains a long shot, I do hope PJ becomes unstalled itself at some point.

To bring this post back on topic...have never seen One Step Beyond, though I had toyed with picking up the official S1 release before it went out of print and up in price. Glad fans of this are happy about it starting back up again. Does anyone have any info on this Reel Vault company? They're new to me. Hope they do a good job with the series, and it does well enough for them to perhaps go back and re-release S1, or better yet, a Complete Series set.

 

[howard1908]

All this Petticoat Junction talk is very interesting. I've only recently gotten into the show, and am still way back early in S1 in my viewing, so while I'm aware of some of the eventual cast changes, I don't have any opinion on how to rank the seasons at this stage. As it stands, I'm finding the first season of the show delightful, in its low-key way. I've picked up seasons 1 through 3, and would be down for the 4th if it were to ever see a release. Not sure I'd bother with the show without Bea Benederet, though, so the first four or five seasons would likely be enough for me. So while it remains a long shot, I do hope PJ becomes unstalled itself at some point.

To bring this post back on topic...have never seen One Step Beyond, though I had toyed with picking up the official S1 release before it went out of print and up in price. Glad fans of this are happy about it starting back up again. Does anyone have any info on this Reel Vault company? They're new to me. Hope they do a good job with the series, and it does well enough for them to perhaps go back and re-release S1, or better yet, a Complete Series set.

If i am not mistaken I believe that the entirerty of season 1 of One Step Beyond is PD, it is just select episodes from seasons 2 & 3 which still remaimed liscened under CBS, so that could be a possibility that season 1 gets re-released.

 

[Jack P]

Well I would have made myself look like a genius if I'd phrased my post, "Possibly One Step Beyond" but I just didn't see the 35mm transfers being licensed out. Nice to be proved wrong since I have wanted that finished officially along with Alfred Hitchcock Presents. I'm even willing to make what would be my first TV on DVD purchase in a LONG time.