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Is the b&w era of TV on DVD slowly coming to an end? (7 Viewers)

ChrisALM

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I wonder what the prints will look like? The Region 1 Season 1 set looked nice.
If the R2 release holds up quality wise, I'll eventually get it. But I sure wish CBS would have released a complete series set for this.
 

Gary OS

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Can someone quickly post how many b/w TV series WBA has released so far this year?


"between CBS, Timeless, Shout and others, it seems like b/w releases have slowed to a crawl" O.
 

Jack P

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"Maverick" S4 and "Dr. Kildare" S2 I think are the only two this year. The last season of "Cheyenne" and S2 of "Sugarfoot" were late 2013 releases.
 

Professor Echo

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It would indeed be very interesting to study the sales figures for many releases, but ultimately it would probably curtail a lot of discussion on this forum. Is that a good or a bad thing? ;)
 

Ron1973

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Silverking said:
'Bilko' aka 'The Phil Silvers Show' aka 'You'll Never Get Rich' the complete series + extras is scheduled for UK release in July. Horrendous price but I'm sure it will drop. You can check it out on Amazon UK. I imagine a US release will be in the offing.
Via Facebook:

Mick ClewsThe British Phil Silvers Appreciation Society
We promised you some exciting news....and here it is!! We are currently working on the forthcoming DVD release of seasons 1 - 4 of The Phil SIlvers Show....although that's all say at this time....
Amazon have now uploaded their pre-order ad.....I can tell you that the advertised price is only a guide at this time and may lower in price nearer the release date....(having said that it works at a less than £1 per episode!)
 

Gary OS

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Even with the recent news of the high-priced Bilko set, announcements for b/w titles are very, very sparse. Anyone who disputes that this particular portion of the TV on DVD market is drying up needs to get their head out of the sand. I knew this day would eventually come, but I was hoping we'd see another year or two of multiple vintage releases each month. But it seems we've really reached the end. Probably only a trickle here and there going forward.


Gary "my crystal ball shows no significant 'rain' in the future - fortunately I'm prepared for a long drought with a solid library" O.
 

Silverking

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Couldn't agree more Gary. What surprises me is the way it has all come to an almost dead stop rather than a gradual wind down.

The demise of Timeless since the Shout takeover has more or less taken out the one company who could be relied on for a stream of releases of classic TV & presumably it worked for them.

Whilst I never really believed we would see the likes of 'Dragnet' 'The Defenders' & 'Adventures in Paradise' etc. I was hoping for more material from the ZIV & Four Star' catalogue before it when belly up.

I know many are counting on Warners but I don't share that faith, some of their series thay have been supposedly 'working on' for years. Way too long to capitalise on a shrinking market. They might end up streaming them which I doubt appeals to a more mature audience who would buy these shows.

Ah well, good while it lasted !

Oh, the UK Bilko set has come down to a more realistic (still expensive) price a s at today.
 

Gary OS

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Silverking said:
Couldn't agree more Gary. What surprises me is the way it has all come to an almost dead stop rather than a gradual wind down.

The demise of Timeless since the Shout takeover has more or less taken out the one company who could be relied on for a stream of releases of classic TV & presumably it worked for them.

Whilst I never really believed we would see the likes of 'Dragnet' 'The Defenders' & 'Adventures in Paradise' etc. I was hoping for more material from the ZIV & Four Star' catalogue before it when belly up.

I know many are counting on Warners but I don't share that faith, some of their series thay have been supposedly 'working on' for years. Way too long to capitalise on a shrinking market. They might end up streaming them which I doubt appeals to a more mature audience who would buy these shows.

Ah well, good while it lasted !

Oh, the UK Bilko set has come down to a more realistic (still expensive) price a s at today.

All I can add to that post is a big A-M-E-N. I see it all exactly the same way, Chris. CBS doesn't look to be adding much of anything from their b/w catalog (maybe Our Miss Brooks, if we are really lucky), and you've summed up the Timeless situation perfectly. And while I know there are some big fans of Warners here, I've just never been all that interested in the majority of their b/w material. There are a few exceptions that I'd gladly pick up (The Dakotas being at the top of the list), but for the most part their set-bound shows just don't do as much for me as they do for others. And that's fine. To each his own. But when I survey the b/w landscape and take all these factors into account, I can't find any room for optimism. I'm not being pessimistic either. This is just cold, hard realism at play. Things are winding down in a hurry.


Gary "it really is a pity that we haven't seen a few more rarities from the 50's seeing as how there are so many left untouched - sigh..." O.
 

JoeDoakes

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The slowdown in B&W DVDs was inevitable given (1) the demise of Timeless; and (2) the release of many of the most desired B&W shows. When I started posting on HTF, among my most wanted shows were the rest of Beaver and Hazel, and all of Dobie Gillis, Maverick, and Dennis the Menace, and they have just about all been released. Gary, I think that you are way too pessimistic. I doubt if 2013's deluge will ever be repeated, but I would be willing to be that the next several years will see a number of pleasant surprises each year. That's enough for me.
 

Jack P

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I'm among the fortunate who feels that from a personal standpoint, the 50s is a well that's already dried up in terms of titles of major interest to me. I'd certainly get more R1 release of Bilko but it at least has enough out for casual viewing on my part. I know we'll never see an official release of "Sheena" off the Nassour heirs prints which include the missing episodes not in the PD releases, so that means my #1 Grail title for the decade will always be just that (but I thankfully have the best quality copies of the 16 PD episodes). "Dragnet" and "The Lineup" I have no hope for either. That leaves just "Burns And Allen" and "Jack Benny" for titles that would excite me from the decade. And with the early 60s B/W titles, I'm down to just unstalling "Burke's Law" and finishing "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" for Grail titles with the rest of "One Step Beyond" the other one that would excite me among the stalled. I think Warner will come through with more B/W titles that I'd be happy to give a try when they do come out but those will be cake icing when they arrive.

Personally, I welcome seeing more obscure one season shows from the 65-75 period because collectively, the 50s and early 60s have done better in this regard.
 

Gary OS

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Ray, I don't think I'm being pessimistic at all. I'm just being realistic. Last year, while very nice, wasn't a "deluge" in my mind. It was a good year (especially the first half of it), but we've seen far more in years past. I'll never forget the 4th quarter of '08. Now that was a deluge, imho. But regardless of personal opinions about what is or isn't a flood of releases, this year has to be considered as a very slow one in terms of b/w releases by any standard. I guess you could be right and things might pick back up, but I'm just not seeing it in the cards. Consider the following:

1) Timeless, a well known b/w releasing company, has slowed to a crawl now because of the Shout takeover. That's a fact.

2) CBS, another studio we could always count on for b/w releases, has now moved into re-releasing classics in Blu. The b/w series that they have been releasing on DVD are either slowing or are stalled.

3) TGG, a company that played a very big part in last year's 'deluge', hasn't released any more b/w shows since November of last year (My Mother the Car). To the best of my knowledge there's no news of any more b/w shows forthcoming. Perhaps they'll pick it back up, but we don't know of anything official so we are looking at a minimum of 6+ months from the last release to any potential new release (if any are even coming at all). That's a substantial period of time that doesn't exactly engender optimism in me.

4) WB, a company that is still releasing some b/w shows, seem to be struggling with some of their more well-known b/w detective and a few adventure/western series supposedly because of music rights. And since I'm not a big fan of most of what they are likely to release going forward, it's hard for me to be too excited.

The bottom line is that we have seen a huge dropoff this year in b/w releases. As Chris stated upthread, it's been very sudden and it is discouraging for those of us who really enjoy 50's and early 60's TV.


Gary "not looking to argue with anyone, just stating what I think is the obvious" O.
 

Jack P

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Gary, isn't "My Mother The Car" a color show? The only time I've seen clips of it they were always in color and it was a one season show.
 

Gary OS

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One more point, in response to something Ray said:
JoeDoakes said:
I doubt if 2013's deluge will ever be repeated, but I would be willing to be that the next several years will see a number of pleasant surprises each year.
I completely agree with this. I'm not saying there won't be any more b/w releases. Of course there will be. We agree on that. Here's to hoping some of those pleasant surprises include Ozzie & Harriet, My Three Sons (done right), The Dakotas, and so on. The reality is that the 50's and early 60's will always be my favorite era, and I honestly can't get enough of that time period. Once the mid-60's hit I quickly become a lot more choosy. I've got favorites from each of the color decades up through the early 2000's, but they become fewer and farther between with each succeeding year. Only the b/w TV years offer a majority of shows that I know for sure I'll enjoy. But to each his own.


Gary "it's been a great ride for sure" O.
 

Gary OS

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Jack P said:
Gary, isn't "My Mother The Car" a color show? The only time I've seen clips of it they were always in color and it was a one season show.
Oops. You're right. It was in color. That means the last TGG b/w release was Bat Masterson S3, also in November of last year.
 

Ron Lee Green

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Don't forget another b&w show, "The Rifleman" season 1, was released in Dec. 2013 by the owners. Hopefully it sold well for them to release more seasons, but they'll have to bring the price down for me to bite.
 

smithbrad

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Ron Lee Green said:
Don't forget another b&w show, "The Rifleman" season 1, was released in Dec. 2013 by the owners. Hopefully it sold well for them to release more seasons, but they'll have to bring the price down for me to bite.
And the video quality up for me to bite again. If it didn't sell well it would be a result of a price to high and video quality not high enough, which is a dangerous combination.
 

David Weicker

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I know that the Shout purchase of Timeless has been mentioned many times, usually with some implication that it is to blame for the current low output.But, given the current market, the available remaining content, and status of the Timeless company at the time, was it really a factor? Would we have seen a similar output if there were no sale?Catalog movie sales and releases are declining overall. Physical media sales are declining too. Timeless was primarily a one-person vision, and that person (iirc) wanted to lay down his spurs, so to speak.So my thought is that the Timeless output we see today is the same as what we would have seen if Shout were not in the picture.
 

Gary OS

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Every bit of insider info that I have access to says the Shout takeover has indeed affected the output of Timeless. The only thing I know for sure is that before the takeover Timeless was looking into quite a few titles that have never seen the light of day. I guess the bottom line is that while I personally can't say for sure, I'm convinced it has had a detrimental affect on the output from Timeless over the last year or so.


Gary "just my opinion based on limited facts that I have access to - others can probably speak to the situation with more authority" O.
 

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