Question about old syndicated rerun packages

[chris12]

I was reading the TV Guide top sitcoms book and it mentioned that when Petticoat Junction reruns first hit local syndication back in the 70s some sort of legal battles kept the black and white episodes from being shown. I was wondering if any other shows with both black and white and color episodes only had the color ones included in syndicated rerun deals. I also remember my one local station only seemed to show the My Three Sons colr episodes with Uncle Charley.

 

[landtuna]

I'm inclined to think it wasn't so much of a legal battle but rather that the B&W episodes wouldn't draw viewers as well as the colored ones. If my kids are any indication they won't watch anything in B&W.

But, along similar lines, I've noticed that a few popular series (Law & Order comes to mind) are being syndicated in only the newer episodes (maybe 5 years old or less). The original years, AFAIK, were never aired in syndication. This might have something to do with the sale of DVD's from those earlier years. Dunno. ???

 

[Braves2005]

I remember that in 1984 when we first got cable at our house that WGN was showing the color episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies only and those from 1965-1970 only, they didn't show the black and white episodes or the 1970-1971 season. TBS was also showing The Beverly Hillbillies around this time and they not only showed the black and white episodes but all of the color episodes as well.

I remember several years back that TBS was airing the black and white episodes of The Andy Griffith Show only and not the color episodes. TBS had aired the color episodes in the past as did WGN too.

I also remember that the black and white episodes of Bewitched and I Dream Of Jeannie were removed from syndication in the late 1970's for Bewitched and the mid 1980's for I Dream Of Jeannie. I even remember watching some of the black and white episodes of Bewitched in the late 1970's and TBS was even showing the black and white episodes of I Dream Of Jeannie when we first got cable. Not until Nick at Nite began showing Bewitched in the late 1980's until I got to see the black and white episodes in full.

 

[Newname]

If given a choice, stations and viewers prefer 'the color ones' to 'the black and white ones'. Only the really popular long-running shows made entirely in BW(Beaver, Lucy, Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock are given a pass.
In the case of the last (color) season of Beverly Hillbillies being skipped, it may just be because the show had really gone downhill by then.
How about season 12 of 'My Three, Now Entirely Grown Up Sons', where the 'boys' were all henpecked husbands, and Fred MacMurray seldom appeared unless he was playing his Scottish relative?

 

[Markieo]

In the case of "My Three Sons", only seasons 6-10 were syndicated in the 70's.

As for "The Donna Reed Show", seasons 6 and 7 were never aired after their original ABC runs. They can be identified by Bob Crane and Anne McCrea in the opening credits. They can also be identified by the Screen Gems "Dancing Sticks" logo at the end!

"Get Smart" all episodes except for a few from the CBS final season were originally syndicated.

Whe WNEW Channel 5 in New York had the rights to "The Partridge Family", the episode "A Partridge By Any Other Name" was never aired.

There are others, if I think about them I'll post them later :

 

[Braves2005]

I was under the impression that with The Donna Reed Show was that Reed didn't want the episodes with Bob Crane aired in syndication on account of his later troubles with pornography and his murder in 1978. When Nick at Nite aired Donna Reed, they aired the episodes from 1958-1963 and 1965-1966.

When Nick at Nite aired My Three Sons, they aired the black and white episodes and season 12 from 1971-1972. I remember the episode with Sal Mineo playing Robbie's friend from that season. The last time that I saw the 1965-1971 episodes was when TBS briefly aired My Three Sons in the early morning hours in the late 1980's.

Mannix has never shown its first season (1967-1968) or its last season (1974-1975) in syndication, but the first season of Mannix is out on DVD now so I don't know why those seasons are skipped in syndication.

I know that Hawaii Five-O has never shown every episode from beginning to end. A 1970 episode was withdrawn from syndication and the 2nd season DVD because it depicted a suicidal hanging.

 

[radiorob2.0]

WHAS Louisville was the rerun home for The Andy Griffith Show for years. For much of that time they did not run the color episodes since they didn't have Barney.

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

When Nick at Nite aired My Three Sons, they aired the black and white episodes and season 12 from 1971-1972. I remember the episode with Sal Mineo playing Robbie's friend from that season. The last time that I saw the 1965-1971 episodes was when TBS briefly aired My Three Sons in the early morning hours in the late 1980's.

I recall TV Land (yes, TV Land) airing the circa-1966-67 episodes of "My Three Sons" back when they aired the show around 1999.

 

[Newname]

A couple of dozen episodes of 'Perry Mason' were withheld from the initial syndicated reruns...presumably to drive up bidding in future negotiations.
I don't know offhand which episodes were included, but I've read on fan sites devoted to the show that they are from the latter years of the show, including the only episode filmed in color, 'The Case of the Twice-Told Twist'(thanks to Peter Q, George/K1XRB for mentioning this title in another thread! ;D)

I know that CBS reran season 12 of 'Hawaii Five-O' under the title 'McGarrett' on the 'CBS Late Movies', but were those episodes also syndicated?
How about the final, 'Hossless' season of 'Bonanza'?
And are any episodes of 'M*A*S*H' missing from the various syndicated and cable packages?

 

[Ultimajock]

...there were several Twilight Zone episodes that weren't put into syndication in the '60s, mainly due to legal hassles that were still being litigated at the time CBS cancelled the series. In addition, the TZ on which the French short film of An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge was shown wasn't initially syndicated, either, as the rights had been purchased for only the two CBS runs (in order for the series to come in under budget for the 1963-64 season)...

...when The Monkees was rerun on Saturday mornings on ABC and CBS, many of the group's songs were removed from most episodes and replaced with newer recordings (The Monkees continued to put out records until May 1970, two years after the show was cancelled by NBC). As well, the opening title sequences on the first season's episodes were replaced with the second season's titles. When the series was put into syndication after the CBS run ended in 1973, it was the ABC/CBS versions of the episodes that were released, not the original NBC versions...

 

[Braves2005]

A couple of dozen episodes of 'Perry Mason' were withheld from the initial syndicated reruns...presumably to drive up bidding in future negotiations.
I don't know offhand which episodes were included, but I've read on fan sites devoted to the show that they are from the latter years of the show, including the only episode filmed in color, 'The Case of the Twice-Told Twist'(thanks to Peter Q, George/K1XRB for mentioning this title in another thread! ;D)

I know that CBS reran season 12 of 'Hawaii Five-O' under the title 'McGarrett' on the 'CBS Late Movies', but were those episodes also syndicated?
How about the final, 'Hossless' season of 'Bonanza'?
And are any episodes of 'M*A*S*H' missing from the various syndicated and cable packages?

Season 12 of Hawaii Five-O has been seen in syndication but not all of the episodes have been seen, the last episode where McGarrett finally captures Wo Fat has been seen quite a bit. I have never seen the episode where Chin Ho gets shot in syndication. CBS Paramount has been doing a pretty good job of getting all of the episodes of the show on DVD with season 5 coming out next Tuesday.

The final season of Bonanza has been seen on the old Family Channel and Hallmark channels where they aired the 1965-1967 and 1970-1973 episodes under the title of Bonanza: The Lost Episodes.

The final episode of M*A*S*H has been seen as a set apart episode in syndication but not picked apart in syndication as a several part episode.

 

[Corky Marlowe]

What about "package deals" for shows? The one example I can think of is, when stations bought "Night Gallery", they also had to take "The Sixth Sense" as part of the deal.

 

[mleach]

I was under the impression that with The Donna Reed Show was that Reed didn't want the episodes with Bob Crane aired in syndication on account of his later troubles with pornography and his murder in 1978. When Nick at Nite aired Donna Reed, they aired the episodes from 1958-1963 and 1965-1966.

This is the first I heard about Reed but I do remember not long after Crane's death Lucille Ball wanted that one episode of the Lucy Show where Crane was the guest star removed from syndication due to his murder and porn. However I don't know if she was successful in doing that or not.

 

[harrisburgpatv]

When Nick at Nite aired My Three Sons, they aired the black and white episodes and season 12 from 1971-1972. I remember the episode with Sal Mineo playing Robbie's friend from that season. The last time that I saw the 1965-1971 episodes was when TBS briefly aired My Three Sons in the early morning hours in the late 1980's.

Mannix has never shown its first season (1967-1968) or its last season (1974-1975) in syndication, but the first season of Mannix is out on DVD now so I don't know why those seasons are skipped in syndication.

I disliked M3S at first, but took a liking to it once I started watching it on N@N in 1985 - what a shock it was to jump from the B&W of 1965 episodes to the color ones of 1971! I wanted to see what was inbetween, and as Tim mentioned, TV Land did began airing the 1965-1971 years in 1998 - also, in 2000, they started airing the B&W ones too.

While Mannix is mentioned......I could have sworn some Mannix episodes I saw while channel surfing (this was awhile back) used the Brady house. Are my eyes fooling me?

 

[Braves2005]

When Nick at Nite aired My Three Sons, they aired the black and white episodes and season 12 from 1971-1972. I remember the episode with Sal Mineo playing Robbie's friend from that season. The last time that I saw the 1965-1971 episodes was when TBS briefly aired My Three Sons in the early morning hours in the late 1980's.

Mannix has never shown its first season (1967-1968) or its last season (1974-1975) in syndication, but the first season of Mannix is out on DVD now so I don't know why those seasons are skipped in syndication.

I disliked M3S at first, but took a liking to it once I started watching it on N@N in 1985 - what a shock it was to jump from the B&W of 1965 episodes to the color ones of 1971! I wanted to see what was inbetween, and as Tim mentioned, TV Land did began airing the 1965-1971 years in 1998 - also, in 2000, they started airing the B&W ones too.

While Mannix is mentioned......I could have sworn some Mannix episodes I saw while channel surfing (this was awhile back) used the Brady house. Are my eyes fooling me?

Since both Mannix and The Brady Bunch were Paramount productions and Robert Reed was a regular on both shows, the Brady Bunch house being seen would be a strong possibility.

 

[Braves2005]

TV Land removed an episode of The Munsters "Herman's Peace Offensive" where Herman tells Eddie to fight a bully. That episode has been seen multiple times in syndication and nothing was said about it until TV Land said something and dropped that episode.

The funniest thing that TV Land did was remove a classic episode of Leave It To Beaver, the 1957 episode where The Beaver and Wally get Captain Jack the alligator and that episode has not been seen since by TV Land on account that they showed a toilet in the bathroom. Sad but true.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I'd think that TV Land would have the entire runs on their more popular shows like MASH, Andy Griffith, and The Cosby Show. But even with that they tend to only show certain episodes over and over again while showing other episodes very rarely or not at all. TBS seems to do the same thing with Everybody Loves Raymond and Seinfeld. I know it probably happens with other shows they carry as well, but these are the ones I watch the most. ALN also seemed to stay in the first couple of seasons of the MTM sitcoms on Monday nights, although I can't get them any more as a part of my current cable package.

As for shows that are sold together as a package, I think that was brought up in another thread that Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie are sold as a package, which would explain why they're almost always shown together, like on WGN now. I don't know for sure, but WKRP and Newhart (80's) are shown together on ALN and WGN, so I wonder if they're sold as a package as well. I'm sure there are others as well.

 

[harrisburgpatv]

The funniest thing that TV Land did was remove a classic episode of Leave It To Beaver, the 1957 episode where The Beaver and Wally get Captain Jack the alligator and that episode has not been seen since by TV Land on account that they showed a toilet in the bathroom. Sad but true.

That's one of, if not *the*, first episode(s) in the series, isn't it?

 

[Braves2005]

The funniest thing that TV Land did was remove a classic episode of Leave It To Beaver, the 1957 episode where The Beaver and Wally get Captain Jack the alligator and that episode has not been seen since by TV Land on account that they showed a toilet in the bathroom. Sad but true.

That's one of, if not *the*, first episode(s) in the series, isn't it?

Yes, that was the first episode of Leave It To Beaver.

 

[Markxxx]

Some shows like My Three Sons, Bewitched and the Simpsons ran for over 300 episodes, so it would seem to makes sense the syndicators would offer packages of less reruns so smaller stations could afford them.

One thing I thought was cool in the early 80s, WFLD-TV Channel 32 would run odd packages like "Three's Company's Friends" and it would consist of The Ropers, Three's A Crowd, and the British versions, Robin's Nest, and George and Mildred.

Channel 9 WGN-TV would run packages of Phyllis and the Tony Randall Show. WPWR-TV Channel 50 would run Angie and Bosom Buddies in a package.

Seems like they were taking shows that ran two seasons or less and throwing them together so they could make a rerun package out of them