The Jack Benny Show

[BlueHen]

Obstacles to DVD Releases

All of this brings to mind a question I have had for a long time about some of the classic television shows. How are some of them in the public domain and some not? Did the producers and owners not copyright them originally? Did television shows in the early days have shorter copyright periods? Jack Benny is a good example as some of his 50's era shows are in the PD and others are not. Sorry to show my ignorance on this subject...

I had wondered the same thing about certain episodes of classic 60's shows like Dick Van Dyke, Andy Griffith, and The Beverly Hillbillies. The best explanation I could find on them was that Viacom, who (I believe) owned those shows allowed certain episodes to fall into the public domain to increase interest in them in the home video market. It's the most sensible explanation I've been able to find.

Another question: What seems to hold things up when they release certain series on DVD? For example, it's been quite some time now and only 4 seasons of Mary Tyler Moore are currently available on DVD. What's taking so long to release the remaining 3 seasons? I remember a couple years went by between the releases of Seasons 1 and 2, and yet, when The Dick Van Dyke Show came out on DVD a few years ago, all 5 seasons seemed to be released within one year.

What do they need to do... obtain permission from every single person appearing in every single episode?

 

[Tim L]

One obstacle usualy is potential sales..Its not a given that every season of a particular show will be released.. from what I've read, The pattern seems to be that the second season of a show sells less than the first, third sells less than the second, etc..

 

[Markxxx]

Just as the great Gracie Allen had to be pretty darn intelligent in order to play dumb as well as she did, Jack Benny had to be pretty darn talented in order to play the violin as "badly" as he did.

I agree I don't think Gracie Allen ever got enough credit. When you listen to simiar characters like Irma on "My Friend Irma," or on TV's Rose ("Golden Girls") or Chrissie Snow ("Three's Company") those women played "dumb Doras" but they were never believeable. They just came across as stupid, sometimes funny but just stupid.

With Gracie (especially on radio) she made it seem like the "illogical logic" was just matter of fact and it wasn't stupidity but that's just how the character was. And I've never seen or heard anyone else do it nearly as well.

Fun fact (From George Burns Book), Gracie Allen always did her voice higher on radio and TV than in real life, so much so that she wasn't recognized (when she was on radio) by her voice, in real life, while George Burns was recognized for his.

 

[bk77]

One obstacle usualy is potential sales..Its not a given that every season of a particular show will be released.. from what I've read, The pattern seems to be that the second season of a show sells less than the first, third sells less than the second, etc..

Sales is the reason why Here's Lucy wasn't realesed on DVD besides the "best of". Well Lucie Arnaz didn't think it sold enough to make HER happy !!

However some shows why they aren't on DVD it really is a case of "permisson". Michael Richards I heard is the reason why the SNL clone "Fridays" hasn't been released . Some say it was Lorne Michaels.

Mama's Family..season one has been out ( the NBC episodes ) but the syndicated ones aren't. I heard thats mainly due to Jody Hamilton ( Carol Burnett & Joe Hamilton's daughter ) since she has a say whether or not the syndicated Mama Family's get released to DVD.

Same thing more/less with Alice. Only the "best of" has been released. I heard it was Linda Lavin and the estate of Vic Tayback ( Mel ) that is holding back the others.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I wish there were more "best of" DVD releases of classic TV shows. I know that different people's opinions would vary as to what should be included though. Perhaps in the future it may be possible to buy individual episodes through downloads, or at least be able to view themn through on demand.