DVD Request for SHOUT! Factory: "Empty Nest: The Complete First Season"

[stevearino]

Dear Brian,

I have a proposal for SHOUT! Factory: to make a deal with Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment (a wholly-owned division of The Walt Disney Company) for SHOUT! Factory Home Entertainment to issue, for the first time EVER on DVD, "Empty Nest: The Complete First Season," showcasing all 22 episodes from the rookie season of the hit '80s sitcom "Empty Nest" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way each episode originally aired on the NBC Television Network.

Created by Susan Harris, "Empty Nest" was a hit '80s Disney sitcom originally airing on NBC from October 8, 1988 - July 8, 1995; the series was conceived as a spin-off of the '80s Disney sitcom "The Golden Girls." In the original Pilot, used as the Season 2 "Golden Girls" finale airing on NBC on May 16, 1987, Paul Dooley and Rita Moreno starred as George and Renee Corliss, a happily married couple of many years seeing the realization as they know it that their youngest adult child had FINALLY left the nest. The only holdover from this Pilot was David Leisure, who portrayed a DIFFERENT character, test Pilot Oliver, than the one he portrayed on the eventual series--Charley Dietz, a Cruise Ship Operator who never seemed to be away at work for Employment.

The following year, in Spring 1988, Susan Harris decided to re-tool "Empty Nest" as a vehicle for her old friend Richard Mulligan (formerly of the '70s sitcom "Soap"), whom she cast as Dr. Harry Weston, a widower Pediatrician based in Miami whose wife, Libby, had died 18 months ago, and whose children were grown and left the nest--that was, until his 2 eldest daughters, Carol (Dinah Manoff), and Barbara (Kristy McNichol), returned home to live (a younger daughter, Emily, was away at college at series' start and was portrayed briefly in 1992 after Kristy McNichol departed by Lisa Rieffel).

Other characters seen on the show included Nurse LaVerne Todd (Park Overall), Dr. Harry's secretary at the local Hospital where Harry had his Pediatric Office; the aforementioned Cruise Ship Operator Charley Dietz (David Leisure); and little Jeffrey Millstein (Edan Gross), a frequent patient of Harry's.

In September 1993, after Harry retired, he and the recently-fired LaVerne joined Dr. Maxine Douglas (Marsha Warfield, joining the cast after the cancellation of "Night Court" in 1992) at the Health Clinic which Maxine ran; simultaneously joining "Empty Nest" full-time was Estelle Getty, portraying her "Golden Girls" character Sophia Petrillo for the last 2 seasons of the show.

The first 5 seasons of "Empty Nest" were Videotaped at Desilu Studios (by this time re-named Ren-Mar Studios) in Los Angeles, California, where the Revised Pilot Episode taped on March 29, 1988; the final 2 seasons of "Empty Nest" were Videotaped at Sunset-Gower Studios in Los Angeles, California.

In the hour-long Series Finale taped on March 29, 1995 and telecast on April 29, 1995, after NBC and Witt-Thomas-Harris-Productions jointly decided to end "Empty Nest" after 7 years on NBC, Dr. Harry left the Clinic and decided to accept a Teaching Position in Vermont, selling his Miami house in the Process; LaVerne (after divorcing ex-husband Nick) got married for the 2nd time and moved back to her native Hickory, North Carolina; and as the End Credits Rolled for the 170th and Final Time, Richard Mulligan and Stanley the Dog (who played Dreyfuss in later episodes, taking over for his original portrayer Bear the Dog) walked off the set for the final time, with Stanley appearing to talk saying "See ya later, Rich!" (A moment presumably staged).

Throughout its 7-year NBC run, "Empty Nest" was A Witt Thomas Harris Production in association with Walt Disney Television (known officially since May 2007 as ABC Studios) and Syndicated by Buena Vista Television.

Tentatively, SHOUT! Factory shall issue "Empty Nest: The Complete First Season" on DVD wherever DVDs are sold on Tuesday, January 8, 2020 at a cost of only $19.99 wherever DVDs are sold, with Discs 1 and 2 consisting of 8 episodes each and Disc 3 consisting of the final 6 of 22 half-hour episodes.

As an added Bonus, the aforementioned original 1987 Pilot Episode used as an episode of Disney's "The Golden Girls" shall also be included on the Set.

Sincerely,
Steve Arino