The Red Hand Gang will be released on DVD in the US on July 28, 2009. It is being released by Virgil Films and Entertainment, the same company that will be releasing Monster Squad on June 23rd. No extras have been announced, but the 2008 UK release of the series did have the series’ commercial bumpers as an extra.
The same company plans on releasing two other Saturday morning series from the same production company, D’Angelo-Bullock-Allen: Big John, Little John in the latter part of 2009 and Run, Joe, Run in 2010. Hopefully, the sales of the series will be good enough to get the last two D’Angelo produced series, Westwind and McDuff, the Talking Dog, released.
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.
The UK release of the Red Hand Gang has been postponed again. Originally, it was supposed to be released at the end of June, then pushed back to September 1st, then postponed until September 30th. The cover image has also been changed:
Since reviews are starting to show up some UK DVD sites (here and here), I am assuming the set will be released at the end of the month.
As mentioned previously on this blog, the series’ owners are attempting to get the show released on DVD in the US, but nothing has been announced yet.
If you are in the United States, you will need to a multi-region DVD player to watch the UK DVDs – DVD releases in the US are Region 1, while the UK ones are Region 2. For more information on Region Codes, go here.
The 1977 NBC live action Saturday morning show, The Red Hand Gang, is coming to DVD this September in the UK. Although the show was produced in America, it wasn’t a hit in the ratings and had a relatively short run on NBC. However, when the show aired in the UK shortly after the US run, it proved to be quite popular, with reruns of the 12 episodes airing into the mid 1980s. They even starred in their own bubblegum commercial! So it makes sense that the series is getting released in UK first.
I know the owners of the series are trying to get a US release for the show, but at this time, I don’t know when that might happen. When I do, I’ll post the information.
Unlike the upcoming Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show release, which is only available in Canada, but should be playable on all US DVD players, the Red Hand Gang release will not. DVD releases in Canada and the United States are Region 1, while the UK is Region 2. That means you will need a multi-region player to watch any Region 2 DVDs. For more information on Region Codes, go here.
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