The Crystal Ball
I’ve received lots of e-mail lately and first of all, I have to apologize for not answering all of it personally. I believe this post will answer most of the questions posed.
Since posting so much upcoming DVD news lately, I’ve been inundated with people wanting to know what else is coming up. The simple fact is, I don’t know. Unless I’ve been asked not to post something, in which case I couldn’t disclose the information if I wanted to, I’ve posted everything I know as I know it.
But I’m willing to do a little prognosticating. This is from aboslutely no inside information! If Space Ghost and Birdman do well, I’m sure we’ll see more Hanna-Barbera action-adventure shows. I think the most likely titles would be Herculoids and Frankenstein Jr. and The Impossibles.
If the two recently announced Filmation shows, The New Adventures of Superman and The New Adventures of Batman, sell decent, I’m sure you can expect more of those DC Comics based shows, including Plasticman, which was a Ruby-Spears production.
Now let’s think about what NOT to expect. I know there have been a lot of questions about Ruff and Reddy. But think about it, if Huckleberry Hound didn’t sell well, how could a more obscure title do well. Ruff and Reddy has had very limited runs since it initially went off. There were several chapters of the Muni-Mula story on a laser disc and it may have run on Boomerang, a network with low clearance. Unless they could specifically market it to the over 50 crowd, it is not going to get released.
There are several one season shows from the 70’s and 80’s that people have asked about. I can’t see them releasing Roman Holidays or Scooby’s All Star Laff-A-Lympics, a show with a cast so big, Ben Hur looks like a one-man show. On the other hand, The Smurfs had a decent run on the network and was very highly rated for a time. It seems likely that they would release those, if they have the home video clearances, since that wasn’t a property that Hanna-Barbera owned.
As of the last thing I knew, the release of Quick Draw McGraw was in trouble due to music rights. Yes, I know that it’s basically the same music library as Huckleberry Hound and they were able to release those. But the truth is, it isn’t. At one time, that “needle drop” music was called the Capitol Music Library. There were many composers that contributed to it, including Jack Shaindlin, John Seely & William Loose, George Hormel and Phillip Green. Little by little, the Capitol deals expired and the rights reverted to the composers, most of whom are dead, and therefore controlled by the heirs. It’s very difficult to clear that music now, since you have to deal with many different entities. I don’t know the final outcome, but the last I heard it was in trouble.
Speaking of which, in this business, people come and go. Good contacts get promoted or move to other companies. Right now, for whatever reasons, I seem to be on the “out” list. Maybe they don’t want to “overuse” me. Maybe I’m too expensive. I don’t know the answers. But even with a plea from TV Shows on DVD to contact me about material I know about for the Josie and the Pussycats set, I have heard nothing from Warner Home Video. So, sad to say, that material will stay locked up in the vaults, as will the never-before-seen material from Animaniacs that I found.
And now, for the time being, I will not have that many exclusives. But things change and when I’m back on the “in” list, I’ll tell you what I know. And right now I know that it’s time to do something that actually pays… real money. What a concept!