VEI announces second wave of CBS series releases (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

Two others Paramount shows from the early 1980s you forgot that aired off-network that I'd be surprised to see get releases: Madame's Place and Brothers. The first has only one season so can be done whole in a single set easily, and it was syndicated so there should be no running time discrepancies. With Corey Feldman in the news for something that adds a layer of irony to his character being called "Buzzy," stranger things have happened. The latter ran on Showtime for five years but was briefly syndicated (and from what I understand was not just cut but censored to make it FCC-friendly much like Sex and the City would later be on TBS), so there it would be a particular shame to see the show only get released in a toned-down version.

The complete run of Here's Boomer is out on DVD but in German under the name Boomer Der Streuner. I checked Amazon.de and it has an English track and a review confirms they're all uncut. The pilot film is there but also available separately under the name Boomers Weihnachtsfest. It must have been more popular in Germany than the US where it was scheduled irregularly with huge gaps in its run. I think when it ended it might have ended up in one half of the Sunday night slot that used to be Disney's and would later be split between Silver Spoons and Punky Brewster. I remember The Disney Channel rerunning it in the 1980s and I taped the Michael J. Fox episode but I don't remember much else about it.

 

[smithbrad]

Every episode of Bonanza is available for broadcast. They are in either of the 2 packages, the traditional one or the "lost" one. Not all of the seasons are fully in the lost package because those that are not are in the other package.

Previously, I only checked the Lost Episodes list, which obviously does not contain some episodes within seasons 8 through 11. However, as you stated those episodes are in the standard package. One might have thought they would have just selected a season to make a natural split between packages. I guess this might explain why the "Lost Episodes" were considered lost all that time since the previous package went all the way from seasons 1 through 11 (even though 8 through 11 were partial seasons), so they probably never felt another package was necessary. So the first package goes from seasons 1 through 11 and the Lost Episodes package goes from seasons 7 through 14 with no episodes duplicated between packages. Interesting.

 

[MartinP.]

From that list in the "hoping" category, I'd pick:

Paper Moon
The Associates
Goodtime Girls

I was not familiar with Goodtime Girls on your list, so I looked it up. To my surprise, I remember
watching at least some of that series, but always remembered the title as The Home Front, for
some reason.

I've always been interested in period sitcoms. They rarely catch on to last for any length of time,
but I appreciate the attempts. Anyone remember the three-camera pilot for a Revolutionary War
sitcom starring Ryan O'Neal and Lesley-Anne Down, titled "1775." (?)

Adam West played George Washington!

 

[Mr. Handley]

I remember liking The Associates when it first aired. Haven't seen it since.

 

[Neil Brock]

I remember liking The Associates when it first aired. Haven't seen it since.

I never watched it at the time but I picked it up later as it ran on A&E as well as a local cable station here that picked up NY based programs, including some other rarities like Bronx Zoo and Serpico.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

I never watched it at the time but I picked it up later as it ran on A&E as well as a local cable station here that picked up NY based programs, including some other rarities like Bronx Zoo and Serpico.

USA Network also re-ran the series in the late 1980s/early 1990s. Episode 8, "The Censors," even ended with a still version of the 1979 Paramount Television logo after the John Charles Walters/In Association with titles!


~Ben

 

[jcroy]

It appears VEI is making some inroads with Disney/ABC and/or Fox. (ie. Expanding beyond CBS and MGM).


They're releasing season 1 of Grandfathered on November 24, 2017.

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Grandfathered-Season-1/23782


Not entirely sure who actually owns this show outright. According to imdb and wikipedia, both Disney/ABC and Fox are mentioned as the production company and distributors.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4465368/companycredits?ref_=tt_dt_co

 

[jcroy]

If VEI is indeed making inroads with Fox, let's hope something like St Elsewhere is on tap for a possible future VEI complete series dvd release.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

If VEI is indeed making inroads with Fox, let's hope something like St Elsewhere is on tap for a possible future VEI complete series dvd release.

If they are... here's what I hope to see them release soon:
Twelve O'Clock High (TV series)
The Green Hornet
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (TV series)
The rest of Room 222
The Nanny and the Professor
The Swiss Family Robinson (1975 TV series)
Trapper John, M.D.
The rest of Mr. Belvedere

~Ben

 

[jcroy]

Looking at VEI's homepage, they also list the complete series sets of The Whispers and Galavant which are being released this coming Friday November 10, 2017.

On these two shows' wikipedia and imdb pages, they both only mention ABC/Disney as their distributor.

I'm guessing the recent inroads made by VEI, is most likely with Disney/ABC.

 

[jcroy]

With the recent rumors of Disney thinking of buying up most of Fox, such a deal might be good for the Fox catalog shows, with VEI recently making inroads with ABC/Disney (with The Whispers, Galavant, and Grandfathered).

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

The long wait is over for all you Viper fans!


~Ben

 

[bmasters9]

The long wait is over for all you Viper fans!


~Ben

Are you saying that a Viper all-in-one will come soon? I take it that such is what that video says.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

Are you saying that a Viper all-in-one will come soon? I take it that such is what that video says.

Yes, indeed.

~Ben (ClassicTVMan1981X)

 

[JayHink]

If anyone cares....I popped in the first disc of SUPER FORCE, watched the pilot movie & the first regular episode. So far, so good on playback & quality.

Obviously taken from available videotape masters, which would've been what a show like this in '90 was mastered to. (I'm watching on an era-appropriate CRT set from the late 90s.) Audio is adequate; videotape transfer appeared clean and free of damage.

The episode ran 21 minutes & change, which I think is about right for a low-budget syndicated show in '90 (can't remember for sure). The pilot clocked in at just over 91 minutes.

I was in the target for this back in the day, being 14 years old in '90 when I first saw it, enticing us 80s kids weaned on KNIGHT RIDER, STREET HAWK & ROBOCOP, to which SUPER FORCE appears to be inspired by (viewing through my now 41-year-old eyes). I of course watched VIPER a couple years later, which is apparently coming eventually, as mentioned above.

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Associates_(U.S._TV_series)

As you may know, The Associates (US TV series) had 13 episodes, but ABC only aired nine of them. This series, starring Canadian funnyman Martin Short (of Saturday Night Live fame), would be a perfect candidate for a DVD release (two discs)... if they can try to clear the rights to the title theme, which is B.B. (or would that be Albert?) King's "Wall Street Blues." Ironically, the series would be up for two Golden Globe awards just weeks after its cancellation. Like season 2 of Mork & Mindy, the series started on a Sunday night, but moved to Thursday nights when 1979 became 1980, though unlike the former, it was actually off the air for nearly six months between October 1979 and March 1980.

There actually was another little-known series in the 1980s that Paramount TV did for CBS which ran for three seasons: The Cavanaughs (1986-89)... hope VEI will consider this, too.

~Ben

 

[bmasters9]

There actually was another little-known series in the 1980s that Paramount TV did for CBS which ran for three seasons: The Cavanaughs (1986-89)... hope VEI will consider this, too.

IINM, it's long-buried in the file of my memory, but I recall seeing an episode of that in 1988 (perhaps a rerun), and at the closing credits, I expected Paramount's newer CGI Mountain to come up (this being '88), but lo-and-behold, the Blue Mtn. still showed up. It was after the Mandy Films card (Leonard Goldberg's independent outfit) and possibly an IAW card, and also, I do not recall whether this was the standard Mtn., or the tall-peaked one as would have been seen on Webster in the 1986 season. Anyone recall?

 

[HenryDuBrow]

Wow, some sweet dreams if VEI could get a Fox deal, that'd be really welcome with so many rare titles there to dig out and liberate from their own studio's captivity... Hong Kong, Judd for the Defense, Hagen, Lancer, etc.

 

[Malcolm R]

Two others Paramount shows from the early 1980s you forgot that aired off-network that I'd be surprised to see get releases: Madame's Place and Brothers. The first has only one season so can be done whole in a single set easily, and it was syndicated so there should be no running time discrepancies.

I'd love a set of Madame's Place.

Madame: These are my Summer Diamonds. Some are diamonds, some are not.

 

[MatthewA]

If they ever get around to it, they should also try to include Madame's appearances on Solid Gold, which had the same producer, Brad Lachman*. The likelihood of that show ever coming out is likely bubkes without major changes in copyright and licensing laws. What a sad coincidence that it ended around the time Wayland Flowers died.

*I've assumed for years he was the son of the late sitcom producer Mort Lachman, but can't get confirmation on it. Madame's Place also seemed to have inherited a bunch of writers from Bosom Buddies since one ended as the other began, whereas the elder Lachman inherited Peter Scolari and Telma Hopkins. Scolari starred in the ABC show Baby Makes Five that started on April Fool's Day and ended two days after my actual birth. That show also had Priscilla Morrill as his mother-in-law, as she eventually became on Newhart.