youtube update on Sam's restoration project

[matt77b]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3wDJ...ature=youtu.be

[bliss]

That December 2014 deadline is getting dimmer and dimmer.....

[Jude The Obscure]

And have we heard anything else? Hope seems to be fading.

[TeeVeeCloset]

This post no way reflects the character or sincere hopeful goal of Sam Nelsons' Original intention on Kickstarter, now approaching nearly 5 years ago!

I am glad I saw this thread, I taped my "Special Features" segment about 4 years ago and spent a lovely sunday afternoon touring Sam, his dogs & girlfriend around his beloved but never met Grandfather Oz as my avater is real as I live 5 minutes from the still standing childhood home in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. I also brought him to the street pictured in avatar near the towns' high school. He took pictures, tape and again he is a gentle soul and it was a wonderful afternoon.

I paid a very high amount and was rewarded with the other promises, a personalized plaque, a CD/DVD Rick Nelson set (I of course had already owned both) but along with being part of the special features, I was promised the ENTIRE DVD SERIES whenever ready.

For past years we communicated privately, and read his kickstarter posts, Yes he discovered that Ozzie had cut the master negatives, so a complete series set was impossible, then he got the UCLA archives involved and we were promised a best as possible first and second season set release to be also syndicated to pay for the rest of the restoration. All seemed reasonable.

Two weeks ago I emailed Sam Nelson at his usual private email eddress, tried to get an update as there were family problems dealing with monetary issues (very sad) that's all I can say.

Sadly Sam has not responded and I too have given up all hope of getting a one single official season set and feel very disappointed not to at least have gotten a personal response, plus my $2000 is long gone.

I have no ill will towards Sam, again we had a positive wonderful afternoon, but I am nearing 55 and had some hope of being part of "Ozzie & Harriet" history.

BTW....I had heard that with Kickstarter even if the monetary goal is met, the supporters have no guarantee of ever getting the proposed product. So that takes care of that. But he did give other things as previously written above.

[OH Nuts!]

Well, what really puts a dent in his project are all the free public domain sets available. Aiming for a bells and whistle 435 ep set can be a goal, but I think it'd be easier and more marketable to put together a very special 15 to 30 Ep set with some eps never seen, at least two video commentaries like he and (uncle) David did on Shout, and some bonus material - that sounds more doable and would be treasured by us hard core fans - and yet marketable to the general public too.

[TeeVeeCloset]

I agree, The original "Harriet Nelson Estate Trust" transferred to David until his death. The family as you know is extremely large.....no one cared about the legacy until Sam decided to take the overwhelming project on his own with fine intentions.

I spent four "no questions off limits" hours with him, I cannot tell the majority of what we discussed but I showed him this board and he did express the families desire to eliminate the bootlegs, but many are in the public domain.

Also the shout license has expired, the family has no affliation with them anymore and in my opinion the family lawyer does not have anyones' best intentions in mind.

We even talked about an eventual release of "Ozzie's Girls" after the complete O&H was released.

I am afraid now with absolutley no word, to me only, the project is dead.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by TeeVeeCloset

I agree, The original "Harriet Nelson Estate Trust" transferred to David until his death. The family as you know is extremely large.....no one cared about the legacy until Sam decided to take the overwhelming project on his own with fine intentions.

I spent four "no questions off limits" hours with him, I cannot tell the majority of what we discussed but I showed him this board and he did express the families desire to eliminate the bootlegs, but many are in the public domain.

Also the shout license has expired, the family has no affliation with them anymore and in my opinion the family lawyer does not have anyones' best intentions in mind.

We even talked about an eventual release of "Ozzie's Girls" after the complete O&H was released.

I am afraid now with absolutley no word, to me only, the project is dead.

Yes, I agree his original massive project is very hard, if not impossible. But something much smaller - that has never been done before - could work. There is a lot of GREAT stuff/qualities Sam and The Nelsons have to work with to turn out a much simpler but VIABLE product. Some examples of this treasure trove: (1) videos, especially any not in public domain, of his dad's fine acting, musical craftsmanship, and SEX appeal. (2) The Adv. Of Ozzie and Harriet has a bit of reality show quality. (3) Harriet's superb timing, wit and acting (IMO she was the best actor of the family) (4) A short bonus documentary (10-20 min) of Sam talking about his dad, with juxtaposed video images showing how much Sam looks and sounds like his father. NOW THAT would be phenonmenal and is an excellent example of how to make the project stand out from bootleg public domain stuff. Sam has much material within his own hands that can't be stolen- because others don't have it! THIS is where to draw material for a release.

So, to recap, a small project with the right marketing could easily flourish. Just keep it simple with a product that stands out from anything ever done before. It could be a success for Sam cathartically as well as financially. I hope he shifts gears and takes the project in this direction.

[CJ]

Originally Posted by OH Nuts!

So, to recap, a small project with the right marketing could easily flourish. Just keep it simple with a product that stands out from anything ever done before. It could be a success for Sam cathartically as well as financially. I hope he shifts gears and takes the project in this direction.

Right-On !!! I have always thought the best move Sam could ever make would be to release the truly “lost” episodes of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” Garner some interest and help fund a possible later season-by-season release.

I do think Sam was on the up-and-up and as admirable as it was, 435 episodes was a huge undertaking. 14 seasons would have taken years and years to complete, even under the best of circumstances. I did not want to see Sam fail, but I never had faith it could ever materialize.

I did not contribute because I do not have money to spare. I must say had I gone against my better judgement and contributed anyway, I would be extremely disappointed with the pace of this project.

I have purchased the official Shout releases, the Mill Creek set, $1 store discs. I have traded with other die-hard O&H collectors across the US with the Disney and other public domain airings and with other collectors with film transfers. At last tally with my trade friends we were all still missing the same 44 episodes. It has been a while, but I imagine the tally is the same. We would ALL gladly give Sam a list of the most wanted episodes.

Maybe those 44 episodes are truly lost forever and I might be able to accept that, but last year 6 totally “new” episodes appeared on the Retro Television airings. These were uncut episodes with the original openings and closings. Not on the syndicated list, never on Disney or other public domain airings, not on any list of known film transfers, etc.

Additionally, 2 uncirculated episodes on film were sold on Ebay around the same time. Each went for over $250 and went to the same bidder. These lost episodes are apparently highly marketable and a hot commodity. Sam would do well to make what he has available of this caliber, if there indeed are any.

I have often wondered how so many film transfers of this show have surfaced. I also wonder just how many episodes have actually fallen into the public domain.

I “get” the desire of the family to eliminate the bootlegs, but let’s face it, even the family Shout releases had mostly heavily edited episodes while the bootleg/public domain episodes floating around of the same episodes are uncut. This has primarily been the only way to get this series. I personally will sacrifice some quality to have the uncut version.

[OH Nuts!]

Originally Posted by CJ

Right-On !!! I have always thought the best move Sam could ever make would be to release the truly “lost” episodes of “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.” Garner some interest and help fund a possible later season-by-season release.

I do think Sam was on the up-and-up and as admirable as it was, 435 episodes was a huge undertaking. 14 seasons would have taken years and years to complete, even under the best of circumstances. I did not want to see Sam fail, but I never had faith it could ever materialize.

I did not contribute because I do not have money to spare. I must say had I gone against my better judgement and contributed anyway, I would be extremely disappointed with the pace of this project.

I have purchased the official Shout releases, the Mill Creek set, $1 store discs. I have traded with other die-hard O&H collectors across the US with the Disney and other public domain airings and with other collectors with film transfers. At last tally with my trade friends we were all still missing the same 44 episodes. It has been a while, but I imagine the tally is the same. We would ALL gladly give Sam a list of the most wanted episodes.

Maybe those 44 episodes are truly lost forever and I might be able to accept that, but last year 6 totally “new” episodes appeared on the Retro Television airings. These were uncut episodes with the original openings and closings. Not on the syndicated list, never on Disney or other public domain airings, not on any list of known film transfers, etc.

Additionally, 2 uncirculated episodes on film were sold on Ebay around the same time. Each went for over $250 and went to the same bidder. These lost episodes are apparently highly marketable and a hot commodity. Sam would do well to make what he has available of this caliber, if there indeed are any.

I have often wondered how so many film transfers of this show have surfaced. I also wonder just how many episodes have actually fallen into the public domain.

I “get” the desire of the family to eliminate the bootlegs, but let’s face it, even the family Shout releases had mostly heavily edited episodes while the bootleg/public domain episodes floating around of the same episodes are uncut. This has primarily been the only way to get this series. I personally will sacrifice some quality to have the uncut version.

Yes, that would be great - to have a release by Sam with some eps not floating around in Bootleg Land. And the icing on the cake could be some type of nifty "bonus material." Here's one scenario: 15 -20 well chosen eps, including a few never seen before, 2 of the eps should have video commentary between Sam and a cast member from the show -for example Connie Harper or Kent McCord. And then 3 really good bonus materials. I think that's doable and would make a treasured product to us hard-core fans yet be commercially viable.

Curious what others think.

[TeeVeeCloset]

I know must of you through this board, please re-read my posts as I do not want to suggest or "tell personal family stories" told to me through personal emailing with Sam, spending four hours where his camera was rolling at most times except our very private personal family talks.

Remember I live 5 minutes from the still standing original childhood home of Ozzie, and did contribute $2000 to the project (in fact my contribution put him over the top during intial kickstarter goal). I taped my over 30 minute (to be edited) special feature interview for the set/sets.

Besides Sam finding out after he started opening 50+ year old film cans, he discovered no complete series was ever possible.

the other clue for you all, is that when a very large family is involved, estate lawyer, all of a sudden pieces of the potential pie are ALL wanted before it is even baked. That is part of the issue and I still feel very dedicated to Sam, the project, his sincerity......all your thoughts and suggestions, but friends you can either believe me or not.......but I was very involved with this project from the beginning (nearly 5 years ago) and now Sam is ignoring personal emails, to me that does not bode well.

Lastly also another hand out, don't forget Rick's music publishing/songs need to be licensed, Sam does not own his fathers hit music, a common problem with many. Any PD release containing original written Rick songs, just gamble because it isn't worth suing some small DVD company, but if Sam made a deal with a major DVD company, everything would have to be cleared.

The shout deal was a fast "cash-in" during Davids final years, hence the edited episodes, I still cannot believe since Ozzie was such a brillant business man, that these episodes literally were ignored legally after his death and no one renewed copyrights. A Complete mess!

[1960'sTVfan]

So it's been determined that a complete series DVD with all 435 episodes uncut is not possible. That's too bad, I imagine that put the kabosh on the project.

[matt77b]

On Tracy's facebook page yesterday, she said that the reason that not all of the episodes are available is copyright issues, and that Sam is still working on it.

[TeeVeeCloset]

Originally Posted by matt77b

On Tracy's facebook page yesterday, she said that the reason that not all of the episodes are available is copyright issues, and that Sam is still working on it.

I am done writing on this subject, please see numerous posts in this thread, how much do I have to spell it out......$$$$$$

BTW I didn't spend or see Tracy for nearly 6 hours in Ridgefield Park, NJ, I didn't give to Tracy's Kickstarter project to restore the show......she had alot more time being MUCH older than youngest Sam if first interested in the series. Yes I did mention music clearances but there is NOT a complete UNCUT master film collection, FACT!

No words to the poster, as I understand you were only quoting what Tracy posted, but some don't want to appear to be greedy or be the bad person.

[matt77b]

Originally Posted by TeeVeeCloset

I am done writing on this subject, please see numerous posts in this thread, how much do I have to spell it out......$$$$$$

BTW I didn't spend or see Tracy for nearly 6 hours in Ridgefield Park, NJ, I didn't give to Tracy's Kickstarter project to restore the show......she had alot more time being MUCH older than youngest Sam if first interested in the series. Yes I did mention music clearances but there is NOT a complete UNCUT master film collection, FACT!

No words to the poster, as I understand you were only quoting what Tracy posted, but some don't want to appear to be greedy or be the bad person.

With all due respect to you, teeveecloset--I know that you invested a lot into Sam's project--but nevertheless, I am still interested in hearing anything that any of the Nelsons themselves have to say about this project, and I am pretty sure that others who read and post on this forum are too. And frankly your assessment of Tracy's motives (that she doesn't "want to appear to be greedy or be the bad person") are most ungenerous. Do you have any idea what Tracy Nelson has been through in the last three decades? She has been through three life-threatening bouts with cancer, went completely broke in the process, and has been raising two children at the same time. Just because she couldn't devote her time to making episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet available to us doesn't mean that she does not care about the show. Indeed, if you saw how often she posts things about the show on facebook and youtube, I think you would see otherwise. Her postings make it very clear that she loved Ozzie, Harriet, Dave, and especially her father dearly, and she does care about their legacy and the show.

Having said all of that, I think you may very well be right about the outcome of Sam's project. But for you to be casting aspersions on what the Nelsons themselves say about it and what their motives might be seems rather harsh and unnecessary.

[TeeVeeCloset]

Originally Posted by matt77b

With all due respect to you, teeveecloset--I know that you invested a lot into Sam's project--but nevertheless, I am still interested in hearing anything that any of the Nelsons themselves have to say about this project, and I am pretty sure that others who read and post on this forum are too. And frankly your assessment of Tracy's motives (that she doesn't "want to appear to be greedy or be the bad person") are most ungenerous. Do you have any idea what Tracy Nelson has been through in the last three decades? She has been through three life-threatening bouts with cancer, went completely broke in the process, and has been raising two children at the same time. Just because she couldn't devote her time to making episodes of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet available to us doesn't mean that she does not care about the show. Indeed, if you saw how often she posts things about the show on facebook and youtube, I think you would see otherwise. Her postings make it very clear that she loved Ozzie, Harriet, Dave, and especially her father dearly, and she does care about their legacy and the show.

Having said all of that, I think you may very well be right about the outcome of Sam's project. But for you to be casting aspersions on what the Nelsons themselves say about it and what their motives might be seems rather harsh and unnecessary.

I have compete respect for you and your right to post what you read and your interest in all aspects of Nelson quotes, so again this is not personal to you, but to clarify (and not to start some posting war) but unless you are Tracys' PR person (or affliated with) some of your words took mine out of context and some right to the point as you suggested her financial issues. I was not casting aspersions towards Tracy or any Nelson (and the family is quite large).

Feel free to do a search with my user name and read my complete over 10 posts in various threads since Sam's Kickstarter campaign began 5 years ago. I in return have been very protective of the gentle wonderful soul that is Sam Nelson and remain loyal, (this has NOTHING to due with my large monetary contribution as you implied). I was much more involved as my avitar isn't for entertainment, I am 3 minutes from Ozzie's childhood still standing home, played a major role in the dedication ceremony naming a street after Ozzie where Gunner & Matthew and other family members attended over 20 years ago.

Due to my continued professionalism and "off the record" past emails and in person afternoon conversations with Sam I cannot and will not divulge what was said, but I spent 32 years in television, so we had an extra connection, I showed Sam this site, etc. Toured him his grandfathers hometown all while cameras rolled.

All families have inner struggles, it was a TV show with real people but not all is always what it seems especially 60 years later and all main parties are now sadly passed, with some family members (none will be mentioned here) counting their share of profits, and wanting a piece of the pie before a single DVD is even pressed. I can share this as the following came directly from Sam on one of his kickstarter updates, "He sadly discovered that when he opened rotting 50 plus year old film cans, many of the elements were red dust". So he announced that he hoped to compile at least the best he could of the first two seasons for DVD release and TV syndication to pay for more restorations of what was left. This was a labor of love for Sam and my main point was since Sam has pretty much vanished for whatever I'm sure innocent reasons, I can only take what Tracy has to say with a grain of salt, as again I cannot divulge my past private words/conversations/emails with Sam.

My best to you, again it's not personal, so please don't take inside information as being offensive to you or Tracy, I simply stated what I could say and that it was Sam who spent countless hours with his grandmother watching the series and the father he hardly ever got to know. Many a Nelson had a opportunity to pick up the torch but it was Sam (the youngest) who did after Davids' passing, so certainly Sam and his words and his alone whether public or private should be taken into serious consideration as to the several reasons as to why the original Kickstarter dream is pretty much now a nightmare and/or impossible.