"Batman" (Adam West TV show) on DVD Update

There's a new lawsuit that some believe could increase the possibility of the "Batman" tv show appearing on DVD and tvshowsondvd.com has an incredibly insightful and thorough look into the whole batmess.

Holy red tape, Batman!


http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Batman-Watchmen-Batman-Deal-Reported/10573

 

It would clear one hurdle, but I'm afraid we are still a long way off from seeing this get an official release.

 

too bad...one of my favorite shows as a kid. sad the only thing we have on DVD is the movie...and the reunion movie!

 

Mine too Michael. Batman, along with maybe the Wonder Years and a couple of others, would be the most sought after show that has yet to see any kind of official DVD release. If they ever work it out I'm sure it would be a huge seller. You would think that would motivate them even if nothing else does.

 

After reading that I would be surprised if it is ever released on any format! Holy Crap,
Batman! My kids and I are really looking forward to seeing the series but I guess we will have to stick to the movie for now.

Thanks for the update.
rick

 

Boy, thats a mess and a half!

 

Indeed! My head hurt after reading about all the legal entanglements and complications.

 

you'd think it would be in everyone's interest to negotiate all this b.s. and get those shows out there making money...

even a good idea like copyright becomes a bad idea in the hands of idiots.

 

Why was the 1966 movie allowed to be released on DVD?

 

From the linked article

 

I'll bet we don't see any Batman TV on DVD for at least 5 years...

do you have the movie & the reunion movie?

 

don't hold your breath...

when and if they finally do put it out it'll probably be split seasons, fake widescreen, edited, music removed or changed, etc...

it's all a game...

look what they did to the Fugitive Season 2 PART 1!

 

Even if it does appear on DVD (or Blu-ray), the legal delays have seriously damaged the market demand. The number people who will purchase it decreases exponentially, the longer they take to release it for home video. This is a case where both 20th Fox and WB have cut off their noses to spite their faces. At one time this series could have been one of the best selling home videos ever.

 

They mentioned the Green Hornet in the article as being in a similar situation, But I bought a VHS from Goodtimes of some Hornet episodes. How?

 

Gray market. Marketed as "Public Domain". These companies gambled that the actual rights owners wouldn't know, or wouldn't care about their tapes, duped from whatever poor quality syndication prints they were able to acquire.

The same way shows like The Avengers, and Groucho Marx's You Bet Your Life made it to cheap home video years before they were actually licensed. Does anyone really believe that they'd let The Andy Griffith Show slip in to the public domain?

 

It's a race between Batman and the Beatles remasters to see who can hold out the longest.

 

Yeah, pretty much.

 

Well, about half of the third season is, and one episode edited on the "official" Season 3 release has a song edited which is left in on public domain releases.

 

AmericanLifeTV does rerun the 60s Batman TV show and also the Green Hornet.

 

we may have a tie here, but in the aggravation department The Beatles are ahead by a nose.

 

Strange but true--they have indeed, as have episodes of THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES and DICK VAN DYKE, amongst some others. The reason? Someone forgot to file the proper documents way back when, and the rights disapeared.

Look here:

http://www.pdcomedy.com/index.html

 

I borrowed one of those PD Beverly Hillbillies DVD collections from the library and it looked like it was copied from a copy of an old VHS tape with dropouts, distrortion, horizontal tape rolls - terrible! It even had a different version of the theme song!