Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD. For the record I consider anything broadcast prior to 1980 to be classic or else there wouldn’t be much to discuss. The releases referred to in these posts are encoded for Region 1 use in the United States and Canada.
The only release of note today is Route 66: Season Three from Infinity Resources, with all 31 episodes from the 1962-1963 season. Season Three was previously released in two volumes in July and October of 2009 and was also made available as Best Buy exclusive in July of that year. That set was promptly recalled for playback issues and reissued in August.
The third season of “ROUTE 66” was an unpleasant one for George Maharis, as he came down with a bad case of hepatitis halfway through the season, and had to be replaced. And so, Glenn Corbett, as “Linc Case”, succeeded “Buz” in episode 23, “Fifty Miles From Home’ [3/22/63], and the remaining eight episodes of that season. He returned for what would be the final season in the fall.
Mr. Grauman, you seem to forget that Maharis first came down with Hepatitis in the latter part of season 2, missing the last four episodes of that season. He came back for season 3 with the promise of a lighter work schedule, but he was overworked and had a relapse of his hepatitis and he had to leave the series some 13 episodes into the third season.