TV shows most rare on DVD (1 Viewer)

If you can think of any out of production TV DVD sets lets hear it.
I will start with seasons 4, and 5 of Charles in Charge. Amazon MOD exclusives that didn’t last very long. Very, very rare.
Also Pink Lady and Jeff the complete series. When I bought a decent used copy years ago (2009) the price hovered around $40. now it is seemingly impossible to find on E-Bay.

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The one that comes to memory for me, in terms of going OOP ultra fast was the final season release of Sgt Preston. Critics Choice was releasing the season sets, and S1 and S2 were not hard to pick up initially (although all seasons are now OOP), but that last season release seemed to come and go at lightning speed.

Gary "I'm telling you, those went really quick and became impossible to find after a very short time" O.

Doogie Howser M.D. - I'd passed on a couple of B1G1 free sales on this one one winter thinking "I'll pick it up later." It went OOP before spring hit. Somewhat expensive now - depending. I was able to snag used copies of S1 & S2 for under $10 each but S3 & S4 seem to hover in the $35-$99 area.

Several Filmation Saturday Live Action series (were from BCI before they folded): Secrets of Isis, Ark II, Space Academy, and Jason of Star Command - that set was going for ~$20 and I kept stalling picking it up. It suddenly went OOP and both the set and individual releases of those series are $50-$200 (on a good day) with the set going for $200-$500!?!

The OOP ADV release of Hercules The Legendary Journeys - S1 is the only place I know of to get the 3 telefilms that preceded the series. Universal chose not to include them in their reprint of S1 and have yet to do an individual release. You *need* those films as they set up several regular characters and some situations referred to in the regular series. Prices fluctuate on this one but is often available in reasonably priced used copies.

Two's Company - (Elaine Stritch and Donald Sinden) R1 from Acorn Media. A UK series. OOP but can still be found used at reasonable prices.

Several of the US/R1 releases of Last of the Summer Wine look to be or are OOP and some command rather steep prices. Vintage 1977, Vintage 1979, Vintage 1997, Vintage 1995, Vintage 1997, Vintage 1988/89, Vintage 82/83, Vintage 1998 (this one is stupidly expensive), Christmas Specials 1978-1982, Holiday Specials 1986-1989, maybe more.

Black Books - R1 release of UK series. All three seasons.

Monty Python's Flying Circus - R1 Megasets and individual releases.

Jeeves & Wooster - R1 complete series and individual seasons.

UFO - (UK Gerry Anderson series) Although there's rumor of a BR of this one coming.

The Prisoner - I believe all versions of this one are OOP.

Secret Agent AKA Danger Man - Complete series and individual seasons/sets.

'Allo 'Allo! - All R1 releases.

My Hero - R1 and R2 releases - all seasons OOP.

Fresh Fields - R1 Set 1 & Set 2.

Rising Damp - R1 of all seasons.

Rise and Fall of Reginald Perrin - Complete series R1.

Roy Clarke's Open All Hours - Complete series R1.

One Foot in the Grave - All R1 releases.

Yeah... lots and lots of the R1 UK series are OOP. I know I have more US releases that are OOP but don't have my inventory list with me (I'm at work). I'll check when I get home.

I know that Steve Canyon took forever to come out on DVD (in 3 volumes for a one season show), not sure if it is OOP now, but it was pretty damn rare, and production history was very interesting.

More:

Chef! - R1 OOP (but used is still reasonable)

Corner Gas - All seasons and box set.

Eerie Indiana - and going for rather high prices.

First of the Summer Wine - R1 & R2

George of the Jungle (1967)

Good Morning World

Greatest American Hero - All releases

Land of the Giants

Mister Peepers - both seasons (3rd never saw release)

Quark

Thriller - The 60s Karloff series

Zorro - The 50s Disney series

I'm sure I've missed some in my collection...

Some of the region 1 releases released only in Canada might qualify, such as Joey: Season 2. I know at times when I looked it up it appeared scarce

I don't know why WB made Last Of The Summer Wine so expensive, each vintage collection was about $30-35 I think. Are You Being Served?, Keeping Up Appearances, and As Time Goes By were all around $20 each. I guess WB knew a lot of people/fans wanted this series badly and that were willing to pay the big price tag to get it.

BobO'Link said:

Zorro - The 50s Disney series

I'm sure I've missed some in my collection...

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Zorro was one of the most frustrating releases. I Disney have that out for an hour and a half. I was ready and snagged a set, but their damned Vault Releases were always far too limited.

ScottRE said:

Zorro was one of the most frustrating releases. I Disney have that out for an hour and a half. I was ready and snagged a set, but their damned Vault Releases were always far too limited.

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That's how they justify charging a premium. Take content people want, make it available for a limited time at a rate that is less than the demand for it. Apparently, they decided that if it worked for the most popular animated features, they should try it for TV.

BobO'Link said:

Several Filmation Saturday Live Action series (were from BCI before they folded): Secrets of Isis, Ark II, Space Academy, and Jason of Star Command - that set was going for ~$20 and I kept stalling picking it up. It suddenly went OOP and both the set and individual releases of those series are $50-$200 (on a good day) with the set going for $200-$500!?!

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You have probably heard me say this before but when I picked all of those up that you mentioned I remember thinking "These will never be available again I should pick up a second copy of each of them" When I was thinking about doing it I still remember the price hovering around $6.30 each from Deepdiscount. Apparently that was too rich for my blood, and I didn't bite.

darkrock17 said:

I don't know why WB made Last Of The Summer Wine so expensive, each vintage collection was about $30-35 I think. Are You Being Served?, Keeping Up Appearances, and As Time Goes By were all around $20 each. I guess WB knew a lot of people/fans wanted this series badly and that were willing to pay the big price tag to get it.

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The absolutely frustrating part is I managed to purchase those as they came our or during sales before they went OOP. I always thought they were seriously overpriced but got them anyway as my wife and I both like the series (and the local PBS station stopped airing it shortly after we discovered it). After purchasing that compilation of S1/S2 and believing the hype that those episodes just weren't available otherwise (the "Pink Box" set where it's 2 episodes edited together as one and a few episodes missing) I discovered they *are* available in R2 - complete, all episodes, unedited, and not edited together. I purchased a region free player and ordered them - for half the price of an equivalent US "Vintage" edition release. I was so far along collecting the series at the time that I didn't want to switch to UK releases for the rest so have been *slowly* (Warner's/BBC release these at a snail's pace) picking up the US releases (only need the last 2 series to be done). Sometime back a "Complete Series" set was made for the UK market so I dropped a copy in my Amazon.uk cart just in case. A few weeks back it dropped to £40! With shipping that would have been ~$60. $60... for the whole series. It'll cost me almost that much for just the last couple of US releases unless I catch a really good sale.

IMHO, *ALL* of the US releases of UK series are seriously overpriced. Many can be purchased for less than half the US price from a UK vendor (R2 so you need an all region player but still...). Quite a few are currently available as full series in R2 versions for very low prices.

Walt Disney Treasures Dr. Syn: The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh went out of print very quickly after its November 11. 2018 release date and now goes for obscene aftermarket prices. I was lucky enough to pre-order two copies, but Disney should have anticipated the demand for this release better or even reissued it.

The first season of "Here Come the Brides." After seeing several episodes on Antenna TV, I looked into buying the series. The second season is still easily acquirable from Shout, but the first season which was released by Sony/Columbia is long oop and commanding insane prices. I asked Shout if it had any plans on putting out the first season or perhaps even a complete series set, and I was told no. I find that a little strange as I'm sure there are people like me who won't buy a second season set if I can't reasonably buy the first. Anyway, I figured that season one must have been acquired by Mill Creek and that sooner or later I would find it dirt cheap in a Walmart dump bin. Several years later that still hasn't happened. This must be pay back for me acquiring the Dr. Syn and Zorro sets during the thirty seconds that they were available (and I just started another rewatch of Zorro - that is a show that is endlessly rewatchable for me).

I picked up the Anchor Bay Hercules season 1 set a few months ago after purchasing the complete Universal set of the series. I only paid ten dollars for it which I think is a reasonable sum for the made-for-tv pilot films.

BobO'Link said:

Secret Agent AKA Danger Man - Complete series and individual seasons/sets.

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The TImeless Home Media complete series version is on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Agent...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1J8YRKR6QN7RQBFP2ZHE

Moonlighting goes for outrageous prices. That's a series I'd love to go back and get, but not at $155 for season 4....

California Dreams from Shout Factory. Seasons 3 and 4 specifically. Guilty pleasure from the 90's.

ScottRE said:

Moonlighting goes for outrageous prices. That's a series I'd love to go back and get, but not at $155 for season 4....

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Desperately want Blu-rays for this one. My all time favorite show.

ScottRE said:

The TImeless Home Media complete series version is on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Agent...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=1J8YRKR6QN7RQBFP2ZHE

Moonlighting goes for outrageous prices. That's a series I'd love to go back and get, but not at $155 for season 4....

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Cool about Secret Agent/Danger Man! I didn't see that one when I was checking titles - it could be due to the cover which somewhat looks like it's from one of those PD companies.

I also didn't consider Moonlighting thinking it was still available! I'm glad I got it looooong ago! (and not even $155 for the entire series - more like $40)

Arthur Powell said:

The first season of "Here Come the Brides."

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I found a sealed copy of season 1 in a Florida video store five years ago and paid $20 for it. Knew then it was rare and picked it up as a blind buy. It's an enjoyable family show. It's over $100 at most used sites.


The first five seasons of Silk Stalkings released by Anchor Bay are rare and can go for $100 per season at times. Season 5 is currently listed for $149 to $225 on Amazon Marketplace.


Mill Creek's Hunter Complete Series is also in the $225 range used. I bought mine new from Sam's Club ten years ago.

M.A.N.T.I.S complete series

The Greatest American Heroine, Return of Hunter, Jake Lassiter and The Great Pretender 4-movie set