Universal is about to open the floodgates... (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

Dave, as long as that half is the Equalizer.

 

[John*P]

I'm with John Kilduff, I'd LOVE to see "Out of this World" on DVD, as I haven't seen it in ages. I seriously doubt it is listed in that book, tho. Prove me wrong, David! :-P

 

[David Von Pein]

Leave It To Beaver certainly deserves to be preserved in a blissful "state of Digitalness" (even if we will never know what state in the Union Wally, The Beav, and 'The Lump' actually resided in).

The TVShowsOnDVD blurb contained this remark re. LITB requests ...........

"It is one of the most-asked-about series for coming to DVD...though most of the people doing the requesting seem to be a tad embarrassed to go on record about it!"

*Scratching Head*

My goodness! You mean to say people are MORE embarrassed to say they want/like "The Beav" than they are to say they covet & want DVD releases of "Baa Baa Black Sheep" or "Charlie's Angels"? Something just seems slightly out-of-whack with this comparison.

Now, I'll grant you, I can see the humongous appeal for classic shows like "The Misadventures Of Sheriff Lobo", "BJ & The Bear", and that 13-episode ultra-popular Happy Days' spinoff "Blansky's Beauties"! But "Baa Baa"??

Now, if "Blansky's" gets a DVD release before The Beav, there's definitely something rotten in the Beaver city of Mayfield!

But, then again, "Gilligan" somehow managed to beat Beaver into the DVD Player. Most illogical indeed, IMO. But, then too, Mary Ann and Ginger ARE a bit more appealing in bikinis than The Beav and The Wally.

Hopefully, the term "Best Of" won't be part of any upcoming Beaver packaging. That WOULD indeed be a shame. Although I have a sinking feeling that IS what we're going to get. Especially considering the super-long "39-episode" seasons for all 6 Beaver campaigns. That's darn-near TWICE the length of today's TV seasons! And a lot of re-mastering for a single DVD set. But, I hope some smart person at Universal Home Video will have the lightbulb go off in his/her head and realize that most DVD collectors want season sets, and not just a grab-bag of someone else's "favorites".

For fans of "Beaver", here's what a Season 1 DVD would contain, episode-wise.

LEAVE IT TO BEAVER SEASON 1 (1957-'58):

#1 Captain Jack
#2 The Black Eye
#3 Beaver gets ‘spelled
#4 Water, anyone?
#5 Wally’s girl trouble
#6: Part time genius
#7: New Neighbors
#8: The Haircut
#9: Brotherly Love
#10: The perfume salesmen
#11: The Clubhouse
#12: Beaver’s short pants
#13: Beaver’s crush
#14: Voodoo magic
#15: The paper route
#16: Party Invitation
#17: Lumpy Rutherford
#18: Child care
#19: The Bank account
#20: Lonesome Beaver
#21: The perfect father
#22: Cleaning up Beaver
#23: The state vs. Beaver
#24: Beaver and Poncho
#25: The broken window
#26: Train trip
#27: My brother’s Girl
#28: Next door Indians
#29: Music Lesson
#30: Tenting tonight
#31: Beaver’s old friend
#32: Wally’s job
#33: New doctor
#34: Boarding school
#35: Beaver’s bad day
#36: Beaver’s poem
#37: Beaver and Henry
#38: Beaver’s guest
#39: Cat out of the bag

--------------------------

"The Haircut" is a highlight from S.1. Plus many others -- with Jerry Mathers exhibiting a 'cuteness' that's not been duplicated by very many child actors on screen -- save, perhaps, Ronny Howard (who was the ultimate "adorable kid" in Season 1 of "T.A.G.S.").

Ward -- "Now, Beaver .... yesterday I gave you $1.50 to get a haircut. Did you get a haircut?"

Beaver -- "I sure did."

 

[Greg_S_H]

When they sneak into the boys' room and pull off the nightcap, June's reaction is priceless.

I'm not embarrassed to want Baa Baa, though. What are you talking about? :frowning:

I was convinced that the one in the book would be Airwolf. Will we never get the Lady on DVD? It's probably my most-wanted, after the Brady Bunch.

 

[David Von Pein]

I was just making a funny, Greg. Sorry, Baa Baa fans.

June's reaction is great, indeed. .....

"Ward, we'll just have to send him away somewhere..."

 

[Greg_S_H]

I know. Actually, I've only seen a handful of episodes, so maybe it becomes embarrassing the more you watch?

 

[David Von Pein]

Come to think of it further ..... Any "Beaver" season sets certainly won't be in the "cheap" or "bargain-priced" arena (I wouldn't think anyway -- unless Universal goes ultra-cheap on the transfers and crams 10 to 12 eps. on one disc to keep the disc count lower).

39 eps. per season would = probably at least a SIX-disc set! Which would probably equal -- what? -- an MSRP in the $69.99 range?

Of course, they could save by doing DUAL-SIDED platters. (OK by me, if that's what it takes.)

The more I ponder Beaver's fate in the hands of the recently-subpar Universal Studios (on some titles), the more I wish Univ. would outsource Beaver to Image or Shout Factory or somebody else who will take the time (and care) to do it up right for Cleaver fans.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

With a half-hour show, it should be no problem to put 8 per disc, so that would be 5 discs/season.

 

[David Von Pein]

Yes, Dan. I guess that is feasible. "MTM-1" has great PQ, and it's got 8 eps. per disc.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Have Gun-Will Travel has 39 episodes in its first season, and CBS put seven episodes per disc for a total of six discs. It was relatively cheap, too--I don't remember exactly what I paid, but I saw it in Borders of all places for $33.

Of course, that was Paramount and this is Uni.

 

[David Von Pein]

Thanks Greg. Hadn't known that about "Have Gun". But, yeah, it has an MRP of just $49.99. Not bad for 39 eps./6 discs.

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=PRD875234

 

[MattHR]

I was thinking about Universal's situation regarding the rights to "The Six Million Dollar Man". It's already been reported that Miramax has obtained the rights to the theatrical remake, after Universal let their option on the contract expire. The contract had been with the estate of Martin Caiden, author of Cyborg, the book on which "SMDM" was based. It's also been reported that the upcoming remake (apparently with Jim Carey in a comedy version) is going to be a co-production between Miramax and Universal. This leads me to believe that the complicated contract negotiations that had been preventing the release of "SMDM" on DVD have been worked out, and we'll probably see "SMDM" on DVD around the time of the theatrical remake.

But, if there still is a legal situation preventing "SMDM" from coming to DVD, we probably wouldn't be hearing that "The Bionic Woman" is coming soon to DVD. If Universal was prevented from releasing "SMDM" or marketing the "Steve Austin" character, the "BW" DVD's could not be anything other than a collection of random episodes. A "BW" first season couldn't be released because the premiere episode was actually "Part II" to an episode that began as "Part I" on "SMDM", and the character of Steve Austin was featured in two of "BW"'s thirteen season one episodes. Any "Best of" collection would be impossible, as the best (most popular) episodes were cross-overs with "SMDM".

Ideally, "BW" would be released in a season one set, and also include the four "SMDM" episodes that introduced the Jaime Sommers character, and the "Part I" premiere episode that also was broadcast as an episode of "SMDM". However, I'm guessing this "Part I" episode will have its credits altered (as is in syndication) to reflect it as a "BW" episode.

In any event, I'm very curious (and impatient!) to learn how Universal will handle this release. They have already released three volumes (3 episodes per) in R2/PAL.


Here's a quick rundown of the episodes that would concern a possible "BW" season one release:

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (from season 2):
The Bionic Woman: Part I
The Bionic Woman: Part II

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (from season 3):
The Return of the Bionic Woman: Part I
The Return of the Bionic Woman: Part II
Welcome Home, Jaime: Part I

THE BIONIC WOMAN - SEASON 1
Welcome Home, Jaime: Part II
Angel of Mercy
A Thing of the Past*
Claws
The Deadly Missiles*
Bionic Beauty
Jaime's Mother
Winning Is Everything
Canyon of Death
Fly Jaime
The Jailing of Jaime
Mirror Image
The Ghosthunter
(* featured Steve Austin)

 

[Paul_Scott]

i was thinking the same thing-
additionally, if the Oscar Goldman character was in the book- then that would also prevent BW from seeing release- wouldn't it- until the rights are hashed.

i was bouncing around on my feet most of yesterday at the news that BW might be close- but now i've come down to earth and the more i think about it, the more it seems less and less likely.
ratchet down my enthusiasm till there is something more concrete.
i mean, Night Gallery was said to be 'in the works', which to me means closer than just 'close', and yet that was completely left out of this wish book.

i'm thinking a lot of whats mentioned in the book is going to be on deck for 2005 and beyond.

 

[MattHR]

The characters featured in the book Cyborg were Steve Austin, Dr. Rudy Wells and Oscar Goldman, head of the O.S.O. (Office of Special Operations). The pilot/tele-film "The Six Million Dollar Man" changed the character of Oscar Goldman to Oliver Spencer (played by Darren McGavin), while Rudy Wells was played by Martin Balsam.

The next two tele-films, "The Solid Gold Kidnapping" and "Wine, Women and War", now featured Oscar Goldman, as played by Richard Anderson for the rest of the series, while Rudy Wells was played by Alan Oppenheimer for the next two seasons of "SMDM". (Martin E. Brooks played Rudy Wells on "SMDM" seasons 3-5 and all three seasons of "BW").

When the official series began, the O.S.O. was now referred to as the O.S.I. (Office of Scientific Intelligence).

Although the Jaime Sommers character was created by Kenneth Johnson for the "SMDM" series, the end credits for "BW" feature the "Based on the novel Cyborg by Martin Caiden" disclaimer, since it features two of Caiden's creations (Goldman and Wells).

 

[Paul_Scott]

thanks for the clarification Matt.

in addition to just mentioning which series this book covers, can we also get an idea of how the book mentions them
i.e full page, double page spread, small blurb, etc.

 

[Craig: Mclaren]

The Equalizer, Kojak and Airwolf please.

 

[David Lambert]

From right above: Craig, only one of those. From further up this thread: Todd S, John P...don't get your hopes up. Sorry.


David VP, don't knock Baa Baa Black Sheep! All other Baa Baa fans, I think David was taking a subtle shot at me, because I expressed my hotness for that show in another thread.

Since I as much as said so to Todd S, here's the deal: Baa Baa is in the book, in the collage at the back, right above Beaver. Yaaaaaayyyyyyy! (dances around the room naked).

As to my comments about Beaver being "embarrassing" for folks to admit they want: it's the kind of thing that people ask me about, but the number of questions I get either in the forum or via e-mail (or verbally, on the rare occassions when THAT happens), doesn't seem to translate into big voting numbers at TVShowsOnDVD. I get asked for Leave It to Beaver SO damn much, you would think it would be a top 10 most-request show at TSoD! But it's not. It's #155 on the unreleased list. That's still very VERY high, compared to almost 6000 series available to vote on. But it feels like it ought to be higher.

Conclusion? Well, in my mind it means that folks do want it, and when they see it on the shelf will nab it if the price is reasonable and it's in the configuration they want (95% want season sets, not a surprise). They just don't want to put it "in writing".

As to whether or not Universal plans to release Beav in season sets or best-ofs: nowhere in that book does it say anything is guaranteed to be season sets, or best-ofs, or anything else. Just "coming to DVD" is all it says. Nothing more. No dates. No extras. No content descriptions at all. Most of all, no promises, other than the very general idea that Uni *plans* to bring these to DVD. What the plans are, aren't said. And as well all know, plans change.

Don't get fixated, and don't get your hopes up too high, and most of all don't be surprised if some of this doesn't happen. People who remember
this story know all too well what I'm talking about.

The ones in that story used to be referred to around here as "the lost 8", by the way, and 4 of them got announced or released since then. Of the remaining four, I can guarantee you that "E:TFC" isn't in the book; I said so before already. The other 3?... I'll let you know!

 

[David Lambert]

A quick separate note praising Matt for his analysis of SMDM/BW situation. Very well done. I had the same thoughts in mind, and come to the same conclusion: "This leads me to believe that the complicated contract negotiations that had been preventing the release of 'SMDM' on DVD have been worked out, and we'll probably see 'SMDM' on DVD around the time of the theatrical remake."

To be clear, it's Dimension, not Mirimax.

To be further clear, Universal's involvement in the film hasn't been set in stone yet. Variety says:


I personally believe the latter is a good indication that Dimension and Universal have already worked together behind-the-scenes to avoid a big combative situation like the Warner/Fox "Batman '66" issue, and worked out a deal where they cooperate so that the film is properly co-financed by both studios, and we get the SMDM DVDs at the proper time as a tie-in. But that wouldn't stop BW from coming out sooner to keep Bionic fans happy, maybe. That would be a good plan to maintain interest in the meantime. A little bit of Steve Austin as a guest star would whet people's appetites for the film AND for the tie-in DVDs to come later. Good marketing approach, if executed right.

 

[David Lambert]

Damn, guys...now you have me all psyched up for SMDM! I'm panting for an episode RIGHT NOW. Crap. Oh, well...I'll be happy listening to this for a while; it's a fun re-mix of the theme.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

While this may be true, I am not a fan of the Bionic Woman, and I'm sure I am not alone. I just worry that if the Bionic Woman doesn't sell well, they may not release the Six Million Dollar Man. This is why I wish SMDM would've been released first.