Series Box Sets & Music

[Tom Saurus]

I have a question pertaining specifically to the Virginian DVD Box sets. I notice that season 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and the final season The Men Of Shiloh have been released. I was wondering if season 7 hasn't been released because The Irish Rovers sang in some episodes of season 7.

I am also wondering about "Wiseguy", we watched it on TVLand or one of those nostalgia channels here in Canada and the episodes that dealt with illegal stuff going on in the music industry were skipped. I was thinking that perhaps it had something to do with music rights. The music arc featured Tim Curry and Deidra Hall.

I notice that music shows here in Canada from years ago, never get played anymore. I sent a email to the CBC specialty channel, it was called Country Canada back then why don't they air episodes of The Tommy Hunter Show and someone got back to me and said they couldn't afford the music rights.

Could someone explain the issue with music rights and does this mean that some shows won't be seen again and some boxsets won't be released?

[DB83]

There is no hard'n fast rule with rights. Artists will give permission globally or even individually per type of release.

A few examples.

A very popular comedy series on German Tv - Klim Bim - has NEVER appeared on dvd, despite the demand, as every artist who appeared had to give their consent. Their asking price was possibly too high, or a blank refusal, so that was that.

The Live Aid Concert from 1985 appeared on dvd minus the performance of one band (forget which one right now) since rights only pertained to the live performance and nothing else and the band would not consent to more.

[JudgeGarth]

After being here six years, I can finally answer a question I know the answer to!

Season 9 of 'The Virginian' ('The Men From Shiloh') was released out of sequence because Encore Westerns was showing Seasons 1-8 and not showing Season 9. Timeless wanted to take advantage of the fan following by releasing a set that wasn't available in the cable package. Actually, they've been doing a pretty good job of releasing the series. Season 6 was just released in May and they're still planning on doing seasons 7 and 8 even though Timeless was bought out by another company.

I'm a big fan of the series and a member of several fan groups for it. That's why my moniker is 'Judge Garth'! LOL.

[Tom Saurus]

DB83: Thank you for your response. It can be quite frustrating all this rights business; sometimes it seems like some people cut their nose off to spite their face.

JudgeGarth: Yes I recognized the character name. He was the first owner we were introduced to on "The Virginian" and he was played by Lee J. Cobb. I live in Canada so we don't get Encore Westerns. It sounds like a terrific channel. We used to have a western themed channel here in Canada called Lonestar. It got rebranded as MovieTime and they mostly show action and comedy movies. My family used to watch "The Virginian" on Lonestar, but I wouldn't be surprised they were edited episodes as they gave them a 90 minute timeslot, and due to the way TV is now they probably edited footage out to fit in more commercials. My Mom remembers when The Virginian used to air on television all those years ago, and she enjoyed them bringing it back. I think she will be quite happy if I get her some The Virginian boxsets for her birthday and Christmas gifts. I think I will buy her the "Laredo" complete series boxset first though. Laredo was a spinoff of "The Virginian".

I know "The Virginian" is fairly pricey, but I think you get good quality for your money. We will have to buy them one at a time until we have them all. Thank you for your response you gave me hope that season 7 and 8 will be released as well.

I sure would like to see the studio that has the rights to "Maude" release the remaining seasons of that show on DVD; it seems so sad they have only released the first season. The way a show like that gets sliced and diced for the sake of more commercials in a half on a nostalgia channel is a real shame. A studio should release the remaining episodes of "The Big Valley" on DVD as well.

It was hard for me to imagine The Irish Rovers doing anything to discourage the release of season 7 as those episodes probably encourage people to check out their music.

[yoda313]

t seems so sad they have only released the first season.

There is another show like that for me. I have not checked in awhile but the old 80s sitcom Perfect Strangers was released in a 1 and 2 season combo set awhile back. I haven't checked in awhile but I don't believe they have released any more. I don't need to own the whole series but like most good sitcoms they always hit their stride in the third and fourth seasons if they are any good. I would like own more than just the first two years. But I don't need all of them.

I was trying to post in your thread before but I had a network error and my post was lost.

What I was posting about the music rights was in regards to that low brow comedy Married With Children. I never really watched it and don't like it but read about the flap they had on their show intro. The "love and marriage" theme was redubbed with some lame non lyrical orchestral piece. People were complaining about. I guess it was a Sinatra song or something like that and they just either didn't pay for it or couldn't get it for the disc release.

The one I was surprised about was the Short Circuit 2 movie. The ending action song "hero" something was in the dvd release. I think that was a Brannigan song but can't remember for sure. Maybe when they contracted the song for the movie they wrote into it to get rights for any future video release in any format. Or maybe it was a lower tier song and thus would be cheaper to license in a dvd release. But than again maybe music rights are different in movie releases than they are for tv show releases. (as an aside here I do have both Short Circuit movies on disc )

I have read online that the 60s batman series will have a long long battle to get on disc with all the different characters that appeared on it (the live action Adam West one). They did release the "batman the movie" on dvd - I own it. But I'm talking about the weekly show. I don't know if there were non dc characters in it that would throw the whole thing into a legal mess or not (batman is DC right?).

[Tom Saurus]

yoda313: Thank you for response. What you wrote was quite interesting. If Batman has to have a costly court battle to make it to DVD, they may decide to not go ahead. There is also the sad fact that a Network studio in the United States apparently have some Jack Benny episodes squirreled away in a vault and the public may never see them again. The "Short Circuit" movies are quite entertaining. I enjoy the second one, more than the first. I have read that some studio is planning on making a re-make.

[yoda313]

The "Short Circuit" movies are quite entertaining. I enjoy the second one, more than the first.

Thats interesting. Usually most people pan ANY sequel and say the original was the best. I actually liked both about the same.

I have read that some studio is planning on making a re-make.

I don't know about that. Just like the supposed Robocop remake. Or this Total recall movie coming out.

Sometimes movies aren't meant to be remade for one reason or another.

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Oh by the way regarding Perfect Strangers (the tv show). It turns it out it is about MUSIC RIGHTS. IN fact there is an online petition to get the studios to release the series in total. I tried signing up for it last night but it froze on me.