To round out the All In The Family cannon, can we..... (1 Viewer)

[bretmaverick2]

As near as I can tell, only one season of Archie Bunker's Place was ever released.

Is it possible that we could get the rest of that series released? And to finish off the cannon of AITF, can we get a release of GLORIA and maybe the much later sequel series 704 HAUSER STREET, which featured a new family in the Bunkers' old home?



As a side note, I would put in a pitch for the release of SANFORD as well. I would love to have this Redd Foxx series on the shelf with my SANFORD AND SON sets. Shoot, I would even enjoy GRADY again, short as it was. Umm, but skip the SANFORD ARMS. PLEASE!!!!!

 

[Dave Lawrence]

I'm in agreement with everything except the part about Sanford Arms. I've always wanted to see just how big a disaster that series really was. Someone posted the opening credits on youtube and it's hilariously bad, so I can only imagine what the actual episodes were like. I know it didn't last long before it was cancelled, so there might even be some shows that never aired. And the overall Fred Sanford collection would feel incomplete without its inclusion.

Just put Sanford, Grady and Sanford Arms together in one big release. (Sanford and Stuff?)

 

[TV_Fan]

I would also love to have the rest of Archie Bunker's Place. I've never seen Gloria so it would be interesting to see. If Shout! had any interest I releasing ABP they probably would have done so after they completed AITF. Probably our best hope is Sony's MOD program.

 

[bretmaverick2]

Happen to see a couple of episodes of SANFORD ARMS on BET several years ago. WOW! I was shocked that anyone at NBC thought this was a good idea.

And it wasn't so much the actors (same supporting cast with a new lead family were all okay), but the writing was just so sub par compared to S&S.

As for the AITF material, GLORIA was pretty entertaining. Too much interference from CBS caused some tension between them and Carroll OConnor in the production of this show, to the point that CBS almost shut him out of having much influence on the show at all after the pilot. I saw an episode of 704 HOUSER on youtube years ago. It was pretty entertaining. To tie it closer to AITF, they had the character of Joey Stivick as a supporting character.

 

[FanCollector]

There are, in fact, two versions of the Gloria pilot. The one featuring him at the beginning of the show was never aired on CBS because O'Connor refused to sign off on his appearance after the network made changes to the episode as provided by his production company. So the aired episode (and the one syndicated with the rest of the Gloria episodes) does not include his scenes at the beginning. The original version, including O'Connor and unaltered by the network, was added as a 97th episode to the Archie Bunker's Place syndication package. He definitely divorced himself from the spinoff from that point forward.The best summation of The Sanford Arms was from the writer who heard that both Foxx and Wilson had left but NBC was moving forward with The Sanford Arms. "My God!" he exclaimed. "They renewed the set!"

 

[bretmaverick2]

In regards to SANFORD ARMS, they even brought back the boring character of Dolly, Grady's less than attractive (I think she was his) wife!

Now in regards to SANFORD, the only thing on that show that bugged me was that they changed the name of Esther's son from whatever it was on S&S to the new name on SANFORD. I just didn't see a reason for it. And the original idea for SANFORD was to have Fred dating this very wealthy woman as a contrast to his life as a junk man. Eventually, by the end of season 2, Eve and Co. had been phased out and the focus was on Fred and Calvin running the junk business.

 

[JMFabianoRPL]

And more Maude, please! (Though I guess I can get more than my fix on Antenna TV...)

 

[Mr. Handley]

Count me in for the rest of Archie Bunker's Place. I though for sure Shout would've put that one out by now.

I would for sure pick up Sanford as I love Dennis Burkley's work. I'd probably also pick up Sanford Arms just out of curiosity. I know I watched it as a kid, but don't remember much about it. Same goes for Grady.

And I'll second the rest of Maude as well.

 

[FanCollector]

If we get Sanford released, Grady and The Sanford Arms could be thrown in on two extra discs. I think they only have 16 or 17 episodes between the two of them.I would love for the rest of Archie Bunker's Place to come out, or even just a complete series set. I am not begrudging the release of Mary Hartman, which is great, but it does puzzle me a little--Archie Bunker's Place and Maude both have fewer music clearance issues, a more manageable number of episodes, greater syndication and cable exposure (they weren't big off-network hits, but Mary Hartman had almost no rerun exposure at all), and yet they haven't caught Shout Factory's attention. Maybe if the Mary Hartman set is a big seller for them, they will be moved to try Maude or Archie Bunker.

 

[MatthewA]

Shout! passed on Maude due to music costs. Cliff Mac said so on this very board.

I always found it funny that BET had the Sanford and Son spinoffs but never the original; it was on TBS at the time. Frankly, I'm surprised Sony hasn't dug into the former Tandem/TAT/Embassy library for MODs of anything other than a TV movie about Eleanor Roosevelt. And no sitcoms besides season 2 of Benson.

 

[FanCollector]

Yes, I remember Cliff Mac saying that. I inquired privately about the comparison to All in the Family and he admitted that the music wasn't so much more prevalent in Maude, but that lower sales expectations made it seem less worth the clearances. But the relevant point is that Mary Hartman with its 325 episodes and its constantly humming and singing characters must have had a lot more music issues than Maude, but they still went for it.Sanford and Son was a big syndication hit and probably cost a lot to license. I'm sure Sanford was much more in line with BET's resources at the time.I agree about Sony MOD. It seemed promising, but seems to have fallen dormant.

 

[MatthewA]

Topical shows don't do well in syndication, but Maude lasted about a year or so on TV Land, though I never saw it syndicated anywhere I lived until then, and it's on Antenna TV now (unfortunately, I don't get it). Family Ties and Murphy Brown never seem to last long on cable either, but the former made it out in its entirety on DVD. I think it was worth taking a chance on at least one more season just to see if it would really sell.

 

[FanCollector]

I agree, and I think that this situation is one in which the studio matters a lot. If Maude had been a CBS/Paramount property, they'd have cut some music, but we would have gotten a minimum of two or three seasons, if not the whole series. (Family Ties is a good example.)

 

[Kasey]

In a rather unusual move for the time, Norman Lear sold Maude into syndication one season at a time. A local channel ran it weekdays beginning in 1982 for several years so I only got to see it on snow days and holidays. In the late '80s it ran on CBC after the 11:00 news for about a year before they replaced it with Golden Girls reruns. Superstation WSBK Boston had it for years as well and then WTN (Canada's Lifetime) and TV Land in the very late '90s.

I think StarVista should release a Complete Series the way they did with Mama's Family. At the very least Shout shoud reconsider and put out S2 and see how it does.

 

[Radioman970]

Great shows being discussed. The complete ABP is what should follow after I'm done watching all the AitFs. It's just weird it's not on my shelf to do that.

Maude, a single season. Just isn't right.

Fish, the rest... as a kid I liked it better than BM.

 

[MatthewA]

StarVista seems to be saving money on music rights wherever they can. Their latest Carol Burnett Show release, the Christmas one, has yet another shortened episode. It baffles me that a music company is doing this.

Something needs to be done. All the improvements in mastering haven't solved the problem, nor has Blu-ray, and nor will streaming. Songwriters and music publishers are pricing themselves out of the market and ending up with 100% of nothing.

On the other hand, studios could charge less and sacrifice profit margins to move more units. If people are tired of hearing "I won't buy my holy grail because it's too expensive" posts, there needs to be a more mutually beneficial solution to the problem.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I'm digging up this thread for people who want to see Archie Bunker's Place.

No, no DVD announcements. Sorry.

But I found a channel buried somewhere in the cable lineup called FamilyNet, and it looks like they're running ABP uncut. I recorded an episode and timed it with the iPhone, and it ran roughly 24:46, give or take a few seconds.

They also have Benson, Silver Spoons, and some other Sony shows we already have on DVD.

So just a heads up. I'm not expecting DVDs, but there seems to be a way to grab uncut episodes with a DVR and some patience. (they're midway through S4 now, so the cycle will be starting again soon).

 

[Dave Lawrence]

You fooled me, Robert. I saw this thread was revived and thought maybe there was finally some good news.

My momentary disappointment aide, I do have FamilyNet and they show early seasons of Benson uncut but syndicated versions of later seasons. Plus, they skip some episodes entirely. Still worth watching, though, with only 2 seasons available on DVD.

With regard to Archie Bunker's Place, they may be showing full running times, but episodes are still edited for content. I've seen several where certain words get muted.

Still, it's been fun to see ABP episodes that in some cases I haven't seen since the 80s. So the FamilyNet airings are better than nothing.

Related to the possibility of a DVD release, I watched one episode recently that might be problematic due to music even if Sony or Shout wanted to put out the rest of the series. In "Stephanie's Dance" you can clearly hear the Blondie song "The Tide Is High" for several minutes during scenes at the school dance.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

You fooled me, Robert. I saw this thread was revived and thought maybe there was finally some good news.

My momentary disappointment aide, I do have FamilyNet and they show early seasons of Benson uncut but syndicated versions of later seasons. Plus, they skip some episodes entirely.

With regard to Archie Bunker's Place, they may be showing full running times, but episodes are still edited for content. I've seen several where certain words get muted.

Still, it's been fun to see ABP episodes that in some cases I haven't seen since the 80s. So the FamilyNet airings are better than nothing.

Related to the possibility of a DVD release, I watched one episode recently that might be problematic due to music even if Sony or Shout wanted to put out the rest of the series. In "Stephanie's Dance" you an clearly hear the Blondie song "The Tide Is High" for several minutes during scenes at the school dance.

Wasn't Shout able to clear some Blondie for WKRP?

Muted words, eh? Well, after reading the genesis of the channel, I know why. That also explains the missing chunks of The Facts of Life on their upcoming schedule. Still, seemingly uncut episodes, timewise, and no better options for the time being. So it's definitely better than nothing, and probably better than the old Antenna TV airings that I'm betting were either syndication versions or credit crunched or something else.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

We don't get that channel here in Chicago via OTA

If you have cable, check the outer limits of the channels.

It's channel 232 on Dish, according to wiki.

And from what I gathered there, they're transferring to a cable/dish only channel and have been dropping OTA, with only a handful of affiliates left.