As mentioned previously, Big John, Little John is coming out on DVD this fall, October 13th, to be exact, which is just two weeks away!
The set features all 13 episodes of the series, which starred Herb Edelman and Robbie Rist and ran on NBC during the 1976. From what I have read and been told, there are no major extras on the set. Which was the same case for the two other Saturday morning series released by Virgil Films and Entertainment this year, Monster Squad and Red Hand Gang. What you should expect is nice, clear, cleaned up episodes of this rare series.
You can pre-order the set from Amazon:
Land of the Lost DVD releases
On the same day Big John will be released, the Land of the Lost movie is also coming out in both regular DVD and Blu-Ray format. Both versions with contain the following extras: deleted scenes with commentary from director Brad Silberling; ” A Day in the Life of a Big-Time Movie Star” featuring costar Danny McBride; Devil’s Canyon Gift Shop Commercial and Tour; and a commentary track with director Silberling.
The Blu-Ray edition includes more bonus features: 12 more minutes of deleted scenes with commentary from the director; “Dr. Marshall’s Food Diaries” with commentary from the director; “This is Not a Routine Expedition: Making Land of the Lost” featurette; “ Brad, Sid and Marty: A Conversation with the Kroffts” a look back at the various shows produced by Sid and Marty Krofft.
No word as to whether the deleted scenes will include the alternate ending that featured cameos from the stars of the original series, Wesley Eure and Kathy Coleman.
In addition to the movie release, the original series is being re-released as season sets. So far, the only announced extra is a preview for the 2009 movie on the season 3 set, but based on the complete series re-release from May, I wouldn’t expect any other ones.
Pre-order the DVDs from Amazon:
In other Krofft related DVD news, on the Krofft brothers’ myspace message board, there are official postings that said that Far Out Space Nuts will be released on DVD in the next six months and The Lost Saucer will be released within the next year.
With the Land of the Lost movie coming out this weekend, the Kroffts are showing up in the press quite a bit. Here are some recent articles and interviews:
To coincide with the release of the Land of the Lost movie, the Sci Fi Channel is running another marathon of the original Land of the Lost series. The marathon will run over the course of two days, June 4th and 5th, from 8 am to 6 pm EST. Unlike the previous marathon, they will be omitting the first three episodes, but will be showing the last three episodes, which were not aired during the Memorial Day marathon.
Sci Fi’s website also has a new video interview with Sid & Marty Krofft here.
The Sci Fi channel will be running a Memorial Day marathon of the original Land of the Lost. It will run twenty hours, starting at 8 am and ending at 4 am. All of the episodes, with the exception of the last three, will be aired as part of the marathon.
In the early 90s, the Sci Fi channel ran a marathon of the original series that was hosted by Wesley Eure, who played Will, and featured an appearance from Marty Krofft. No word if there will be any hosts or extra features on the upcoming marathon.
Speaking of Wesley Eure, he now has his own official site. On his blog, he mentioned that his cameo in the upcoming film had been cut out. Hopefully, it will make it to the inevitable DVD version.
I’ve been meaning to upload this for awhile. Here’s the trailer for the upcoming big screen version of Land of the Lost.
The movie’s official site can be found here. For more Land of the Lost fun, check out one of the best fan sites for all things Land of the Lost (both tv series and the new movie), Tyrannosaurus Lex.
The 1976 series, Monster Squad, is coming to DVD in the next few months. For those not familiar with the series, here’s some clips from “The Astologer” episode:
Amazon lists the release date as May 12th, but it looks like the set has been pushed back to June. As of now, there is no word on what, if any, extras will be on the set.
It will be the first Saturday morning show that was produced by D’Angelo-Bulluck-Allen team to be released on DVD in the US. D’Angelo-Bullock-Allen were responsible for several NBC Saturday morning series, including Run, Joe, Run; Westwind; Big John, Little John; McDuff, the Talking Dog; and the Red Hand Gang. The Red Hand Gang was previously released on DVD in the UK last year and is supposed to be released in the US later this year. Hopefully, the other series will be released in the future.
Pre-order the Monster Squad from Amazon:
Krofft DVD news
The Pufnstuf movie, which was released in 1970, the year after the series premiered on NBC, will be debuting on DVD on May 19th. So far, no extras have been announced.
Pre-order the sets from Amazon:
With their Land of the Lost movie coming out this summer, Universal is re-releasing the entire 70s series as a box set on May 19th. The series is being release in two different configurations, a standard version and a deluxe version that comes in a lunch box case. The lunch box is a replica of the original Land of the Lost lunch box from the 1970s. Both series are supposed to include bonus material, but it hasn’t been announced as to whether the content is new or just the same extras that were included on the original release.
Pre-order the sets from Amazon:
The entire series was previously released in both season and series sets by Rhino Home Video. Rhino also released several other Krofft series and compilations on DVD, but they no longer have the rights to the shows. As of now, all of their releases are out of print now, with a few already starting to go for higher, collectors’ prices. So if you want to get some of the other shows, now is the time to get them!
If the Land of the Lost movie and the new DVD release do well, hopefully it will lead to more Krofft releases. As of now, the second season of Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, as well as complete series sets of Far Out Space Nuts, Lost Saucer, the Krofft Supershow and its various segments, and the Krofft Superstar Hour/The Bay City Rollers Show haven’t been released on DVD.
Filmation DVD news
In other out of print DVD news, BCI Eclipse, who released several live action(Ark II, Ghost Busters, Isis, and Jason of Star Command) and animated Filmation series over the last few years, is no more. From what I have read, that means that they won’t be making more copies of any of the sets they have released, so your best bet is to get them now before they become collectors’ items like some of the Krofft shows.
If you want the individual series sets,Oldies.com is offering some of them at low costs including Space Academy for $8.95 and Ghost Busters for $7.95.
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Two new animated Saturday morning themed DVDs coming in May
On the same day that the Land of the Lost Box Set is being released (May 26th), Warner Brothers is releasing two compilations of Saturday morning material, one from the 60s and one from the 70s. Most of the material is from the Hanna Barbera library and unfortunately, there are no episodes of the Banana Splits, Danger Island, Korg 70,000 BC, Skatebirds, or Mystery Island on the set. The sets feature a mix of shows that are already on DVD in season or series sets, along with other shows which are making their debut on DVD. Each set will also feature extras highlighting some of the shows on the discs.
Here’s what shows are on the 1960s set: Top Cat, Atom Ant Show (with Precious Pup and the Hillbilly Bears), The Peter Potamus Show (with Breezly & Sneezly and Yippie, Yappee, & Yahooey), The Secret Squirrel Show (with Squiddley Diddly and Winsome Witch), The Flintsones, The Porky Pig Show, The Quick Draw McGraw Show (with Snooper & Blabber and Augie Dogie), The Magilla Gorilla Show (with Punkin Puss and Ricochet Rabbit), The Jetsons, Marine Boy, Space Ghost/Dino Boy Show, Herculoids, and Frankenstein Jr. and the Impossibles.
Pre-order it from Amazon:
Here’s what series are on the 1970s set: The Jetsons, Hong Kong Phooey, Goober and the Ghost Chasers, Speed Buggy, Wheelie and the Chooper Bunch, Yogi’s Gang, Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan, Roman Holidays, Josie and the Pussycats, Funky Phantom, the New Scooby Doo Movies, and The Batman/Tarzan Adventure Hour.
Filmation’s version of Tarzan was one of my favorite Saturday morning shows of the 1970s, so hopefully this will lead to a full series release.
Cox previously ran the same three hour block in 2004 and 2005. If they follow the same pattern they did before, The Bugaloos, The Lost Saucer, and Far Out Space Nuts, as well as the others seasons of Land of the Lost, Sigmund and the Sea Monsters, and the Krofft Supershow (featuring Bigfoot and Wildboy, and Magic Mongo will eventually be rotated into the line up.
Thanks to Andy McKinney for alerting me to the recent airings!
