One of my favorite niche sites out there is Gord Lacey’s TV Shows on DVD, which is exactly what it claims to be: a place where you can learn about TV Shows on DVD. It’s essentially a compendium of news/rumours/release dates (Battlestar Galactica 2.5 is coming out in early September?!?), reviews, and a place where you can vote for shows that haven’t quite made it to DVD.
Anyways, just for the hell of it, here’s my list of shows that I’m still waiting to see on DVD (or On-Demand) (or even downloadable):
- The Larry Sanders Show (Seasons 2 – 6) – I know this is cheating a bit, but the first season came out nearly four years ago now, and since then, dead silence. What the frack? This was once of the genius shows of all time, and it needs to be out there beyond bootlegged VHS tapes. There were stories of a “best-of” comp (boo!) a couple of years ago, but that hasn’t even come to fruition. C’mon already people!! Also worth releasing: It’s Gary Shandling’s Show, if for no other reason that the Tom Petty sequences.
- Star Trek: The Animated Series – This always seems to be on the verge of coming out, and then Paramount gets cold feet. The latest rumours say that it will be here the second half of the year, but the official Star Trek website is mum on the subject.
- Twin Peaks (Season 2) – Another one of those which are always just around the corner, but never seem to make it. I always thought that this season was underrated until the very very end, when I thought they pretty much copped out. I’ve watched the first season a zillion times, so I’d love to revisit this one fifteen years down the road.
- Andy Richter Controls the Universe – Of all of the non-Arrested Development comedies that have been part of that run of great shows that FOX has totally screwed with, this was the one with the most potential. But I guess it was too weird to get a mass audience, and unlike The Tick, didn’t have a built-in cult audience. You can, however, find reruns on HD Net, so that’s something. But I’d still love a DVD.
- Batman – You’d think that this was a no-brainer, and the multi-night serial format of this all-time classic would be a natural for DVD consumption, but the problem is dueling copyright holders. You’d think that if Courtney Love , Kris Noveselic and Dave Grohl could come to terms for the greater good, so could FOX and Warner Bros. Just take the pile of money you’ll make and split it in half. There! Please get this done while Adam West is still around for extras.
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 Full Seasons – Yes, Rhino has done a great job with their boxes, but with this super smart, extremely funny show not on the air anywhere (how is that possible!!) four episodes every few months just isn’t enough. On behalf of MSTies everywhere, I am demanding that someone have the balls to just release full season sets. And yes, I know that each episode again was 96 minutes long. So?!?
- WKRP in Cincinnati – Another pipe dream: the problem here is clearances for all of the music, much of it integral to the show. Remember the sequence when Johnny Fever was playing Pink Floyd’s “Dogs” and Mr. Carlson walked in? No? Well, you’ll probably never see it now.
- Get Smart! – Would you believe it’s actually supposed to come out this year?
- Late Night With David Letterman – The NBC Show, of course. But how to comb through a decade of the greatest talk show ever? Well, you could cheat and just release the always-hilarious anniversary shows.
- Slings and Arrows – The second season of this Canadian gem is just now wrapping up on Sundance, so where are the DVDs already? Don’t bother searching Amazon.
- Flying Blind, Cupid, Gross Pointe – Guilty pleasures or underrated gems? Probably both, as well as chances to see Jeremy Piven, Paula “Back Showkiller!” Marshall & Tea Leoni in early roles. Gross Pointe was actually supposed to be out already, but by now, you know how that goes.
Whew! That kinda got away from me: I kept thinking of more shows. But I’m done. For now
Here’s a few more: Greg The Bunny, Mary Hartman Mary Hartman, Fernwood Tonight, Fernwood Forever. There are probably more, but I haven’t had my coffee yet.
MST3K isn’t available in full seasons, and never will be in our lifetime, for the same reason as WKRP: rights. Neither Comedy Central nor Sci-Fi had the rights to the movies in question for very long, and releasing them on video involves reacquiring them. Even that changes constantly; Rhino recently had to pull The Beginning of the End. No great loss, I suppose, but it breaks my heart to think that Hobgoblins will probably never make it to DVD. (Public domain films excluded, at least, so Manos will always be with us.)
If I was an internet millionaire, I swear to the gods that this would be how I spent some of my money: buying up all of the rights to all of those movies, and then selling the full season box sets.
So if everybody on the internet could just give me a dollar, I could get started.
I think it would probably be easier to just talk Mark Cuban into doing it for you.
i am voting everywhere i can for
The Lucy Show
Here’s Lucy
and
Life With Lucy