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* Classic TV Blog *
Thursday,
September 14, 2006 - 8:12am : Billy Ingram
 Coming
soon to DVD, click on the title to order or pre-order: Daniel
Boone Season 1; Dick
Cavett, Hollywood Greats; Bob
Newhart - The Complete Fourth Season; Adventures
of Superman - The Complete Fifth and Sixth Seasons; Bewitched:
Complete Fourth Season;
Thursday,
September 14, 2006 - 8:02am : Billy Ingram
I am so far
behind the curve in my TV watching. It may surprise you that someone who
created the internet's most popular classic TV Website doesn't watch much
television, at least not a lot of what's on TV currently. I prefer to
watch my shows on DVD - that way I can watch as much or as little as I
want.
Appointment
TV just doesn't work for me anymore. I can't remember what shows come
on when - and why watch those annoying commercials if you don't have to.
(Don't even get me started on stations that boost the sound when the commercials
come on. That USED to be against the law.)
Watching
Lost, 24, Rome and Veronica Mars are a real joy on DVD
(you can keep up with the intricate plotlines better), rich treats like
Home Movies, South Park and The Sopranos are devoured
rapidly.
The
reality is, I'm just now starting to watch current TV shows after more
than a decade away from the box. I'll let you know about other great programs
I discover along the way - many that you already know about - duh!- like
Rescue Me...
What
I'm watching - and enjoying - on DVD right now:
That Girl, Season One
Rescue Me, Season 2
Perry Mason, Season One
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Wednesday,
September 13, 2006 - 11:00am : Billy Ingram
 I
moved last month, one of a series of events and calamities that have kept
me from working (and updating this site) as much as I'd like. Moving isn't
generally a pleasurable experience but there were unexpected pleasures.
While
going through some old boxes (like panning for gold) I discovered some
audio tapes I made as a kid and turned up this audio gem, a lively a
duet between Carol Channing and Pearl
Bailey. These magnificent performers both played the lead
in Hello Dolly on Broadway at different times.
This clip was originally captured holding the tape recorder up to the
TV so I have no idea what show it was broadcast on but the year was 1974.
I'll
have more clips from those tapes for you in the near future, many featuring
one of my favorite comedians during the 1970s, George Burns.
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Tuesday,
September 12, 2006 - 12:25pm : Billy Ingram
 Here's
a quaint video clip from the
TVparty book's CD-Rom - a
nicely animated public service spot that ran on the Captain Kangaroo
show - along with the original program bumpers. Sadly, there are almost
no existing copies of the entire CBS run of Captain Kangaroo.
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Tuesday, September 12, 2006 8:25am : Billy Ingram
Will the last person on Earth to start a blog please turn out the
lights? Oh, that's me, your TVparty host - and I'm taking this
opportunity to share some of the mail we get, requests from readers, ultra-rare
video clips, outrages and obtuse observations. ONE WARNING: we're not
pulling any punches here. Let's get started...
Reviewing
a couple of hundred classic TV DVD collections as I have, you quickly
learn which companies really care about the product and want to give the
consumer (that's you) as much as possible for your money. One of those
DVD leaders was (and maybe still is) R2 Entertainment.
Their success was largely because of the guy in charge of production,
Brant Berry, who, in word and deed, set out to create the most magnificent
DVD packages possible. Examples include The Sonny and Cher Collection,
Johnny Carson Collection, Bob Hope and other variety show classics like
The Captain & Tennille and Tony Orlando & Dawn.
If you purchased any of these DVD sets you know what a quality product
each of them was, with lots of extras and a fierce dedication to crisp
restoration.
With
that in mind, recently I got this note from Anthony of Television
Archives in Hawaii. Anthony helps networks, stars and producers
track down hard to find broadcasts:
Aloha Billy,
I think I had told you before that I was working on a extra feature
network promo compilation for the upcoming Donny & Marie Show
on DVD. I worked very hard finding the promos and compiling them from
various formats and source tapes I had. I sent the disc to Brant Berry,
VP of production at R2 Entertainment (someone you can google his name
and he pops up everywhere in relation to the company), he was my contact
there and was very excited to receive my disc. I was also assigned to
work on other projects involving the Mike Douglas Show, Captain
& Tennille as well as other shows. I decided to waive any fees
this first time, being nice I guess and simply asked that they credit
me for doing this work for them either on the DVD itself and/or DVD
box itself. Here is where things start to go wrong....
About
a month after I sent the disc, I decided to write Brant and check how
things were doing. He always responded to me, even telling me about
new projects in the works, he had a excitement and true interest in
doing his job and for others helping the production company see the
vision of what they wanted to project. Well, time went on and I still
never heard from him. Then one day, a few weeks ago, I was perusing
the R2 website which oddly enough hasn't had much updates in quite sometime
which isn't a good sign. Well, I see Brant's name has been removed as
a contact which may explain a few things. Was he was either fired or
abruptly quit in a re-organization of the company?
Unfortunately,
this re-organization is not working well for them, for starters Toni
Tennille in her website blog wants nothing to do with R2 Entertainment
and stated as such; after they released their DVD of the variety show
everything was set to release their TV specials on DVD this Christmas,
but it was abruptly stopped without any warning or contact to them.
She felt that was very rude and unprofessional by R2 and says she will
seek some other production company to work with her.
Now
Donny Osmond has stated he is frustrated with the way things are going
with the DVD, He and Marie were on Larry King in June saying
the DVD would be released shortly and are now embarrassed that it has
been delayed until at least October. Quite frankly I don't think he
wants to work with R2 Entertainment again either.
(I
believe R2 got its initial boost from Johnny Carson and Bob Hope related
material. They seemed to have dropped selling additional Bob Hope material,
for whatever reason, and Carson Productions cut back on selling material
as well. At one time Carson Productions was selling copies of complete
shows for a 100 bucks a piece and I guess about 200 or more shows were
bought by various collectors.)
The
new person in charge of things is Monica Simmons, she wrote me back,
basically stated that "Brant no longer worked for the company and
they are in no longer need of my services". That was it. Thanks
a lot, I guess! I wrote her back and asked what happened with the material
I sent and will it be used in the DVD, she said, "no because production
will soon be finishing up and they won't be needing it for this release".
Well, they have had it since May so they could have used it. I think
anything to do with Brant they wanted to wash their hands with for some
odd reason.
You
know I'd love to contact Brant and find out what happened, it costs
A LOT of money to have a production company but I bet if yourself, Brant,
I, and some other people worked on a project we would get it done and
the people would like it. I don't like R2's new direction and I'm not
sure if they will be producing anymore variety show DVD's- and just
think, a few months ago we thought they were amongst the best in all
of the various DVD production companies.
Thanks,
Anthony
Gee,
I wonder what happened? I spoke with Brant a few times over the years
and he really is top notch talent, who I'm sure will be picked up eagerly
by another company.
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 Tuesday,
September 12, 2006
7:45am : Billy Ingram
Alex Toth Book
We (Billy Ingram and James Counts) have a new book out
that I think animation and comic book fans might be interested in - 'Dear
John: The Alex Toth Doodle Book.' It's a bit different than any
other book I've ever seen before, it's a collection of correspondence and
sketches from the master artist Alex Toth's last 25 years. If you know who
Alex was, click here
for more info on the book. There are very few copies left, I understand,
and I haven't heard any serious talk of a second printing - it was released
only to comic book stores in August 2006.
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