Whatever Happened To? Recent Rumors/Status Report (1 Viewer)

[Frank Soyke]

It goes without saying that it's been very slow news wise on the vintage front so I thought it might be interesting to get a status report on some of the discussed releases and rumored releases from the past year or so. I realize many of these items have their own thread(s) but some of you may be very busy like me and may have missed an update here or there, so I thought I would put them all at one place so we can all get a good look at where things stand. Additonally, I know some of you, like me, write to the studios and may have gotten an update here or there that wasn't put in a thread yet, so there's my rationale for this. If some of this stuff has been sorted out already, I apologize in advance for any redundancy. Feel free to add ones i missed you might be curious about. On with it then....


What is the current status/latest update (if any) on:


1) San Nelson's Project


2) The reported than pulled Name of The Game release


3) The pulled Ironhorse release


4) DIckens/Fenster Volume 2


5) Sony's (Lol) MOD Program for vintage stuff


6) Fox's (Lmao) MOD Program - Any word from the "savior" Mr Finn?

 

[Neil Brock]

It goes without saying that it's been very slow news wise on the vintage front so I thought it might be interesting to get a status report on some of the discussed releases and rumored releases from the past year or so. I realize many of these items have their own thread(s) but some of you may be very busy like me and may have missed an update here or there, so I thought I would put them all at one place so we can all get a good look at where things stand. Additonally, I know some of you, like me, write to the studios and may have gotten an update here or there that wasn't put in a thread yet, so there's my rationale for this. If some of this stuff has been sorted out already, I apologize in advance for any redundancy. Feel free to add ones i missed you might be curious about. On with it then....


What is the current status/latest update (if any) on:


1) San Nelson's Project


2) The reported than pulled Name of The Game release


3) The pulled Ironhorse release


4) DIckens/Fenster Volume 2


5) Sony's (Lol) MOD Program for vintage stuff


6) Fox's (Lmao) MOD Program - Any word from the "savior" Mr Finn?

1 - Well-meaning but Sam is in so far over his head its not funny.


2 - Lack of usable elements.


3 - Sony got out of the DVD business


4 - Died along with Leonard Stern


5 - See #3


6 - This is a joke, right?

 

[Frank Soyke]

Thanks Neil...... I knew you would appreciate #6....

 

[JMas]

7 - CBS/P's plan to release Gunsmoke Season 12 in December. Is CBS/P leaving the TV on DVD business except for current shows? Do the substantial losses they must be enduring with the Fugitive fiasco have anything to do with it?

 

[TVonDVDJunkie05]

I don't understand why Sony & Fox don't partner up with Warner Archive to release their stalled shows via Warner's MOD program since neither company has any interest in releasing any more classic series on DVD themselves?! Fox isn't even interested in licensing out anything- what kind of morons are running this company, serously?!


There are still some shows in both Fox & Sony's libraries IMO that would sell well enough to at least warrant MOD releases and in some cases perhaps even DVD releases if they were released by someone else.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Fox isn't even interested in licensing out anything- what kind of morons are running this company, serously?!

People who failed Business 101.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

They even got rid of the Star Wars universe to Disney, was that a good idea for Fox I'm not sure.

 

[LeoA]

There was that Make Room for Daddy rumor that hasn't led to anything happening, sadly.

 

[Jack P]

Yeah, supposedly we were going to see SFM titles surface some more (including the long overdue unstalling of Joey Bishop Show) but that never happened.

Of course long before there was 1-7, Shout was saying things about "Ironside" that took them several years to admit were never true.

 

[BobO'Link]

They even got rid of the Star Wars universe to Disney, was that a good idea for Fox I'm not sure.

Fox didn't get rid of SWU, that was George Lucas who sold Lucasfilm to Disney. Fox owns distribution rights to the original Star Wars, Episode 4, in perpetuity in all media worldwide. And as for the five subsequent movies, Fox has theatrical, nontheatrical and home video rights worldwide through May 2020 (distribution - Disney owns the films themselves). Disney will own outright the next trilogy and will get Episodes I, II, III, V, and VI in June 2020.

 

[Rick Thompson]

You folks aren't very nice, dumping on Fox like you do.


Here they are, doing their best to make sure "alternate source" companies have a chance to survive, and you make them out to be villains. If Fox were to release their shows, think of all the "alternate sources" who would be out on the street, cold and hungry, unable to pay their rent and buy food for their shriveled bodies.


Instead of dumping on Fox, PRAISE Fox for helping the little guy.


All together now: "Fox: They're great humanitarians!"

 

[Richard Gallagher]

I don't understand why Sony & Fox don't partner up with Warner Archive to release their stalled shows via Warner's MOD program since neither company has any interest in releasing any more classic series on DVD themselves?! Fox isn't even interested in licensing out anything- what kind of morons are running this company, serously?!


There are still some shows in both Fox & Sony's libraries IMO that would sell well enough to at least warrant MOD releases and in some cases perhaps even DVD releases if they were released by someone else.

The sad part is that both Sony and Fox could succeed with MOD issues if they simply adopted Warner's business model. Make them quality releases (which means OAR, Fox!), have a dedicated website where they are easy to find, have an e-mail mailing list to notify customers of new releases, and have at least occasional sales.


The only place I've found where it is easy to find the Sony titles is oldies.com.

 

[mmyers]

What about the 4th and 5th seasons of Zane Grey Theater? Any news from Timeless on this front?


What about SFM--there were rumors about The Californians and Wichita Town?

 

[GMBurns]

What about the 4th and 5th seasons of Zane Grey Theater? Any news from Timeless on this front?

I emailed them a few months back about Zane Grey and they said there were no plans for further releases due to poor sales.

 

[Jack P]

I would have been more willing to buy ZGT if they had just decided to release a certain other interrupted Four Star title!

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

I would have been more willing to buy ZGT if they had just decided to release a certain other interrupted Four Star title!

Which is now in its SEVENTH year of being stalled!

 

[Silverking]

What about SFM--there were rumors about The Californians and Wichita Town?

I emailed SFM in Feb. about 'Wichita Town' & they were courteous enough to reply as follows -


"We do intend to release 'Wichita Town' once the various contractual details can be worked through. Returning these 'classic;' shows to today's marketplace is expensive and far more complicated than you would believe. However, where there is a will, there is a way, so stay tuned.

All the best.

Stanley Moger
President
SFM Entertainment"


I don't know about 'The Californians' this was just speculation on this forum.

 

[MatthewA]

Was anything mentioned at the D23 Expo about news in releasing the 4th and 5th seasons of The Muppet Show onto DVD?

I was just thinking about that the other day. Since the Henson family actually sold the characters to Disney, we've gotten two new Muppet movies, Blu-rays of all the other movies, some specials of varying quality, and another series that at least promises to actually be good, but these, the ones fans have wanted all along, have been in limbo all the while. It's got to be more than merely music rights.