I have been looking online and couldn't find any info on it.
With the new movie coming out in jan 2011 and some graphic novels set to be released as well, I was hoping for any company out there to release the entire 26 episode season of the Green Hornet (Van Williams and Bruce Lee). With special features and commentaries included.
Please make it happen! :)
It'd be nice, but I think the series is tied up in the same legal mess that is keeping the Adam West "Batman" series from being released.
shareThe Green Hornet, Inc., seems to have been torpedoing all Hornet video releases. GoodTimes' made-for-VHS feature cut from the first serial, VCI's release of that entire serial, Video Treasures' release of the first feature cut from the TV series, and Video Treasures/Anchor Bay's release of the second serial all disappeared rather quickly. There was a set of 13 tapes of the TV episodes that Blockbuster Video had put out (I wish I had made a note of the label at the time), but somebody mentioned them in the NOW Comics Green Hornet comic book's letter column (Vol. 2, #16 of the regular, ongoing series) and soon after that BBV was pulling them. Amazon.com has very limited numbers of VCI's DVDs of the two serials available, so I suspect they're doing it again. I initially thought that since it was the same company that had released the first serial on tape and who would therefore know what to expect, arrangements with GHI had been made this time, but apparently not.
The GREEN HORNET Strikes Again!
The Green Hornet, Inc., seems to have been torpedoing all Hornet video releases. GoodTimes' made-for-VHS feature cut from the first serial, VCI's release of that entire serial, Video Treasures' release of the first feature cut from the TV series, and Video Treasures/Anchor Bay's release of the second serial all disappeared rather quickly. There was a set of 13 tapes of the TV episodes that Blockbuster Video had put out (I wish I had made a note of the label at the time), but somebody mentioned them in the NOW Comics Green Hornet comic book's letter column (Vol. 2, #16 of the regular, ongoing series) and soon after that BBV was pulling them. Amazon.com has very limited numbers of VCI's DVDs of the two serials available, so I suspect they're doing it again. I initially thought that since it was the same company that had released the first serial on tape and who would therefore know what to expect, arrangements with GHI had been made this time, but apparently not.
It is so stupid that great shows like Batman and The Green Hornet never receive DVD releases. How idiotic are these studios to not get the issues resolved. Just pay whoever deserves to be paid and release them already!
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Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
It is so stupid that great shows like Batman and The Green Hornet never receive DVD releases. How idiotic are these studios to not get the issues resolved. Just pay whoever deserves to be paid and release them already!
Yes, absolutely true. I just purchased a bootleg of The Green Hornet for $25.00 on Sell.com, where reviews from other users were quite impressed with the quality. It comes in a professionally made case and everything, so I decided to go for it since the studio can't be bothered to release it properly. I'll get back and let you guys know what I think of the bootleg.
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Whose idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have an "S" in it?
When it comes to things such as WKRP, don't put *all* of the blame on the studios (I'm not saying that they don't deserve blame, just not all of it). A fair number of the music rights holders (though not all) deserve equal if not greater blame, for demanding licensing fees so high that they would render the final DVD set so expensive as to be unsellable (especially for something like WKRP that has so many songs that need to be licensed).
For an extreme case, look at the Dabney Coleman 1980s series Buffalo Bill. One of their episodes was titled "Hit the Road, Jack". That's how prominent and important the Ray Charles song with that title was in the episode. Whoever now holds the rights Charles' songs (after his death) flatly refused even to discuss the possibility of re-licensing that song at any price. At that point, there was nothing that the studio / TV-producer can do, that case is *entirely* on the rights holder. The DVD has that one scene completely edited out of the episode. It was a dream sequence that was essentially a music video of "Hit the Road, Jack" with characters lip syncing the lyrics; there was no way for them to replace the music with anything else, either.
On the other end of the spectrum is a cult British science fiction show called Blake's 7. Somehow, somewhere along the line the North American rights to the title and the rights to the actual episodes ended up being owned by different companies. They have never been able to agree on a split of the DVD revenues, so neither of them get any.
While I understand very little about music rights issues, the refusal on either side to settle on a price hurts not only the consumer but also the DVD studio too.
I just think it's sort of stupid that these very same episodes will air with the songs intact but yet when released on DVD they either replace the songs or cut out entire segments. I know that happened with Laverne & Shirley. I think it was some Christmas performance show or something and they completely edited out an instrumental song performed by the landlady. But I have the same episode recorded off of TV and it contains that cut song.
I wish I understood why when the contracts were wrote up that they could have covered all ways the shows would/could be seen today and in the future and pay for the music rights just once. But it seems clear that they don't so then years later when they want to put it out on DVD or whatever format or delivery system in the future the studio has to beg the music rights people to use the very same music yet again. But then these music rights people then think they have the studio right where they want them and keep raising their prices to absurd levels and then the studio refuses and either halts putting it out all together, replaces the music or just just edits it out.
In the end it makes the music people look bad because it makes them look greedy. It makes the studio look bad because it makes them look cheap or if they replace/edit the songs it makes it look like they show little respect for the fans or even the show itself. But in the end it's the consumer who is really screwed. They either gets a show that is not "complete" and how they remember it or is edited so much that it ruins the episode all together.
I wish I understood why when the contracts were wrote up that they could have covered all ways the shows would/could be seen today and in the future and pay for the music rights just once.
When WKRP was rerun on WGN America (the version of Chicago's WGN-TV Channel 9 seen across the country on cable and satellite systems, with all CW network programs and some others replaced) just a couple of years ago, I noticed no generic music. Certainly Jennifer's doorbell played "Fly Me to the Moon"!
The GREEN HORNET Strikes Again!
Aa far as music licensing goes, the original contracts for WKRP probably covered syndication (IE re-runs) as that had long been a staple of the T.V. market (here in the US anyways).
The only downside for fans is that syndicated episodes are ofted cut for time (so buyers can fit in more commercials). Generally it's just a few seconds here and there, panning shots may be sped up (rather than cutting), and lately it looks like end credits are getting sped up to make just a bit more room for commercials. While none of this is detrimental to the over all story, it's always great to see a classic show without the syndication cuts.
It is not always the studio. Some one else may hold the rights for a show and they don't want it released for one reason or another. When he was alive David Jansen held the rights to "The Fugitive" and they now belong to his widow if she is still alive or her heirs if she isn't. Remember too that with some older shows some or all of the episodes may no longer exist.
shareAlways been complicated. We are talking about 3 parties for the GH tv show: Fox, GHI, and Greenway Productions.
Greenway Productions probably doesn't exist anymore, there *might* be an estate there but pretty unlikely.
I heard that GHI was and is signed off on this. They want ca$h. Especially now.
I also heard that Fox was the killjoy for this. They know that there are bootlegs and feel that those who want GH dvds already have bootlegs, and won't pay for official dvd set. Furthermore I also heard that Fox made a deal with Sony for dvd rights.
I repeatedly said that the only GH dvd Sony would make was the dvd of their pos movie from 2011. Naturally, I was right.
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It is so stupid that great shows like Batman and The Green Hornet never receive DVD releases. How idiotic are these studios to not get the issues resolved. Just pay whoever deserves to be paid and release them already! share
Here's the real sad truth: The people who want this great show on DVD are now all at least 60 years old(that's taking into account that a person born in 1956 would have been 10 when this was on TV, and they, and anyone who was older, are the people who would actually remember the original run of the show!!) That being the case, by the time these idiots ever get their act together and actually release this on DVD, most of us(yes, I'm included in that age range) are either going to be dealing with ahlzeimer's, or dead!!! SO SAD!!!
shareHere's the real sad truth: The people who want this great show on DVD are now all at least 60 years old(that's taking into account that a person born in 1956 would have been 10 when this was on TV, and they, and anyone who was older, are the people who would actually remember the original run of the show!!)
That's not true though. Or maybe only partially true. I'm 32 and I'm a huge fan of the 60's Green Hornet. I was a Martial Artist for many years (about half my life) and Bruce Lee was a big deal for me. I have also always been a big superhero fan. My parents gave me an appreciation for great television and cinema and so i've always had an appreciation for vintage stuff too. All that combined makes this 32 year old a huge GH fan! I remember watching reruns as a kid when FX (tv station) used to show all the old re-runs. Love the show and have been aching for an official DVD release.
shareI think they finally released the 60's Adam West Batman on DVD so maybe there's hope yet!? I always thought maybe Bruce Lee's family had some control over Green Hornet, but i suppose it is Fox that's controlling it. Sad thing is, I used to have a DVD of the pilot episodes (the first two), cut into a long(er) movie. I sold it when I downsized my DVD collection and now I'm kicking myself...that DVD sells for hundreds of dollars on amazon now. 😩😖😞
Here's hoping for a full series DVD release soon.