GREAT TV SERIES STILL NOT ON DVD

For far too many years, The Man From U.N.C.L.E. topped this list, but now, thanks to Time Life, that landmark series is finally available. Inexplicably, these other fondly remembered series are not on DVD, at least not in a region-one format for sale in the United States, and many apparently are not planned for release any time in the foreseeable future.

Maverick

“Who is the tall, dark stranger there,” and why in the hell isn’t he out on DVD? Created and produced (in its first two landmark seasons) by television giant Roy Huggins, Maverick was the first TV series with a subversive agenda, kidding the westerns that pervaded TV at the time and making a star of James Garner. With Jack Kelly as brother Bart and a roster of delightful recurring characters, plus Roger Moore as cousin Beau, who showed up from some branch of the family after Garner quit. A huge success that ran five seasons on ABC, with 124 episodes produced from 1957 to 1962, all in glorious black-and-white. If that’s the excuse for not releasing this fondly remembered and influential series, it’s wearing mighty thin. Kelly and Huggins are gone already. Will somebody at Warner Home Video please get Garner and Moore in front of a camera talking about Maverick while they still can?

• At long last, Warner Home Video has announced the release of the entire first season of Maverick in a seven-disc set that goes on sale May 29. As usual, there’s good news and bad news. The suggested retail price is a reasonable $39.98, meaning a street price of around $30. But Warner’s press release indicates the set has no bonus features at all, just the show’s 27 first-season episodes. The big question now is whether the shows on DVD will be the same versions that ran for the last several years on the Encore Westerns channel. Most of those were missing the show’s short main-title sequence and many even had the first-act title card and the Warner Bros. “from the entertainment capital of the world” announcement out of their proper order.

The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. 

The only title on this list not here on its own merits. Far from it. The Girl From U.N.C.L.E. is one of the most offensively stupid TV programs ever made — but, maddeningly, it is part of the U.N.C.L.E. series and completists want it. Not including it in the elaborate Time Life release of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a golden opportunity lost since the chances of Girl being released on its own are awfully slim. There are only 29 one-hour episodes from its one season (1966-67) on NBC.

• Well, available at last as of Aug. 23 — in the inferior “manufacture to order” format and with absolutely no bonus features, but available. Divided into two sets, and pretty steep at $40 per set of 14 and 15 episodes, so save a little by ordering both for $60.

T.H.E. Cat

A fondly remembered, much collected series that lasted only one season. Robert Loggia starred as the mysterious T. Hewitt Edward Cat, reputedly a former circus aerialist turned cat burglar, now a bodyguard for hire. Set in a San Francisco-like city with more foggy piers, shadowy streets and dark alleys than you’ve ever seen in your life. Cat’s nightclub hangout Casa del Gato was reminiscent of Peter Gunn’s favorite joint, Mother’s, and Lalo Schifrin’s theme and jazz scores were absolutely the coolest ever written. Only 26 half-hour episodes were seen on NBC in 1966-67. A longer, unaired version of the pilot exists.

The Green Hornet

Another much sought-after favorite that ran only one season. Probably TV’s best attempt at the inherently ridiculous masked crimefighter genre, played perfectly straight by stonefaced Van Williams and the soon to be legendary Bruce Lee. There are only 26 half-hour episodes from its 1966-67 ABC run, but the guest appearance of the Hornet and Kato on a Batman episode would make a nice bonus. Speaking of which…

Batman 

The one-note joke of over-the-top, campy spoofs of comic-book adventures wore thin very quickly, and this show did more than any other entertainment-industry force to ruin the previously successful efforts of other series to walk the line between tongue-in-cheek humor and real adventure. But it is a landmark in 60s television, and we’ll grudgingly admit the first-season episodes are fun when watched in the right frame of mind.

DVD release apparently has been stymied by the dispute over rights to the character. 20th Century-Fox, which produced the show and has distributed it ever since, quite understandably claims to own the series, including home video rights. But since Warner Bros. tucked DC Comics under its corporate arm, that studio has made sometimes heavyhanded efforts to acquire every previous incarnation of DC characters, all the way back to the 1940s Columbia Batman serials and Fleischer Superman cartoons. Apparently some form of détente will be required to see DVD release of Batman (120 half-hour episodes, most in the form of two-part cliffhangers, seen on ABC from January 1966 to March 1968). Recent lawsuit filed over bat-profits owed the estate of executive producer William Dozier probably won’t help. Similar situation on The Green Hornet, owned by Fox, Dozier’s estate and the estate of Hornet creator George W. Trendle, may be holding up release of that show.

It Takes a Thief 

The last of the great 60s spy shows, on ABC from 1968 to 1970. Robert Wagner starred as Alexander Mundy, world’s greatest thief, forced to work for American Intelligence or go back to prison. A slick and clever combination of great capers and espionage that, unlike most series, actually improved each season. Some third-season episodes were shot in Europe, and Fred Astaire (!!) joined the show in the recurring role of Mundy’s father, the former world’s greatest thief. There are 65 one-hour episodes, plus a special 90-minute premiere edited from a longer unaired pilot that also exists.

Good news — It Takes a Thief was finally released on Nov. 15. Bad news — it’s a boxed set of all three seasons retailing for 200 bucks. Better news — it’s currently half price at Amazon.com.

Honey West 

A sparkling example of the lost art of half-hour adventure shows, with one of television’s biggest cult followings. This series is constantly sought by TV collectors. Anne Francis starred as private eye Honey West, American television’s first female adventure lead (preceded only in England by Cathy Gale, the first female lead in The Avengers). With John Ericson as partner Sam Bolt, Irene Hervey as Honey’s doting Aunt Meg and, for an added exotic touch, a pet ocelot named Bruce. Fast, funny and sometimes actually clever, but it only lasted one season (1965-66) on ABC, with 30 half-hour episodes. The one-hour pilot aired as an episode of Burke’s Law. An unaired version of a half-hour pilot also exists, and both stars are still around to provide bonus interviews and commentary.

• Finally released in September 2008 by a small outfit called VCI Entertainment. The episodes look and sound good, but no unaired pilot, no participation by the stars — bonus features consist of the network billboard announcements and commercial bumpers and, an unusual but welcome idea, a batch of mid-60s commercials that actually ran in the show's network broadcasts. But there could have been so much more.

Burke’s Law 

The first 1960s series to perfect the tongue-in-cheek mystery-adventure format carried on by The Avengers and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Gene Barry starred as the LAPD’s debonair captain of homicide who happened to be a millionaire, arriving at the crime scene in his chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce. Hollywood’s fading royalty and TV’s leading performers portrayed an all-star roster of suspects in each episode. The show’s two successful seasons on ABC (1963-1965) have unusual bookends. The series had no conventional pilot, it was based on a 1961 segment of Dick Powell’s anthology series in which Powell played Capt. Burke. ABC renewed the show for a third season, then changed its format to cash in on the spy craze, retitling it Amos Burke, Secret Agent. The far less clever spy version was canceled mid-season, making a total of 81 one-hour episodes (with the original Dick Powell version a bonus must).

• VCI also started releasing this series in May 2008, in half-season rather than full-season sets. Volume 1 has the first 16 episodes. Dick Powell's original version of Burke is not included and again the bonus material consists only of the billboards, bumpers and period commercials. A second set containing the rest of the first season was released in November 2008 — and three years later, there’s no sign of the second season, much less Amos Burke, Secret Agent.

Thriller

NBC’s answer to The Twilight Zone ran for two seasons (1960-1962), hosted by and sometimes starring the incomparable Boris Karloff. Another rarely seen, much sought-after series, with a wide range of eerie and macabre stories starring a horde of familiar faces. There are 67 one-hour episodes.

• A complete Thriller set with all 67 episodes and extras such as original NBC promos, scenes-from-next-week trailers and audio commentaries from actors who appeared in the series, finally went on sale Aug. 31, 2010. The steep $150 list price is easily avoided but it’s still well over $100 at the best discount. Fans who waited years for this rarity might have been happy to pay that if not for the widespread reports of many episodes with thoroughly botched audio remixes.

The Rogues 

Another one-season wonder, starring Gig Young (!), David Niven (!!), Charles Boyer (!!!), Gladys Cooper and Robert Coote, as the American, British and French members of a family of international con men. Of course they only swindled the rotters who deserved it. Maybe it was ahead of its time. Only 29 one-hour episodes were produced for its 1964-65 NBC run.

Peter Gunn 

The first of what could be called the more imaginative, stylish and sophisticated adventure shows that proliferated in the 1960s aired on NBC and ABC from 1958 to 1961, with Craig Stevens as the unflappable investigator. The series is famed for its ultra-cool theme music and jazz scores by Henry Mancini and the snappy, sophisticated style of producer Blake Edwards. A&E released two DVD sets in 2002 that were thoroughly botched, using scratchy, spliced, edited-down syndication prints that included only 32 of the 38 episodes from the show’s first season. All 114 half-hour episodes of this seminal series’ three-year run should be released in a manner befitting its place in TV history. An interesting bonus would be the movie version released in 1967 that also starred Stevens, was scored by Mancini and was written and produced by Edwards. A less successful 1989 TV-movie, also written and directed by Edwards and scored by Mancini, starred Peter Strauss as Gunn.

Mr. Lucky 

Blake Edwards’ followup to Peter Gunn also featured a sophisticated approach to crime, also set to Henry Mancini jazz scores, but Mr. Lucky ran for only one season (1959-60) of 34 half-hour episodes on CBS. John Vivyan was the debonair gambler hero who operated his own floating shipboard casino. His sidekick Andamo was played by Ross Martin, who went on to great fame and popularity in The Wild Wild West.

Coronet Blue

A true cult item, starring Frank Converse as a man pulled out of New York Harbor suffering from total amnesia. He tries to discover his identity while mysterious foes work to prevent him from learning anything about his past, which has something to do with the impenetrable phrase “coronet blue.” The show also had a really swinging theme song performed by Lenny Welch. Only 13 one-hour episodes were filmed on location in New York City, originally for a fall 1965 debut. CBS finally aired it in the summer of 1967.

Run For Your Life 

Created by TV legend Roy Huggins as a variation on his masterpiece, The Fugitive, with Ben Gazzara as the lawyer who contracts an incurable disease and decides to travel the world “to squeeze 30 years of living into one…or two.” Three seasons on NBC (1965-1968) produced 85 one-hour episodes with a wide variety of adventures noted for real characterizations and storytelling rather than mindless action. There’s also a one-hour pilot that aired as a segment of Kraft Suspense Theatre.

Search

High-tech international intrigue with Hugh O’Brian, Tony Franciosa and Doug McClure as alternating leads, worldwide investigators who carry sophisticated gadgets and electronic implants connecting them to a computerized home base run by Burgess Meredith. Ran only one season (1972-73) on NBC, with 23 one-hour episodes and a two-hour TV-movie pilot.

Captain Nice

Created by Buck Henry in an attempt to do for super-heroes what Get Smart did for secret agents. Not quite as funny as Get Smart and nowhere near as successful, Captain Nice ran for only 15 half-hour episodes on NBC in 1967. William Daniels starred as the reluctant hero, years before he became an acerbic surgeon on St. Elsewhere and a talking car on Knight Rider. With the delightfully obnoxious Alice Ghostley as his pushy mother, and Paula Prentiss’ kid sister Ann as his girlfriend.

My World and Welcome to It

Sheldon Leonard’s celebrated translation of James Thurber’s stories and cartoons to television, with William Windom as the Thurber stand-in and Harold J. Stone as his bellicose editor. Uneven to be sure but sublime when it worked, this gem won the 1970 Emmy for best comedy series, but only ran one season (1969-70) of 26 half-hour episodes on NBC. Two pilots made a decade earlier, one starring Arthur O’Connell and the other Orson Bean, would make fascinating bonuses.

Five Fingers 

TV’s first hour-long spy show, now an interesting Cold War artifact, lasted only 16 episodes on NBC in the fall of 1959. David Hedison, fresh out of “The Fly,” played an American double agent posing as a theatrical promoter and Red spy. A very young Luciana Paluzzi, who went on to some fame in “Thunderball” and other spy movies, played his girlfriend. Hedison, of course, became well known in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and went on to two Bond movies. An unusual half-hour version of the pilot exists, produced before NBC decided that one-hour adventures were the coming thing.

The Westerner 

A short-lived cult item created by Sam Peckinpah before his success in movies. Brian Keith starred as an itinerant cowboy who got into all sorts of unusual scrapes, often involving a con man played by the marvelous John Dehner. Frequently written by Peckinpah or by Bruce Geller, who created Mission: Impossible five years later. Only 13 half-hour episodes were made for NBC in 1960. For added interest, throw in the pilot Peckinpah and Geller made two years later that attempted to update the concept to present day, with Lee Marvin and Keenan Wynn in the roles played by Keith and Dehner.

Trials of O’Brien

Peter Falk’s nearly forgotten first series cast him as a raffish but high-priced New York lawyer who despite his large fees never had quite enough money to cover his rent, gambling debts and alimony payments. One of the last series shot in New York, with Joanna Barnes as O’Brien’s ex-wife, Elaine Stritch as his secretary and David Burns as “The Great McGonigle,” a con man and O’Brien crony. Only 22 one-hour episodes were produced for its single season (1965-66) on CBS.

Espionage 

Television’s first great spy show and one of its last anthologies, a wonderfully eclectic collection of spy tales co-produced in England by NBC and ITC. Only 24 one-hour episodes were made for its 1963-64 run on NBC that just pre-dated “Goldfinger,” U.N.C.L.E. and the entire 1960s spy craze.

• ITC series have such a huge following in the U.K. that, surprisingly, even this title was released in Britain in March 2008. Spy fans equipped to deal with Region 2 PAL discs should strongly consider investing in this set since chances of a U.S. release are surely nil.

Here Come the Brides

What sounds like a lame sitcom premise — importing 100 marriage-minded New England girls to the mudhole logging town of Seattle in the 1870s — produced two seasons of charming, romantic humor and rugged adventure on ABC from 1968 to 1970. Not a western, not a comedy, a unique and memorable series of 52 one-hour episodes.

1. •Amazingly, Screen Gems owner Sony finally allowed another label to bring out the show’s second season, since Sony obviously had no intention of ever doing it. The set went on sale Feb. 28 — nearly six years after Sony released the first-season set (now out of print and commanding big bucks on the collectors market).
   

Checkmate

A posh detective show created by celebrated mystery writer Eric Ambler. The twist was the partners in Checkmate, Inc. usually were hired to prevent crimes rather than solve them. Anthony George, a young Doug McClure and the ever-classy Sebastian Cabot played the detectives during this series’ two years on CBS (1960-1962) that produced 70 one-hour episodes.

• Released in 12-episode sets beginning in November 2007, with a huge caveat: Universal made the jaw-dropping, cheeseball decision to allow small labels to release titles the studio owns but has no interest in dealing with, and — here's the catch — said labels are left completely on their own. Universal grants the rights but will not provide the material, so sources for the episodes seen here are mainly 16-millimeter prints that have been in collectors' hands for years.