The Odd Couple and Get Smart on DVD...When? (1 Viewer)

[Chris:L]

Get Smart... oh, Maxwell Smart needed to Get Smart.

 

[Charles Ellis]

I understand that there are definite plans re "Happy Days" and the "Andy Griffith Show" (a legit release with complete episodes) for later this year. I am still shocked at how slow Paramount is in releasing all those classic sitcoms on DVD (Odd Couple, Get Smart, Brady Bunch, Beverly Hillbillies, Petticoat Junction, Laverne & Shirley, Bosom Buddies [with Tom Hanks in it you'd think they'd release it TODAY!], Mork & Mindy, Taxi, Love American Style, He & She [a single-season cult classic that has held up!], Angie- and that's just the tip of the iceberg!

Paramount is also very bad regarding any other drama that's not Trek-related: Mission Impossible, Mannix, The Untouchables, Perry Mason, Gunsmoke (the series, not the TV movies)- shocking, shocking, shocking.

BTW- what about Universal? I want my "Munsters"!! And let's not forget "Adam 12", the color "Dragnet" from 67-70, "Emergency", "Ironside", "Columbo", "McMillan & Wife"- you get the point.

 

[David Lambert]

Paramount definately has the following shows in the works for season-set release, which we've already talked about at TSoD:

Andy Griffith Show, Happy Days, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Taxi, Mission Impossible, Bosom Buddies, Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, LateLine, Hogan's Heroes, 7th Heaven, Touched By An Angel, and - no sooner than 2005 (and not the start of the year, either!) - Charmed.

Shows that have been released (or are scheduled for an initial release already) and will continue to see releases (if the run isn't complete, that is...and in some cases even if it is!) include: Star Trek (all shows and everything related to them), Cheers, Frasier, CSI, CSI: Miami, South Park (which they now control S1 and S2 of), Survivor, I Love Lucy (I have no idea what the delay is for S2, though!), The Honeymooners, Have Gun Will Travel, Gunsmoke (after a fashion), Soul Food, Punk'd, Chappelle's Show, Reno 911, Jackass, Joe Schmo Show, JKX, The Real World, Resurrection Blvd., Blue's Clues, Dora The Explorer, Peanuts (Charlie Brown & Snoopy), Fairly OddParents, Little Bill, Jimmy Neutron, Hey Arnold!, Rugrats, Rocket Power, and don't forget SpongeBob SquarePants!

Mini-series have included Shogun and the upcoming Winds of War.

The real MIA's at this point include (but aren't limited to): Get Smart (my most-wanted MIA show, frankly), Odd Couple (a couple of the Paramount employees I've talked to want this as well, so it's not like it's not on their minds), MacGyver (very high interest at TSoD), Brady Bunch (natch; we've heard rumors from the show's creator but nothing confirmed that it's definately coming), Wild Wild West (rumors again, but nothing firm), Love Boat (probably held up for the same reasons as Charmed), JAG & Sentinal (both mentioned in a "poll" that Par's VP, Martin Blythe, conducted here at HTF and at TSoD, but no word on them since the poll concluded...maybe the results were not sufficient?!??! :shrug: ), Hawaii Five-O (rumored but not verified), Duckman ("no!" says Par), Police Squad! ("no!" says Par), Jake 2.0 , Family Ties, and Wings (haven't heard a single thing about any of the last three).


It is crazy to me, though, that when you see the amount of stuff that Paramount HAS released and are preparing to release, that people continue to criticize them for doing "nothing" in the TV-on-DVD arena. They naturally - and intelligently - started in with their bread-and-butter Star Trek releases, have continuously pushed out kid product from themselves and partners like Nick Jr., have continued by partnering with CBS, Comedy Central, and others, and are now readying a slew of releases featuring some of the very most requested sitcoms, westerns, and suspense lineups they have available. "And you haven't seen anything yet!" they said to Gord.

Paramount's doing just fine. While it smarts (forgive the pun) to have to wait on beloved shows like Get Smart, it's not like Paramount and their partners (GS is a CBS property, to be specific) are just sitting on their laurels. Things are happening. Be patient!

 

[Carlos Garcia]

Could it be because the majority of the shows they are releasing are shows that can still be seen in rerun because they are still new? I don't mean to criticize how Paramount and other studios go about their business, but wouldn't it be best to try and release older shows now, before the newer stuff that's still being seen in reruns? I don't see The Odd Couple, or Get Smart being shown anywhere on my cable. However, Cheers, Frasier, Rugrats (and most of the other shows mentioned as being worked on for release) are still seen in syndication everyday. Where's the logic in this? Older folks who are looking forward to shows like The Odd Couple, Get Smart have money to burn, but time is running out. Does Paramount want to wait 5 or more years so that the older audience (those interested in shows like The Odd Couple and Get Smart) start to get so old, or even die off, and as a result their sales would also die off? Where's the logic in this. Bottom line, Cheers and Frasier can be seen everyday on cable, Odd Couple and Get Smart have become extinct. These are the shows that should be released to DVD first. Just my opinion.

 

[Nelson Au]

My feeling is that the studios are releasing new stuff because:

1. The markets are still fairly new for DVD merchandise and the buyers are typically younger. So the studios are striking while the iron is hot and know what shows are still popular and will sell. Alias is hot, CSI is hot, Friends is hot, Frasier is ending so they can hype it that way, etc. There are lots of young people with enough disposable income to want to buy the new shows now.

2. Us older markets have money and are ready to buy too, but I bet there are less of us who'd buy Get Smart or The Odd Couple then Fiends. I'm sure a lot of 20 somethings are going to say, "Get What? Odd What?" Unless there's a new Will Smith version that's selling movie tickets that they can cross market the older DVD with, they will take the time to release the older shows unfortunately. At least these 2 shows do not have music rights issues.

The reruns on cable and on air serve to market the DVD's essentially. If it's on TV, a potential buyer may say, I like this show, I want to buy it.

 

[David Lambert]

You want to know why the shows being rerun on cable are usually the same ones being released on DVD?

Because they're popular.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

I don't know, maybe it's me, but I'm old. All I know is, if was interested in owning modern shows that they run everyday like Friends, Seinfeld, Frasier, etc., I would simply copy each episode onto recordable DVD-Rs. To me, this beats the price of buying each season set. Also, the quality would be basically the same. There really isn't much of an incentive for me to buy a show that I can watch everyday. This is why I believe older shows should be released first. I'm sure even the younger audience must be waiting for some old shows to come to DVD, shows they maybe grew up with, or always wanted to see but never got a chance to. I still don't understand why someone would want to own a brand new show on DVD, when the show is being shown on cable everyday. Even if I were in my 20s and enjoyed today's programs, I would still be more interested in buying DVDs of shows I grew up with 10 or 12 yrs ago, rather than the stuff still airing today. Maybe studios know of some demographic that I'm not aware of.

 

[Charles Ellis]

The best news in ages- The Munsters are coming to DVD in August!!

I just got the news from the TV Shows on DVD website! August 24th is the supposed release date for the first season! Thanks, Universal! (PS- "Night Gallery" is also planned!)

 

[David Lambert]

A) Commercials instead of extras
B) Episodes are edited down to make room for more commercials
C) Network bug in the corner
D) Crawls on the bottom or interuptions when there are storms or breaking news events (the other day a local news station broke in to a prime-time show just to inform the city that a police car had crashed in to a tree, and that the officer was in stable condition and on his way to the hospital...wow, stop the presses: there was an accident by a guy in uniform!).

Lots of other reasons, but you get my drift. People want their favorite shows - and the most popular ones are the ones that qualify as "most peoples' favorites" - on DVD where they can watch it whenever they want to, for as long as they want to, and in uninterupted form with complete episodes (often with unaired footage or episodes).

 

[Sam Favate]

As much as I want Get Smart now, I suspect we won't see it until/if/when the alleged Will Ferrell movie version of Get Smart gets released.

 

[Nelson Au]

Oh, what a horrible thought! Will Ferrell?!:frowning:

Get Smart was an entity of it's time and all recent efforts to replicate it have failed miserably, notably, Johnny English. The only Get Smart redo that was close was the TV movie Get Smart Again. There's only one Don Adams and Barbara Feldon and Ed Platt.

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

Hey, I'm 26, and Get Smart was my favourite show growing up. So not all of us young'uns are completely lacking in knowledge of Agent 86.

(Although I've never seen The Odd COuple TV series - but I did like the film.)

Will Farrell? Hopefully that's just a rumour. He's already taking on another Mel Brooks character (Franz Liebkind) in the new Producers film, don't want him taking over Max as well.

 

[David Lambert]

Trivia time! What occupation did Maxwell Smart use as a cover?

Give up?

Greeting Card Salesman



I was in a bar last night for a co-worker's going-away party and I was the only one who got that right!

 

[MatthewLouwrens]

I gave up.
Congratulations, Dave.

 

[Charles Ellis]

OK David- for which card company did Max allegedly work for?

 

[David Lambert]

Now THAT is one of those "I'll know it when I hear it" things!

 

[Charles Ellis]

OK, here it it is:

The Pontiac Greeting Card Company

 

[Scott D S]

I thought it was the Potomac Greeting Card Company

 

[Nelson Au]

Also, there was never a consistant use of cover names for Max. In the 3 part episode called A Man Called Smart, that was originally going to be a theatrical film, Max had 3 cover names. It was during a gag while he was in a hotel lobby answering 3 telephones at once. He answered 3 phone calls using 3 cover names plus a final 4th using the name Maxwell Smart. What were the names? Clue: the initials of all the names are M.S.

The answer: 1. Melvin Spearman, 2. Milton Steeple, 3. Mildred Speigelman

 

[Steve...O]

On the Yahoo Groups Get Smart site (run by the same gentleman who does the wonderful www.wouldyoubelieve.com website) DVD releases have been discussed at length. Apparently this gentleman has been working with Stacey Adams (one of Don's daughters) to convince Paramount to release these.

What it boils down to is that first they had to convince Paramount the demand existed in the first place. It appears that they finally did (although it wasn't easy). Now Paramount is saying they want to tie a DVD release to the release of a proposed movie remake.

If anybody is really interested in this, I'd suggest contacting Carl Birkmeyer directly (through his website noted above). I'm sure he'll give you the straight scoop.

Steve