Rare American series that aired in England (1 Viewer)

[Frank Soyke]

I am fascinated that you list "Pruitt's of Southampton" as airing in the UK. I had heard that it aired their in the 80's a few years back but never had confirmation from anyone until your posting. This is one show I would love to see released onto DVD as it is extremely obscure. I have only managed to view 3 of the 30 episodes and would love to see the entire series . I wish some station, somewhere - anywhere, would air this in syndication again or better yet, be released onto DVD.

Trust me, you aren't missing much. I was eager to get it too back in the early 90's when a fellow VHS tape trader offered me some episodes but it became very clear to me why it got cancelled very quickly.

 

[cherisland]

Trust me, you aren't missing much. I was eager to get it too back in the early 90's when a fellow VHS tape trader offered me some episodes but it became very clear to me why it got cancelled very quickly.

I know a lot of people share your feelings on this sitcom (it made a list of all-time worst sitcoms), but I am not one of them that agree with those feelings or it being on that list. Having seen the pilot episode plus two later episodes I thoroughly enjoyed the 60's style humor of this series. I liked the reverse Beverly Hillbillies idea and Miss Diller's crazy antics reminded me of stuff Lucy would do. Sure it was corny and camp, but I thought it was hilarious! I would love to see more episodes and actually compiled the episode guide for this series that is on tv.com several years back. I wish that VHS trader had contacted me back then ! lol Definitely one series I wish would come onto DVD.

 

[Frank Soyke]

I know a lot of people share your feelings on this sitcom (it made a list of all-time worst sitcoms), but I am not one of them that agree with those feelings or it being on that list. Having seen the pilot episode plus two later episodes I thoroughly enjoyed the 60's style humor of this series. I liked the reverse Beverly Hillbillies idea and Miss Diller's crazy antics reminded me of stuff Lucy would do. Sure it was corny and camp, but I thought it was hilarious! I would love to see more episodes and actually compiled the episode guide for this series that is on tv.com several years back. I wish that VHS trader had contacted me back then ! lol Definitely one series I wish would come onto DVD.

At that time, the same 7-8 episodes were floating around the VHS collectors market because that's all that could be found on 16mm. I don't know how many more prints out of the 30 have been found since then.

 

[Neil Brock]

There was actually someone who posted on a British TV forum about having recorded the episodes but the person never responded when I tried to contact them about it.

 

[JoeDoakes]

Great story. I love it when the big studios rip off people and try to hide behind shady accounting practices. James Garner got Universal over The Rockford Files as well. He had a percentage of profits and after hundreds of millions in syndication sales, they claimed the show still hadn't turned a profit.

In Sherwood Swartz's book about Gilligan's Island, he talks about suing Universal for his share of the profits on that show. He eventually won, but he concluded that to make any money in Hollywood, one must have two hit shows as the second is necessary to pay the legal bills to get the rest of the money from the first hit show.

 

[cherisland]

At that time, the same 7-8 episodes were floating around the VHS collectors market because that's all that could be found on 16mm. I don't know how many more prints out of the 30 have been found since then.

Thats quite interesting as all I have ever been able to find is 3 episodes. If there is 4 or 5 more episodes out there I would love to see them - whoever has them must be keeping them under wraps.To my knowledge the 3 that I have seen seem to be the only ones presently circulating.

 

[cherisland]

There was actually someone who posted on a British TV forum about having recorded the episodes but the person never responded when I tried to contact them about it.

I remember seeing a similar posting on a British TV Forum site and like you, never heard back from them when I tried to contact them. This is one obscure show that someone should officially release onto DVD. If "My Living Doll" can warrant a release where alot of the episodes are still "lost", maybe there is hope?

 

[Frank Soyke]

Thats quite interesting as all I have ever been able to find is 3 episodes. If there is 4 or 5 more episodes out there I would love to see them - whoever has them must be keeping them under wraps.To my knowledge the 3 that I have seen seem to be the only ones presently circulating.

That was back about 92-95 when tape trading of classic TV was at it's heyday. People were discovering rare 16mm prints of all kinds of obscure shows and transferring them to VHS for trading (or...other purposes). Luckily, I was able to pick up shows like this as well as obscure (at that time) stuff like T.H.E. Cat, Markham, The Defenders, Run For Your Life, Bailey's of Balboa, Love On A Rooftop, Occasional Wife, Accidental Family, Tightrope, Richard Diamond, Channing, My Mother The Car, Twelve 0 Clock High, a whole pile of Sunset Strip and Hawaiian Eye... and many others. I miss those days