JOSEPH STEFANO (FIRST SEASON 'OUTER LIMITS' PRODUCER) PASSES AWAY!!!!! (2 Viewers)

[Jeff#]

And yet in 1963, there were Mr. Ed and My Favorite Martian. There is just no accounting for the nation's tastes.

 

[Michael Alden]

As well as The Defenders, The Nurses, East Side West Side, Combat, The Fugitive, Route 66, Channing, Mr. Novak, Ben Casey, The Eleventh Hour and The Lieutenant, all great dramas.

 

[Jeff#]

This off-topic discussion within a discussion was about comedies and light shows such as Batman, and not dramas.

 

[Lynda-Marie]

Mr. Stefano was involved with truly original, innovative television and movies. That is something there is too little of in this world.

RIP Mr. Stefano. Your originality can never be replaced :frowning:

 

[JeffT.]

Well there is an art to comedy which (I suppose) has as much validity on tv as any other genre...perhaps more since the ratings for these sitcoms has always been solid!

But in the case of BATMAN its particular forte seems to have been non-art and the theater of the absurd.

I've always found MY FAVOURITE MARTIAN (CBS 1963-66) to be a refreshingly original and immensely entertaining SF sitcom...certainly BEWITCHED (ABC 1964-72) owes a lot to the (what would become conventions) innovations originated on the series.

As far as the more conventional dramas go while they may be honourable in their intent the vast majority of them just don't have any appeal for today's younger aged audience demographic which accounts for a substantial amount of the DVD retail sales.

Unlike SF (and there are now SF themed tv stations in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. with even more no doubt springing up elsewhere) there is really nothing present for these younger people to stimulate and inspire their imagination and offer something out-of-the-ordinary apart from the mundane tensions and anxieties that are constantly faced in the everyday world. Succinctly put the average person out there just doesn't want wallow in abject misery all the time.

This is precisely what I was attempting to impress that SF has a definite appeal (and a distinct advantage in terms of marketability) to the DVD consumer in the 21st Century over the vast majority of strait dramatic shows.

A large percentage of the DVD consumers who purchase the older tv series are from the (so-called) babyboomer generation (I happen to be one of them) who watched many of these shows when they were growing up as kids...and this (generally) does not include the more adult oriented programs that aired in the 9:30 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. weeknight (or rather school night) timeslots.

It does encompass shows like WALT DISNEY PRESENTS, LASSIE, LEAVE IT TO BEAVER, DENNIS THE MENACE, THE FLINTSTONES,, THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW, MCHALE'S NAVY, THE OUTER LIMITS, MY FAVOURITE MARTIAN, THE PATTY DUKE SHOW, VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, THE MUNSTERS, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, JONNY QUEST, LOST IN SPACE, BATMAN, STAR TREK, THE TIME TUNNEL, THE GREEN HORNET, THE INVADERS and LAND OF THE GIANTS most of which have already been (or will be) released on DVD.

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (NBC 1964-68) was a bust in its original 10:00 p.m. time period but when it was moved to more earlier in the evening it became a smash hit (where it was enthusiastically embraced by the teen and college student viewing audience demographic in particular)!

There was a reason that THE TWILIGHT ZONE was specifically selected for (a high priced) definitive edition DVD series. In other words we are discussing a potential commodity that has mainstream attraction with today's consumer not just (narrowly) marginal interest.

PERRY MASON (CBS 1957-66) was just recently dropped from the TV LAND (CANADA) programming schedule (after a limited run) while BATMAN is still going on stronger than ever! In this instance quality had no relevency to popularity.

Jeff T.