DVD Request to Brian Ward: "St. Elsewhere: The Complete Series"

[mickeymouseclubfan]

Dear Brian,

I have a proposal for SHOUT! Factory: to make a deal with 20th Century Fox Television for SHOUT! to release a brand-new DVD compilation titled "St. Elsewhere: The Complete Series," an 18-disc DVD box set showcasing all 137 episodes of the hit 1982-1988 Hospital Drama "St. Elsewhere" complete, uncut & unedited, just the way they originally aired on NBC.

Created by Bruce Paltrow, "St. Elsewhere" centered on the staff & patients of the fictional St. Eligius Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts--among them Dr. Donald Westphall (Ed Flanders), the Hospital Chief of Services; Dr. Mark Craig (William Daniels), a brilliant heart surgeon with a big ego to match; Dr. Victor Ehrlich (Ed Begley, Jr.), a recent Med School graduate and protege of Dr. Craig; Dr. Wayne Fiscus (Howie Mandel), the show's comic relief character for when things got too serious; and Dr. Phil Chandler (Denzel Washington), a talented surgeon often unsure of even his own abilities as a surgeon.

"St. Elsewhere" premiered on NBC on October 26, 1982.

Joining the Hospital in later seasons included Dr. Bobby Caldwell (Mark Harmon), who after testing Positive for AIDS left the Hospital (after Mark Harmon left "St. Elsewhere" in real life for a film career, eventually returning to TV in "NCIS") and started his own AIDS clinic to raise awareness of this then-new AIDS epidemic; and in an unusual move, Byron Stewart, in 1984, joined the cast as Warren Coolidge, the Hospital Orderly (whom Byron had played 6 years earlier on "The White Shadow"), along with Dr. John Gideon (Ronny Cox), who took over for Dr. Westphall after Westphall's resignation.

6 years before "NYPD Blue," "St. Elsewhere" became the very 1st prime-time network TV show to feature deliberate bare-butt Nudity when, in his last regular episode before returning for the finale, Ed Flanders bared his naked butt and delivered the parting line, "Kiss My Ass, Pal."

In March 1988, NBC canceled "St. Elsewhere" after six years not because of poor ratings, but because MTM Enterprises, Inc. wanted more money from NBC than the network could afford. (http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id183.htm)

The series finale, originally aired on May 25, 1988, will always remain one of the most memorable moments in TV History; among other notable events: Dr. Fiscus finished his 3-year Residency at St. Eligius; Dr. Craig left the Hospital to relocate to Cleveland, Ohio after wife Ellen (Bonnie Bartlett) accepted a job at the local Hospital Food Services; Dr. Daniel Auschlander (Norman Lloyd), after a series-long fight with Liver Cancer, died of a Massive Stroke; and in the memorable final scene, the entire 6-year run of "St. Elsewhere" was revealed to be the figment of the imagination of Dr. Westphall's severely Autistic son, Tommy (Chad Allen), whose widower father, Donald, was revealed to actually be a construction worker--and Dr. Auschlander returned to Earth as Donald's real-life widower father, Daniel, who helped raise Tommy.

On a related note, in real life, Norman Lloyd celebrated his 100th birthday last November 8, having been born in 1914 in Jersey City, New Jersey.

Tentatively, SHOUT! Factory shall release "St. Elsewhere: The Complete Series" on DVD on Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at a bargain cost of only $39.99 wherever DVDs are sold; as an added Bonus, the original unaired "St. Elsewhere" pilot, featuring David Paymer as Wayne Fiscus & Josef Sommer as Dr. Westphall, shall be included on this 18-disc DVD (3 disc per 6 seasons).

Besides the unaired pilot, never before seen on TV or anywhere else, other Bonus Features I'd like to see on this DVD include the following:

Ed Flanders Remembered -- This DVD featurette, lasting 30 minutes, shall feature the "St. Elsewhere" cast remembering their fallen friend, Ed Flanders, who committed Suicide in 1995, at age 60, after a lifetime of Physical Pain

Norman Lloyd: Hollywood's Oldest Living Memory -- Norman Lloyd recalls 100 years of his life and career (including his 75-year marriage to Peggy Herdansky, who died at age 98 in 2011), from working with Alfred "The Master of Suspense" Hitchcock to his iconic "St. Elsewhere" character, as well as working with Robin Williams in the hit Disney film "Dead Poets Society"

Nick at Nite Promos -- Various Promos from Nick at Nite when reruns of "St. Elsewhere" were added to Nick at Nite in 1996 (for the record, reruns of "St. Elsewhere" made their Nick at Nite debut on April 29, 1996 when Nick at Nite had an all-night sneak peek of the launch of sister network TV Land; after the sneak peek, Nick at Nite aired regular repeats of "St. Elsewhere" on Saturday nights from May 4, 1996 - July 6, 1996 as part of a rotating block of Nick at Nite Programming from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. ET/PT titled "Nick at Nite's TV Land Sampler," which featured, among other shows, "Petticoat Junction," "St. Elsewhere," "Hill Street Blues," "Cannon," "Mannix" and "That Girl" along with "The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour" and "The Ed Sullivan Show" as well as past Nick at Nite classics "Mister Ed" & "Green Acres" along with "The Addams Family"; when Nick at Nite teamed up with TV Guide to do a List of the 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time, Nick at Nite aired the 2-parter "Time Heals" episode of "St. Elsewhere")

Sincerely,
Danny Hooley

[Svenfan1234]

^ I like that idea but only $40? With music clearances and costs and everything, that would undoubtedly place anywhere from $119-$130. The fact that these are SUCH big stars and it hasn't been released on dvd simply amazes me. Shout!, hear us now!