TV on DVD Wishlist Part 1

If you ask people what unreleased TV shows they'd like to see on DVD these days, you might get one of two responses: 1) They still make TV show DVDs? or 2) There's stuff that's NOT on DVD?

1) For now, they do.
2) Oh, there sure is. There sure is.

I thought it would be fun to compile my own personal wishlist, and sure enough, it was--for me to compile it. Not sure about you reading it. Today I'm looking at programs that had some kind of full season or other significant release but remain stalled. In future installments, I'll get into shows that have had little or no DVD presence.

Here in order of preference is my top 10 list of stalled series I want to see continue:

Sgt. Bilko/The Phil Silvers Show: I mean, come on! We were ticked when CBS went with a Best of set, but at least it did an outstanding job with that collection. Years later, season one finally arrived. Years later...uh, nothing else. I hope CBS continues this because even though I obtained the episodes by--ahem--other means years ago, most of those are butchered versions that ran on Comedy Central, and I'd gladly pay for uncut discs that look as good as what we've seen in the official releases. This is one of the best sitcoms of all time, and it's ridiciulous that it's not available. I don't care what the sales numbers are. I repeat: Come on!

Room 222: This would be my #1 pick if my "alternative set" of "Bilko" was a better one. At least those ones are out there. "Room 222," apparently a scarce show for years, is not easily obtainable, unlike many of the other series on this list. Shout Factory released season one, banished season two to its version of the witness protection program, the exclusive Shout Select, and that was all she wrote. Fans of the show like to think the abysmal sales were due to the substandard prints used for season one, but I think that's a bit of self-delusion. As much as I love the show, its blend of idealism, 1970s social relevance, and low-key humor is a tough sell especially given its low profile. I don't care how much it would sell, I just want to see the episodes, but even seeing them on TV again seems a dim prospect. I'm less optimistic about this one than any other series on my list.

The Bob Newhart Show:  Widely syndicated for years and available via Me-TV right now, both unlike "Bilko,"  but this one has been a few seasons short for years. Hulu Plus irritated me the other day by showing me an ad touting "The Bob Newhart Show, now on Hulu." So I investigated, and only the first 3 seasons are available. Booooo!

Green Acres: See "The Bob Newhart Show" above, only this one is airing on This-TV today. The early season sets were widely available and have been repackaged and discounted, so it might surprise people to know the series is stalled.

The Paper Chase: Speaking of programs Shout gave up on, here's another one that was exiled to web-only and then predictably fizzled out. Sigh. I don't see any chance of this fine drama showing up in reruns, either, because, well, non-genre drama reruns don't seem to be popping up on these subchannels so much.

Make Room for Daddy: A butchered set of one season, and a much better set from another season, and that's all we have: two years out of the long run of the "Danny Thomas Show," plus scattered public domain episodes.

Mr. Peepers: Two DVD sets of this gentle sitcom from the prehistoric days of TV may be more than we have a right to expect, but that doesn't mean I can't wish there were more. S'Mores Entertainment apparently lost a bundle with this one and "Make Room for Daddy."

Love, American Style: OK, so it's one of the goofier shows in the CBS/Paramount library, and it got a few chances to prove itself in the market and (apparently) failed. But it was saddled with the burden of split season releases, for one thing, and for another...who cares? I want to see the rest. Even though "Love" has dated horribly, or maybe because of it, it remains entertaining in a campy sort of way. The uniqueness of the  format--a comic anthology with different segments each week, plus blackout sketches as interstitials--makes it a fun one to dive into on DVD, and you'd think the massive roster of guest stars would make this at least somewhat marketable. If you're not gonna put this on video, CBS, how about at least leasing it to Netflix, where this show would be a perfect fit for occasional sampling because of its lack of continuity and wide variety of episodes?

The Muppet Show: On one hand, an eventual completion of this one seems inevitable. Then again, I would have said that about 5 years ago. In fact, with the recent big-screen revival and the continued viability of the characters in comics and such, why isn't this even on TV anywhere

Wait Till Your Father Gets Home: A failry obscure animated sitcom, dated in its own early-seventies way (more of that "social relevance," especially stories about youth and hippies), and maybe not all that fondly remembered, but I taped late night/early morning reruns of this some years ago and developed a fondness for it. One season consisting of half the series' 48 episodes is on DVD; I'd expect Warner Archives to eventually get around to putting the last two seasons out someday.