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.
Out today from Timeless Media Group is Soldiers of Fortune – The Complete Television Series. The set contains all 52 episodes of the syndicated half-hour adventure series that ran from 1955 to 1957 and starred John Russell and Chick Chandler. Despite the vibrant NBC Peacock logo at the top of the box, the episodes are in black-and-white (and did not air on NBC). I believe the reason the Peacock logo is included has to do with a licensing agreement. Also out today are two releases from Paramount Home Video: Lucy Show: Official Third Season
, with all 26 episodes from the 1964-1965 season, and Have Gun Will Travel: Season Five, Volume One
, with the first 19 (I believe) episodes from the 1961-1962 season.
One disappointing release out today is Sid & Marty Kroffts Saturday Morning Hits
from Vivendi Visual Entertainment. I say disappointing because early reports indicated that the collection would include a “never before seen pilot episode of first Krofft production,” in addition to new interviews. According to DVD Verdict, however, the only extra feature is a gallery of production art. Alpha Video has a pair of new single-disc releases: Adventures Of Ozzie & Harriet, Volume 17 and Public Defender, Volume 6.
Finally, individual episodes of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood
and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson are now available for purchase at Amazon.com, thanks to a collaboration between Amazon/CreateSpace, The Fred Rogers Company, and Respond2 Entertainment. These are manufacture-on-demand discs. Each episode of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood costs $9.95 while each episode of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson costs $12.99. Read more from TVShowsOnDVD.com here and here. Note that the available installments of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson run roughly thirty minutes, meaning they are edited episodes.
