Ozzie & Harriet (2 Viewers)

[Joe Lugoff]

Yeah, so what's the story on THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES? Don't leave us hanging.

Now I have a compulsion to comment on: "Going back to the elements for a show that lasted 14 or 15 seasons and had something like 39 episodes for most seasons ..."

The number of seasons it lasted isn't a mystery. It's 14, which is an incredible run. (Although it has to be admitted that its continuance for so long was almost entirely due to it being on ABC, which in those days was a poor third to CBS and NBC and they didn't expect really high ratings from their shows -- and the popularity of Ricky Nelson with teenage girls. Whenever Ozzie told ABC that Ricky wanted to leave the series, ABC told Ozzie "goodbye," so he talked his son into staying.)

There was no rhyme or reason to the number of episodes per season on O&H. Actually, only three seasons had 39 episodes. Here's the rundown:

Season 1 - 39
2 - 39
3 - 28
4 - 26
5 -39
6 - 35
7 - 36
8 - 32
9 - 33
10 - 25
11 - 26
12 - 25
13 - 26
14 - 26

That gives a grand total of 435 episodes. Among scripted shows, only three network series ("Gunsmoke," "The Simpsons" and "Law and Order"), one network/syndicated series ("Lassie") and one syndicated series ("Death Valley Days") had more episodes.

 

[Neil Brock]

If any of you guys have an extra $3.5 million laying around, you might be able to talk the owner into selling.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1822-Camino-Palmero-St-Los-Angeles-CA-90046/20803464_zpid/

Funny because that's around the amount I figure will be needed to digitize, master and author the 435 O&H episodes and the 24 Ozzie's Girls 2-Inch Tapes. Provided they don't do any color correction of course.

 

[John Hermes]

Funny because that's around the amount I figure will be needed to digitize, master and author the 435 O&H episodes and the 24 Ozzie's Girls 2-Inch Tapes. Provided they don't do any color correction of course.

Talk about serendipity. Now you can fund the project and buy the house.

 

[Ron1973]

My guess on The Beverly Hillbillies is this (since we're still waiting....lol):CBS has treated it like the proverbial red-headed step child. There was the one retrospective in the 90's that was utterly stupid even for Hillbillies standards. At least Max Baer, Jr. made an appearance as a "doctor" who followed in Granny's footsteps and he had about 25 kids. Ellie Mae had a talking bear, etc. Other than that, it seems CBS just wishes it never existed.

They did nothing to differentiate the releases from the public domain episodes out there already. What's the casual fan going to buy? Releases from the dollar bin at Wally World or the $30 set?

There's also the fact that the MPI release covered part of Season 2, so I'm sure a lot of people felt no need to double dip.

Speaking of MPI, they're the only "official" company to put out Season 1 and it was from 16mm elements and not the original 35mm negatives. You have to buy both sets plus the Christmas episode DVD to get the whole of Season 1.

This is a series begging for a proper release IMHO.

 

[John Hermes]

Latest update from Sam Nelson:
Hello everyone,
Happy almost Halloween. Just a quick update. Hope everyone is doing well. Transfers are good but slow. We are averaging about 5 episodes a month so far. This mostly has to do with UCLA and their schedule. The good new is, they look really good….so far. There have been some early technical bumps in the road, which mostly have to do with the age of the films. It super interesting to see them as they come in because the films themselves have not been taken out of their canisters in over 40 years. Its such a cool feeling to be the first to watch them in that long, even the imperfections make them charming somehow.….I can't wait to share them with you all.

 

[jimmyjet]

i can wait - great that it looks like we will end up with a pretty good product !!

 

[JoeDoakes]

Latest update from Sam Nelson:
Hello everyone,
Happy almost Halloween. Just a quick update. Hope everyone is doing well. Transfers are good but slow. We are averaging about 5 episodes a month so far. This mostly has to do with UCLA and their schedule. The good new is, they look really good….so far. There have been some early technical bumps in the road, which mostly have to do with the age of the films. It super interesting to see them as they come in because the films themselves have not been taken out of their canisters in over 40 years. Its such a cool feeling to be the first to watch them in that long, even the imperfections make them charming somehow.….I can't wait to share them with you all.

So, at this rate, it should take a little over seven years to get the full series. (435/(12 x 5) = 7.25)

 

[Radioman970]

^^^ worth the wait. I'll milk them like I do other things (flipper, etc...) until more and more shows up.

 

[John Hermes]

So, at this rate, it should take a little over seven years to get the full series. (435/(12 x 5) = 7.25)

I'm not thrilled about the pace either, but at least something's being done after all these years. Maybe season sets will be released as they are completed. Hopefully, the speed of work will pick up as well.

 

[MatthewA]

It looks like something that will be worth the effort once it's finally done.

 

[John Hermes]

I thought I would post the latest update from Sam Nelson (12-26-13). No imminent release but progress continues...I guess. Sounds like he may have the first couple seasons transferred, if not ready for release yet.

"Restoration: Digitization is going great, but I have spent a considerable amount of time dealing with finding a quality and cost effective solution for the clean up of the episodes. Its been a bit of a trial and error. Partly because they are so old, the quality varies from one to the other. Either the end results aren't up to speed, or the amount of money the companies demand would allow for only handful to get completed. That said, I have decided to do the restoration myself. This would not only give me control of exactly what you are getting, but would make the hands on approach a much more personal endeavour for all 80 episodes. Presently getting all the software and hardware in place. Also getting help and supervision from one of the best restorers in the business. Good stuff coming."

 

[Jeff*H]

Hmmm. I certainly appreciate the effort he's undertaking, but his cryptic message raises more questions and concerns than it answers. Is UCLA still involved? Is doing restoration work himself the best solution? Did the Kickstarter funding run out? (I'm not clear on how that process works). My fingers are crossed that all will work out and we can see some early results/samples posted soon, and a Season 1 release in 2014, a portion of whose proceeds can help fund future work that remains.Thanks for the update.

 

[JoeDoakes]

Hopefully, someone will warn him about excessive DNR.

 

[jimmyjet]

all "80" episodes ? is that 2 seasons worth ?

 

[Joe Lugoff]

According to the online sources I checked, Season 1 and 2 of "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" both had 39 episodes. However, this series was filmed very much out of broadcast order, and it's possible 40 episodes were actually filmed each season, so maybe two of the "80" mentioned above were saved for Season 3 -- which implies these are being worked on in order of filming, not the actual broadcast order.

But what do I know?

 

[Neil Brock]

Hmmm. I certainly appreciate the effort he's undertaking, but his cryptic message raises more questions and concerns than it answers. Is UCLA still involved? Is doing restoration work himself the best solution? Did the Kickstarter funding run out? (I'm not clear on how that process works). My fingers are crossed that all will work out and we can see some early results/samples posted soon, and a Season 1 release in 2014, a portion of whose proceeds can help fund future work that remains.Thanks for the update.

The kickstarter funding probably ran out after the first month. Do you have any idea how much a project like this costs? Obviously Sam didn't because his estimates were laughably low. Lucky if the money he raised is enough to cover the costs of blank digibetas. Once the transferring and restoration costs kick in, you're talking 6 figures per season at even the cheapest of places.

 

[John Karras]

I thought I would post the latest update from Sam Nelson (12-26-13). No imminent release but progress continues...I guess. Sounds like he may have the first couple seasons transferred, if not ready for release yet.

"Restoration: Digitization is going great, but I have spent a considerable amount of time dealing with finding a quality and cost effective solution for the clean up of the episodes. Its been a bit of a trial and error. Partly because they are so old, the quality varies from one to the other. Either the end results aren't up to speed, or the amount of money the companies demand would allow for only handful to get completed. That said, I have decided to do the restoration myself. This would not only give me control of exactly what you are getting, but would make the hands on approach a much more personal endeavour for all 80 episodes. Presently getting all the software and hardware in place. Also getting help and supervision from one of the best restorers in the business. Good stuff coming."

The above statement indicates two things in my view:
1. Nelson is finally getting a more realistic take on the kind of funding this project is actually going to require.
2. Self-restoration by a technical novice (even with help from a specialist) is likely to produce disappointing results. Film restoration (the actual elements) and post-chaining software correction are two very different disciplines.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Digibeta is so 1993. Today, people use tapeless formats to digitize older programs.

 

[Steve...O]

Thanks, John, for the update.

Sad to say, but barring Sam getting a huge cash infusion, this project probably isn't going to end like anyone hoped. There are another 12 seasons (350+ episodes) to go and his update makes it sound like this is going to be an amateur hour project.

 

[Gary OS]

Thanks, John, for the update.

Sad to say, but barring Sam getting a huge cash infusion, this project probably isn't going to end like anyone hoped. There are another 12 seasons (350+ episodes) to go and his update makes it sound like this is going to be an amateur hour project.

Unfortunately, I have to concur. I had hoped for a better outcome, but from early on I had serious concerns. And now those concerns look to be a reality.


Gary "very bummed at this news - I don't see any way to spin this positively" O.