Is the b&w era of TV on DVD slowly coming to an end? (6 Viewers)

[Ron1973]

The last time I sampled Netflix (at my son's house ~4 years ago) it was pretty sad. Other than Star Trek I found nothing I wanted to watch. No classic Christmas movies (and it was the week before Christmas), no 60s TV, no British TV, no movies made before ~1980. I was glad I took a disc holder with movies and TV shows. I guess if you're into watching "the latest" stuff it's OK. I'm not. I'd rather watch one of the "lesser" 60s/70s shows than just about anything currently being produced.

I'm happy for any 50s/60s TV show released, BW or color, whether it's one I want or not. Every release provides just a bit of hope that someday the ones I'm wanting will finally see a release.

Right now I really, really, really, want a Green Hornet release. Yeah, it's not BW but it's at the top of my "most wanted" series list. And for Sam to get off his behind and get some "remastered" O&H out there. More Beverly Hillbillies and My Little Margie would also be nice and give us the last season of Mister Peepers. I'd also like to have Love that Bob, The Aldrich Family, Love that Joan, The Life of Riley (William Bendix), The Jack Benny Show, The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show, December Bride, and many others...

The last time I sampled Netflix (at my son's house ~4 years ago) it was pretty sad. Other than Star Trek I found nothing I wanted to watch. No classic Christmas movies (and it was the week before Christmas), no 60s TV, no British TV, no movies made before ~1980. I was glad I took a disc holder with movies and TV shows. I guess if you're into watching "the latest" stuff it's OK. I'm not. I'd rather watch one of the "lesser" 60s/70s shows than just about anything currently being produced.

I'm happy for any 50s/60s TV show released, BW or color, whether it's one I want or not. Every release provides just a bit of hope that someday the ones I'm wanting will finally see a release.

Right now I really, really, really, want a Green Hornet release. Yeah, it's not BW but it's at the top of my "most wanted" series list. And for Sam to get off his behind and get some "remastered" O&H out there. More Beverly Hillbillies and My Little Margie would also be nice and give us the last season of Mister Peepers. I'd also like to have Love that Bob, The Aldrich Family, Love that Joan, The Life of Riley (William Bendix), The Jack Benny Show, The George Burns & Gracie Allen Show, December Bride, and many others...

Which is why I dumped Netflix. They were a bastion of classic Universal shows, and then they literally all disappeared overnight. They gave fair warning the shows were disappearing, but no effort was ever made to put anything in their place. It might have been Universal who didn't renew, perhaps they plan on putting them streaming on the NBC site (The Incredible Hulk is on there right now). It was just the fact NOTHING took their place. Hulu is a lot better, but it's still woefully lacking. I got to watching Mr. Ed this afternoon and realized they only have 2 seasons on there.

 

[greenscreened]

For me, O&H are even better on Saturdays, Sundays, and rainy days.

In one sentence…quite a few of The (mis)Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet Show(s) were variations on any number of characters falling humorously victim to mostly innocent false assumptions and/or misunderstandings, or slight variations thereof.

Depending on the episode, any possible culprit(s) were found out and got their due rewards.

To it’s credit, it was pretty pre-PC fair when it came to showing both genders and age groups being capable of making some hair-brained assumptions and decisions.


One of the show’s recurring bits was their use of dream sequences, mostly those of Oz.

Ozzie also slipped in quite a few Homer Simpson ‘Dohs’ throughout the series wherever applicable.

He was very rarely seen w/o a neck or bow tie.

They were the first to show couples sharing the same bed, which it did at will in many episodes
The ‘alleged’ first show to do that on the tube was credited to a live TV (Drama?) show in the 1950s, by word of mouth only, as no footage exists.

Excluding Ricky’s music videos in the later years, O&H sure contained a lot of happy instrumental backround music throughout quite a few episodes, even in the later years, not only during the traditional scene transitions, but quite a few times, under dialog as well, making our escape from reality even easier.


After all is said and done, probably my favorite sitcom.
By season, some of my favorites available on the tube:

The Fish Story (Season 1/syndicated version-sans three minutes) -

I’ve yet to see an un/syndicated version version of this, maybe my favorite episode, as this one also shows Oz as an even-tempered chap when striking out.
Unfortunately, this dream sequence is missing the audio containing music and narration.
Hope the original uncut episode sees the light of day:




The Traffic Signal (Season 1 /syndicated version) - Ahh…if only all families (and strangers too for that matter) were like this:




Riviera Ballet (Season 1):




The New Chairs (Season 4):



A Ball Of Tin Foil (Season 4): This is a good all-around episode, as everyone in Ozzie’s closest circle of friends gets a bit part.

Don’t know why the Shout Factory’s (‘Nelson Family Presents’) print of this episode leaves out the first scene (almost three minutes), and starts with the second scene, beginning at the 4:18 mark on this uncut YouTube version:




The Honest Face (Season 4) One of the many appearances of Mary Tyler Moore as Hotpoint’s ‘The Hotpoint Girl’ commercial:




The Car Mix Up - (Season 5):




Jealous Joe: (Season 7)




The Exploding Book (Season 7)



ESP - (Season 9:



Our Man In Alaska - (Season 9)

 

[morasp]

Wow, thanks for this list. I was aware of some of them, and have watched eps. of Yancy Derringer and My Living Doll, but I wasn't aware of most of these being available on Amazon Prime.

I watched a Yancy Derringer episode that had Jock Mahoney's wife, Maggie Mahoney, aka Margaret Field, on it and I was stunned to realize she was Sally Field's mom. I then saw her in a really poignant Perry Mason episode, where she rejects her young daughter because she reminds her too much of her late husband. Sally Field's recent memoir recounts being sexually abused by her stepfather, Jock Mahoney. I was shocked.

Man, that's sad about Sally I like her shows and movies.

The Amazon content seems like a never ending list, if people are interested here are some more titles that I found Climax, Playhouse 90, Studio one, The Star and the Story, Twilight Zone, Star Trek The Original Series, One Step Beyond, The Veil.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I'm still hoping for the remaining seasons of "I Love Lucy" on Blu-ray.


I honestly don't think it'll ever happen.

It was mentioned by an insider in another thread that CBS has no plans for this. The 1st two seasons didn't sell unfortunately even when heavily discounted so no reason to continue. Most people appear happy with DVD for this show.

 

[Arthur Powell]

The People's Choice is one of my favorite shows. I think it was just bad luck that it was never released on home video . It was just the property of companies that didn't release much to the home video market . I know that World Vision had the rights for a while. I don't recall an announcement for an official release for Love That Bob (which I would buy in a flash!). Both The People's Choice and Love That Bob were produced by the same company McCaddam Productions , which George Burns was a part owner of. George's son Ronnie is dead which may be the reason that these shows are so obscure since there doesn't appear to be anyone to make a deal for them.
Dobie Gillis was released by Shout Factory , and I believe there was a couple of Love That Bob episodes on that box set as bonus items . Dwayne Hickman was one of the stars of LTB. That Many Loves Of Dobie Gillis box set is great - really well done.
Shout factory also released some episodes of the Jack Benny Show , and there are a number of Public Domaine releases "out there ".
I too would love to see a release for Our Miss Brooks . I'm not sure how likely that is at this point .
There are many of us hoping for the rest of Beverley Hillbillies , Petticoat Junction , and My three Sons from CBS.

Thanks for your great and informative response. Concerning Love That Bob, I pulled out my Dobie Gillis set last night to check to see if perhaps I was misremembering, but after the credits of the special feature Love That Bob episode Bob Butters Beck, Beck Butters Better there was a tag saying that the complete Love That Bob was going to be available from MPI (I guess that Shout! doesn't mind plugging another firm's products sometimes). Since it has been several years since that Dobie Gillis set was released, I assume that the MPI Love That Bob set is likely not going to be forthcoming - a pity since it would be an instant buy for me. Given that MPI has/had a relationship with the Paul Henning family/estate, perhaps the proposed Love That Bob set was a part of that deal. The Christmas episode of the series Grandpa's Christmas Visit was included as a special feature on MPI's Petticoat Junction/The Beverly Hillbillies Christmas DVD, and I presume that that episode would have been sourced from Henning supplied elements. I know that Henning was a writer on the series, but I have no idea if his family or estate still has any intellectual rights to it. I think a large number of episodes are public domain which may explain the inclusion of the Christmas episode. Anyway, if any MPI representative happens to read this, please put out that Love That Bob collection.

As for Jack Benny, I do have that Shout release as well as a 4-disc Mill Creek set of public domain episodes. I've supplemented those releases with some DVD-rs I've made off of Antenna TV's airing of the syndicated episodes. Then of course I do have a large number of the radio programs. I do hope that either Universal or Shout will give us some more Benny episodes at some point. Our Miss Brooks does have a complete set of HD masters which have aired on MeTV and Decades. I'm hoping that either CBS or some third party licensee will give us the show, but I've heard somewhere that there might be some rights issues with it.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

I still hope The Millionaire (1955-60) will be released on DVD...

~Ben

 

[LouA]

Thanks for your great and informative response. Concerning Love That Bob, I pulled out my Dobie Gillis set last night to check to see if perhaps I was misremembering, but after the credits of the special feature Love That Bob episode Bob Butters Beck, Beck Butters Better there was a tag saying that the complete Love That Bob was going to be available from MPI (I guess that Shout! doesn't mind plugging another firm's products sometimes). Since it has been several years since that Dobie Gillis set was released, I assume that the MPI Love That Bob set is likely not going to be forthcoming - a pity since it would be an instant buy for me. Given that MPI has/had a relationship with the Paul Henning family/estate, perhaps the proposed Love That Bob set was a part of that deal. The Christmas episode of the series Grandpa's Christmas Visit was included as a special feature on MPI's Petticoat Junction/The Beverly Hillbillies Christmas DVD, and I presume that that episode would have been sourced from Henning supplied elements. I know that Henning was a writer on the series, but I have no idea if his family or estate still has any intellectual rights to it. I think a large number of episodes are public domain which may explain the inclusion of the Christmas episode. Anyway, if any MPI representative happens to read this, please put out that Love That Bob collection.

As for Jack Benny, I do have that Shout release as well as a 4-disc Mill Creek set of public domain episodes. I've supplemented those releases with some DVD-rs I've made off of Antenna TV's airing of the syndicated episodes. Then of course I do have a large number of the radio programs. I do hope that either Universal or Shout will give us some more Benny episodes at some point. Our Miss Brooks does have a complete set of HD masters which have aired on MeTV and Decades. I'm hoping that either CBS or some third party licensee will give us the show, but I've heard somewhere that there might be some rights issues with it.

Two of the great mysteries of home video which started back in the early 1980s with beta - Burns ad Allen and Jack Benny not being released in their entirety in one form or another.

 

[chrislong2]

It was mentioned by an insider in another thread that CBS has no plans for this. The 1st two seasons didn't sell unfortunately even when heavily discounted so no reason to continue. Most people appear happy with DVD for this show.

I didn't see that thread but I do know that lots of people were put off and they got lots of bad press by the fact that they were trying to charge near $100 at release for 1 season of I Love Lucy when the whole show could be gotten on DVD for that price. Yes, the price eventually was discounted a lot, but the damage was already done. The problem I don't think was a lack of interest for this iconic show on blu - it was that they shot themselves in the foot in how they went about releasing it (people are hesitant to buy 1 season at a time) and with their crazy pricing. I bet if they released this show on Blu as a complete set for $130 or something like that, they'd make money fine. If the Dick van Dyke show could have the whole show released on blu, then certainly Lucy and Andy Griffith should be!

 

[LouA]

Like a speeding train having the brakes applied, it often takes a while before it comes to a complete stop. But make no mistake, the decline is real - it has been for a long time now.

Gary “still missing quite a few great series from the b&w era” O.

I agree with you that B&W will slowly disappear from DVD. But it's starting to look like all vintage TV will cease on DVD at some point .
And many of my favorite old Shows (like Adventures In Paradise , People's Choice, Trackdown, East Side West Side, Life Of Riley ) won't make it to home video.
There aren't many stores these days , where you can walk in and buy TV shows - black and white or color - on DVD.
Meanwhile, I continue to enjoy the shows I do get . For example , I just got the complete Joey Bishop Show from Amazon.
And recently I've started watching the Californians and Decoy two B&W shows I bought a while back.
So, at least for now, there are some things .

 

[BobO'Link]

Lou, I'd be interested in your impressions of The Joey Bishop Show as reports are episodes are the edited, syndicated, versions with some quality issues, especially in season 1. I'd like to get a copy but those 2 issues coupled with the rather high price are keeping me away.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

And there is at least one other B&W show I hope to see released on DVD soon:
Twelve O'Clock High (TV series) (1964-1966, color from 1966-1967)

~Ben

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

And there is at least one other B&W show I hope to see released on DVD soon:
Twelve O'Clock High (TV series) (1964-1966, color from 1966-1967)

~Ben

 

[LouA]

Lou, I'd be interested in your impressions of The Joey Bishop Show as reports are episodes are the edited, syndicated, versions with some quality issues, especially in season 1. I'd like to get a copy but those 2 issues coupled with the rather high price are keeping me away.

Bob
I haven't gotten a chance to look at any of the Bishop Show . I will make it a point to look at some of season 1 tonight and will post my opinion . Even if it's the cut syndicated version, my guess is this the only way we'll get this show .

 

[LouA]

Bob
I haven't gotten a chance to look at any of the Bishop Show . I will make it a point to look at some of season 1 tonight and will post my opinion . Even if it's the cut syndicated version, my guess is this the only way we'll get this show .

Lou, I'd be interested in your impressions of The Joey Bishop Show as reports are episodes are the edited, syndicated, versions with some quality issues, especially in season 1. I'd like to get a copy but those 2 issues coupled with the rather high price are keeping me away.

I did get a chance to watch some of the season 1 of the Joey Bishop Show. As you probably know, these are MOD DVDr's. First is the pilot which is actually an episode of the Danny Thomas Show , It appears to be complete at a little longer than 25 minutes . After that the 3 episodes of the Joey BIshop Show I watched are all syndicated versions and run slightly longer than 23 minutes. Amazingly , one is in color . The prints look pretty good . So the choice is yours - good prints -syndicated versions or skipping it.
This is the same company that released mostly syndicate versions of the Real McCoys , all around 22+ minutes. I chose to buy that series rather than not see it at all.
This same company also owns the Danny Thomas Show ,and to be honest with you , if they released it , even cut syndicate prints, I'd probably buy it. But, maybe the fact that the pilot I mentioned is uncut, means the Danny Thomas Show is from complete prints .
Hey , I'd rather get uncut factory pressed discs of all three shows I mentioned , but sometimes if you want to see a show , you have to accept what they release, because there may not be other options . You know, for the companies that own these shows we enjoy , it's all about money.
I hope this was helpful.

 

[LouA]

I still hope The Millionaire (1955-60) will be released on DVD...

~Ben

The complete MILLIONAIRE would make a nice DVD set for a small company like Film Chest. There are other deserving shows like Trackdown, Hey Landlord , Welcome to My World, East Side West Side , The Americans (1961), Bill Dana Show, (to name a few) that small companies might try to license. (I can dream can't I !!!). Film Chest did a good job on thier Decoy release .
It does look like Shout Factory is out of the "vintage " tv show business now . But I wonder if we'll see anything more from the CBS MOD program. I've been enjoying thier How to Marry A Millionaire ,and The Californians releases.
Ditto the Blondie 1957 release from Classicflix. I get the impression that Classicflix is looking around for other older shows to release . Let's hope they do.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

The complete MILLIONAIRE would make a nice DVD set for a small company like Film Chest. There are other deserving shows like Trackdown, Hey Landlord , Welcome to My World, East Side West Side , The Americans (1961), Bill Dana Show, (to name a few) that small companies might try to license. (I can dream can't I !!!). Film Chest did a good job on thier Decoy release .
It does look like Shout Factory is out of the "vintage " tv show business now . But I wonder if we'll see anything more from the CBS MOD program. I've been enjoying thier How to Marry A Millionaire ,and The Californians releases.
Ditto the Blondie 1957 release from Classicflix. I get the impression that Classicflix is looking around for other older shows to release . Let's hope the do.

Yes, please. Anything to save the TV-on-DVD market!

~Ben

 

[Neil Brock]

Bob
I haven't gotten a chance to look at any of the Bishop Show . I will make it a point to look at some of season 1 tonight and will post my opinion . Even if it's the cut syndicated version, my guess is this the only way we'll get this show .

I'm going to at some point compare it with the TV Land airings, which I have all of them recorded (minus the first season of course). The DVDs are cut to 23 minutes and were done haphazardly. I have a feeling that the TV Land versions are going to be far more complete. What I may do, if I think it won't be too difficult, is to edit them together to make complete versions. Can't do it with the first season although I do have a portion of those shows from off of film.

 

[Neil Brock]

This same company also owns the Danny Thomas Show ,and to be honest with you , if they released it , even cut syndicate prints, I'd probably buy it. But, maybe the fact that the pilot I mentioned is uncut, means the Danny Thomas Show is from complete prints .
Hey , I'd rather get uncut factory pressed discs of all three shows I mentioned , but sometimes if you want to see a show , you have to accept what they release, because there may not be other options . You know, for the companies that own these shows we enjoy , it's all about money.
I hope this was helpful.

When Danny Thomas Show seasons 4-11 were remastered for COZI, they did 2 versions, the cut, wrong aspect 16x9 version which airs on TV and a complete version in the right aspect ratio. As all of you I'm sure know, Stanley Moger, the head of the company, SFM, which holds the syndication rights, passed away a few months ago. No idea what will happen to his company and their holdings at this point. He did have plans to release the show on BOD but that may be off the table since his demise.

 

[Neil Brock]

And there is at least one other B&W show I hope to see released on DVD soon:
Twelve O'Clock High (TV series) (1964-1966, color from 1966-1967)

~Ben

Rights are too involved and Fox did not want to even deal with it. When the show was asked about, they basically said, don't ask! My guess would be that Adventures in Paradise might fall into the same category, although I really doubt that anyone is beating down the door for that one.

 

[Neil Brock]

I still hope The Millionaire (1955-60) will be released on DVD...

~Ben

I love The Millionaire but I think a DVD release is doubtful. I'm glad that Decades ran the whole series in a marathon which I was able to record, minus the 18 unsyndicated episodes of course.