Every Tuesday I take a look at obscure and/or classic television programs, specials, miniseries or made-for-TV movies being released on DVD or Blu-ray. 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.
Out today from Timeless Media Group is The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams – Season One, a four-disc set containing all 13 episodes of the beloved NBC series, which premiered as a mid-season replacement in February of 1977. A lot of people have been wishing and hoping for this series to come to DVD and it finally has. Hopefully a follow-up set containing the second and final season (which ran for 25 episodes during the 1977-1978 season, followed by a December 1978 Christmas special and February 1982 telefilm) will be announced soon. And it would be nice to see the 1974 film that preceded the series come out on DVD as well.
Also out today are two Christmas specials: The Dean Martin Show Christmas Show from Time Life and A Carol Burnett Christmas from eOne Entertainment. The Dean Martin Christmas Show is simply a standalone release for the 1968 Christmas special included in The Dean Martin Variety Show: Dean’s Ultimate Collection collection released last week.
As for A Carol Burnett Christmas, please note that it doesn’t include episodes of The Carol Burnett Show. Instead, it features three Christmas-themed episodes of The Garry Moore Show (the 1958-1964 version). Here’s an absurdly dramatic trailer for the release:
The set also reportedly includes a Christmas-themed episode of The Entertainers, a CBS variety series that ran for 26 episodes during the 1964-1965 season, or perhaps an episode of Candid Camera. I have not been able to find a definitive list of what is on the set. This TVShowsOnDVD.com article mentions both but the official website only mentions the three episodes of The Gary Moore Show without specifying what the fourth “timeless Christmas spectacular” is. If there is an episode of The Entertainers on the set, it will be a real rarity (not that three episodes of The Gary Moore Show aren’t themselves relatively rare).
Finally, from Warner Bros. Home Video comes Sesame Street – Old School Volume 3: 1979-1984, which includes five complete episodes and some 110 minutes of bonus features. Two earlier “Old School” sets covering 1969-1974 and 1974-1979, respectively, were released in 2006 and 2007.
Sesame Street – Old School Volume 3: 1979-1984: DVD Talk
The Warner Archive will release Hawkins — The Complete TV Movie Collection on November 13th as a manufacture-on-demand title (TVShowsOnDVD.com).
Cover art for Bridget Loves Bernie – The Complete Series has been released (TVShowsOnDVD.com).
