SHOUT! Factory Blu Ray Request: "Route 66: The Complete Series"

[stevearino]

Dear Brian,

I have a proposal for SHOUT! Factory: to make a deal with Sony Pictures Domestic Television Distribution for SHOUT! Factory to issue, for the first time EVER on Blu Ray, "Route 66: The Complete Series," a 16-disc Blu Ray set showcasing all 116 hour-long episodes of the hit '50s Adventure Series "Route 66" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each episode originally aired on the CBS Television Network.

Created by Bert Leonard & Stirling Siliphant, "Route 66" originally aired on CBS from October 7, 1960 - March 20, 1964; the original 30-minute Pilot was used as an episode of the '50s Cop Show "Naked City" titled "Four Sweet Corners," telecast on the ABC Television Network on April 28, 1959.

The aforementioned Pilot starred George Maharis & Bobby Morris as, respectively, Johnny Gary & Linc Ridgeway, 2 recent Army grads who returned to Johnny's hometown of New York City, New York (where the Pilot was filmed entirely on location), during which time on their visit Johnny discovered that his younger sister, Cora (Rochelle Oliver), was involved in a Shoplifting ring orchestrated by a character known only as The Professor (Frank Sutton, futurely of the "Mayberry" spin-off "Gomer Pyle, USMC").

After tracking down The Professor at Pilot's end, charges against Cora were dropped, and Johnny called the local cops and had The Professor arrested; soon after the Pilot's 1959 telecast, however, Bobby Morris, at age 25, had a Massive Stroke and died in September 1959. According to George Maharis, Bobby was at his girlfriend's house in California when he died.

ABC passed over on the series after its Pilot telecast, leaving Bert Leonard & Stirling Siliphant to make a revised Pilot in February 1960 called "Route 66," with Martin Milner (futurely of the '60s Cop Show "Adam-12") cast as Tod Stiles, a New York City orphan born to wealth whose dad, sometime earlier, dropped dead of a Massive Heart Attack, leaving Tod penniless with just a Chevrolet Corvair; George Maharis was retained, his character renamed Buz Murdock, with all Army references dropped for series and Buz serving as Tod's traveling companion across America; soon afterwards, CBS picked up the series after its revised Pilot was filmed entirely on location in Concord, Kentucky (substituting the fictional Garth, Mississippi), with "Route 66" riding into the Mother Road on CBS on October 7, 1960, airing Friday nights at 8 P.M. ET, with subsequent episodes filmed entirely on location across America: from New York to Los Angeles, Tampa to Savannah, and all in between.

Over the next 4 seasons, "Route 66" featured a Plethora of Before-They-Were-Stars moments (and in a few cases, established stars too); among such memorable Before-They-Were-Stars moments included Leslie Nielsen (before finding greater fame and success in "Airplane" and "The Naked Gun" films among many other '80s Comedy movies) and Ronny Howard (by this time an established star in "Mayberry") in Season 3's "Poor Little Kangaroo Rat."

Also appearing in various episodes included Boss Hogg (real name: Sorrell Booke), futurely of "The Dudes of Haggard" (my joke name for "The Dukes of Hazzard"), Tom Bosley (futurely of "Happy Days"), and Julie Newmar.

In November 1963, the week after Kennedy's Assassination, an episode of "Route 66" was filmed entirely on location in my hometown of Statesboro, Georgia; the episode in question (later telecast in January 1964) featured, among many other guest stars, Darby Hinton (futurely of TV's "Daniel Boone"), Graham Jarvis (futurely of the '70s satirical sitcom "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman"), and the future husband-wife duo of Geoffrey Horne & Collin Wilcox.

Speaking of the Kennedy Assassination: a Season 4 episode titled "I'm Here to Kill a King" was filmed entirely on location in Niagara Falls, New York in October 1963. The plotline had Martin Milner portray both his regular character, Tod Stiles, AND a Political Assassin, Paul Caines, hired to kill a Visiting King played by actor Robert Loggia; the episode later aired on CBS on March 20, 1964, a week after the 2-Hour Series Finale telecast.

In early 1962, midway through Season 2, George Maharis developed a severe case of Hepatitis, leaving Martin Milner as Tod Stiles to finish out the season in solo "Route 66" adventures; though he later recovered to resume filming the following Fall for Season 3, in late 1962, after 2 1/2 years on "Route 66," local Doctors discovered that George's Hepatitis was getting worse, and advised him to resign from "Route 66" out of concern that IF he continued, he'd either die or risk permanent Liver Damage from Hepatitis.

Though George Maharis eventually recovered from Hepatitis by early 1965 and resumed his Showbiz career until his 1993 Retirement from Acting, the ratings for "Route 66," however, began to decline, and after further Solo "Route 66" adventures, Martin Milner's new traveling companion became Glen Rothenburg (known professionally as Glenn Corbett), appearing as former Vietnam Vet Linc Case; throughout Season 4, ratings continued to decline, and in early 1964, CBS cancelled the series, with a 2-Hour Series Finale (split into 2 parts) telecast on March 6, 1964 and March 13, 1964, respectively.

In the Finale, filmed entirely on location in Tampa, Florida, Tod Stiles met and fell in love with a young lady named Margo Tiffin (Barbara Eden, futurely of "I Dream of Jeannie"), who soon became Tod's wife.

In the years since then, reruns of "Route 66" were shown in Syndication, as well as on Nickelodeon from July 1, 1985 - June 30, 1987 as part of its inaugural Nick at Nite programming lineup and later on MeTV.

Among other Bonus Features I'd LOVE to see on the "Route 66: The Complete Series" Blu Ray include the original 1959 Pilot used as an episode of "Naked City," as well as Original Promos and Commercials included as part of each episode of "Route 66."

Sincerely,
Steve Arino

[stevearino]

Dear Brian,

I have a proposal for SHOUT! Factory: to make a deal with Sony Pictures Television Studios for SHOUT! Factory to issue and release, for the first time EVER on Blu Ray, "Route 66: The Complete Series," a loving showcase of all 116 hour-long episodes of the hit '50s Adventure Series "Route 66" 100% Complete, 100% Uncut, AND 100% Unedited, just the way that each episode originally aired on the CBS Television Network from October 7, 1960 - March 20, 1964.

As I'm sure you know, Brian, SHOUT! Factory previously released "Route 66: The Complete Series" on DVD in 2012; that being said, my suggestion is that each episode of "Route 66" for Blu Ray be Lovingly Restored AND Remastered by SHOUT! Factory from the original Black-and-White CBS Television Network prints, with the Blu Ray set issued and released In Loving Memory of George Maharis, who died last week at age 94 of Natural Causes.

In case you've forgotten about it, Brian, here's the Inside Information from an Avid Viewer of the show in recent years.

The year is 1959. Dwight David Eisenhower is U.S. President; the War in Vietnam is just beginning; and the duo of Bert Leonard & Stirling Siliphant conceive and create a new series called "Route 66," the original 30-Minute Pilot of which was telecast on April 28, 1959 on the ABC Television Network as an episode of the '50s Cop Show drama "Naked City."

The aforementioned Pilot starred George Maharis & Bobby Morris, respectively, as Johnny Gary & Linc Ridgeway, 2 recent Army Grads who returned home to America to visit Johnny's hometown of New York City, New York (where the Pilot was filmed entirely on location); unbeknownst to them, Johnny's younger sister, Cora (Rochelle Oliver), during Johnny's visit home, was Arrested in a Shoplifting Ring.

After discovering the Perpetrator behind the Ring (Frank Sutton, futurely of the '60s "Mayberry" spin-off "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."), Johnny & Linc beat him in a brawl, while Cora, by episode's end, got off easy and returned home while Johnny & Linc decided to leave NYC behind in search of adventure; soon after the episode aired, however, Bobby Morris, on May 22, 1959, died at age 25 of a Massive Stroke, leaving behind a young wife, Janice, and child.

Originally from Reading, Pennsylvania, Bobby Morris was born on January 7, 1934 but after his death continued appearing on TV through 1961, 2 years after his tragic, early death.

In February 1960, Bert & Stirling shot a Revised Pilot less than a year after Bobby's death called "Route 66." Martin Milner (futurely of the '60s Cop Show drama "Adam-12," Created by Jack Webb) beat out a number of other actors (including a young Robert Redford) for the co-lead role of Tod Stiles, who after his dad dropped dead of a Massive Heart Attack (his Mom having died sometime earlier, date and cause of death unknown), despite growing up wealthy, was left with nothing except a Chevrolet Corvette as his Inheritance. George Maharis was retained for the revised Pilot, his character re-named and re-christened Buz Murdock, with the Army references dropped and Buz having been written as a character who worked for Tod's dad prior to his death.

The revised Pilot was filmed entirely on location in Concord, Kentucky and was soon picked up by execs at the CBS Television Network and Screen Gems (the television subsidiary of Columbia Pictures), with subsequent episodes filmed entirely on location across America.

"Route 66" made its debut on CBS on October 7, 1960, with Martin Milner & George Maharis as their characters Tod & Buz traveling across America, town to town, place to place, New York to Dallas, Pittsburgh to Chicago, and everywhere in between.

In early 1962, after filming the episode "Even Stones Have Eyes" entirely on location in Dallas, George Maharis, then age 33, was given a Vitamin B-12 Shot by an on-set Doctor and subsequently confirmed by his local California doctor to be given a diagnosis of Hepatitis.

George subsequently spent a month in a local California hospital recuperating from his illness, with Martin Milner finishing out Season 2 of "Route 66" on solo Adventures.

Although he returned to "Route 66" shortly before turning 34 on September 1, 1962 to film Season 3 of the show, George Maharis, by mid-season, developed a Relapse of Hepatitis soon after filming the episode "Hey Moth, Come Eat the Flame" on location in St. Louis.

As a result of the Relapse, George Maharis, under his local California Doctor's orders, abruptly Resigned from "Route 66," with his Doctor telling him, paraphrasing George in later interviews, "Get Out or else Risk Permanent Liver Damage or Death." He was subsequently replaced in early 1963 by Glenn Rothenburg (known professionally as Glenn Corbett), a former Physique Male Model who joined the cast on the show as Linc Case, a Vietnam vet who appeared mid-way through Season 3 of "Route 66" and subsequently became Tod's traveling companion for the rest of the series--which soon after suffered a nosedive in the ratings.

In January 1964, CBS abruptly cancelled "Route 66" due to low ratings, with the 2-Hour Series Finale soon after filmed entirely on location in Tampa, Florida and telecast in 2 parts on March 6, 1964 and March 13, 1964 on CBS.

"Route 66" also proved to be a sad example of Life Imitating Art: in September 1963, during Season 4, an episode was filmed entirely on location in Niagara Falls, New York called "I'm Here to Kill a King," in which Martin Milner played the dual role of both Tod Stiles and Paul Cains, a Hired Political Assassin out to Kill a Visiting Foreign King (Robert Loggia); 2 1/2 months later, on November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy, age 46, was Shot and Killed in Dallas by Lee Harvey Oswald, thus causing the episode to be Postponed from its November 1963 initial telecast airdate, BUT eventually airing on CBS on March 20, 1964, the week after the Finale.

In the years since, reruns have aired on such cable networks as Nickelodeon (as a part of its inaugural Nick at Nite lineup from July 1, 1985 - June 30, 1987) and most recently the Digital OTA networks Retro TV and Me-TV along with its parent show, "Naked City."

Tentatively, Brian, SHOUT! Factory shall issue "Route 66: The Complete Series" on Blu Ray on Tuesday, October 3, 2023 at a cost of ONLY $59.99 wherever Blu Rays are sold.

One personal note before I conclude the Request: a later episode of "Route 66," after George Maharis resigned from the show, was filmed entirely on location in my hometown of Statesboro, Georgia, an episode featuring Darby Hinton (futurely of TV's "Daniel Boone"); in addition, 2 episodes, including one with Dan Travanti, were filmed entirely in Savannah.

Sincerely,
Steve Arino