TV Shows needing a decent Re-Release? (1 Viewer)

[JohnHopper]

Amongst the television shows that used to be released from major studios and indie companies,
which ones do you think really need a restored re-release?
Many titles come to mind:
Rawhide (season 4)
Cimarron Strip
Ironside
It Takes a Thief
Dan August
The Six Million Dollar Man

Continue reading...

 

[bmasters9]

M Squad

 

[Bert Greene]

Yes, I'd particularly like upgraded, high-quality prints to these Timeless releases:

Soldiers of Fortune
M Squad
The Restless Gun

 

[bmasters9]

That Dan August definitely does-- I had originally had my heart set on VEI's release of this 1970-71 ABC detective series (w/the late, great Burt Reynolds), but the A/V (outside of the extended pilot [almost 2 hrs.]) was so subpar (at least from what I heard) that I think this release deserves a redo.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

My candidates for shows needing a decent re-release:
Angie (1979-80) - missing the epilogue on 29 out of all 36 episodes (this includes 11 season 1 episodes, and 18 season 2 episodes).
Best of the West - one episode has out-of-place sequences: act 1 is seen before the opening title.
Bosom Buddies - should restore the Billy Joel song "My Life" on the opening title of all episodes (and the closing theme of the pilot episode), and also restore all the other licensed songs (those not already cleared) to any applicable episodes, as well as the correct Paramount Television (hereafter simply Paramount) logos.
The Brady Bunch - epilogue missing on at least 2 episodes.
Cheers - restore licensed songs to episodes that apply, and also restore the correct Paramount logos.
Family Ties - should restore all the licensed songs (more specifically: those that have not already been cleared), to those episodes that apply. Also restore correct Paramount logos.
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. - use original broadcast prints and restore licensed songs where applicable; closing credits on original broadcasts were split in two.
Happy Days - should restore all the licensed songs (those not already cleared), to those episodes that apply. Restore correct Paramount logos to seasons 2-6 that have already been released on DVD.
Laverne & Shirley - should restore all the licensed songs (those not already cleared), to those episodes that apply. Restore correct Paramount logos on all 8 seasons.
Longstreet - pilot episode is sped-up (PAL print).
Love, American Style - restore original Paramount logos.
The Lucy Show - season 6 DVD set places "Lucy and the Pool Hustler" before the two-part Carol Burnett episode, instead of between the episodes "Lucy and Viv Reminisce" and "Lucy Gets Involved."
The Magician (1973-74) - opening teasers missing (this is real bad on episode 12, "The Illusion of the Curious Counterfeit, Part II")
Mannix - restore correct Paramount logos on season 1 starting with episode 17 ("Deadfall: Part I"), and all of seasons 2-8. Also, the Desilu logos on all season 1 episodes which bear it have the incorrect 1966 logo theme.
Mission: Impossible (original 1966-73 and later 1988-90 series) - restore correct Paramount logos on seasons 3-7 (original 1966-73) and the entire 1988-90 series. The season 2 (1967-68) DVD set has the right Desilu logos on the first 15 episodes bearing it, all with the incorrect 1966 version of the theme (which is correct only for season 1), but of the 10 episodes in the Paramount run, one correct Paramount logo does exist: on the episode "The Spy," but it was also used on the nine episodes following (instead of the versions with minor tweaks which you can see restored, with the correct 1967 version of the theme, on The Lucy Show season 6 on DVD) and with the wrong music version (1966 version instead of 1967 version).
Mork & Mindy - should restore all the licensed songs (those not already cleared), to those episodes that apply, as well as restore the correct Paramount logos.
The Odd Couple (1970-75 TV series) - should restore all the licensed songs (those not already cleared) to any applicable episodes, and restore the correct Paramount logos on seasons 2-5.
Perry Mason - use original broadcast prints; current DVD prints re-edit closing credits on seasons 5-7 so they are combined as one (they were originally split in two for one last commercial break).
Petrocelli - TV movie pilot "Night Games" is missing its original opening credits.
The Powers of Matthew Star - opening teasers missing.
Star Trek (The Original Series) - restore correct Paramount logos on the later season 2 episodes; original season 3 DVD set (pre-2006) did have its correct Paramount logos.
Taxi (1978-83 TV series) - should restore all the licensed songs (those not already cleared) to any applicable episodes in seasons 4-5, as well as restore original 1-hour broadcast length to "A Taxi Celebration" from season 5. Also restore original Paramount logos on all five seasons.
The Young Lawyers - 1969 TV movie pilot is sped-up 4 percent (PAL) and is missing the original Paramount logos at beginning and end.

Cartoons:
Captain Caveman & the Teen Angels - the season 3 (spring 1980) episodes should use the closing credits seen on the original ABC run
The Huckleberry Hound Show - use original broadcast prints.
The Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm Show - episode lengths should be about 22-24 minutes long, possibly including the opening teasers.
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop - the cliffhangers (seen between the epilogue and the closing credits) should be restored to all 17 episodes.
Plastic Man (1979-80) - all episodes should be restored to NTSC pitch.
The Richie Rich/Scooby-Doo Show (and Scrappy, Too) - should restore the half-hour bumper and closing credits specific to said year and referencing both shows, instead of using the respective closing credits applying to the syndicated prints
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You - the season 1 episodes should use the Ted Nichols main title theme on the first two episodes, and the same composer's end title theme on the first three episodes, and also the laugh track and cliffhangers should be restored on all these 17 and the eight season 2 episodes.
The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour - should not use respective half-hour syndicated prints, but rather a single opening and closing referencing both series, along with the short Dynomutt opening title and all short teasers (including: the episodes of the week [20 seconds], preview of the week's episode of Dynomutt [10 seconds] after the end of the Scooby-Doo segment, and next week's episodes [20 seconds]).
Top Cat - use original broadcast prints.
Wacky Races (1968) - all except the last episode should have the version of the closing with the announcer (David Willock) saying "Stop! This race starts next week!", to which Dick Dastardly then says: "Next week? That means I'll get a good start on the others!" The cliffhangers (seen between the epilogue and the closing credits) should also be restored to all 17 episodes.
The Yogi Bear Show - use original broadcast prints.

~Ben

 

[Randy Korstick]

I love a re-release of Laramie which has beautiful new restored prints showing on Encore Westerns. The current DVD's from Timeless are an eyesore and nearly unwatchable. This is a very good western series and deserves a good release.

 

[David Weicker]

The three worst DVD sets I own are:

Soap
War Of The Worlds
Babylon 5

The first is shot on video, but I’ve seen other similar era shows with better transfers.

The second has a lot of video edited effects, but it seems as if no effort was made to make even non-effects scenes look ok

The last was poorly converted from 4x3 to 16x9

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

The three worst DVD sets I own are:

Soap
War Of The Worlds
Babylon 5

The first is shot on video, but I’ve seen other similar era shows with better transfers.

The second has a lot of video edited effects, but it seems as if no effort was made to make even non-effects scenes look ok

The last was poorly converted from 4x3 to 16x9

Speaking of War of the Worlds (1988 TV series), the incorrect 1970 Paramount Television logo (the one you see at the end of The Brady Bunch, among other shows) was seen on every episode in the NTSC (Region 1) DVD set...

(skip to 1:30:41)


Instead, it should have this Paramount logo (the one you see on seasons 3-4 of MacGyver):

(skip to 0:05)

~Ben

 

[bmasters9]

Speaking of War of the Worlds (1988 TV series), the incorrect 1970 Paramount Television logo (the one you see at the end of The Brady Bunch, among other shows) was seen on every episode of the NTSC DVD set... instead, it should have this Paramount logo (the one you see on seasons 3-4 of MacGyver):

(skip to 0:05)

~Ben

Why would an older logo be on a newer release?

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

Why would an older logo be on a newer release?

That I wish I knew! But the correct logo is there on the PAL (Region 2) DVD release:


~Ben

 

[LouA]

I agree 100 % on M Squad , Restless Gun and Laramie, Those were issued back in the days when Timeless ( a very small company) existed and released shows from ANY available sources . Some of the M Squad episodes look like they came from third or fourth generation SLP VHS tapes . Timeless wasn't even able to get a complete run of The Texan.
And while were at it , how about the shows which were popular back in the "old days" but have never seen a release - good or bad - in any format . Shows like The Peoples Choice , Ben Casey , Adventures In Paradise , East Side West Side , Trackdown , Target , Dragnet (nineteen fifties version) , December Bride , Pete And Gladys, Life of Riley etc .

 

[bmasters9]

That I wish I knew! But the correct logo is there on the PAL (Region 2) DVD release:


~Ben

That astounds me why an international release would have the proper logo, and ours here doesn't.

 

[tlc38tlc38]

The main show that comes to my mind is “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”. The music made that show great and it was all but eliminated in the DVD release.

 

[JohnHopper]

Restored re-releases needed

Banacek
Combat! (season 1 to 4)
Logan's Run
Longstreet

 

[BobO'Link]

Music replacement issues:
The Odd Couple
Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C.
My Three Sons
Northern Exposure
Bosom Buddies

Aspect ratio/poor conversion:
Babylon 5
Birds of Prey (non-anamorphic WS)
Kung Fu (S1 for this - also syndicated cuts)
Combat! (time compressed and poor quality)

Syndicated versions used:
The Joey Bishop Show
Branded
Grace Under Fire (also music replacement)

And lots more - just can't think of them off hand...

 

[phenri]

Barnaby Jones, please.

 

[bmasters9]

Barnaby Jones, please.

Absolutely-- far too many syndie cuts!

 

[Charles Ellis]

I'd add the 1991 primetime Dark Shadows (apparently put into a fake widescreen ratio when it was filmed fullscreen).

Also, I'd love to see an ultimate Dragnet boxed set- perhaps a Complete Series set for the 1967-70 series with the 1966 2-hour pilot and the 1954 color feature film as a bonus. But an Ultimate Set would have all the above as well as episodes from the 50s incarnation remastered from the Universal vaults!

A new version of The Addams Family with restored music and on single-sided discs. Likewise with The Munsters.

Of course for me, a remastered Peyton Place complete series set - Time-Life should take over from Shout Factory!

And something that may be controversial: the really complete Hawaii Five-O with the banned episode "Bored, She Hanged Herself" with warnings on the box and onscreen before the episode is played.

Also, I know that it was considered a stepchild at HBO compared to OZ and Sex and the City, but I think Arliss deserves a chance for at least one seasonal set. All there is right now is a "Best of" set. Perhaps a new generation will appreciate the show.

 

[MartinP.]

Syndicated versions used:
The Joey Bishop Show
Combat! (also poor quality)

^^^
I thought people on this forum have said that the Combat! episodes are intact, but they are sped up, so nothing's missing, but they run a little shorter than you'd think a show of that time would. And my releases of the series--I never thought the quality was poor. ???

I agree about The Joey Bishop Show. A very disappointing (shoddy) release.

 

[MartinP.]

A new version of The Addams Family with restored music and on single-sided discs.

I know that two episodes of The Addams Family had Carolyn Jones, after interacting with
"Thing", walking away singing "It's so nice to have a thing around the house." (If you don't
know the song, "man" was replaced with "thing.")

I read that the music rights holder for that song wanted sooo much money that they got a
firm "screw you" back. Such is the idiocy of a lot of music rights issues. Even Spielberg had
to edit out some music on a radio playing in the background of Jaws for home video.

Do you know if there were any other music cuts in The Addams Family besides the one I mentioned?