Predictions for 2018 (1 Viewer)

[bmasters9]

VEI has just released The Powers of Matthew Star (1982-83)! This one is one of those oldie Paramount TV shows I'd long been waiting for!
https://www.visualentertainment.tv/collections/new-release/products/the-powers-of-matthew-star-7071

Get your orders in!

~Ben

And like you said in a separate Matthew Star thread, this release will very likely have Paramount Television's stand-alone tall-peaked Blue Mtn. on the 1983 broadcasts, in addition to the normal mountain on the 1982 broadcasts; the former will be, IINM, a first for vintage logos on DVD, in that it will mark the first time that the stand-alone tall Mtn. (fading from black) has ever seen the light of day (the tall Mtn. has seen action, but only after the Georgian Bay, Ltd. logo on the second- and fourth-season Webster releases from Shout!, IIRC; most vintage Paramounts have been the normal Blue Mtn. or an earlier logo).

 

[Ron1973]

And like you said in a separate Matthew Star thread, this release will very likely have Paramount Television's stand-alone tall-peaked Blue Mtn. on the 1983 broadcasts, in addition to the normal mountain on the 1982 broadcasts; the former will be, IINM, a first for vintage logos on DVD, in that it will mark the first time that the stand-alone tall Mtn. (fading from black) has ever seen the light of day (the tall Mtn. has seen action, but only after the Georgian Bay, Ltd. logo on the second- and fourth-season Webster releases from Shout!, IIRC; most vintage Paramounts have been the normal Blue Mtn. or an earlier logo).

You guys simply amaze me with your knowledge of the logos. I've never thought of it as a big deal, but I read y'all talking about it with interest. The first time I can remember seeing any of the blue mountain was on Laverne and Shirley (I think). I couldn't tell you what year-late 70's, early 80's maybe. I was always fascinated by the Viacom V of Doom and love looking those up on YouTube.

 

[JamesSmith]

Do you think we'll get some more tv releases from the WB Archives for August? It seems their only half up.

Any guesses for tv releases from the WB Archives for September?

--james

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

I still pray VEI (or CBS DVD for MOD) will likely release the following Paramount Television shows and TV movies on DVD...
Barefoot in the Park (1970 TV series) (1970)
Funny Face (1971-72) / The Sandy Duncan Show (1972-73) (both runs were 13 weeks)
Me and the Chimp (1972)
Love Story (TV series) (1973-74)
Paper Moon (TV series) (1974-75)
Archer (1975 TV series) (1975)
Kate McShane (1975-76)
Serpico (TV series) (1976-77)
Blansky's Beauties (1977)
Busting Loose (1977-78)
Who's Watching the Kids? (1978-79)
Brothers and Sisters (1979)
Makin' It (1979)
The Bad News Bears (TV series) (1979-80)
Out of the Blue (1979)
Working Stiffs (1979)
The Associates (U.S. TV series) (1979-80)
Goodtime Girls (1980)
Here's Boomer (1980-82)
Foul Play (TV series) (1981)
Making the Grade (1982)
Star of the Family (1982)
The New Odd Couple (1982-83)
The Renegades (1983)
Ryan's Four (1983)
Mr. Smith (TV series) (1983)
Mr. Sunshine (1986)
All is Forgiven (1986)
The Cavanaughs (1986-89)
Gung Ho (TV series) (1986-87)
The Tortellis (1987)
Bronx Zoo (1987-88)
Duet (1987-89) / Open House (1989-90)
Day by Day (1988-89)
Dear John (1988-92)
Brooklyn Bridge (1991-93)

TV movies:
Seven in Darkness (1969)
The Silent Gun (1969)
Quarantined (1970)
Assault on the Wayne (1971)
Dr. Cook's Garden (1971)
Terror in the Sky (1971)
Women in Chains (1972)
Night of Terror (1972)
The Heist (1972)
The Weekend Nun (1972)
Poor Devil (1973)
A Time for Love (1973)
Egan (1973)
Delancey Street: The Crisis Within (1975)
Law and Order (1976; not to be confused with the popular '90s TV series which also aired on NBC)
Red Alert (1977)
Mary Jane Harper Cried Last Night (1977)
Cindy (1978)
True Grit: A Further Adventure (1978)
America 2100 (1979)
The Gift (1979)
Act of Violence (1979)
The Girl, the Gold Watch and Everything (1980)
The Girl, the Gold Watch and Dynamite (1981)
Herndon (1983)
Space (miniseries) (1985)
Shooter (1988)
(several of these have been officially released on VHS in various European countries, but not here in the US)

~Ben

 

[JamesSmith]

Love your choices Ben. Do you think you can add Ken Howard's The Manhunter to your list?

james

 

[mrz7]

Do you think we'll get some more tv releases from the WB Archives for August? It seems their only half up.

Any guesses for tv releases from the WB Archives for September?

--james

Well now that were approaching the "Holiday" season time where they usually release bigger box sets (not WB Archives in particularly, but some of the other studios like Shout Factory, Starvista/TimeLife, VEI, Mill Creek), I certainly hope that "Knots Landing" and "The Drew Carey Show" will get released (since they are both under Warner Brothers). Since music rights seem to be a big factor of these two shows to get released on DVD, I am hoping another studio instead of WB Archives will take over. I am thinking more like StarVista/TimeLife (a division of Warner) who have released other WB shows like "China Beach", which also had "music rights" issues. Or Shout Factory! who seems to be the only studio (these days) that usually make miracles around holiday season time (like last year with "One Day At A Time" and "WKRP", a couple of years ago). I'm sorry, but I think WB Archives is taking WAY TOO LONG to release these two shows. They just don't seem to be handling these two popular shows correctly......in particular to "Knots Landing", tvshowsondvd.com's facebook page announced that the 1st season of the show is being re-released on MOD for ….get this....$47.99.....for only 13 episodes!!! Well first of all, the 1st and 2nd seasons were already release years ago at retail with a price range of $14.99-24.99. So I find this redundant and overpriced!!! WB Archives needs to get their act together.....release the seasons we need (3-14) or if you want to recoup some of your money for the release of a completed series, I don't mind double dipping for 1 & 2......just move faster on this cause I'll be dead at the pace you continue to go on releasing these two shows!!!! Or better yet.....give them to another studio (like Shout Factory!) who knows how to handle the "music rights" situations better. Sorry, for my ranting.....it's just these are my last two holy grail shows, and I am tired of waiting!!!

 

[Randy Korstick]

Do you think we'll get some more tv releases from the WB Archives for August? It seems their only half up.

Any guesses for tv releases from the WB Archives for September?

--james

I just asked WAC on FB about Mayberry R.F.D. season 2 and they said no news which means they are not working on it right now or there are rights or element issues holding it up. So unfortunately that means it isn't coming until at least December and most likely not until next year.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

I hope that the last two seasons of Webster (1983-1989) will be released on DVD. These last two seasons of the show (1987-1989) were marketed to various syndicated stations, rather than through ABC which broadcast the 1983-1987 run.

The series finale actually featured Michael Dorn guest starring as none other than his signature role of Lt. Worf, making this episode somewhat of a crossover with Paramount's other big TV hit at that time, Star Trek: The Next Generation.

~Ben

 

[Neil Brock]

I still pray VEI (or CBS DVD for MOD) will likely release the following Paramount Television shows and TV movies on DVD...
Barefoot in the Park (1970 TV series) (1970)
Funny Face (1971-72) / The Sandy Duncan Show (1972-73) (both runs were 13 weeks)
Me and the Chimp (1972)
Love Story (TV series) (1973-74)
Paper Moon (TV series) (1974-75)
Archer (1975 TV series) (1975)
Kate McShane (1975-76)
Serpico (TV series) (1976-77)
Blansky's Beauties (1977)
Busting Loose (1977-78)
Who's Watching the Kids? (1978-79)
Brothers and Sisters (1979)
Makin' It (1979)
The Bad News Bears (TV series) (1979-80)
Out of the Blue (1979)
Working Stiffs (1979)
The Associates (U.S. TV series) (1979-80)
Goodtime Girls (1980)
Here's Boomer (1980-82)
Foul Play (TV series) (1981)
Making the Grade (1982)
Star of the Family (1982)
The New Odd Couple (1982-83)
The Renegades (1983)
Ryan's Four (1983)
Mr. Smith (TV series) (1983)
Mr. Sunshine (1986)
All is Forgiven (1986)
The Cavanaughs (1986-89)
Gung Ho (TV series) (1986-87)
The Tortellis (1987)
Bronx Zoo (1987-88)
Duet (1987-89) / Open House (1989-90)
Day by Day (1988-89)
Dear John (1988-92)
Brooklyn Bridge (1991-93)


~Ben

Luckily, most of the shows you mention have existing tape elements as they were transferred for when they ran on TV Land. I will tell you that I don't believe tapes were ever made of Love Story, Archer and Kate McShane. Of the others you mention, most were short run, a half season or less, making it highly unlikely VEI or any entity for that matter would have interest. Shows like Ryan's Four and The Renegades for example were a pilot and a few episodes.

 

[bmasters9]

Shows like Ryan's Four and The Renegades for example were a pilot and a few episodes.

Then why did Mill Creek release Future Cop, which was the same way?

 

[Neil Brock]

Then why did Mill Creek release Future Cop, which was the same way?

Likely because of the science fiction element, the same as Beyond Westworld, which Warner put out. No such fan base exists for dramas or action shows.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

Head of the Class is another 1980s series that should be released on DVD soon, but oh that licensed music!

It was the first and only TV series, as far as I know, that most of its leads had any notable stardom, including Rain Pryor (daughter of the late comic Richard Pryor), Khrystyne Haje and (especially) Tannis Vallely; however, Dan Frischman, along with his fellow HOTC leads Dan Schneider and Brian Robbins, did go on to produce another high-school-themed series called All That for Nickelodeon.

~Ben

 

[MatthewA]

The allegations against Dan Schneider make it unlikely that we'll see many of the shows he was involved with get released.

I hope that the last two seasons of Webster (1983-1989) will be released on DVD. These last two seasons of the show (1987-1989) were marketed to various syndicated stations, rather than through ABC which broadcast the 1983-1987 run.

The series finale actually featured Michael Dorn guest starring as none other than his signature role of Lt. Worf, making this episode somewhat of a crossover with Paramount's other big TV hit at that time, Star Trek: The Next Generation.

~Ben

I think it'll come eventually, they just have to clear the music. Running times should be a non-issue since they were shorter to begin with. That Star Trek episode was basically a clip show in which Webster gets beamed up onto the Starship Enterprise and explains what feelings are to Worf, using clips as examples, including one of the Ben Vereen numbers, which they'll likely have to pay for again. It also is how they got into the Tommy Westphall Universe, since having the actor who created that role on another show inexcusably stalled on DVD* also play a different role here wasn't enough in and of itself. What I can't remember is whether it was a dream, and it wasn't on Hulu because of the music. They just dropped episodes with music entirely the same way they did for other Paramount shows they licensed.

This makes me wonder how Cheers and Family Ties would have played out had they not had Cosby as a lead-in. All three shows had deals to go to first-run syndication if they were cancelled before 100 episodes aired. Webster aired 99 episodes when ABC pulled the plug, but they withheld one Season 3 episode ("Cuckoo's Nest," S3E27), which didn't air until January 1988 in syndication. Cheers and Family Ties got better reviews and won more awards, but Webster actually got better ratings in its first two seasons than those shows did in their first two pre-Cosby seasons; it broke the top 30 in 1983-1984 and 1984-1985, and they didn't until 1984-1985.

It's also connected to Head of the Class by a 1994 TV movie called Tonya and Nancy: The Inside Story, in which Susan Clark played Lavona Harding and Schneider played Shawn Eckhardt. No disrespect to Allison Janney, but this time Susan Clark can legitimately say she did it first.

*Chad Allen was more believable as an autistic person than Dana Plato. There, I said it!

 

[JamesSmith]

The allegations against Dan Schneider make it unlikely that we'll see many of the shows he was involved with get released.

*Chad Allen was more believable as an autistic person than Dana Plato. There, I said it!

What "allegations?"

--james--

 

[The Obsolete Man]

What "allegations?"

--james--

What allegations would usually be made against someone who ran a lot of shows with young girls?

However, these "allegations" are internet rumor fodder only at this time. It's not come out in any actual publications or legit websites yet like Cosby or Weinstein. So far, it appears to just be the internet stirring shit.

 

[MatthewA]

Even when such rumors turned out to be true, they didn't keep Growing Pains off DVD.

 

[rmw650]

I'm still hoping for the completion of Perfect Strangers and the complete series of Empty Nest!

 

[MatthewA]

One wonders whether Disney is saving Empty Nest and other back catalog shows for its new streaming service.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

One wonders whether Disney is saving Empty Nest and other back catalog shows for its new streaming service.

Were there music issues?

And it did disappear off of Laff recently, so maybe it has been vaulted.

 

[MatthewA]

I don't recall it using more music than any other Witt/Thomas/Harris show with or without Disney. Except that Disney, despite their long-held reputation for being cheap, made more of an effort to clear music for The Golden Girls than Sony did for Soap.