Most Episodes with no Season Set DVD Releases (1 Viewer)

[mmyers]

Gary OS--

I agree with your thoughts about the 50s/60s westerns. One of the westerns that has never appeared in the dvd era was Hotel de Paree--the bad guy turned good guy. Do you know if Timeless ever considered released a dvd set on Hotel de Paree? It would appear to have been a show right up their alley at one time.

 

[Gary OS]

Gary OS--

I agree with your thoughts about the 50s/60s westerns. One of the westerns that has never appeared in the dvd era was Hotel de Paree--the bad guy turned good guy. Do you know if Timeless ever considered released a dvd set on Hotel de Paree? It would appear to have been a show right up their alley at one time.

I won't swear to it, but my memory is saying that Timeless was looking into it at one time. But I honestly can't remember if that was an actual 'crystal ball' thing, or just a discussion I had with an insider a long time ago.


Gary "it definitely would have been right up Timeless' alley, that's for sure" O.

 

[Neil Brock]

At least one of the shows should be to Gary's liking anyway.

 

[Neil Brock]

Gary OS--

I agree with your thoughts about the 50s/60s westerns. One of the westerns that has never appeared in the dvd era was Hotel de Paree--the bad guy turned good guy. Do you know if Timeless ever considered released a dvd set on Hotel de Paree? It would appear to have been a show right up their alley at one time.

I think that if Timeless would have been able to strike a deal with CBS for a western, Trackdown and maybe Gunslinger would have been higher on their list. But as with most shows not rerun in decades, element transfers would have been an issue.

 

[Ron1973]

I think the western genre often receives hyperbolic rhetoric for being too violent and unkind by those who view things in - how shall I say it - a more "shades of gray" world. And by those that are always looking for TV series in general to teach the untrained and stupid masses instead of simply entertain them. But I've come to loathe the way that so many TV shows feel the need to remind us that everyone is both good and bad. That we should feel empathy for the 'bad' guy and find things to dislike about the 'good' guy. There was plenty of nuance and thought-provoking points made in quite a few of the 50's and 60's westerns (as Randall mentioned above). But I think it's also nice to watch a half-hour or hour of television, as a means of pure entertainment, and see a straight up Good Guy/Bad Guy episode where everything doesn't have to be so gray and muddled that you can't even figure out who's who. Westerns did a fine job in making that distinction and allowing us to just sit back and enjoy that most basic of storytelling - good triumphs over evil in the end.

Take care, everyone!


Gary "I see enough of the real world in modern gray-toned TV, on the news, and in my own personal life - give me some nice escapism in my entertainment choices and don't try to pound me over the head with the 'lesson of the week' all the time" O.

P.S. To bring this back on track - I really do wish Lassie, Ozzie & Harriet, Dragnet, The Millionaire, The Lineup, or one of the many other long-running series mentioned earlier in this thread would see a nice release.

I would certainly go for Lassie!

 

[Gary OS]

At least one of the shows should be to Gary's liking anyway.

Yay! I hope it's the one that's coming in a few months and not the one that's only in the tbd stage.

I think that if Timeless would have been able to strike a deal with CBS for a western, Trackdown and maybe Gunslinger would have been higher on their list. But as with most shows not rerun in decades, element transfers would have been an issue.

Trackdown was absolutely one that Timeless was pursuing several years ago. That would have been a real nice addition. But I do have a nagging, but not 100% sure fire, memory of Hotel de Paree being looked into as well.

I would certainly go for Lassie!

That would certainly be a welcome addition, Ron. Here's hoping.


Gary "good speaking with you guys the last couple of days" O.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

I, too, like to see bad people blown away, with no questions asked.

The problem is being sure they're the "bad people".

Considering what's going on in the world today, we need to avoid simple-minded solutions. We know, all too sadly, that there's a group in the world today who thinks we're the "bad people", and they don't ask questions. They just start killing.

That's the reason I made my earlier sarcastic comment.

I like it all -- the shows that are stupid fun and the ones that make you think. You have to THINK sometimes, or you're living a pretty stupid life.

Back on topic: We now know Gary will like one of the B&W shows coming out -- so now I know I'll like one, too (the other one).

 

[Darby67]

I've got a good feeling ("individually" and "seasonally" speaking) about The Defenders

A very good, reasonable feeling...

Now if only I had the same good feeling about Universal, Fabulous Films, and Shout! Factory hammering out an agreement to do complete series Region 1 DVD releases of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, then my grail quest for classic television would be complete.

 

[Jack P]

I seem to be the one caught in the middle of not wanting anything to do with social justice dramas but who has also had enough of westerns!

Oh, if only Burke's Law hadn't had one season released already I could have some hope!

 

[Ron1973]

As long as Constantly Being Stalled gives me the rest of The Beverly Hillbillies, I'll be in the "officially done" territory. It's not to say there aren't other releases I want to see, but that's my grail, and it should've been finished years ago.

 

[FanCollector]

I certainly hope they finish The Beverly Hillbillies very soon also! Just curious, though--is there a major studio you feel has been better about the stalling issue? Which one(s)?

 

[Ron1973]

I certainly hope they finish The Beverly Hillbillies very soon also! Just curious, though--is there a major studio you feel has been better about the stalling issue? Which one(s)?

I suppose they all have their faults, and it could be the fact that the shows I have the most fondness for are CBS shows. I believe the 2nd season of TBH came out in 2008, the first release. That's 8 years ago! We don't even have half of the series, and it isn't like there is bunches and bunches of music to be cleared. Honestly at this point they SHOULD be releasing S1, but it should have came after they had got S9 out. A release a year instead of this constant stalling would have put S1 right on schedule for this year. They farmed out The Phil Silvers Show to Shout! and VEI took over the reigns of Barnaby Jones. It just seems they abandon things as soon as they start them unless you're Lucy or Andy.

 

[FanCollector]

It's been frustrating to be sure. In a way, I feel like Paramount/CBS stalled more because they started more. They put out a lot more classic series than any other studio, so although I suspect their stalling percentage is actually better than most studios, their number of stalled series is greater. I'm glad that they started licensing out their shows, though. Because they were better about putting out their own stuff, they came late to that party.

Their music licensing policies (once CBS took over television distribution from Paramount) have been ghastly, but as compared to Universal, Sony, Fox, MGM, and pre-archive Warner Brothers, I think CBS has been far and away the best major studio for getting their pre-1990 television library released on DVD.

Nothing about that comparison makes the absence of their remaining stalled and unstarted series less annoying, except to note that if The Beverly Hillbillies were owned by another studio, we'd probably have less of it out right now.

 

[jknu0526]

What is the problem with a show like Empty Nest? Are they not releasing it due to assumptions about interest?

 

[FanCollector]

What is the problem with a show like Empty Nest? Are they not releasing it due to assumptions about interest?

I suspect that's the biggest problem. It was pretty spectacularly unsuccessful in syndication, so the studio probably doesn't foresee a huge market for it on DVD. (Please don't think I'm making a qualitative judgment...I love the show. At least for the first few seasons, I think Richard Mulligan gave one of the great television performances of all time.)

It doesn't help that the studio is Disney. They don't have much of a pre-1995 catalogue, so they don't really have much of an operation for getting those shows released. The Golden Girls is obviously an exception that even they could appreciate, but apart from that show, they have very little interest in their older television material. Boy Meets World was ultimately completed when they made the deal with Lionsgate, but Disney itself gave up on that show, and it was probably a better financial risk than Empty Nest. I wish an independent company with lower profit margin expectations would license Empty Nest, but Disney also doesn't do too many licensing deals.

 

[Frank Soyke]

I've got a good feeling ("individually" and "seasonally" speaking) about The Defenders

A very good, reasonable feeling...

Now if only I had the same good feeling about Universal, Fabulous Films, and Shout! Factory hammering out an agreement to do complete series Region 1 DVD releases of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, then my grail quest for classic television would be complete.

I would love this to be true, but I am a little apprehensive to believe that a Defenders release is forthcoming. I seem to recall someone on here posting something about CBS stating they had no plans to release this show so my question would then become, if not CBS, who would have licensed it from CBS for release? The options IMO are relatively limited. VEI doesn't do B/w historically and Shout has long since quit putting out black and white shows and moved to releasing primarily 80's and 90's stuff, so who is left? By the way, this would apply to Ben Casey as well.

 

[Darby67]

I would love this to be true, but I am a little apprehensive to believe that a Defenders release is forthcoming. I seem to recall someone on here posting something about CBS stating they had no plans to release this show so my question would then become, if not CBS, who would have licensed it from CBS for release? The options IMO are relatively limited. VEI doesn't do B/w historically and Shout has long since quit putting out black and white shows and moved to releasing primarily 80's and 90's stuff, so who is left? By the way, this would apply to Ben Casey as well.

Frank, I cannot reveal the source (and I'm not trying to play coy here) but suffice it say it has been a reliable one before. If it comes to fruition, the apparent licensee definitely makes sense (keep in mind that some distributors may not be completely out of the businesses that we assumed they were) and we would need to support the release in order to see more

 

[Neil Brock]

I, too, like to see bad people blown away, with no questions asked.

The problem is being sure they're the "bad people".

Considering what's going on in the world today, we need to avoid simple-minded solutions. We know, all too sadly, that there's a group in the world today who thinks we're the "bad people", and they don't ask questions. They just start killing.

That's the reason I made my earlier sarcastic comment.

I like it all -- the shows that are stupid fun and the ones that make you think. You have to THINK sometimes, or you're living a pretty stupid life.

Back on topic: We now know Gary will like one of the B&W shows coming out -- so now I know I'll like one, too (the other one).

Agree 100%. I enjoy Have Gun Will Travel immensely, at least the serious episodes where he kills people, the comedic ones not so much. But I also love poignant shows, like Wonder Years and Brooklyn Bridge as well as the socially relevant shows, which some here find so appalling. Other than a brief period in the late 60s, it seems that those shows became scarce after that. Never saw Lou Grant originally but grabbed the first 3 seasons off Hulu and that's a good show, a throwback to the early 60s classics.

 

[Neil Brock]

Yearly update. Not much change from last year with only The Defenders dropping off the list.

Lassie - 587
Ozzie and Harriet - 435
G.E. Theatre - 293
Burns and Allen - 291 (including 1st 2 live seasons)
Dragnet (1950s Version) - 276
Fireside Theatre - 268
Jack Benny - 256 (also includes live episodes)
Life of Riley (Bendix) - 217
The Millionaire - 207
77 Sunset Strip - 205
The Lineup (a/k/a San Francisco Beat) - 201
Love That Bob - 173
Empty Nest - 170
Adventures of Rin Tin Tin - 164
Step By Step - 160
Bachelor Father - 157
December Bride - 157
Cold Case - 156
Sheriff of Cochise/U.S. Marshall - 156
Ben Casey - 153
Trapper John M.D. - 151
Chicago Hope - 141 (was released overseas)
Judging Amy - 138
Hawaiian Eye - 134
Our Miss Brooks - 130
Four Star Playhouse - 129
The Gale Storm Show (a/k/a Oh Susannah) - 126
My Little Margie - 126
The Steve Harvey Show - 123
Yes Dear - 122
I Led 3 Lives - 117
Whirlybirds - 117
Head of the Class - 114
One on One - 113
Wild Bill Hickok - 113
Amen - 111
The Hogan Family - 110
Kit Carson - 104
The People's Choice - 104
Private Secretary - 104
The Farmer's Daughter - 101
Unhappily Ever After - 100

 

[mattfire64]

I'm hoping that the recent MeTV/Decades airings of The Millionaire, Our Miss Brooks and 77 Sunset Strip will maybe renew some interest in these series to give them some sort of release.

Whereas The Millionaire and 77 Sunset Strip might be a bit difficult to pull off with no remastering, there is really no reason why CBS couldn't give Our Miss Brooks a release since they went through the trouble of remastering it into HD.