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Is the b&w era of TV on DVD slowly coming to an end? (2 Viewers)

oldtvshowbuff

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But even today's TV shows will be relics 100 years from now. I Love Lucy will still be around, of course, it'll be prehistoric just like cavemen, cavewomen, and dinosaurs!
 

Flashgear

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Sorry to hear that Bonanza has been stalled...I would still be glad to get season 7...Garry, is this a certainty that this will be released?
I'm sure glad that this didn't happen to Rawhide and that it is nearly complete now on DVD...
 

GMBurns

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So sorry to hear about Bonanza. I am not a fan of the Cartwrights, but I am a fan of vintage tv, and the Pondarosa's loss is a loss for all of us. I know the disappointment of seeing a favorite show dumped on the scrap heap known as the CBS stalled list.Gary, have you encountered any feedback on why CBS doesn't do more with their MOD program? Those of us who want our favorite shows would be happy to pay Warner Archive prices for some of those vintage shows CBS has stalled.
 

JMas

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Gary OS said:
Even though it's not a b/w show, I thought I'd pass on the sad news that Bonanza has indeed been stalled out. That's official from multiple sources, including a publication that some fans read so it's not a big secret at this point. We'll get S7, but S8 (which had been set for a 4Q release) is now on the backburner with no release date. The reason I mention that, in this thread, is because it's one more indicator that we really are seeing the final days of consistent vintage TV on DVD releases. Note I said "consistent" releases. That's key in my statement so that no one can run with it and say I'm predicting we'll see no more vintage releases in the future. Of course we'll see some things here and there. But the days of counting on regular releases of b/w and early color releases are quickly fading into the sunset. A good friend of mine summed it up nicely to me in a PM. I'm going to quote him this morning as I finish out this post:


"You & I have predicted for some time in various threads that vintage TV was dying, now it appears to have actually happened. One time I used to have to make a list of all the forthcoming releases & select which ones to get in order of affordability & interest. No more. I could count on one hand the releases over the last six months or so that I will buy.

I despair of the optimists who counsel about patience & their 'everything will be released' thinking. They are due for major disappointment I fear. I am even very sceptical of __________ despite their assurances they will be bringing out more of their 'classic' range. I don't think its going to happen any time soon."


It's a real shame that this day has finally arrived, but I think most of us knew it would happen eventually. On the plus side, I've got a huge collection and I won't be hurting for things to watch for the rest of my life. So it's not all sad news. But the title of this thread is now absolutely reality whether, as my friend said, the optimists want to believe it or not.


Gary "take care, folks - and enjoy your collections" O.

Do you think Gunsmoke is in the same situation as Bonanza? It's been quite a while since the last release (Season 9).
 

Gary OS

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Flashgear said:
Sorry to hear that Bonanza has been stalled...I would still be glad to get season 7...Garry, is this a certainty that this will be released?
I'm sure glad that this didn't happen to Rawhide and that it is nearly complete now on DVD...
I do believe S7 is a go no matter what. I've heard nothing to the contrary. It's S8 (and I'd assume anything beyond) that is now in jeopardy. And I'm glad Rawhide made it through as well.

GMBurns said:
So sorry to hear about Bonanza. I am not a fan of the Cartwrights, but I am a fan of vintage tv, and the Pondarosa's loss is a loss for all of us. I know the disappointment of seeing a favorite show dumped on the scrap heap known as the CBS stalled list.Gary, have you encountered any feedback on why CBS doesn't do more with their MOD program? Those of us who want our favorite shows would be happy to pay Warner Archive prices for some of those vintage shows CBS has stalled.
I'm sad for Bonanza as well, even though it wasn't a show I was collecting, for the same reasons as you've stated. And unfortunately I don't know why CBS hasn't done more with MOD. Sorry.

JMas said:
Do you think Gunsmoke is in the same situation as Bonanza? It's been quite a while since the last release (Season 9).
As far as I know it's not in danger at the moment. But that doesn't mean we can necessarily count on seeing 20+ seasons of it released either.


Gary "hope everyone has a good day" O.
 

JoeDoakes

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I'm neither an optimist nor a pessimist. I'm a worrier. Nevertheless, I am continually pleased to hear about new releases of old shows that I have wanted. I doubt that everything will be released, but every indication to me is that the old tv shows on dvd party will continue for several more years.
 

Randy Korstick

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Since they already spent the money to remaster Bonanza Season 8 I'm sure we will se it released as well just later than the original 4th Quarter 2014 plan. I wouldn't at all be suprised to see Paramount go all Mod with their TV shows starting next year and if so Bonanza would likely be picked up again as a Mod title.
 

smithbrad

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Randy Korstick said:
Since they already spent the money to remaster Bonanza Season 8 I'm sure we will se it released as well just later than the original 4th Quarter 2014 plan. I wouldn't at all be suprised to see Paramount go all Mod with their TV shows starting next year and if so Bonanza would likely be picked up again as a Mod title.
Unless your information is more definitive, the CBS Syndication Bible only states "season 8 in progress" of remastering. So a lot is dependent on how far along they were before coming to this decision. Season 7 appears to be fully remastered, which is why it would seem likely to still make a release this year.

I was really hoping to get through season 11 since I remember "Candy" being part of the regular cast. Also, it would have been nice to see the many episodes from the later years that weren't syndicated.
 

Randy Korstick

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No definitive information on Season 8, from Gary's info it sounded like it was ready to go since they usually remaster these way ahead of release. If the syndication bible says in progress then I'm sure thats correct, but the fact that it was started would make me think they would want some sort of return on the investment even if it ends up as a mod release.
smithbrad said:
Unless your information is more definitive, the CBS Syndication Bible only states "season 8 in progress" of remastering. So a lot is dependent on how far along they were before coming to this decision. Season 7 appears to be fully remastered, which is why it would seem likely to still make a release this year.

I was really hoping to get through season 11 since I remember "Candy" being part of the regular cast. Also, it would have been nice to see the many episodes from the later years that weren't syndicated.
 

Jack P

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Remastering is not a guarantee of release. CBS has sat on four remastered seasons of "The Love Boat" for several years now and that remains stalled out at two seasons. Bonanza getting to halfway through the run in less time is all things considered an impressive achievement.

"Gunsmoke" is at the limit of how far I'd want to go in the run anyway so I can live with no more of that. I'm still not happy they didn't resume "Barnaby Jones" as well as "Love Boat" and "One Step Beyond" and their refusal to fix "The Odd Couple" will always rankle. It's possible that we might see more titles licensed out as "Mod Squad" was but the one thing to remember is that any title CBS licenses out will not be remastered to the standards we've been accustomed to seeing from their own releases. I've sampled a few of the later "Mod Squad" episodes and the difference is like night and day with Seasons 1 and 2.

I'm assuming your good friend was referring to Warner Archive in that blank spot. I have to say, I don't see any reason to put them in the same slowdown category at this point. They have continued to research and work on what clearance issues are there for other B/W titles, and they have also to their credit not stalled a single title they started. Had "The FBI" been a QM series under CBS's control, I don't think I would ever have had any hope of seeing it get to halfway through its run, let alone the finish which it will reach by year's end.

I do agree we are pretty much at a point where all of us should take comfort and pride in what has been released and think more of enjoying what we have than gnashing our teeth over what we don't have. I'm getting three of my four major Grail titles unstalled/finished this year alone.
 

Gary OS

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JoeDoakes said:
I'm neither an optimist nor a pessimist. I'm a worrier. Nevertheless, I am continually pleased to hear about new releases of old shows that I have wanted. I doubt that everything will be released, but every indication to me is that the old tv shows on dvd party will continue for several more years.
Ray, I certainly hope you are right and I'm wrong. But the evidence I see leads me to the opposite conclusion. Either way I'm winding down since I've got most of my grail shows. There's a lot of b/w material I'd still love to see released, but as far as the 70's and beyond goes, I'm fine with what I've got right now.


Gary "there are still some wonderful b/w series that I'd buy if released, but I'm confident at this point that I'll never see 95% of them" O.
 

Charles Ellis

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We still don't have:

The Defenders
The Nurses
East Side, West Side
Adventures in Paradise
Our Miss Brooks
December Bride
Mr. Novak
The Rouges
Hennessey
Ben Casey
The Thin Man
77 Sunset Strip and the other Warner Bros. detective shows circa 1960
The Eleventh Hour
Bachelor Father
Pete & Gladys

As you can see, there are still a lot of B/W titles which have yet to make it to DVD/Blu-ray.
 

Gary OS

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Charles Ellis said:
As you can see, there are still a lot of B/W titles which have yet to make it to DVD/Blu-ray.
And just to set the record straight, your list is only a small sampling of b/w material that's yet to be released. There are literally dozens and dozens of titles from that era that haven't seen the light of day.


Gary "just saying" O.

P.S. As an aside, I only put that Mark Twain quote in my post above because I just passed that benchmark age.
 

phenri

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Since Bonanza is one of the most popular westerns of all time, there may be a chance that Shout/Timeless or some other studio can continue the releases, if CBS will license it out. If future releases will not be remastered to CBS standards, I'm okay with that.
 

JoeDoakes

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phenri said:
Since Bonanza is one of the most popular westerns of all time, there may be a chance that Shout/Timeless or some other studio can continue the releases, if CBS will license it out. If future releases will not be remastered to CBS standards, I'm okay with that.
Since CBS now seems to be considering licensing more, I think that's very possible. It might depend upon whether CBS thinks they might want to return to the title.
 

Joe Lugoff

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Gary OS said:
P.S. As an aside, I only put that Mark Twain quote in my post above because I just passed that benchmark age.
So now you get to be a pessimist, like all the sane people in the world.

"There are those who scoff at the school boy, calling him frivolous and shallow. Yet it was the school boy who said, Faith is believing what you know ain't so." - Mark Twain
 

Steve...O

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Happy Belated Birthday, Gary! I trust it was a good one with the family.

Thank you for the updates although it isn't what anyone wants to hear. Bonanza isn't one of my grails, but I do feel for those who do collect this title. Gunsmoke is one that I haven't started collecting but has always intrigued me. I'm also concerned that this news also means that whatever chance we had of CBS/P going back and "fixing" the unremastered seasons of HAVE GUN or RAWHIDE has slipped away.

I am not on the MOD bandwagon yet simply because I have a hard time paying more for less. I picked up the first two seasons of Maverick at retail as gifts but then WHV moved it to the Archive at a much higher price and without the English subtitles so I stopped buying them. Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and even Cannon are still syndicated and can be captured by those wanting them off air so a MOD program adds little value to me. Others love MOD and I respect their opinions; I can see why this would work for some.

It's really too bad that the DVD technology didn't exist in its current form 30 years ago when the market for these shows was much bigger and the economy was fairly robust from the 80s through the 90s.

EDIT: the CBS/P syndication bible was updated today (3/19) and a random check shows no updates to the B&W Westerns. The Classic Honeymooners now shows as HD which is no surprise given the upcoming BD release. Happy Days is now remastered up through S5 which S6 in progress.
 

jdee28

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It's definitely a minor miracle that CBS/Paramount completed Rawhide. I had doubts. Even though some seasons are not remastered, at least they did release all the episodes unedited. If they ever do remaster those two seasons,1 and 4, it would be the icing on the cake.

It's been another minor miracle that they've released Gunsmoke through Season 9. I never thought they get this far! I really hope they can finish off the two black and white years they have left and maybe do a couple of color seasons.
 

Ron1973

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I hate to hear this on Bonanza as the "lost episodes" were the ones I was really wanting to see on DVD. I don't despise the earlier seasons but it got better in the later seasons, at least to me.

I think the thing that has always gotten me on CBS is how they keep rehashing the same thing over and over. I Love Lucy is certainly a classic and deserved a proper release BUT.....even after it was released, they went back and re-released with new packaging and they were constantly plugging it on their Facebook page. Now we're seeing Lucy rehashed again on Blu along with The Andy Griffith Show. Fine, they've already did the legwork on those with the HD remastering so it's not like they're putting a bunch of money into new transfers.

The one glimmer of hope is that they apparently made some sort of deal with Walmart, at least for The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction. Perhaps they'll continue to do that with Bonanza. We can always hope.
 

Ron1973

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BTW, I haven't viewed the DVD's of TAGS so I have no idea if they were as stunning as the work done on The Beverly Hillbillies but I viewed a few of the b&w episodes on Netflix in HD and they are absolutely gorgeously transferred!
 

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