Month: July 2018

EP2578: Nick Carter: Kidnapped for Sales, Part Eights and Nine

Lon Clark
Nick and Scubby follow a clue to find the head of the baby kidnapping ring, but find themselves in a trap.

Original Air Dates: April 26 and 27, 1944

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EP2577: Mister Keen, Tracer of Lost Persons: The Case of the Man Who Invented Death

So lost, I'm fading

photo credit: Greyframe So lost, I’m fading viaphotopin (license)

An eccentric inventor who was working on a way to convert base metals to gold is murdered.

Original Air Date: October 6, 1949

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EP2576: Dragnet: The Big Little Mother

Jack Webb

Friday and Smith try to find a young woman who’s been forging checks to buy children’s clothes.

Original Air Date: October 6, 1953

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You Ought to be on DVD Revisited, Part Three

This is the last of three articles revisiting our list of classic shows that deserved a DVD release and giving updates on any progress made there. First up is the superhero category, which offers great releases.

The most wanted unreleased DVD property six years ago, the 1960s Batman TV series, at last became available as Fox and Warner Brothers worked out their differences and so now everyone can enjoy the series in all its goofy wonder. The series was so popular, two animated continuations of the 1960s series were made prior to West’s death. This was coupled with the release of the 1960s Batman Cartoon series which often aired opposite episodes of Superman.

In addition, the syndicated Superboy TV series has had all four series made available on DVD. The same can’t be said for Superboy’s animated adventures from the 1960s.

Marvel classic superhero cartoons from the 1960s-90s have not enjoyed any new releases. Cartoons ranging from the 1960s Classic Fantastic Four series to the 1970s Spider-woman series or the 1980s Hulk or 1990s Spider-man Animated all remain unavailable on DVD. The Spider-man animated series has become available for purchase, but only as a streaming download from Amazon.

Classic radio comedy characters saw a few releases. The Fibber McGee and Molly and Great Gildersleeve movies each were given releases by Warner Archives. The quality of the movies have varied. On the positive side, there was the wonderful comedy team up of, “Here We Go Again,” and the first “Great Gildersleeve” movie which captured the feel and heart of the radio series. On the other side, there was the bizarre, “Heavenly Days” film and the padded and offensive “Gildersleeve’s Ghost.” Still, at least fans now have the option to see the movies and evaluate them for themselves.

Less fortunate shows include Lum ‘n Abner, whose copyrighted films have not been released. Radio hits the Life of Riley and Our Miss Brooks have also not had an official release of their TV episodes, nor has the Life of Riley film been released. Likewise, we lack any official release of Burns and Allen episodes on to DVD. I am thankful for the public domain episodes we do have.

Last time, my final article on unreleased material that ought to be released was intended as a hodgepodge but looking back on it, it was three medical dramas and something I should have included in a prior article.

Medical dramas fared pretty well. Warner Archives delivered in a huge way with Doctor Kildare. Last time, the only Kildare that was available was one that had fallen into the public domain. Now all nine Doctor Kildare films have been released, along with all six Doctor Gillsespie films starring Lionel Barrymore (after Lew Ayers was forced out for being a conscientious objector) as well as the entire Doctor Kildare TV series with Richard Chamberlain.

In addition, the entirety of the 1988-91 series China Beach has been released. The classic medical drama Ben Casey hasn’t seen an official release, nor has the New Dragnet, which is far better than many would think.

Overall, progress has been made in getting DVD releases for many movies and TV shows but there’s much more to do. Warner Archives has been fabulous. Fans of classic films and TV owe them a debt of gratitude for how many great once-forgotten series and movies they’ve brought to us. Other companies, such as Sony, haven’t done nearly as much. Future releases of forgotten classics will mostly rely on Warner Archives and companies like Shout Factory, which acquire the rights to classic TV shows and movies.

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EP2575: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Guide to Murder Matter

Mandel Kramer

After some rainy days, Johnny finally gets in some good fishing in Florida, on a trip that was supposed to be free of business…until a dead body is found in the fishing guide’s garage.

Original Air Date: November 19, 1961
When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com

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EP2574: Boston Blackie: The Butcher Mob

Richard Kollmar

Blackie sends an underworld figure to Farraday to provide a tip on the activities of the butcher mob. The figure is caught by the mob and sells Blackie out.

Original Air Date: August 6, 1947

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EP2573: Rocky Jordan: The Two O’clock Man

Jack Moyles

A teenager breaks into the Café Tambourine. When Rocky hands him over to police, he escapes and is shot but not by the police.

Original Air Date: March 6, 1949

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AWR0053: Lux Radio Theater: Maltese Falcon

Amazing World of Radio

Sam Spade (Edward G. Robinson) has to solve the murder of his partner, Miles Archer but finds himself embroiled in a tussle between desperate people over the mysterious maltese falcon.

Original Air Date: February 8, 1943

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EP2572: Nick Carter: Kidnapped for Sale, Parts Six and Seven

Lon ClarkNick, Patsy, and Scubby are tied up with guns pointed at them as the gang of kidnappers prepares to execute them.

Original Air Dates: April 24 and 25, 1944

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EP2571: Mister Keen Tracer of Lost Persons: The Case of Murder with a Thousand Witnesses

So lost, I'm fading

photo credit: Greyframe So lost, I’m fading viaphotopin (license)

A man is poisoned after eating his wife’s pie while judging a contest at the fair.

Original Air Date: September 29, 1949

Support the show monthly at patreon.greatdetectives.net

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Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715

Take the listener survey…http://survey.greatdetectives.net

Give us a call 208-991-4783

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Video Theater 0136: Boston Blackie: The Gunman

Boston Blackie tries to convince a friend of Mary’s ex-husband of the risk of a life of crime.

Original Air Date: January 9, 1953

Season 2, Episode 13

EP2570: Dragnet: The Big Try

Jack Webb

Friday tries to talk a man out of committing suicide.

Original Air Date: September 29, 1953

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You Ought to be on DVD Revisited, Part Two

See Part One

Over the past six years, some programs I’ve written about have made no progress at all on getting DVD releases out and others that have seen some great new sets.

Sadly, the television filmography of Jack Webb remains unavailable outside of his three most successful series: Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency. Other series such as Sierra, Mobile One, and the DA’s man remain unavailable.

Of the twelve TV detective series that I listed back in 2012, only one has gotten a DVD release: Longstreet, the one-season series featuring a blind insurance investigator. Others that have not been released include Academy Award winner Edmond O’Brien’s series Johnny Midnight, Richard Boone’s Hec Ramsey series, or the Black detective series Tenafly.

Some of these series it’s obvious why they’ve not been released. As much as I loved Mathnet as a kid, it’s probably too much a product of its time for PBS to consider a release. Thankfully several episodes have been put together on YouTube and so far no effort has been made to pull them down. The Cosby Mysteries will probably not have a release for reasons obvious to anyone following the news.

There were some series that I hadn’t mentioned that did get a release. Decoy, the great first crime TV show featuring a female lead, had circulated among collectors with only twenty-seven of its thirrty-nine episodes available. Some of these had lapsed into the public domain while others were under copyright, now all of them are available on DVD and look better than ever.

Old Ziv syndicated TV series have been making their way on to DVD. When I first wrote about them, MGM was not doing a great job making them available. The only release they had was a ridiculously over-priced Season 1 box set of Highway Patrol. Now, I’m happy to say that not only have there been multiple box sets released for Highway Patrol,  but also Sea Hunt, Ripcord, Harbor Command, and a single release for Waterfront. MGM farmed these releases out to other companies which has resulted in inexpensively priced releases of these classic 1950s series.

Sadly, other Ziv releases haven’t made it including releases with OTR counterpart like Easy Aces, Boston Blackie, or Doctor Christian, or the classic series on communism I Led Three Lives. It seems like more of the series that are getting released tend to fall into the action/adventure category. Thanks to MGM and the companies they’ve farmed this work out to, a lot of great adventures have become available at very reasonable prices.

If you enjoyed this post, you can have new posts about Detective stories and the golden age of radio and television delivered automatically to your Kindle.

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EP2569: Yours Truly Johnny Dollar: The Wrong One Matter

Mandel Kramer

Earl Poorman calls Johnny out to Florida for some fishing, but first Johnny has to go into the Everglades to check on the health of an insured recluse.

Original Air Date: November 12, 1961

When making your travel plans, remember http://johnnydollarair.com

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EP2568: Boston Blackie: Mayor Bob Rogers Assassinated

Richard Kollmar

Blackie and Farraday try to find out who murdered the mayor.

Original Air Date: July 30, 1947

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Mail a donation to: Adam Graham, PO Box 15913, Boise, Idaho 83715
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