TV shows you’re still wanting released/completed on DVD

[tlc38tlc38]

There’s not very many TV shows that I’m still wanting completed or released on DVD but here’s my short list. Just curious what everybody else is waiting on.


Amen (complete series)
The Beverly Hillbillies (seasons 6-9)
Empty Nest (complete series)
Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper (seasons 4-5)
Mr. Belvedere (seasons 5-6)
Petticoat Junction (seasons 4-7)

[1960'sTVfan]

A list of 1960's sitcoms, and one from the early 1970's, that I'd like to have on DVD, but at this point it's highly doubtful for any of these to get an official studio release:

Tom Ewell Show
Tab Hunter Show
Cara Williams Show
Many Happy Returns
OK Crackerby
Please Don't Eat The Daisies
Hey Landlord
That's Life
Arnie

Also would love to have Forever Fernwood on DVD, the follow up series to Mary Hartman. But again, at this point seems highly doubtful to get an official studio release.

[Alan Brady's Hair]

I think I'd buy the Hillbillies if the price wasn't exorbitant.

[Dream Canteen]

Cheers hasn’t been treated well on home video or streaming. I’d like to see a release of the complete series, this time using only the original broadcast versions of all episodes, including music rights.

The episodes that originally aired as one hourlong episode should presented that way, not the two-part rerun edits. The fact that we still don’t have an uncut version of the landmark series finale is a crime.

Cheers should be treated like the crown jewel that it is. Until then, “the complete series” is complete in name only. If Paramount isn’t willing to do it right, then hopefully a boutique studio can license the show and finally release it correctly.

[stevea]

We're all from different generations, and I'm old, so I lean toward wanting older shows. Paramount and Sony have never done older shows right, or if they started them, they didn't complete them. For example, old Screen Gems shows owned by Sony have generally been poorly treated. Some were started by Sony and turned over to Shout, or totally turned over to Shout, BUT un-remastered (but unedited, which is good) 90s syndication prints, transferred to videotape, were provided. Some seasons of The Donna Reed Show are tangled in legal issues and are unavailable for TV or DVD.

Paramount has never properly remastered the original negatives of The Andy Griffith Show. So we have never seen the show as it was originally aired, on DVD. They have reassembled it enough to find some original cast commercials, but original opening and closing credits were either lost, not found, or they chose to partially use syndication material.

Paramount has never properly remastered or issued on DVD any season of My Three Sons, which ran 12 seasons. The first two seasons were remastered and issued on DVD, but the original music was changed. Seasons 3, 4, and 5 were issued in a hodgepodge manner on DVD, with no remastering, and some episodes in edited, syndication form. The subsequent seasons, 6 - 12, have never been issued on DVD. A few syndication episodes from seasons 6, 7, 11, and 12 exist right now only in edited form. Some of season 11 and all of season 12 exist right now only in mastered from 16mm film form. All these problems showed up on streaming (Amazon Prime) -- I'd think Paramount would be embarrassed by the sources used.

The New Leave it to Beaver, which ran for several seasons, is tangled in legal issues of ownership, and has never been issued on home media in any format.

So here's what I'd like --

Father Knows Best - season 1 corrected to network versions
The Donna Reed Show - missing seasons 6, 7, and 8 issued
I'd buy the full Andy Griffith Show if it was done right
I'd like to be able to buy a full series set of Alice
A full series set of My Three Sons, or at least issue the color seasons, 6 - 12
Seasons 1 and 2 of Mama's Family done right -- it's been tried, but never quite made it
A full series set of The Wonder Years - all original music restored

[Dream Canteen]

Originally Posted by stevea

Paramount has never properly remastered the original negatives of The Andy Griffith Show.

Are you sure? The streaming versions on Paramount+ and Peacock look great. They’re definitely in HD. Are you sure they didn’t go back to the negatives?

Originally Posted by stevea

A full series set of The Wonder Years - all original music restored

That show was shot on film but edited on videotape. If they want to do it right, they’ll go back to the camera negatives (if they still exist) and rebuild all the episodes that way.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by Dream Canteen

Are you sure? The [Andy Griffith] streaming versions on Paramount+ and Peacock look great. They’re definitely in HD. Are you sure they didn’t go back to the negatives?

I probably got that wrong--is it possible the negatives were "chopped up" when the episodes were mastered to videotape, years ago? So, maybe we're seeing some elements from syndication--probably only the opening and closing credits. I do know all the closing credits originally played over Andy and Opie returning from fishing. You can see some examples of that on Youtube, even on some syndicated color episodes.

Originally Posted by Dream Canteen

That show [The Wonder Years] was shot on film but edited on videotape. If they want to do it right, they’ll go back to the camera negatives (if they still exist) and rebuild all the episodes that way.

Now that's interesting--that certainly happened with some shows during that time period. I'd think the negs exist but I guess you never know...

[Duster76]

I've written about this before, there was never a meeting of the minds, the sellers never fully understood the wants of the buyers and the buyers were never realistic about the needs of the seller. I think both buyers and sellers had one flaw in common, this product was never going to be anything more than a niche product essentially for collectors. Someone who fits that definition may want a half dozen shows and that's it. The cost to produce the product in the condition the buyer would be satisfied with may run over 100 dollars a season. My Three Sons was mentioned so let's drill down a bit. I like the show, would I have an interest in buying the show at let's say $100 a season, no. So the question for the seller is this, how many collectors of this series exist, what is the minimum price point they can sell it at to guarantee enough of a profit to make it worth the seller's while to produce a quality product the buyer will be satisfied with.

A few years back the first 5 seasons of The Donna Reed Show were rereleased, so what happened? Unless the sell through was strong what incentive does any company have to do the work necessary to acquire the rights to the final three seasons, answer none.

It's much too late to worry about any of this now, I think the window has closed. Whatever is out there and whatever else that might come out will be compromised and the buyer is going to have to make one decision, is something better than nothing.

[1960'sTVfan]

It's unfortunate that Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction haven't been completed on DVD. Having said that, I'm content with the seasons that have been released. Green Acres is complete on DVD and I have the entire run of that.

I'm not really fond of The Andy Griffith Show and don't have any DVD's.

My Three Sons, I did buy seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, but nothing after that. For a long running sitcom of 12 seasons, it surprises me that the episodes haven't received better care and treatment, it's rather sad actually, seems like the later seasons are especially problematic.

Some DVD sets I have are now out of print, so I'm glad to have bought them when they were available and in stock.

The worst DVD set I have in terms of overall quality is probably Barnaby Jones. Most of the episodes are edited for syndication prints that run in the 46 minute range. It's better than having nothing but that's about it. Gomer Pyle USMC DVD's have several episodes edited because of music rights issues.

[stevea]

Originally Posted by Duster76

I've written about this before, there was never a meeting of the minds, the sellers never fully understood the wants of the buyers and the buyers were never realistic about the needs of the seller. I think both buyers and sellers had one flaw in common, this product was never going to be anything more than a niche product essentially for collectors. Someone who fits that definition may want a half dozen shows and that's it. The cost to produce the product in the condition the buyer would be satisfied with may run over 100 dollars a season. My Three Sons was mentioned so let's drill down a bit. I like the show, would I have an interest in buying the show at let's say $100 a season, no. So the question for the seller is this, how many collectors of this series exist, what is the minimum price point they can sell it at to guarantee enough of a profit to make it worth the seller's while to produce a quality product the buyer will be satisfied with.

A few years back the first 5 seasons of The Donna Reed Show were rereleased, so what happened? Unless the sell through was strong what incentive does any company have to do the work necessary to acquire the rights to the final three seasons, answer none.

It's much too late to worry about any of this now, I think the window has closed. Whatever is out there and whatever else that might come out will be compromised and the buyer is going to have to make one decision, is something better than nothing.

Absolutely agree. The home media door has closed on all of these. The color seasons of My Three Sons MIGHT be remastered for streaming sometime in the future, but all vendors except Warner Archive are done with physical media, except the occasional current network show.

The ownership of the Donna Reed Show reverted from Todon Productions to Screen Gems, after season 5 (Reed tired of the long schedule and negotiated the change, which included a reduced number of episodes per season). That means Sony still has the rights to those later seasons; most season 8 episodes are still in syndication. A few season 6 episodes are also (I think erroneously) included in syndication, but the rest of season 6 and all of season 7 are out of circulation. There are some rumors that there are legal issues with the late Bob Crane's contract language--probably involving residuals. There's a strong chance that's true--one of the withheld episodes from season 8 is one that Crane is in (a holdover episode from season 7). Notably, Crane was in a few season 5 episodes, which are still shown, before he was under contract.

Remarkably, The Donna Reed Show is still viable on TV--it's still on Catchy Comedy.

[TVFactFan]

Alice....... Complete series release.............will never happen

Rhoda.....Complete series release............will never happen

Happy Days......Complete series................will never happen

Different Strokes....complete series.....maybe

Who's the Boss......complete series.......will never happen

Fresh Prince.........complete series.......maybe


Just found out Family Matters complete series was released on DVD and definitely will be getting that this year

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by Duster76

I've written about this before, there was never a meeting of the minds, the sellers never fully understood the wants of the buyers and the buyers were never realistic about the needs of the seller. I think both buyers and sellers had one flaw in common, this product was never going to be anything more than a niche product essentially for collectors. Someone who fits that definition may want a half dozen shows and that's it. The cost to produce the product in the condition the buyer would be satisfied with may run over 100 dollars a season. My Three Sons was mentioned so let's drill down a bit. I like the show, would I have an interest in buying the show at let's say $100 a season, no. So the question for the seller is this, how many collectors of this series exist, what is the minimum price point they can sell it at to guarantee enough of a profit to make it worth the seller's while to produce a quality product the buyer will be satisfied with.

A few years back the first 5 seasons of The Donna Reed Show were rereleased, so what happened? Unless the sell through was strong what incentive does any company have to do the work necessary to acquire the rights to the final three seasons, answer none.

It's much too late to worry about any of this now, I think the window has closed. Whatever is out there and whatever else that might come out will be compromised and the buyer is going to have to make one decision, is something better than nothing.

There are times when NOTHING is better something Like the complete series of Three;s company with missing footage, I decided to pass and not spend a dime

[TVFactFan]

Originally Posted by 1960'sTVfan

It's unfortunate that Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction haven't been completed on DVD. Having said that, I'm content with the seasons that have been released. Green Acres is complete on DVD and I have the entire run of that.

I'm not really fond of The Andy Griffith Show and don't have any DVD's.

My Three Sons, I did buy seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, but nothing after that. For a long running sitcom of 12 seasons, it surprises me that the episodes haven't received better care and treatment, it's rather sad actually, seems like the later seasons are especially problematic.

Some DVD sets I have are now out of print, so I'm glad to have bought them when they were available and in stock.

The worst DVD set I have in terms of overall quality is probably Barnaby Jones. Most of the episodes are edited for syndication prints that run in the 46 minute range. It's better than having nothing but that's about it. Gomer Pyle USMC DVD's have several episodes edited because of music rights issues.

what DVD's do you have that's out of print now?

[tlc38tlc38]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

Alice....... Complete series release.............will never happen

Rhoda.....Complete series release............will never happen

Happy Days......Complete series................will never happen

Different Strokes....complete series.....maybe

Who's the Boss......complete series.......will never happen

Fresh Prince.........complete series.......maybe


Just found out Family Matters complete series was released on DVD and definitely will be getting that this year

Fresh Prince has a complete series box set.

[1960'sTVfan]

Originally Posted by TVFactFan

what DVD's do you have that's out of print now?

Both seasons of The Bill Cosby Show sitcom from 1969-71. Season 2 seems especially difficult if not impossible to find now. Shout Factory issued these, season 1 was in 2006 and then season 2 in 2010.

It Takes A Thief, TV series with Robert Wagner that ran from 1968-70. Complete series DVD set was issued in 2011 and been out of print for a while now.

I'm sure there are others but just giving a few examples.