TWoP article about TV shows that aren't yet available on DVD

justme · 02 Jan 09 :: 16:16

I loved this article!

http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/br … d.php#more

Smart TV NOT on DVD
Shows We'd Like to See on DVD
by Diane Werts December 18, 2008 12:28 PM
Shows We'd Like to See on DVD
There is no DVD justice. In a world where even According to Jim is available on disc, where oh where are DVD sets of all the sublime gone-too-soon shows that live on in fans' memories, years and years after their demise? Now And Again? Homefront? Frank's Place? We've got quite a DVD wish list. Santa, please see what you can do.
Bakersfield P.D. (Fox, 1993) -- Just thinking about this sly show puts a smile on the faces of fans who've practically worn out tapes recorded from the late, lamented Trio channel. Police detective Ron Eldard plays an eager but naive desert cop who gets his lifelong dream when he's teamed with savvy D.C. detective Giancarlo Esposito -- a black man! Well, only half-black (half-Italian), and hardly "authentic" enough for Eldard, whose cultural naiveté is audacious, hilarious and touching. But this single-camera gem raced well beyond race, playing rural/city sophistication conflicts, too, along with gender comedy in its three male detective teams (including Chris Mulkey and Tony Plana) who often express naked emotions like wounded romantic couples. TV comedy has yet to top this quirky cocktail.
China Beach (ABC, 1988) -- Dana Delany goes to Vietnam as an Army nurse in a reflective look back at the war, gender relations, and finding yourself while facing human horror day after day. The drama's people were unforgettable -- Delany, Marg Helgenberger, Robert Picardo, Megan Gallagher -- but so was the creative way the show laid out its tale, employing backwards scene order, real-life interview cut-ins, flash-forwards and other techniques to get under the skin and straight to the heart. Vintage songs provided a shrewd '60s soundtrack. But that, of course, makes music rights a pricy DVD stumbling block.
Cupid (ABC, 1998) -- Jeremy Piven wasn't some big discovery in Entourage. Those of us who saw him play a self-proclaimed angel of love in this whimsical romantic hour knew what he could do. It also provided a rare snug fit for offbeat actress Paula Marshall, as the semi-smitten shrink of Piven's semi-stable human/god. And it made a good entry point for writer Rob Thomas, later to give us the glorious Veronica Mars. But ABC wasn't sure if Cupid was comedy or drama, fantasy or fact (Piven's "real" nature never was explained), and marooned the show on Saturday night. Now they're remaking it with Bobby Cannavale in a midseason 2009 series already rumored to be in trouble. Bring back the original!
EZ Streets (CBS, 1996) -- Yeah, yeah, two episodes are out on a Brilliant But Cancelled DVD. Not enough! This uber-moody show from future Oscar winner Paul Haggis (Due South before, Crash after) only lasted eight episodes, after all -- all teeming with urban grit, scummy corruption, seamy sex and sick wit. Cop Ken Olin is hot to nail the Irish mob, while crime kingpin Joe Pantoliano keeps a freezer full of severed hands to provide misleading fingerprints. Haggis used song score gorgeously, too (Sarah McLachlan, Caroline Lavelle). Which means seeing this haunting saga again in its original form is exceedingly unlikely.
Frank's Place (CBS, 1987) -- Do you know what it means to miss New Orleans? Tim Reid's elegant evocation of NOLA should have hit DVD back when the city was underwater, all over the news, and in our hearts. This sharp single-camera half-hour was ahead of its time in not only format but also tone and attitude. Reid faced race head on, with a largely black cast, as well as the north/south divide, playing a Boston hotshot reluctantly returned home to his father's eatery. America just wasn't ready. Maybe now's the moment to revisit its languid charm.
Homefront (ABC, 1991) -- Period shows never work. TV axiom. But this post-World War II soap drama did OK in the ratings for two seasons and even better in the hearts of viewers who still yearn to revisit its warm study of characters and culture at a time of tumultuous change. Heck, television was invented on its watch! And what a cast -- Kyle Chandler, John Slattery, Kelly Rutherford, Mimi Kennedy, Ken Jenkins. Homefront evoked a time, place and tenor so effectively that its intrinsic unhipness made it the hippest thing around. Still is.
The John Larroquette Show (NBC, 1993) -- Here's a sitcom premise for you. Recovering alcoholic goes to work as night manager for a seedy St. Louis bus station. Laughs abound! Actually, they did in this sterling effort from the Night Court horndog, who got down, dirty and daffy at a time NBC was more attuned to Friends and Frasier's sleek style. The episodes' down-and-out situations were hard-hitting yet lighthearted, with pitch-perfect work from station assistant Liz Torres, chip-on-his-shoulder lunch counter man Daryl Mitchell, and gonzo drop-in cops Lenny Clarke and Elizabeth Berridge. Loosey-goosey and slightly demented, Larroquette was a gem that NBC didn't "get," and therefore tried to tidy up, thus diluting its 80-proof authenticity. Creator Don Reo went on to Action, while key writer Mitch Hurwitz would create Arrested Development. 'Nuff said.
Nothing Sacred (ABC, 1997) -- Taking faith seriously. What a concept. Too bad ABC let "religious" mouthpieces pick apart this genuine, probing and truly spiritual portrait of a troubled Pittsburgh parish. Kevin Anderson made for a hunky true-believer priest, wrestling with what his own faith meant, while trying to minister to the homeless, faithless and criminal, sometimes in his own family. Gritty scripts -- many written by the show's priest co-creator Bill Cain -- presciently tackled HIV, gay priests, and sexual exploitation by clergy, as well as abortion, mixed marriage and other hot-button topics. A skittish network never broadcast several of the best episodes, which remain unaired to this day. A sin, because those episodes (sometimes slipped to TV critic-fans of the show) are exactly the kind of intelligent, topical television the networks had better rediscover, lest they relinquish their primacy forever.
Now And Again (CBS, 1999) -- John Goodman got hit by a subway train and reborn into Eric Close's constructed hot bod, thanks to scientific genius Dennis Haysbert, in drama that played remarkably grounded for its pie-in-the-sky premise. All about (re)discovering who you are, the show was equally savvy with confused wife Margaret Colin and quirky daughter Heather Matarazzo. And filmed in New York, it looked superb, too. Creator Glenn Gordon Caron of Moonlighting and Medium made it sweet, smart and just the right amount out-there to hit us even harder in the heart.
Wonderland (ABC, 2000) -- And so this one resurfaces -- not on DVD, but on DirecTV, which announced it'll air all eight series episodes (including six never seen) starting Jan. 14. The link is series creator Peter Berg, now overseeing the satelliter's production of his Friday Night Lights. This equally intense and intimate saga focuses on doctors at a New York psychiatric hospital much like Bellevue, played by Ted Levine, Michelle Forbes, Martin Donovan and other potent performers. Berg's first creation, it reverberates just as viscerally as Berg's current saga of a quite different American community.
DVD is crying out for shows like these to be rediscovered. And we could go on and on. Comedies like Aliens in America, The Class and Miss/Guided. Dramas like Ed, Strange Luck and Jack and Bobby. Fantasy like Kindred, Brimstone and New Amsterdam. Even animation like Daria and The PJs.
If there's room on the shelves for Charles in Charge and Cashmere Mafia, there ought to be room for these.

I loved so many of those shows mentioned! I really don't understand why they're so slow to release some of these shows. I know there are sometimes problems (such as music clearance issues) but they can be solved if someone makes it a priority. Clearly there is a market for a lot of these shows. When there is a whole website devoted to ranking unreleased television DVDs (http://tvshowsondvd.com/), someone at the switch should pay attention.

TeeJay · 02 Jan 09 :: 17:00

Hm... I don't think I know any of these shows. Sometimes I feel like I only know at most 1% of all shows, movies and actors out there, maybe even less. And I probably do. Is that a good or a bad thing?

Right now there's only one show I wish they would release on DVD: Early Edition. Season 1 has been available for a while, but I'm not gonna buy it unless they release all four seasons. And since it's a CBS show, who knows if that'll happen.

TWoP is right, though. There sure are a lot of TV shows out there that should be released on DVD. There just doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason why some really obscure shows get released and some of the really good ones don't. Thanks for posting, Carol.

-TeeJay

TheCentralScrutinizer · 02 Jan 09 :: 21:30

China Beach, Homefront and Now & Again are three of my all time favorite shows. I'm really surprised Now & Again is not out. It's only one season, that shouldn't be too hard to release. There was an ep of that show called No Words that is just one of the best, most thought provoking things I've ever seen on TV. All written word in the world disappeared. Think about that. No books, no computers, no road signs, no MONEY. Chaos.

justme · 10 Aug 09 :: 18:00

Another great list of shows still awaiting a DVD release:

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20294884_15,00.html

TheCentralScrutinizer · 10 Aug 09 :: 18:44

Great list. My old faves, Homefront...

and Now & Again are represented...

And oh my God, yes, I wanna see Cop Rock again!

And Sisters, man I love that show...

I'll Fly Away was a great show too...

Illinoisguy1 · 10 Aug 09 :: 23:31

Here are some tv series I would like to see released in season sets on DVD.

Alice:

Bionic Woman:

China Beach:

Eerie Indiana:

Family Matters:

Ferris Bueller

Green Hornet:

Hangin with Mr. Cooper:

Head of the Class:

Hogans Family:

Honey, I Shrunk the Kids:

Hooperman

Kung Fu: The Legend Continues

Land of the Lost (90's version)

Logan's Run

Man from Atlantis

Max Headroom

Operation Petticoat

Otherworld

The Ropers

Six Million Dollar Man

Some of my Best Friends

Space Precinct

Starman

Step by Step

Two Guys and a Girl

Unhappily Ever After

Wonder Years

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 10 Aug 09 :: 23:37

I want The Beatles cartoon show to come out on dvd more than any other show. I also really want The Wonder Years to come out on dvd and all of the other seasons of Malcolm In The Middle besides season 1 since it's already released. Also Lizzie Mcguire. I used to be obsessed with the show when I was younger. I've had the first season ever since it was released and hopefully they'll eventually release the other seasons. A few others I can think of right now are Kenan And Kel, The Amanda Show, the series for the band S Club 7: S Club 7 In Hollywood/Miami/L.A., All That (both the old and new cast series).

Last edited by BiggestChrisMarquetteFan (10 Aug 09 :: 23:45)

TheCentralScrutinizer · 10 Aug 09 :: 23:45

China Beach & Starman are two of my faves. They'd get my vote!

Oh yeah, I like that Beatles cartoon too. While they're at it, they can put out the Jackson 5 cartoon and The Osmond Bros cartoons, if they're not out already.

Editsound · 11 Aug 09 :: 18:26

You can probably give up on The Wonder Years. The producers were clueless about music rights when they made it. They didn't even get permanent tv rights for the songs. They had to replace the joe cocker song from the opening credits for TV broadcasts after 10 years. So, they definately don't have DVD rights for any of the songs. And the cost to buy the rights or replace the songs is so high I don't think they will risk it.

Illinoisguy1 · 11 Aug 09 :: 20:35

I hate that!!

It's too bad when they got the rights that they didn't word the contract to include all possible broadcasts & video formats and etc.

Oh well.

Still a lot of these shouldn't have music rights issues, so it must come down to another reason.

I know that at least they could release the first few seasons of Family Matters on DVD. Well, until they started having music groups guest star and Eddie wanted to become a singer, those seasons could have music rights issues.

That's one bad thing about having singers on a show. Sure it seems hip at the time, but years later it just dates the show so quickly.

justme · 11 Aug 09 :: 22:28

Hee! I saw a picture of Belinda Montgomery go by up there.

I don't think it would cost too much to obtain the music rights later. I just think that no one makes it a priority to do it. It's a shame, too. I think they could make a ton of money if they got season & series sets of those shows out there. I hope someone does it for "The Wonder Years", because the score was one of the best parts of the show. I saw a few episodes from the WKRP in Cincinnati disks, where the original songs were excised and replaced with "smooth jazz". So sad.

justme · 11 Aug 09 :: 22:38

What I don't understand is, if they won't do it themselves, why don't they hand it over to someone like Rhino to get those rights. When there's a huge demand for these shows NOW, why wait?

TheCentralScrutinizer · 11 Aug 09 :: 23:04

Excellent point about Rhino. They seem to work miracles when they really set their minds to it.

justme · 11 Aug 09 :: 23:16

Yeah, there's something going on other than the profit motive. Some kind of internal politics that I don't understand. I know that for "Ed" NBC, and Viacom/Paramount had the show creators go through and pick out the songs that the absolutely wanted to keep and the ones they wouldn't mind replacing. They've gone through all 83 episodes and then the years pass and the network and Viamount still hasn't made a move.:rolleyes: I don't think the demand goes up, I think people give up and move on. Or, worse, give up and buy illegal copies. I would think giving Rhino a cut would be infinitely preferable to THAT.

Editsound · 11 Aug 09 :: 23:35

I think there is a lot of elements affecting this. But the main ones are money. With DVD sales down, the studios are more likely to release things which will have no extra costs to release (all rights secured) or things which are still very popular because they see them as low risk. there is also a current trend of contractually obligated dvd releases. (a show I did last year called "the Middleman" which got terrible ratings, yet the executive producer knew there would be a DVD release and we made some stuff for it during production, and now the dvd is out). If they have to put out a certain number because of contracts, that leaves even less room for other older ones.

Understand, I would love to see a Wonder years set as well as some of the others you are all talking about, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Illinoisguy1 · 12 Aug 09 :: 00:25

I hate it when they start to put out a series on DVD and then after a few seasons they just stop.

While I understand the studios position that it maybe due to poor sales, I also think it just pisses off consumers who maybe didn't even know the series was available on dvd and finds out that only a few seasons were ever made available. Are they even going to start buying it on dvd when they know in advance that they can't even complete the series on dvd? Likely not. So that further hurts sales of the existing seasons. And the studios see that and the cycle continues.

I really like Sally Field and bought the two existing seasons of The Flying Nun on dvd. The second season was released years ago and not even a rumor of when season 3 could be available. That really pissed me off.

TheCentralScrutinizer · 12 Aug 09 :: 00:57

Strong Medicine ended almost 4 years ago after 6 seasons. They only ever released S1 on DVD. I think most of us have pretty much given up hope of ever getting the rest of that series. :fedup:

BiggestChrisMarquetteFan · 12 Aug 09 :: 05:32

I wish the rest of Strong Medicine would come out on dvd. I'm glad the first season was released at least. I really want the second season of Huff.

Freaks And Geeks luckily got released with all original music on dvd.

justme · 12 Aug 09 :: 19:24

I agree that it's VERY frustrating when they only release a season or two of a long-running season. When it's a classic show from quite a few years back, I think they should do a series release. Why milk the fans who've already waited twenty years or more.

And Mel, I think a lot of us would love to see that second season of "Huff".

domesticelefant · 12 Aug 09 :: 19:32

I'd really love to have Judging Amy on DVD. I loved that show. It was my second favorite show next to JoA, but I've only seen a few snippets in English so far. And the German version sucks.

justme · 12 Aug 09 :: 20:49

Yeah, it's a shame that there hasn't been a set released for "Judging Amy". It's probably partly because the show has had such a successful syndication over here. People haven't had a chance to miss it yet. I hope they release a full series of that one someday, too.

domesticelefant · 13 Aug 09 :: 19:46

Uhm, what's a "syndication" please? (Sorry, I never heard that word before and LEO doesn't really give an explanation.) And why would success be a reason NOT to release something on DVD? They release every crap on DVD nowadays. :doh:

TheCentralScrutinizer · 13 Aug 09 :: 20:34

Syndication is when the network sells a show to another network (usually basic cable) so that they can run repeats. What Carol means is that Judging Amy has been running in repeat here (on TNT) for years, even before it was canceled. So people aren't clamoring for it yet because it's on TV every week day. It's when we haven't been able to see a show in years because repeats are not running anywhere that we generally start to crave it and want it on DVD.

For me, China Beach is a good example of that. I've been jonesing to see that show again lately. It hasn't aired anywhere in several years.

Editsound · 13 Aug 09 :: 20:36

Syndication is when they sell reruns of a show to individual tv stations (and cable networks). It is highly profitable to the producers because there is no new expense and so all of the money it brings in is profit. The reason that it can affect dvd release is because the producers worry that if it is out on dvd people won't watch the show on TV as much, and so the tv stations and cable networks won't buy it anymore. In the long term, success in syndication shows a wide interest in the show, so that a dvd release is more likely (once they think they have made all the money they can out of syndication.)

domesticelefant · 13 Aug 09 :: 20:41

Ah, thanks a lot, NOW I get it. Sounds logical. It just sucks that I'll never get to see the whole show in English if they aren't going to release it on DVD. There are still reruns of the show in Germany, but, as I sad, they're German and well, I don't like that.

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