TV shows that STILL aren't available on DVD!?!?

[Forbin]

There was a great little relationship sitcom called "Committed" in 2005, starring the adorable Jennifer Finnigan. It was really funny, but the network showed it out of order (of course!) then canned it, never to be seen again.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421316/

 

[Turtletrekker]

That's what I've heard. The dreaded music licensing! That's also what's stifled releases of other moderately popular series like The Drew Carey Show, Malcolm in the Middle, & Murphy Brown.

See also-- Northern Exposure. The home releases have different music than the original airings.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The Bosom Buddies DVDs have a different theme song. No more Billy Joel. Ed Mercer would be bummed.

 

[May 20]

I'm still (im)patiently waiting for seasons 4-5 of The Muppet Show. I am sure that music rights are the hang-up, since that was a huge part of the show, but I'm still hopeful.

 

[ClayinCA]

I'm still (im)patiently waiting for seasons 4-5 of The Muppet Show. I am sure that music rights are the hang-up, since that was a huge part of the show, but I'm still hopeful.

This is my Holy Grail of home video releases. The longer it's unavailable, the more I'm starting to take it as a personal affront.

 

[Amaris]

The Bosom Buddies DVDs have a different theme song. No more Billy Joel. Ed Mercer would be bummed.

It might sound silly, but that's what stopped me from buying them on DVD.
Music licensing is also why I waited forever before finally picking up the newer editions of WKRP in Cincinnati, which have 95% of the music restored.

 

[May 20]

It might sound silly, but that's what stopped me from buying them on DVD.
Music licensing is also why I waited forever before finally picking up the newer editions of WKRP in Cincinnati, which have 95% of the music restored.

It doesn't sound silly at all. When we enjoy a show enough to buy the DVDs, we want the show we remember, not a revamped version of it.

 

[RandyS]

It might sound silly, but that's what stopped me from buying them on DVD.
Music licensing is also why I waited forever before finally picking up the newer editions of WKRP in Cincinnati, which have 95% of the music restored.

I don't know if this will interest you at all, but I've had the Bosom Buddies DVD's since 2007,and the only change to the opening credits was taking the end credits music, giving it lyrics, and putting it at the beginning. Of course, those are the first edition sets. I have no idea what's (if anything) been done to later releases.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I used to love this show! I didn’t know how well known it was in the US. I have some memory of reading somewhere that they changed the title for US airings? I have the first season from back when, but I’d certainly be interested in the other seasons.

I'm not sure that Made in Canada (or The Industry as it was called here) actually is that well known in the U.S. I just kinda stumbled on it late one Saturday night after Red Dwarf. At first, I thought that it was some random short film, since PBS used to show those periodically. I clearly remember the first episode I saw, which was the one with Margot Kidder as faded diva Dian Delargo. There's a bit at the end where she's locked herself in her trailer and the rest of the crew is trying to coax her back to the set. Studio head Alan is convinced that she's doing this to spite him over their brief fling many years ago.
Dian: "There have been lots of men in lots of cabanas."
Victor: "She doesn't remember you, Alan."
Alan: "I filled the room with roses."
Dian: "Oh yeah. Weren't you the one with the small penis?"
(Long, awkward pause.)
Alan: (loudly) "You're right, Victor, she doesn't remember me!"

Sadly, PBS only ever aired the first 2 seasons before replacing it with the god awful Rowan Atkinson sitcom The Thin Blue Line. . Still, my copy of Season 1 is a cherished possession and I always make sure that any new friends that I make take a moment to sit down and watch the "Death in the Family" episode. "Beaver Creek-- the kind of show a Mormon could love. And they did. We got letters. You know, this could be a great thing for Walter. Other than the being dead part, dying is always a good career move."

See also-- Northern Exposure. The home releases have different music than the original airings.

But at least it got released. Roswell also had to replace a lot of music for the DVD release. Thankfully, it was so soon after the show ended that they were able to reassemble the original music selection team to find replacements that fit. And they made sure to pay a little extra for the truly important songs like "Here with Me" for the theme song and "I Shall Believe" for the Liz/future Max dance scene in "The End of the World."

I'm still (im)patiently waiting for seasons 4-5 of The Muppet Show. I am sure that music rights are the hang-up, since that was a huge part of the show, but I'm still hopeful.

Are we sure that it's music rights and not just Disney dithering around because of sheer incompetence? I mean, this is the same studio that was notoriously stingy with their Power Rangers DVDs, not to mention Phineas & Ferb, Spider-Man, and X-Men. Gravity Falls only got a complete release because Shout! Factory put it out.

This is my Holy Grail of home video releases. The longer it's unavailable, the more I'm starting to take it as a personal affront.

That's exactly how I felt about 7 Days year after year. Thankfully, our patience is sometimes rewarded.

A couple of short-lived Must See TV sitcoms that I'd like to see get releases-- Hope & Gloria and Stark Raving Mad. The latter series starred Tony Shaloub as an eccentric horror novelist and Neil Patrick Harris as his buttoned-down editor. Given that they're both pretty big names, I'm surprised that they haven't released this one.

While I understand that it's rare for reality shows to get a first season DVD release, let alone a second, I will flat out admit that I would pay top dollar for 2nd season releases of The Joe Schmoe Show and A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila. I'm not proud of it but sometimes I love trash.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm not sure that Made in Canada (or The Industry as it was called here) actually is that well known in the U.S. I just kinda stumbled on it late one Saturday night after Red Dwarf.

Funny thing about that show is that it was very much a who's who of Canadian talent and there was quite a bit of talent crossover between this and Avonlea which was just ending, which was also a CBC show. Rick Mercer went on to become a big name in Canada and actually just recently retired from his own show.

 

[May 20]

Are we sure that it's music rights and not just Disney dithering around because of sheer incompetence? I mean, this is the same studio that was notoriously stingy with their Power Rangers DVDs, not to mention Phineas & Ferb, Spider-Man, and X-Men. Gravity Falls only got a complete release because Shout! Factory put it out.

No, I'm not *sure*. I read in a few places many years ago that it was the music rights. So that may not be correct anymore, if it ever was. That was the reason I've repeatedly heard when I've asked and gotten an answer, though. I do know that Disney will vault stuff to drive scarcity, but, really, what's the point for that with this series? Season 3 was released in May 2008. How much longer do they need to wait to create demand? I would have snapped up seasons 4-5 within days of release, and I know I'm not the only one. (Frankly, I still will if they ever release them.) The other possibility, which is speculation because I don't ever really know what "enough" is, is that the first three seasons' releases weren't lucrative enough for them to pursue the last two. And, yeah, someone (or several someones) are simply incompetent.

 

[tomswift2002]

No, I'm not *sure*. I read in a few places many years ago that it was the music rights. So that may not be correct anymore, if it ever was. That was the reason I've repeatedly heard when I've asked and gotten an answer, though. I do know that Disney will vault stuff to drive scarcity, but, really, what's the point for that with this series? Season 3 was released in May 2008. How much longer do they need to wait to create demand? I would have snapped up seasons 4-5 within days of release, and I know I'm not the only one. (Frankly, I still will if they ever release them.) The other possibility, which is speculation because I don't ever really know what "enough" is, is that the first three seasons' releases weren't lucrative enough for them to pursue the last two. And, yeah, someone (or several someones) are simply incompetent.

With Disney you have to remember that they’ve left a number of shows on DVD hanging.

I’m still waiting for “Darkwing Duck” Volume 3 and beyond to come out as Disney’s only released the first roughly 50 episodes in 2006 & 2007. The episodes looked like they had been mastered from VHS, but still it was better than nothing. Of course, since 2007, Disney hasn’t even put the series on iTunes or another streaming service. Plus they’ve left the original “DuckTales” and “Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers” hanging. Not to mention but they never did release even a “Best Of” disc of ‘Bonkers’, even though episodes had been released on VHS.

With the Muppets, it would be nice if we got a DVD Of The 1987 master eventually, with all the songs. The current NTSC DVD is not worth getting—-at Christmas I prefer watching a recording I made on VHS in SLP in 1993 (which is the post-88 version) over the official NTSC DVD.

Another show I would like to see Remastered and issued is the 1950’s live-action “Dick Tracy” show with Ralph Byrd.

And the 1950’s “Dragnet” also needs a Remaster and release. Apparently the show has been out of syndication since 1967 when the color episodes began airing. Also, apparently, Universal has no idea which of the 276 episodes it actually still has the copyright on, since they apparently let the first 100 episodes lapse, then the still have copyright on the next 100, but of the remaining 76, they only have copyright on 7 episodes, but they don’t know which 7. Thus why you keep seeing the same 40-50 episodes on public domain DVD’s (of course those are sourced from 16mm prints sent to TV stations in the 50’s and 60’s and held onto by personnel from those stations, when the stations were throwing out their film, and a lot of the DVD’s rely on Betamax and VHS (and sometime 2nd or 3rd VHS) transfers from those prints that were made from a video chain, and the contrast is low, resulting in neatly washed out video).

 

[RJDiogenes]

It might sound silly, but that's what stopped me from buying them on DVD.

Yeah, it's kind of a drag, but I couldn't resist because it's one of my all-time favorite shows.

I don't know if this will interest you at all, but I've had the Bosom Buddies DVD's since 2007,and the only change to the opening credits was taking the end credits music, giving it lyrics, and putting it at the beginning. Of course, those are the first edition sets. I have no idea what's (if anything) been done to later releases.

Yeah, that was the only change. There's no modifications to the actual episodes that I know of.

 

[Marc]

I’m still waiting for “Darkwing Duck” Volume 3 and beyond to come out as Disney’s only released the first roughly 50 episodes in 2006 & 2007. The episodes looked like they had been mastered from VHS, but still it was better than nothing. Of course, since 2007, Disney hasn’t even put the series on iTunes or another streaming service. Plus they’ve left the original “DuckTales” and “Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers” hanging. Not to mention but they never did release even a “Best Of” disc of ‘Bonkers’, even though episodes had been released on VHS.

Where's disney at with it's own streaming service? Sounds like they've got a boat load of content that could up quite easily and get them an instant audience without the cost of producing and distributing physical media.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

Yeah, that was the only change. There's no modifications to the actual episodes that I know of.

I did notice one change with the Bosom Buddies DVDs. In the episode "One For You, One For Me" Henry (and later Kip) are arrested because Henry sent in a warrenty card on a stolen vcr he bought at a swap meet. They are put in a cell with Ernie Hudson and another guy (bank robbers). They bond toward the end of the episode after they sing "Da Do Run Run" and I think another song and I think both songs were cut from the DVD.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Funny thing about that show is that it was very much a who's who of Canadian talent and there was quite a bit of talent crossover between this and Avonlea which was just ending, which was also a CBC show. Rick Mercer went on to become a big name in Canada and actually just recently retired from his own show.

In recent years, I've seen Dan Lett show up in various random movies, like playing the car salesman in The Shape of Water and the Secretary of Defense in X-Men: Apocalypse. That's always fun.

No, I'm not *sure*. I read in a few places many years ago that it was the music rights. So that may not be correct anymore, if it ever was. That was the reason I've repeatedly heard when I've asked and gotten an answer, though.

Why would music rights issues impede Seasons 4 & 5 when they were able to release Seasons 1-3? Did they use more expensive songs in the later seasons? Or did the sales peter out after Season 3, so they think it's not worth the extra expense? For what it's worth, I have seen reprintings of Seasons 1-3 available at Barnes & Noble in slimmer boxes, so it's not like they're so unprofitable that Disney won't even keep them in print.

With Disney you have to remember that they’ve left a number of shows on DVD hanging.

I’m still waiting for “Darkwing Duck” Volume 3 and beyond to come out as Disney’s only released the first roughly 50 episodes in 2006 & 2007. The episodes looked like they had been mastered from VHS, but still it was better than nothing. Of course, since 2007, Disney hasn’t even put the series on iTunes or another streaming service. Plus they’ve left the original “DuckTales” and “Chip N Dale Rescue Rangers” hanging. Not to mention but they never did release even a “Best Of” disc of ‘Bonkers’, even though episodes had been released on VHS.

Did they ever finish off releasing all of the seasons of Gargoyles? If they haven't, I feel like that would be a good candidate for Shout! Factory. It's not quite a marquee title like Duck Tales but it has a strong cult following.

(BTW, I heard that, shortly after the success of Get Out, Jordan Peele pitched a live-action movie version of Gargoyles to Disney and they turned him down. Friggin' Disney!)

I did notice one change with the Bosom Buddies DVDs. In the episode "One For You, One For Me" Henry (and later Kip) are arrested because Henry sent in a warranty card on a stolen vcr he bought at a swap meet. They are put in a cell with Ernie Hudson and another guy (bank robbers). They bond toward the end of the episode after they sing "Da Do Run Run" and I think another song and I think both songs were cut from the DVD.

I hate it when that happens. In the Doctor Who story "The Chase," there's a scene where they use a Time-Space Visualizer to view historical events. One of them is a Beatles performance on TV. We get a whole sequence of Ian rocking out to the Beatles and Vicki saying, "I didn't know that they played classical music." Sadly, this scene was cut from the American DVD release, which is why I've kept my VHS copy.

 

[May 20]

Why would music rights issues impede Seasons 4 & 5 when they were able to release Seasons 1-3? Did they use more expensive songs in the later seasons? Or did the sales peter out after Season 3, so they think it's not worth the extra expense? For what it's worth, I have seen reprintings of Seasons 1-3 available at Barnes & Noble in slimmer boxes, so it's not like they're so unprofitable that Disney won't even keep them in print.

I don't have an answer for you. It doesn't make sense to me, either, that they could release (and re-release) 1-3 but have issues with 4-5. This is why I'm frustrated. I acknowledge that there could be other reasons, including incompetence, for why they haven't released 4-5. Frankly, I'm not sure I care what the reasons are. I just want them to release 4-5.

 

[Avro Arrow]

Did they ever finish off releasing all of the seasons of Gargoyles?

AFAIK, season 3 has never been released.

But it took almost a decade to get the second half of season 2, so it may still be coming...

 

[bigdaddy]

AFAIK, season 3 has never been released.

But it took almost a decade to get the second half of season 2, so it may still be coming...

They released the second half of season 2?! That must be recently.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I did notice one change with the Bosom Buddies DVDs. In the episode "One For You, One For Me" Henry (and later Kip) are arrested because Henry sent in a warrenty card on a stolen vcr he bought at a swap meet. They are put in a cell with Ernie Hudson and another guy (bank robbers). They bond toward the end of the episode after they sing "Da Do Run Run" and I think another song and I think both songs were cut from the DVD.

Wow. That's just petty. There's no reason for not signing off on something like that.