GREAT FILM & TV THAT NEVER MADE IT ONTO LASERDISC

There are many great films and TV series that have been released on laserdisc but we are missing a few true classics , the simpsons being one which has already been mentioned on another topic on the forum. I was prompted to write this post on hearing the passing today of John Sullivan the creator of only fools and horses. Only fools and horses never had a laserdisc release despite being one of the great classic comedys and it still has the highest audience for any uk sitcom at 24million viewers , not a single series available on laserdisc even though it was hugely popular and had a run of seven series from 1981 - 1991 and many christmas specials.

That is really sad news.bAt least he leaves behind a great legacy and will be remembered.

You might be interested in the current forum competition where you create laserdiscs that were never released. I submitted Blake's 7 though I've since learned bits of it were actually released in Japan.

I'll have to dig out some only fools and horses and relive the classic that still influences comedy today.

EDIT: I posted that on my phone and didn't realise it was you who started the thread, of course you already know about the competition lol

More sad news.
RIP John Sullivan, OF&H is a genuine TV classic and a British Institution - My favourite moment still Grandads "Wendy House" line. Genius!

I would like to be able to collect more TV on Ld, although I'm still learning what's available so I may still find some I'm looking for.

The Munsters box set would be cool.
Simpsons (which was mentioned in another thread)
Some BBC Dickens adaptations (Oliver Twist, Christmas Carol etc)

Wouldn't need whole series, I have a great Ren & Stimpy collection for example - has 4 episodes and is great.

Well I guess if the site administrator is not even bothered that this is in the wrong forum, why the hell should I be?

OFAH was a perfect blend of comedy but with real-life dramatic pieces of acting....my top pick out of those would be Delboy's "I spent so much time being Dad, Mum and Big Brother, I don't know how to be anything else!" speech at Grandad's funeral...or mabye an equal first with Grand-dad's "what war is really like" speech in THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING.

Sullivan + Jason + Lyndhurst + Pearce + Merryfield = classic magic.

Hi peacemaker.
Can i just say on behalf of everyone;
wind your neck in!

Firstly you made uneccessary comments on my lis sladen thread.
Then you make this comment on this thread, if it bothers you so much stop coming here.
The thread is about tv classics not on ld, ofah being one with a relevent comment about the passing of john sullivan.
You then add a underhanded comment aimed at our good friend the admin.
Best of it, you've started off on random tangeants on a few threads such as film night.
Either join in or shut up!

I do think this is in the right section of the forum , it is a topic about film & tv not on laserdisc. But even if its not then lets not take the forum too seriously lets just make new friends , have fun and enjoy it.
Such great comic moments such as strangers on the shore with the gary kidnap , batman and robin fancy dress funeral and so many more great comedy moments that could still make you laugh even when you have seen them for the 100th time. Genius script writing ,with some of the episodes based on true life experiences such as the touch of glass episode.
John Sullivan's father was the inspiration for the smashed chandelier storyline. Working as a plumber in the 1930s, he and several others were fitting a new heating system into a stately home, and had to move some chandeliers. As with the Trotters, there was a mix up and the wrong one was undone and smashed. David Jason and Ray Butt agreed that the storyline ought to be used, meaning Sullivan had to write the script backwards, starting with just the end point and then working out how the Trotters would come to be in a mansion
Part of the reason ofah was so good is that it was so believable with a great cast of actors.
Im just watching some clips on you tube - trigger and his medal : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
I would also have liked steptoe and son on laserdisc but at least we have all the blackadders.

Only Fools & Horses would be great on LaserDisc. Also, as far as British comedies go, we also have Fawlty Towers. Shame Bottom's not available though. lol Since I made the Simpsons topic I began thinking about wrestling LaserDiscs. For anyone that's interested, Wrestlemania 1 is available on LD as well as a couple of compilations from the early 80's. I think it would've been cool to get all the Major shows on LD.

I would love to see more doctor who on ld.
Myself laserkb and hippiedalek have chatted about this before.
If i had the money and hardware i would lovr to create my own davros boxset on laserdisc
this will be my competition entry btw

Darth Laser wrote:

Hi peacemaker.
Can i just say on behalf of everyone;
wind your neck in!

Firstly you made uneccessary comments on my lis sladen thread.
Then you make this comment on this thread, if it bothers you so much stop coming here.
The thread is about tv classics not on ld, ofah being one with a relevent comment about the passing of john sullivan.
You then add a underhanded comment aimed at our good friend the admin.
Best of it, you've started off on random tangeants on a few threads such as film night.
Either join in or shut up!

Magically, you manage to speak for everyone. I actually dobut it, but there you are.

Your good friend "admin"...seriously? Your good friend..? And you're telling me to wind my neck in? Silly person.

I have no real problem with admin anyway...they have just demonstarted that they are quite capable of speaking for themselves so that is all well and fair enough. On reflection the leap to OFAH (should have been on LD by the way...in total agreement there) and a tributary mention of the brilliant Mr Sullivan was much less of stretch than the Lis Sladen one. And what were these unnecessary comments, that I thought that she was lovely, one of my fave companions, that we'd been lucky enough to meet her last summer?

I felt (and still do feel) that it was in the wrong section. If you mean where I used hyperbole...that was not in anyway a comment against Ms Sladen, who she played, anything she di nor any production she was involved with, rather a nudge in the direction that thwere's a place for everything and everythin in its place. Nothing more or less. Otherwise....why have all the different forum sections in the first place?

Also, for your information, I think that you will find that if you actually go back to the "FILM NIGHT" thread and actually try reading it this time - and please note that I am not trying to stir additional doo-doo here because it was a rather nice little mini-quiz - LaserKB was the poster who actually began our mini-thread-arc, not me...all I did was post that we'd just watched RABID. Just FYI.

At this point, i would respond by telling you to wind your neck in....but judging by the subtlty of you posts...it sounds like you don't have one.

So far, this is nothing more than a minor disagreement...one which I shall no longer be pursuing, I have said all I need to say on the subject...all though I rather suspect that you haven't.

Darth, admin now knows this is a subject I'm not returning to...things are a bit more free and easy than I am used to here...but hey, I can adapt. As for not coming back here....As much as you might not like it...here I am.

Darth Laser wrote:

I would love to see more doctor who on ld.
Myself laserkb and hippiedalek have chatted about this before.
If i had the money and hardware i would lovr to create my own davros boxset on laserdisc
this will be my competition entry btw

I too would love to see more WHO on LD. But I would prefer a full release of BABYLON 5 which had areally patchy release on LD.

It was all of season 1, most of season 2, none of season 3 some of season 4 and all of season 5. And yet mid 2nd through to the end of 4th seasons are considered as the very best that B5 had to offer.

Go figure?

No, im done.
Just want to thank everyone for your pm's on this thread.

In fitting with my avatar, I would love to see the BATMAN BEGINS + BATMAN:DARK KNIGHT Double Bill LD 6 disc CAV.

Gary

HippieDalek wrote:

Gary

Gary? Do we have another vote for OFAH?

We do indeed, that episode is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

Plenty of other things I'd love to see on laserdisc both old and new.bRed Dwarf, Memento (could program your machine to play it 'forwards'), would love tovsee Avatar on laserdisc too if only to see how many CAV discs it would need lol, and of course some more Doctor Who, especialally the black and white era.

HippieDalek wrote:

We do indeed, that episode is one of the funniest things I have ever seen.

My wife had this on on GOLD last night, I could hear her laughing! "At night they brought in a big man with a knife to watch me" Comedy magic!

Quote :

....Avatar on laserdisc too if only to see how many CAV discs it would need lol...

Who would be able to lift it?

I would love to see the complete series of Till death do us part on laserdisc or dvd . Many episodes from the first three series are thought to no longer exist, having been wiped by the BBC in the late 60s and early 70s as was the policy at the time. Im not sure why they were wiped, if it was just a policy or because it was politically incorrect?
I have got the first feature film of Till death do us part on dvd , with the younger Alf and Else during World War II which is great and its well worth the £4 - £5 off amazon. There are only 2 other dvds available which are the 1972 & 1974 series but these are around £30 on amazon.
I would also love to see on laserdisc the sequel In Sickness and in Health , this is on dvd the complete series.
COMMUMISTS AND PRISONS : [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Ok then....

I would imagine that Criterion would produce fantastic LDs of...

American Psycho
Zodiac
Pan's Labyrinth
Crash (Paul Haggis' as I know they already have Cronenburg's)
Oh Brother, Where Art Thou..?

Bond fans (by definition...me) would go ape-doodoo for

Casino Royale

Superhero freaks (me again) would love

Spider-man
Spider-man II
The Incredibles
Iron Man

In the world of animation, how about...

Shrek
Finding Nemo

From historical drama

Gladiator.

Any opinions..?

Admin wrote:

Im not sure why they were wiped, if it was just a policy or because it was politically incorrect?

They had the policy because video tape was expensive so they would wipe and reuse. In a time when repeats were rare and home releases were unthought of it was actually quite an economic idea. It's a real shame though, so many classics lost; Dad's Army, Likely Lads, Doctor Who, just to name a few.

Sad that we have lost so many great tv classics , I guess some of the scripts would have survived and it would be great if they were used to remake some of the missing episodes , or has this been done already with any of the very popular stuff like dr who etc ?

I would have also love to have seen some david attenborough on laserdisc , I love nature programs and I think the best we have on laserdisc is microcosmos.

Superhero freaks (me again) would love

Spider-man
Spider-man II
The Incredibles
Iron Man

I loved the spiderman films , they would have been great ld releases.

I find it odd that the Adam West BATMAN series has never made it to disc of any kind - the feature film came out on a splendid LD from Fox, but of the wonderfully camp TV series, zilch. This is strange, because it was a hugely successful and influential series of the 60s. (THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. managed to be issued in two separate boxed sets, so why not BATMAN?)

Similarly, KOLCHAK THE NIGHT STALKER, despite its acknowledged influence on later stuff, most specifically Chris Carter's THE X FILES, has had the initial feature-length pilot released on LD but not its sequel THE NIGHT STRANGLER. As the complete subsequent series was of a limited run (only 20 episodes), it would have made an ideal boxed set (or two) for genre collectors.

I'd love to mock up some fantasy covers for either of these LDs-that-never-were, but haven't yet got the hang of this Photoshop business. Where are my IT-literate sons (otherwise known as computer nerds) when I need them?

Admin wrote:

Sad that we have lost so many great tv classics , I guess some of the scripts would have survived and it would be great if they were used to remake some of the missing episodes , or has this been done already with any of the very popular stuff like dr who etc ?

Thankfully when it comes to Doctor Who all the soundtracks for all the missing episodes still survive with the exception of about three seconds from the Abominable Snowmen, so you can listen to them like radio plays. There are also some reconstructions using the audio with surviving clips and stills.

Unfortunatly not all series are so lucky

laserkb wrote:

I find it odd that the Adam West BATMAN series has never made it to disc of any kind - the feature film came out on a splendid LD from Fox, but of the wonderfully camp TV series, zilch. This is strange, because it was a hugely successful and influential series of the 60s. (THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. managed to be issued in two separate boxed sets, so why not BATMAN?)...

Well, it has been a tricky subject for over 40 years. As you might guess, it's down to money. During the height of its run BATMAN was THE show to be a guest star on, and famous person after famous person was queuing up to be on it...usually sticking their heads out of windows during B&R's much parodied wall climbs. To work out who was getting how much royalties has held up production of both LD or DVD.

Quite sad really. Can you imagine the resolution of LD in its prime and all the wonderful colours?

hippiedalek
I'll start us off. Here's a series I wish was available on laserdisc, was very disappointed when I found out it wasn't; Blake's 7!

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As you can see my dream set would come in two boxes per series, three CLV discs in the part one boxes, and four CLV (with the final side CAV) discs in part two ones.

The sides would be as such (sorry it's such a long list, couldn't get tabbing to work):

Series 1 Part 1
Disc 1 Side A The Way Back
Disc 1 Side B Space Fall

Disc 2 Side A Cygnus Alpha
Disc 2 Side B Time Squad

Disc 3 Side A The Web
Disc 3 Side B Seek-Locate-Destroy

Series 1 Part 2
Disc 4 Side A Mission to Destiny
Disc 4 Side B Duel

Disc 5 Side A Project Avalon
Disc 5 Side B Breakdown

Disc 6 Side A Bounty
Disc 6 Side B Deliverance

Disc 7 Side A Orac
Disc 7 Side B CAV Extra : Blue Peter makes a Liberator teleport bracelet

Series 2 Part 1
Disc 1 Side A Redemption
Disc 1 Side B Shadow

Disc 2 Side A Weapon
Disc 2 Side B Horizon

Disc 3 Side A Pressure Point
Disc 3 Side B Trial

Series 2 Part 2
Disc 4 Side A Killer
Disc 4 Side B Hostage

Disc 5 Side A Countdown
Disc 5 Side B Voice From The Past

Disc 6 Side A Gambit
Disc 6 Side B The Keeper

Disc 7 Side A Star One
Disc 7 Side B CAV Extra : Swap Shop interview with Gareth Thomas and Jacqueline Pearce

Series 3 Part 1
Disc 1 Side A Aftermath
Disc 1 Side B Powerplay

Disc 2 Side A Volcano
Disc 2 Side B Dawn of the Gods

Disc 3 Side A Harvest of Kairos
Disc 3 Side B City at the Edge of World

Series 3 Part 2
Disc 4 Side A Children of Auron
Disc 4 Side B Rumours of Death

Disc 5 Side A Sarcophagus
Disc 5 Side B Ultraworld

Disc 6 Side A Moloch
Disc 6 Side B Death-Watch

Disc 7 Side A Terminal
Disc 7 Side B CAV Extra : Look North: Behind the Scenes

Series 4 Part 1
Disc 1 Side A Rescue
Disc 1 Side B Power

Disc 2 Side A Traitor
Disc 2 Side B Stardrive

Disc 3 Side A Animals
Disc 3 Side B Headhunter

Series 4 Part 2
Disc 4 Side A Assassin
Disc 4 Side B Games

Disc 5 Side A Sand
Disc 5 Side B Gold

Disc 6 Side A Orbit
Disc 6 Side B Warlord

Disc 7 Side A Blake
Disc 7 Side B CAV Extra : 'Blue Peter makes a Scorpio Bracelet and final scene in CAV

If I get more time I'll maybe make some individual disc sleeves with episode lists/synopsis etc as well as the backs and sides of the boxsets, so stay tuned.

Anyone got any other laserdiscs they've always wanted to see?