Sierra TV series (3 Viewers)

[HenryDuBrow]

Sadly no one at Universal's ever really, to my knowledge anyhow, mentioned what exactly got damaged or lost in the vault fires. Bottom line is, if it at all still exists in relatively okay picture shape it could be a fitting title for independents with Uni ties/deal. Say Madman in Australia, not sure if it was ever shown on TV there, but an outdoors nature series like this could find an audience easily if promoted correctly as such.

 

[younger1968]

Sadly no one at Universal's ever really, to my knowledge anyhow, mentioned what exactly got damaged or lost in the vault fires. Bottom line is, if it at all still exists in relatively okay picture shape it could be a fitting title for independents with Uni ties/deal. Say Madman in Australia, not sure if it was ever shown on TV there, but an outdoors nature series like this could find an audience easily if promoted correctly as such.

Hi Henry,
I would think that Unviersal had moved many of their movies/series to other locations as part of their backup and recovery plans. I think Sierra was for one season and Universal is not big on one season shows on dvd. I do not think i can name anything universel has released that was only one season. Let's face facts before the fire Universel was doing a poor job on releasing shows to dvds and the fire just is another excuse for them to bother with the market. I think the execs need to re-think the marketing plans on dvds and i think using shout factory and/or somebody similar is probably the best way for them to participate in the dvd market.

 

[Neil Brock]

It's actually a half season show.

 

[Jack P]

And if I'm not mistaken, the pilot film actually aired *after* the show was canceled and was gone.

 

[younger1968]

I was sad to see it not included (But not surprised). Same with that episode of The D.A. that continued a storyline started in an Adam-12 episode back around season 4 or so. Was sad to see that episode not included (Although not shocked, I doubt Shout even realized it existed or even inquired about it).
And Sierra aired in 1974, years before Emergency! ended with these movies. That's right around when season 3 or so was airing, so I'm puzzled why you're complaining that they're not captains in that crossover episode.
And I don't see why that's a problem with the movies. For starters, four of them aired before that retrospective movie ever did where they're promoted (Including the jetliner crash movie where they take an active role in LA instead of observing somewhere else). Secondly and I'd have to watch them again, but are they specifically referenced as something different than a captain or wearing the wrong insignia or something in the single movie that aired after the promotion one? They'd still be paramedics I presume, at least until their certification ends. So referring to them as being paramedics isn't necessarily incorrect and isn't saying that they're not captains. And the job they're doing in that last movie, which was reaching out to another department to observe their operations and learn their best practices and share some of their own experiences, seems like it would be something assigned to someone higher up in the chain of command... such as newly promoted captains just coming off jobs as active paramedics in LA.
And even if that was the case and they essentially erased their promotions, it wouldn't of been the first time they sacrificed consistency for the good of the viewers The switching back and forth from Adam-12 and Emergency being set in the same world to Adam-12 becoming a tv show in the Emergency world at one point is a prime example and was a good decision since it made for an entertaining episode even if it contradicted earlier episodes. They may of felt like that last movie was more interesting with them as paramedics rather than captains. Or you could argue that the final movie took place before that promotion episode. The writers may of intended that and it may of even been produced first, but the people selecting when this stuff airs traditionally don't always pay attention to those facts.
And sometimes they just did a poor job with consistency. In that retrospective movie, pay attention to the guy promoted before they are (and the only one besides Johnny and Roy that you actually see being promoted). He's a longtime thorn in their butts throughout the regular series and you will certainly recognize his name. He's getting his promotion before they are and clearly the writers intended for the same actor to portray him as we saw throughout the series, which is why he's referenced with a familiar name of a recurring character.
Yet he's completely changed appearance here. The same actor couldn't be gotten due to previous committments yet they seemingly couldn't of cared less. Rather than not film those few seconds or change the guy's name in the script, they lazily kept it intact and filmed it anyways with Craig (It's been a few years but I think that's his first name) Brice changing from a short thin white guy to a tall strong looking black guy.

Thanks for the commentary!
I forgot that Sierra was done much earlier then the movies, so having Gage/De Soto as paramedics and travelling to yosemite park to work with the rangers was a great idea. It is too bad Sierra only lasted for 14 episode. I still believe the show theme is still relevant today with the role of the park ranger. It is too bad the studio does not see the importance of shows like this to fabric our life. I sure there are similar shows in the vault that studio has no interested in pushing to dvd unless they are convince to partner with shout factory or universel establishing their own archive program.
Your comment about Brice are banged on. I remember watching the greatest rescue and saying that Brice was not a visible minority. Just goes to show how studio thought they could slip someone and no one would notice.
It is always great having chat with people that have similar taste as me.

 

[Neil Brock]

I wanted to see what all the fuss was about so I decided to pop an episode on last night. Pretty scenery, pretty theme song but I thought it was kind of boring and stilted, in other words a typical Jack Webb production. Its Emergency in the mountains. Very bland leads and unknown no-name guest stars. I'll watch another one in a few days and see if my opinion changes but the show is too dull for my tastes.

 

[JoeDoakes]

I wanted to see what all the fuss was about so I decided to pop an episode on last night. Pretty scenery, pretty theme song but I thought it was kind of boring and stilted, in other words a typical Jack Webb production. Its Emergency in the mountains. Very bland leads and unknown no-name guest stars. I'll watch another one in a few days and see if my opinion changes but the show is too dull for my tastes.

That's a very good point. Especially in the 1970s, Webb tended to cast good looking, bland guys in leading roles. There were so many vivid characters in 1970s cop/detective/mystery shows, I think I never got that in to Webb's shows for that reason (Project UFO was another). Maybe that's what the networks told him they wanted. Earlier in his career, like when he put Richard Boone in Medic, I don't think that was the case. I am a big Dragnet fan, and like him or hate him, Webb's Joe Friday was definitely not bland.

 

[Richard V]

That's a very good point. Especially in the 1970s, Webb tended to cast good looking, bland guys in leading roles. There were so many vivid characters in 1970s cop/detective/mystery shows, I think I never got that in to Webb's shows for that reason (Project UFO was another). Maybe that's what the networks told him they wanted. Earlier in his career, like when he put Richard Boone in Medic, I don't think that was the case. I am a big Dragnet fan, and like him or hate him, Webb's Joe Friday was definitely not bland.

Continuing on the Jack Webb tangent. If you look at his early acting roles (Sunset Boulevard, Pete Kelly's Blues), he is anything but bland. On the contrary, if I remember right, he is very animated in those performances. Funny.

 

[Jack P]

"Project UFO" I think had a solid first season, in part because there was good chemistry between the two leads, William Jordan and Caskey Swaim. The show however went downhill when Jordan left after clashing with Webb because he wanted his character of Major Gatlin to show some more humanized touches and for his personal background to be highlighted a bit more which I think was a reasonable and understandable request because while Jordan and Swaim were on the right track, the scripts were not giving them enough of the touches that one could see in the Reed-Malloy relationship of Adam-12 for instance.
Instead, we got Ed Winter brought in as the new head of the project and this was a giant mistake. Winter was not only more high-strung and less personable, but he also was just coming off his many appearances on MASH as the nutso Colonel Flagg of the CIA and as a result it was impossible to take him seriously as a strait-laced Air Force officer, especially one investigating UFOs. Combine that with a dumbed down opening narration that jettisoned the great "Ezekiel saw the wheel" opening Webb had given, and terrible new theme music, and it's no wonder the show flamed out badly in the ratings after getting high numbers in its first season on the air.

 

[Regulus]

I'd like to see Sierra released as well. Perhaps they could include this with the animated series Emergency +4.

 

[LeoA]

Sadly I think if they had any intentions of taking a risk on it like that, they'd of done it already.
After a August release for season 1, the show transitioned to annual releases early in the calendar year for the subsequent 6 releases. Yet the movie set has now been out for over a year now and that release window has sailed.
If they weren't going to take a risk on Emergency's spinoff and the cartoon series for an early 2012 release after seven releases from 2005-2011, they're never going to.

 

[younger1968]

Sadly I think if they had any intentions of taking a risk on it like that, they'd of done it already.
After a August release for season 1, the show transitioned to annual releases early in the calendar year for the subsequent 6 releases. Yet the movie set has now been out for over a year now and that release window has sailed.
If they weren't going to take a risk on Emergency's spinoff and the cartoon series for an early 2012 release after seven releases from 2005-2011, they're never going to.

Hi Leo,
Sadly i think you are probably right that we may never see either Emergency +4 and/or Sierra on dvd as Emergency has been released. There could be some hope if the studio plans to released the complete box set for Emergency!. However, I would not hold my breath that will happen. Ideally, it would be nice that studios like paramount, sony, FOX, WB would just license their archives to shout factory or VEI, etc.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

That would be a wise choice because there's no way Universal would release it on its own I guess, or they could maybe get seriously into the archive on demand thing which would be ideal for a big important studio like them. Again, maybe the fire's preventing a move like this too since decent material needs to be there to do anything.

 

[younger1968]

Hey Henry,
I posed the question to universal last night on what their plans for the rest of Mark VII productions. They have released Adam-12, Dragnet and Emergency!. However, there are some one of shows that could be package together as part of jack webb production. I did asked universal if they are planning to start using the archive or license more dvds to shout factory.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Hi Paul, good idea. Hopefully they'll have some interesting things to say on it. When it comes to television, hardly any other studio's output is as famous as Universal's when looking at worldwide exports.

 

[Neil Brock]

I wanted to give this show another chance so last night I watched the re-edited TV Movie, comprising the episodes Tails You Lose and Cruncher. I don't want to rain on people's 38 year old memories but this is really not a very good show. Rescuing people from the tops of rocks gets old really fast and watching them hook up levees for 15 minutes is boring. Not all shows hold up and I'm afraid this is one that doesn't. Oh well, its not likely to ever be seen again anyway.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

I wouldn't count it out actually, stranger things have happened and there seems to be a fan base out there big enough for some kind of worthy deal. Maybe one day if Uni goes MOD for TV shows. Could be they never will that of course, so many titles it might be a very tangled writers' rights web.

 

[Jack P]

I'd rather see "The D.A." make it to DVD, just to finish that "Adam-12" story from S4!

 

[younger1968]

I wanted to give this show another chance so last night I watched the re-edited TV Movie, comprising the episodes Tails You Lose and Cruncher. I don't want to rain on people's 38 year old memories but this is really not a very good show. Rescuing people from the tops of rocks gets old really fast and watching them hook up levees for 15 minutes is boring. Not all shows hold up and I'm afraid this is one that doesn't. Oh well, its not likely to ever be seen again anyway.

Hey Neil,
You could make that argument about emergencies as well as it kind of a has similar ideas with rescues, i.e. car crashes, burning buildings, high angle rescues, etc. The key to any show in the archive will be the following factors:
1. Quality of the Originals - are they in good shape or would it cost too much much to clean them up.
2. Universal deciding on how to manage their archive, i.e. establishing archive program and using amazon as their market entry point or even assigning more licenses to shout factory or vei, etc.
I think there is an opportunity, like the studios did with Stephen Cannell lesser series by issuing a dvd set with those unaired series.
All series aired on NBC except as noted.
* Dragnet, 1951-1959
* Noah's Ark, 1956-1957
* The D.A.'s Man, 1959
* Pete Kelly's Blues, 1959
* Dragnet, 1967-1970
* Adam-12, 1968-1975
* The D.A., 1971-1972
* O'Hara, U.S. Treasury, 1971-1972 (CBS)
* Emergency!, 1972-1979
* Hec Ramsey, 1972-1974
* Escape, 1973
* Chase, 1973-1974
* Sierra, 1974
* Mobile One, 1975 (ABC)
* Project U.F.O., 1978-1979
* Sam, 1978 (CBS)
You could theoretically package the sets in a couple of volumes and call the Jack Webb/Mark VII 1970s tv drama!

 

[Jack P]

Project UFO and Sam are not Universal controlled. Webb severed his relationship with Universal by then and they were produced by Worldvision, which woudl put them under CBS/Paramount's control today.