The 15 Best Classic TV Shows Still Not Available on DVD

 

I know most people don’t care about DVDs anymore. Certainly no one under 40 does, as evidenced by the limited floor space they now occupy in stores like Target and Best Buy that once stocked row after row of films and TV shows. The emergence of streaming services has placed all physical media on the path to extinction: move over videocassettes and laserdiscs – company is coming.

 

But not in my house. I will always prefer having my favorite television series on those silvery discs, patiently waiting in colorful cases across neatly-sorted shelves to be taken out and enjoyed once more. I own almost all the shows I want. Almost. There are a few holdouts, and with each passing year the likelihood of their being released diminishes. Here, in no particular order, are the ones I am most eager to purchase.

 

The Defenders

Imagine hearing raves about the quality of a TV series that has been out of circulation for decades, finally getting to see what all the hype was about, and being surprised to find the show actually exceeded your magnified expectations. That was my experience when Shout Factory released season one of The Defenders, a magnificent courtroom drama starring E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed as father-and-son attorneys. 

 

 

The blog I wrote about the show was so effusive in its praise that Shout used a quote from it to promote the DVD release. But apparently it didn’t help sales because that was eight years ago, and seasons 2-4 are still locked away. Those who remember the show have said that, yeah, season one is pretty good, but the other three seasons are even better.

 

Nanny and the Professor

As the goofy but impossibly catchy theme songs asks, “What is this magic thing about Nanny?” For a show that lasted just 54 episodes, the series has enjoyed a surprisingly robust syndication afterlife, consistently popping up on UHF channels and cable networks for decades. Yes, I’ve acquired it through unofficial sources, but it would be nice to have a quality set, perhaps with Juliet Mills and Kim Richards providing commentaries on favorite episodes. 

 

 

Fame

Is it a music rights issue, as it so often is with television shows left in a vault? Or is it MGM, the studio that put out seasons 1 and 2 and then apparently lost interest? 

 

 

Either way, the series that launched hit albums and singles (mostly in England) and sold-out cast concert appearances has yet to see its remaining four seasons reach DVD. That is bad news for anyone still nursing crushes on Cynthia Gibb, Billy Hufsey or Nia Peeples.

 

The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show

When I was young, George Burns was that guy with the cigar who always looked 100 years old, and would sit next to Jack Benny on Dean Martin Roasts. I just waited for the moment when Rich Little would do spot-on impressions of both of them. It wasn’t until years later, when I caught several grainy episodes of The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show on some obscure network, that I realized Burns, like Ernie Kovacs, was one of TV’s first innovators. 

 

 

At first you’re in a standard sitcom, albeit with George and Gracie playing themselves (along with their adult son, Ronnie) – but then George turns on a TV and watches the show with you, commenting on the action, and discussing how to best handle what’s about to happen. Add able support from Harry Von Zell and Bea Benaderet and the recreation of a classic George and Gracie nightclub routine at the end of each episode, and you’ve got a series that deserves a wider audience, even more than half a century later. A few public domain “best of” sets have surfaced, but I want them all, or at least all that still exist – the first 50 or so episodes were broadcast live and not saved.

 

Family

A case could be made for Family being the best series of the 1970s. In 2014 I wrote, “After 20 years of sensationalized reality TV, the idea of dramatizing the normal low-key reality of life with one Pasadena family now seems like an incomplete pitch; what’s the hook? Is the father psychic or is the mother leading a double life? Does the son have super powers? Is the daughter a Muslim or a pop singer or something else that will bring in a broader demographic? 

 

 

When the writing and the acting are as perfect as they are here, no other incentive should be necessary. To watch Family is to be wholly drawn into the joys and sorrows and relationships of fictional characters, and to believe that every word they say is extemporaneous, and could not possibly have been typed by someone else months earlier.” The first two seasons were released on DVD. There are three left. I have them – but everyone who treasures quality television should be able to see them as well.  

 

The Rogues

I first heard about this show while researching my Charlie’s Angels book. Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts wrote the Angels pilot, built around a multilayered con similar to those in The Rogues, a series they created in 1964 that lasted just one 30-episode season. It would be several more years until the series briefly popped up in syndication, and it amazes me that a show that starred three major film stars - David Niven, Charles Boyer and Gig Young - could remain so obscure. It’s a wonderfully clever show, oozing James Bond class, opulent backdrops and smart storytelling. 

 

 

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Another one I have in bootleg form, though it has been given an official release in Australia. How is that fair? It’s not like we’re hoarding Skippy, The Bush Kangaroo DVDs here.

 

Room 222

Shout Factory released the first two seasons, which received scathing reviews for the terrible picture quality. The criticism was fair, but likely also played a role in Shout scrapping any plans to continue the series.

 

Judd For the Defense

This is the series on this list that I know the least about. I’ve only seen one episode, but that was enough. 

 

 

My World and Welcome To It

It won Emmy Awards as Outstanding Comedy Series in 1969, and in the Comedy –Best Actor category for star William Windom. But it lasted just 26 episodes, another victim of Gunsmoke’s enduring popularity on another network. I’m frankly shocked this one hasn’t surfaced yet, as it remains one of TV’s most innovative experiments in situation comedy. It was deemed ahead of its time 50 years ago, and still plays like nothing else on TV before or since.

 

Flying High

Total 70s cheese. Not like that’s a bad thing. Pat Klous, Connie Sellecca and Kathryn Witt play a trio of flight attendants just out of stewardess school, who make the friendly skies even friendlier and a lot better looking. 

 

 

The Electric Company

As I wrote last year, I know this is an impossible dream. A video release of a show with more than 750 episodes? Only Dark Shadows managed to beat those odds. I know it was created as an educational series for early grade schoolers, but The Electric Company was funnier than most sitcoms from its era, and featured countless memorable original songs by composers like Tom Lehrer and Joe Raposo.  I have the two Shout Factory Best Of.. sets, featuring 40 expertly chosen episodes, but I can’t ever have enough Fargo North, Easy Reader, Julia Grownup and the Short Circus. If I can’t have it all, can I least have a Best Of, Volume 3 with Bayn Johnson singing “Today Is My Favorite Day?”

 

The Farmer’s Daughter

Yes, this is the second William Windom series to make the list, and that’s no a coincidence. I like what the guy brings to every role he plays. Here, he’s a stuffy widowed congressman who hires a beautiful blond Swedish nanny to take care of his house and his two young sons. 

 

The nanny is played by Inger Stevens, who had a tumultuous and tragic off-screen life reminiscent of Marilyn Monoe. She died of apparent suicide at age 35, and this fine family-friendly series should be her best-remembered work. A DVD release would help make that happen.

 

The Nurses

Usually I’m not that big on medical shows, but this one has a really unique history. Set at a bustling New York City hospital, The Nurses followed the on and off-duty lives of head nurse Liz Thorpe (Shirl Conway) and student nurse Gail Lucas (Zina Bethune) and the doctors they assisted through challenging medical and moral cases. 

 

After a three-season prime time run, the show continued for another three years as a daytime drama. As with Judd For the Defense, I've seen one episode and am eager for more.

 

77 Sunset Strip

This is one of the bigger holes in my classic TV knowledge base. I’ve seen a few shows here and there and would like to take the full journey, but the only DVD releases happened in Germany. If you’re curious, “Kookie, lend me your comb” in German is  “Cookie, leih mir deinen Kamm.“