Valerie/The Hogan Family: Any DVDs out there? (1 Viewer)

[jcroy]

There's also a part of me that thinks NBC brought in Sandy Duncan two quite simply show Valerie Harper that her show could go on without her ─ which technically made it no longer her show. She walked out, and they replaced her with a thinner, blonde-haired comedienne. They probably intended it as a slap in the face, or I can at least see how they might would have presented it that way.

Even if spite wasn't the primary motivation, it was showing a precise precedent that anybody is "replaceable" in the tv business. Nobody is irreplaceable.

 

[Emcee]

Even if spite wasn't the primary motivation, it was showing a precise precedent that anybody is "replaceable" in the tv business. Nobody is irreplaceable.

But it's funny how all television stars that want to call their bosses' bluff get fooled and get replaced instead of getting their demands met.

Farrah Fawcett pulled out of CHARLIE'S ANGELS, and while ABC tried desperately to keep her, they eventually realized she wasn't returning, and they put Cheryl Ladd in her place.

Suzanne Somers let her popularity go to her head and convince her she was the "star" of THREE'S COMPANY. She demanded a ridiculous salary increase, and even though the network was willing to negotiate, they weren't willing to meet her anywhere close to what she was asking. She was replaced with Jenilee Harrison, who herself was replaced with Priscilla Barnes.

Cindy Williams got married and soon pregnant and let her new husband fill her head with a lot of crazy ideas concerning her worth to LAVERNE & SHIRLEY. Sure, she was half the title, but her new hubby was apparently a pest. Once her bosses turned down all her requests, she walked. She wasn't replaced though, they just went on without her for one more season.

Delta Burke had stirred up some controversy behind-the-scenes of DESIGNING WOMEN. The tabloids played up the feud, with a lot of the controversy surrounding Burke's weight gain. CBS slapped her in the face; they fired her and replaced her with a skinny blonde: Julia Duffy.

 

[DVBRD]

I think the show Duncan was supposed to star in for NBC was the proto-"Saved by the Bell" sitcom "Good Morning Miss Bliss," before the network hired her to replace Valerie Harper on "Valerie." Then Hayley Mills was hired to star in "Miss Bliss."

 

[Emcee]

I think the show Duncan was supposed to star in for NBC was the proto-"Saved by the Bell" sitcom "Good Morning Miss Bliss," before the network hired her to replace Valerie Harper on "Valerie." Then Hayley Mills was hired to star in "Miss Bliss."

I haven't read anything about Sandy Duncan being on GOOD MORNING, MISS BLISS. That doesn't mean it wasn't so, but I thought that property had been touted for Hayley Mills fairly into the production process. Again, I could be wrong.

Either way, that formula wouldn't have worked. It was and will forever be SAVED BY THE BELL, and not that new mess they're selling that's vulgar and too adult for its target audience.

 

[DVBRD]

I haven't read anything about Sandy Duncan being on GOOD MORNING, MISS BLISS. That doesn't mean it wasn't so, but I thought that property had been touted for Hayley Mills fairly into the production process. Again, I could be wrong.

Either way, that formula wouldn't have worked. It was and will forever be SAVED BY THE BELL, and not that new mess they're selling that's vulgar and too adult for its target audience.

It's mentioned at 2:20 on this video:

 

[Emcee]

It's mentioned at 2:20 on this video:

Never knew that before now.

We learn something new everyday.

 

[bmasters9]

Cindy Williams got married and soon pregnant and let her new husband fill her head with a lot of crazy ideas concerning her worth to LAVERNE & SHIRLEY. Sure, she was half the title, but her new hubby was apparently a pest. Once her bosses turned down all her requests, she walked. She wasn't replaced though, they just went on without her for one more season.

And that, IMO, is one of the worst mistakes ever made in television-- to bill a comedy (or any show) as still having the two characters of its title, even when one of them is gone.

 

[MatthewA]

The irony of Valerie's eponymous character dying is that it came on the heels of so many real-life deaths of actors on NBC shows in 1985 and 1986. Dolph Sweet died, so Gimme A Break!'s Chief Kanisky went with him. Coach on Cheers died when Nicholas Colasanto died, too, and when Selma Diamond and Florence Halop died, their Night Court bailiffs did, too. Even The Gummi Bears lost Bill Scott (Gruffi Gummi) and Roger C. Carmel (Sir Tuxford), but since it was a cartoon, they replaced the voices.

But it's funny how all television stars that want to call their bosses' bluff get fooled and get replaced instead of getting their demands met.

Farrah Fawcett pulled out of CHARLIE'S ANGELS, and while ABC tried desperately to keep her, they eventually realized she wasn't returning, and they put Cheryl Ladd in her place.

Suzanne Somers let her popularity go to her head and convince her she was the "star" of THREE'S COMPANY. She demanded a ridiculous salary increase, and even though the network was willing to negotiate, they weren't willing to meet her anywhere close to what she was asking. She was replaced with Jenilee Harrison, who herself was replaced with Priscilla Barnes.

Cindy Williams got married and soon pregnant and let her new husband fill her head with a lot of crazy ideas concerning her worth to LAVERNE & SHIRLEY. Sure, she was half the title, but her new hubby was apparently a pest. Once her bosses turned down all her requests, she walked. She wasn't replaced though, they just went on without her for one more season.

Delta Burke had stirred up some controversy behind-the-scenes of DESIGNING WOMEN. The tabloids played up the feud, with a lot of the controversy surrounding Burke's weight gain. CBS slapped her in the face; they fired her and replaced her with a skinny blonde: Julia Duffy.

This also happened to Fred "Rerun" Berry of What's Happening!! twice. The first time was on ABC during the original series run when Ernest Thomas (Raj) and Haywood Nelson (Dwayne) joined him in demanding a raise. The network settled the issue by canceling the show. Then when What's Happening Now!! began in first-run syndication six years later, he demanded another raise. This time, he was on his own since his co-stars didn't join him. Ernest Thomas, in particular, had been reduced to Kentucky Fried Chicken commercials between the two shows, so he was not going to risk his job again. They now had a major studio backing them (Columbia Pictures Television, who had only syndicated the original but gained the rights when they bought out Bud Yorkin's production company) but not network-level money; they couldn't come to an agreement, so Berry walked and the rest of the cast went on without him for two years. Eventually, they tried to bring in younger blood in the form of Martin Lawrence and Ken Sagoes as Maurice and Darryl, but it just wasn't the same and the show called it quits soon after.

 

[bmasters9]

The irony of Valerie's eponymous character dying is that it came on the heels of so many real-life deaths of actors on NBC shows in 1985 and 1986. Dolph Sweet died, so Gimme A Break!'s Chief Kanisky went with him. Coach on Cheers died when Nicholas Colasanto died, too, and when Selma Diamond and Florence Halop died, their Night Court bailiffs did, too.

And so did Sgt. Phil Esterhaus of Hill Street Blues, when the man who played him (Michael Conrad) passed on of urethral cancer at 58 in Nov. '83.

 

[MatthewA]

 

[GMBurns]

I don't think I ever saw an episode of this series, whether with Valerie Harper or Sandy Duncan. The story is pretty interesting to read. But I really can't relate. You need a raise from 60,000 dollars a week? Somehow I think I could manage on that weekly salary, and you wouldn't even have to adjust for what it would be worth 33 years later. Heck, at that salary give me a 67% pay cut, and I'd still have way more than enough to live on. Yikes.

 

[MatthewA]

That was nothing compared to the stars of Seinfeld and Frasier getting about a million per show by the time those shows ended!

 

[MatthewA]

Bad news: series creator Charlie Hauck, who also wrote for Maude among many other shows, has died.

 

[Harry-N]

If nothing else, THE HOGAN FAMILY had an amazing theme song, sung by Roberta Flack. It never changed throughout the series - here's, I believe, a CBS opening:

 

[Ron1973]

To the original poster: So in the 35 or so years since the show aired, you haven't had any opportunity to record the series yourself in any video format? No offense, but there are other ways of obtaining a show you like for yourself, other than praying for TPTB, as you call them, or bootleggers and their multi-generational copies. Not a show I ever cared about but I'm sure that even if you couldn't record them off-network, that they've re-aired since.

They say death and taxes are a certainty in life. So is Neil Brock's miserable "better than thou" attitude. I wonder why he's allowed to get away with belittling people?

 

[bmasters9]

They say death and taxes are a certainty in life. So is Neil Brock's miserable "better than thou" attitude. I wonder why he's allowed to get away with belittling people?

I never knew he was like that! That's the first time I've seen it ever brought up.

 

[jcroy]

(On a more general tangent).

It's more like typical behavior of a person who has been in their own "bubble" for so long, and don't have any context of somebody else who is not a like minded fellow "bubble" traveller.

 

[Emcee]

I honestly didn't think anything too much about all of it.

Some people just aren't too friendly, and sometimes things just come across abrasive over a computer screen. Bid-side-manner isn't too easy to express over a computer screen.

Our lack of in-person communication limits our personalities.

 

[Harry-N]

I had opportunities back in the 80s and 90s and on to record all kinds of shows. The problem is that there are many series that you just don't know if you like all that much that you'd want to record it, own it, store it. Not to mention the cost of blank tapes, and the cost in time to set up recordings. Sure, if I knew that someday I'd want to see all of THE HOGAN FAMILY, I could have dutifully followed the TV Guide and recorded each episode as it aired in whatever time-slot, on whatever network was carrying it. But this particular show wasn't all that special to begin with. Nevertheless, with the passing of years, I might want to watch some episodes just to reminisce or to see an actor in a younger day, so having it available on a DVD set, or even a streaming service would be nice. Heck, I'd even settle for a run on one of the sub-nets that run retro stuff - and in fact, that's where I caught a couple of episodes of THE HOGAN FAMILY on Antenna TV, when they ran it, and I had the channel. Those things come and go too - I no longer have access to Antenna TV.

Another problem is organization of the tapes that you might be making. I'll use an example that actually happened to me.

I'm a Trekkie and back in the 90s I wanted to dutifully record all episodes of STAR TREK VOYAGER for posterity. (A useless endeavor in hindsight since I bought the DVDs!) But back then, I didn't know that DVDs were in the future, so I needed to record each week's episode. That show aired on UPN at the time and was followed immediately by another show that interested me, NOWHERE MAN. So, either I settled for tapes with both VOYAGER & NOWHERE MAN back to back (not desirable for cataloging and labeling), or I could attempt to swiftly shuffle individual blank tapes in and out in the couple of seconds between shows. (I like credits and hate to miss them on either end of a show.)

I opted for the latter at the time, swapping tapes in and out, often missing a second or two here and there as the VHS machine whirled into action. And it was all for naught - I own both VOYAGER and NOWHERE MAN on DVD and don't need any of those old videotapes. They've all been trashed.

So back when these things aired originally, there was no way of knowing that future formats would see them released to home video. HOGAN FAMILY was barely a blip on my radar back then. We watched it when we could, but didn't fret when we missed it. Now, as a nostalgia item, it might be nice to revisit once more. So I certainly can understand the OP's question and desire to see the show released.

There are certainly a lot of good reasons why this particular show will not be issued, but I see no reason to chide a poster for wishing a series was available.

 

[jcroy]

I had opportunities back in the 80s and 90s and on to record all kinds of shows. The problem is that there are many series that you just don't know if you like all that much that you'd want to record it, own it, store it. Not to mention the cost of blank tapes, and the cost in time to set up recordings.

For me, another huge issue was that I moved around a lot when I was younger due to college, work, family, etc ...

The few collections I had back in the day (mostly vinyl), I ended up leaving at my parents' place. Otherwise it was too much stuff to move around. For several decades, I arranged my life where I didn't have a lot of stuff.

Back in the day, many times I gave away a lot of furniture, tvs, vcrs, videotapes, etc ... to then-local friends/family, so I didn't have to drag it around during my cross country or international moves. So I didn't see any point in recording tons of tv shows on vhs tapes, for my own personal library.