DVD wish list! Films, TV shows, Documentaries

[Dave James]

L.A. Law. I'd even settle for the two hour premier episode. Ensemble television at its best. Has there ever been a better character than Arnie Becker? I know the series lost a lot of steam in its later years, but the first two or three seasons were, dare I say it, must-see TV. I don't know how they can release all the garbage they throw out these days and still keep this one under wraps.

Amazon has a dvd available of the "reunion show." And there may be a product scheduled to appear, there's a page in amazon for the first season and you can sign up to be notified by email.

Lon,

I've heard that the reluctance to release L.A. Law stems from the failure of other Steven Bochco series like Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue to generate much in the way of DVD sales. I also heard it had something to do with music rights, but my recollection of the music they used on the show doesn't support that argument.

I signed up on the Amazon release notification site about four years ago. Suffice to say, I'm no longer holding my breath waiting to hear back from them. The reunion movie was OK, but I"m not generally a fan of those kind of things. They seem kind of unnecessary. I did find a guy a month of so ago who was offering the complete series on DVD for peanuts, like $50.00, but I'm enough from the school of "if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is" to keep from biting on an offer like this.

[Dave Garrett]

"I'll Fly Away".

I loved this series set against the Civil Rights years, with Sam Waterson. It was broadcast here at odd times, scattered across the schedule where there was a gap so I missed a fair bit. I'd buy a box with the full series.

And, related, 'Eyes on the Prize', the documentary series about Civil Rights. Might have made it onto DVD in the States but never seen it here.

Iirc there are music-rights issues with EYES ON THE PRIZE that have hindered its being sold on DVD.

That's unfortunate. I only saw parts of it when first screened here. I'd find it really useful now as a teach this topic to 16-17 year olds.

It's not so much music rights issues, as it is the archival footage that comprises so much of EYES ON THE PRIZE that's prevented it from a DVD release. When the series was originally produced, the rights for the archival footage were only cleared for a limited amount of time, so the producers have had to renegotiate clearances for a DVD release - and the asking price for much of the footage has increased significantly in the interim.

PBS did finally release the series on DVD several years ago, but only for educational use, and its steep price ($400+) reflected that restriction. However, they are apparently releasing a consumer version that is much more reasonably priced next month, although it's unclear if any footage had to be replaced as a result of rights issues:

PBS DVD - EYES ON THE PRIZE

I have both EYES and its sequel EYES II on laserdisc. Both are essential, and it's a crime that they've been so hard to see in the years since they were originally broadcast.

[A Lark Ascending]

Thanks, Dave. That is good news. Let's hope they don't get further snarled in copyright issues and restrict it to US release.