Ron Ely's Tarzan? (1 Viewer)

[Mark To]

I was just watching a couple of episodes tonight and that was actually a pretty good show, much better than that POS that ran on WB or UPN or one of those garbage networks a couple of years ago. It has really kind of gotten lost in the shuffle as I don't even think any cable networks ever gave it any play.

 

[Gary OS]

Count me in as a fan of this show. Haven't seen it in at least 20 years, but my memories of it are still strong. I'd love to see this series released on dvd!

Gary "it only went two seasons, but they were two great seasons" O.

 

[Bert Greene]

Having not seen it since the mid-70s, my memories of it are somewhat foggy, other than I recall enjoying it. I'd love to see it appear on dvd. I'm a sucker for adventure shows of such vintage. Jungle hi-jinx in particular. I suppose "Tarzan" would be more viable nowadays than its jungle kin, "Daktari" or "Cowboy in Africa." But, I'd welcome any of it. I've even bought Alpha's "Ramar" volumes.

 

[Gary->dee]

Wow I was JUST thinking about the show the other day. But then again I was watching American Graffiti on TCM so that could explain the reason why.

(the first person that makes the connection between the two wins a smart pants awards)

 

[Frank Anderson]

I wouldn't mind having the movies by Mike Henry either.

[url=https://static.hometheaterforum.com/imgrepo/7/7d/images_smiley_spidey.gif] [/url]

 

[Mark To]

Manuel Padilla Jr. played Jai, Tarzan's pal and Carlos in the movie.

 

[Gary->dee]

We have a winna! Good one, Mark.


Wasn't there a character named in Cheetah in the Ron Ely series? I sometimes confuse Jai's character with someone or something named Cheetah.

 

[Steve Phillips]

I used to watch reruns of this on WGN years ago. I've got a couple on tape; those didn't seem to hold up very well but as a fan of the character I'd probably be interested in seeing some sort of DVD release.

 

[Charles Ellis]

I believe Fox owns the rights to this show, another one of many yet to be released from the Fox vaults. Whoever runs Fox Home Video's TV division should be fired- he's WAY behind Warner Bros., Paramount, and Universal in releasing vintage shows on DVD!

Besides Tarzan, where's

Dobie Gillis
Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea
Peyton Place
Land of the Giants
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
The Green Hornet
Batman (but there's a rights issue with Warners)
Judd for the Defense
Room 222
Mr. Belvedere - you get the point....

 

[Gord Lacey]

Umm...I think those are some pretty harsh words for Mr. Staddon, the man who has probably done more for TV-DVD than anyone else. You may wish to take back such harsh comments for someone that many on the forum have respect for.

Gord

 

[Steve Phillips]

duplicate post sorry

 

[Steve Phillips]

We also have to be realistic and understand the potential audience for some of this stuff (like ROOM 222) is very small.

Give the guy a break!

 

[Paul_Scott]

i'd love to see Room 222.
that title was recently mentioned in an article about a studio looking to increase their tv on dvd profile- i didn't remember it as being Fox, but i guess i was wrong.

oh, and i would really like to see Tarzan too.
i haven't seen it in over 25 yrs, but i remember liking it quite a bit (although Rons blonde locks were disconcerting for a while)

since Fox seems to have a pretty energetic deal going with Anchor Bay at the moment, maybe some of these 'odd man out' tv titles may have a shot yet...

 

[Gord Lacey]

Paul, that article was about Paramount.

Gord

 

[Paul_Scott]

i thought that was it Gord, but was Room 222 specifically mentioned by the studio, or was it another fan assuming it was under the domain of Paramount?

 

[Mark To]

Room 222 is Fox. I may have inadverantly put it in the Paramount list.

Speaking of Fox, they also own the Four Star libarary, of which we have not seen anything. Among those titles are dozens of TV shows, including:
Burke's Law
Honey West
Target the Corrupters
Saints and Sinners
The Big Valley
Dick Powell Theatre
The Detectives
Law and Mr. Jones
The Rogues
Wanted Dead or Alive
McKeever and the Colonel
Tom Ewell Show
Ensign O'Toole
Zane Gray Theatre


And they own the New World library, including both versions of Life of Riley.

And the MTM library, of which we have yet to see 99% of the shows.

And then there are their own shows. In addition to these that have been mentioned:
Dobie Gillis
Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea
Peyton Place
Land of the Giants
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
The Green Hornet
Batman (but there's a rights issue with Warners)
Judd for the Defense
Room 222

There are many others:

Adventures in Paradise
Hong Kong
Bus Stop
Follow the Sun
Julia
Felony Squad
Daniel Boone
Bracken's World
Time Tunnel
Broken Arrow
My Friend Flicka
Five Fingers
Arnie
Nanny and the Professor


I'm sorry Gord, but you may think they are doing a good job releasing their properties but I just don't see it. I look on my shelf of over 200 television DVDs and I see Lost in Space and Mary Tyler Moore and that's it from Fox. I have lots of Columbia, WB, Paramount, Image and Universal but little Fox. Not what I would call a good job at all.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Thanks, Mark! I feel totally vindicated in my opinion of Fox's laziness in bringing its TV catalog to DVD compared to other studios. I mean, look at how long it's taken to announce the upcoming release of Year 2 of The Mary Tyler Moore Show!

 

[CherylWI]

It would be a dream come true to get Adventures in Paradise and Hong Kong in a decent print.

 

[Gord Lacey]

I'm sorry, but I totally disagree with you guys. I know you all prefer to see older shows, but there just isn't a huge demand for those titles. Fox, and every other company out there, is interested in making money off the DVDs. When MTM didn't sell as well as they expected then they were shy to release the other seasons, and probably shy to try some of the older shows they own. I haven't heard of half the shows on Mark's list, so I canbe counted out as a potential customer along with many others from my generation.

Calling for the firing of Peter Staddon because he's not releasing older shows isn't a good way to encourage them to start looking into their older catalog.

Here's a list that Mark provided along with the current unreleased ranking on my site:

Batman (10)
Time Tunnel (148)
Voyage To The Bottom of the Sea (187)
The Green Hornet (251)
Land of the Giants (258)
The Big Valley (260)

Dobie Gillis (513)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (532)
Nanny and the Professor (571)
Daniel Boone (652)
Wanted Dead or Alive (819)
Room 222 (835)
Honey West (922)
Burke's Law (997)

Adventures in Paradise (1447)
Peyton Place (1520)
Julia (1733)
My Friend Flicka (1969)

Zane Gray Theatre (2214)
Broken Arrow (2341)
The Rogues (2590)
The Detectives (2664)
Judd for the Defense (2895)

Bracken's World (3218)
Hong Kong (3520)
Arnie (3569)
Felony Squad (3694)
Ensign O'Toole (3849)

Dick Powell Theatre (4078)
Bus Stop (4081)

Five Fingers (5419)

McKeever and the Colonel (6009)
Law and Mr. Jones (6267)
Target the Corrupters (6504)

Follow the Sun (not listed)
Saints and Sinners (not listed)
Tom Ewell Show (not listed)

So we know that Batman, and probably Green Hornet, are tied up with legal issues. Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea are both under consideration, which only leaves Land of the Giants and the Big Valley as the only titles that haven't been discussed out of the top 500 shows listed on the site, and on Mark's list.

While I would never claim that this list is 100% accurate, it shows the level of interest in the shows on the site. Three shows haven't had any interest at all, since they aren't listed on the site, and no one has ever requested that they be added. So it appears there just isn't interest for a lot of these shows, so can you really blame Fox for not releasing them?

Oh, and before you all complain that the site doesn't represent the age group that wants these shows, we have a lot of older users on the site. Every age group is represented, along with an even split between males and females.

Gord

 

[Charles Ellis]

I think you're missing the point, Gord. My criticsm was about how slow Fox is compared to other studios in releasing classic TV shows on DVD. Look at the big push that Paramount is having with with everything from I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show to The Brady Bunch and Happy Days. At Warner Bros., there's Gilligan's Island, Wonder Woman, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Night Court, with plans for Maverick and The Adventures of Superman for later this year. And I understand that one of Warners' oldest TV titles, 77 Sunset Strip is on schedule to be released sometime down the road.

And then there's Universal:

Kojak
The Munsters
Columbo
Dragnet '67
Night Gallery
Murder, She Wrote
Miami Vice
the upcoming Leave It To Beaver and more to follow.

The above studios have been quite busy going into its vaults for shows from the 50s- 80s. Fox is still doing this at a snail's pace compared to the other studios. I bet some of the recently released shows from other studios have had less votes than some of the Fox titles on your site! The other studios have put their faith in the marketplace in releasing many titles of varying popularity- from cult shows like The Avengers, V, Dark Shadows and Freaks & Geeks to big audience pleasers like The Munsters, Full House, MacGyver and Dallas.

Personally, I hope that Fox's release of Dynasty will let them consider the release of Peyton Place, a show that was the Desperate Housewives of 1964 and a classic waiting to be rediscovered. Maybe Fox should follow the lead of other studios, dig into its vaults for past favorites and test the waters a bit. I'll tell you one thing- if Paramount or Warner Bros. had the rights to The Mary Tyler Moore Show, they would've been more aggressive in publicity, and not waited several years between seasons!

As for your claims that there isn't that much a demand for classic TV- well, you've only based your opinions from those who vote on your site. What about those who like classic TV and have never heard of you're site? Please, do NOT sell the fans of classic TV short! It's like saying that in the world of DVD releases, only films made in the past decade count! Next you'll be telling us that the beautifully restored DVD versions of Gone With the Wind, Citizen Kane, and Casablanca don't count. Show some respect.......