Saturday, May 26, 2012
Digital Digest: Harry O and Spenser: For Hire DVDs Potentially in the Works; Rookie Blue - The Complete Second Season DVD Review
"We're working on Season One of HARRY O right now. Hopefully we should have it ready in the next few months. Season Two will follow shortly thereafter."So there you have it! Not only is the first season of the classic series in the works, but in fact, both seasons appear to be on the way! It is also interesting to note that this classic series also featured Farrah Fawcett-Majors as the title character's next-door neighbor and on-again/off-again girlfriend, and the series was actually cancelled in 1976 by Fred Silverman in favor of a little series called Charlie's Angels, which (again) featured Farrah Fawcett-Majors.
Interestingly enough, in the same post, the same person asked about the classic '80s series Spenser: For Hire, which was one of many crime/detective series starring Robert Urich (and let's not forget, even when he was on Soap, he was heavily involved in a case of crime/detective work!). As it turns out, this series is not in the works for Warner Archive, but the reasoning behind that is even better news for fans:
"SPENSER is being considered for mass-merchant release, but if that doesn't pan out, we'll be happy to take up the cause for his liberation."So, it looks as if the series may not only be coming to DVD, but it may even be coming out as a mass-merchant release! And if it doesn't pan out, it sounds like Warner Archive will potentially take over. However, given the interest in '80s detective series, this one feels like one which would really work as a general retail release, so we're hoping to see some movement in this direction for this series. We'll let you know when we know more.
Mill Creek also maintains a Facebook page where they give some solid hints of "coming attractions." While they haven't been giving quite as solid hints lately, some of their latest information has hinted that more Heathcliff DVDs are coming, but it'll be a while, perhaps in early 2013. We hope to have more information to follow up on this in the near future.
A poster on the website Home Theater Forum brought out some details of some upcoming releases from Timeless Media Group (which was recently acquired by Shout! Factory), and it appears that TMG has a LOT coming up from MGM's vast library of series... though sadly none are sitcoms, and most are (as is common for TMG) westerns. The series included in the deal, per the information provided by the poster (and remember, this is not confirmed news, although the particular poster has developed a reputation for providing only reputable information) are:
- Bearcats!
- Tombstone Territory
- West Point
- Harbor Command
- Science Fiction Theatre
- Stoney Burke
- MacKenzie's Raiders
- Lee Marvin Presents The Lawbreakers
- Target
A few weeks ago, Cagney & Lacey series creator Barney Rosenzweig finally released details of the upcoming release of the series on DVD. It appears that the truly complete series will only be made available in a limited run of 3000 sets. By truly complete, this means that this particular set will include every episode of the series from every season, along with all of the special features. These sets will even be autographed by Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly, and will be available sometime this summer. Later in the fall, a general release will be available, at a lower price. However, this set will not contain the first season, which was much different than the rest of the series (in fact, Sharon Gless' role of Cagney was played by Meg Foster in the first season).
We've talked about international DVDs here several times, as sometimes you can obtain releases of series from the US which have never even been released, which you can watch if you import them to the US and have a region-free DVD player (note, most DVDs which you buy off the shelf at the store are NOT region-free, at least not straight out of the box). It has been almost a decade since Fox released Malcolm in the Middle - The Complete First Season, and there is little to no hope that we'll ever see future seasons in the United States. Fox stated shortly after the release that it was in fact a successful release, but music rights issues prohibited future releases (and considering that the series is not quite as popular now as it was when it was still airing new episodes, Fox perhaps shot themselves in the foot by missing that golden opportunity). However, in the United Kingdom, the releases are actually about to finally START, as Fabulous Films is set to release a region 2 version of the first season on June 4. That isn't a huge deal for Americans right now, as the region 1 version is still apparently in print and readily available, but this indicates that the studio has some commitment to the series, and there is hope that we may even see some future releases of the series, even if it does come from the UK.
We mentioned a few weeks ago that Inception Media Group would be The Real McCoys - Season One in July, but apparently, we really missed out on the details of the deal that Inception Media Group made with distributor SFM and publicly announced nearly a year ago, news that even posters on our own message boards mentioned (but we failed to notice). The deal includes several SFM properties, including The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp (which they have already released the first volume of), and of course, The Real McCoys. There is no word on what other series may be included, but SFM has an interesting array of some of the more "rare" series from the '50s and '60s.
Finally, we have news of new additions to the online service Hulu. The service has recently added the first season of the classic series My Favorite Martian to the online streaming service, and it is available to watch for free! We haven't seen much in regards to new additions of classic series lately, so this is a very welcome addition to the service.
The website is, like last week's website, relatively new, and isn't even completely finished yet. However, significant progress towards filling out the content is being made, and the information which is on there has been very detailed. You can find information about the series, such as information about the characters, the vehicles, the weapons, a detailed frequently asked questions section, historical articles, archives of an online newsletter about the series (from 1994!), games (although they are admittedly a bit cheesy), episode transcripts, official (yes, official) fan fiction, and much more. The only thing that this site is missing--and by the way, the one missing thing is what the website creator is actively working on--is a thorough episode guide. But even some of the episodes have had detailed information added to the episode guide, and from what can be seen from what has been included, it appears that the full episode guide is a very lengthy and detailed project which will be worth the wait.
Sitcoms Airing Tonight / Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows
Monday, April 28
The Neighborhood - "Welcome to the Yippedy-Dip" (CBS, 8:00PM ET/PT)
The Butlers visit a nostalgic, rundown restaurant from Calvin’s childhood and encounter its owner, Jasper (Garrett Morris). Meanwhile, Dave, Gemma, and Dave’s mother, Paula (Marilu Henner), pay a visit to Lamar (Kevin Pollack) in prison.
Poppa's House - "Magic Shine Again" (CBS, 8:30PM ET/PT)
Poppa prepares to reveal a big secret to Ivy. Meanwhile, Nina takes over Junior’s short film project.
Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of April 28)
Monday, April 28
- Anna Kendrick (Love Life) - Watch Anna on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC. She also talks about Another Simple Favor on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
- Wanda Sykes (The Upshaws/The New Adventures of Old Christine/Wanda at Large) - Wanda is a guest on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Cole Escola (Human Resources/Search Party/Mozart in the Jungle/Difficult People) - Cole appears on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
- Jason Ritter (Another Period/The Class) and Joel Kim Booster (Loot/Shrill) - Jason and Joel are guests on After Midnight at 12:37am on CBS.
- Eva Longoria (Only Murders in the Building/Telenovela) and Sandra Bernhard (Roseanne) - Eva and Sandra are guests on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen at 9pm on Bravo.
- Luke Kirby (Étoile) - Luke talks about Étoile on CBS Mornings Plus in the 9am hour.
- Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (Welcome Back, Kotter) - Lawrence shares details about his new role in Jason’s Lyric at the King’s Theatre in Brooklyn on Sherri, so check your local listings.
- Valerie Bertinelli (Hot in Cleveland/Café Americain/Sydney/One Day at a Time) - In this a little bit extra episode Drew shares more of her conversation about beauty and aging with makeup free Gillian Anderson, Gayle King and Valerie on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
- Pamela Anderson (Stacked/Home Improvement) - Drew shares more of her conversation with Pamela on The Drew Barrymore Show, so check your local listings.
New on DVD and Blu-ray
11/05 - I Love Lucy - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
11/12 - The King of Queens - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (2024 Release)
11/19 - SpongeBob SquarePants - The Complete Fourteenth Season
11/26 - Looney Tunes Collector's Choice - Volume 4 (Blu-ray)
12/03 - Angel (1960-1961) - The Complete Series, Volume 1
12/17 - Seinfeld - The Complete Series (Blu-ray) (4K UHD)
01/28 - Wait Till Your Father Gets Home - The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
02/04 - Bewitched - The Complete Series - 60th Anniversary Special Edition (Blu-ray)
02/04 - The Wayans Bros. - The Complete Series
03/11 - Frasier (2023) - Season Two
04/01 - Abbott Elementary - The Complete Third Season
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