B.J. and the Bear

[karsten]

Does anyone who was alive in the '70s/early '80s not remember this show?

It's never been out on DVD officially, as far as I'm aware. A bootleg of the whole run does exist, though -- of varying quality.

The series is probably mostly forgettable (I haven't gotten around to re-watching most of it), but one specific episode, called B.J. and the Witch, completely cast a spell on me (pun intended) when I saw it as a young kid. Really, I couldn't get it out of my mind for ages.

I watched it again a few years back, after not having seen it since childhood, and while obviously it couldn't exert the same pull as it did back then, I still consider it an extraordinarily affecting hour of television, given the era in which it was made.

Anyway, this is another case where a blu-ray complete-series collection might actually sell, since it wouldn't have any prior DVD to compete with.

[Starchild]

Loved the show and it’s spinoff The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.

[Bates_Motel]

Originally Posted by karsten

Does anyone who was alive in the '70s/early '80s not remember this show?

It's never been out on DVD officially, as far as I'm aware. A bootleg of the whole run does exist, though -- of varying quality.

The series is probably mostly forgettable (I haven't gotten around to re-watching most of it), but one specific episode, called B.J. and the Witch, completely cast a spell on me (pun intended) when I saw it as a young kid. Really, I couldn't get it out of my mind for ages.

I watched it again a few years back, after not having seen it since childhood, and while obviously it couldn't exert the same pull as it did back then, I still consider it an extraordinarily affecting hour of television, given the era in which it was made.

Anyway, this is another case where a blu-ray complete-series collection might actually sell, since it wouldn't have any prior DVD to compete with.

Sell to who? Nobody under 40 remembers it, and a lot of people over 40 stopped buying discs and went streaming. There’s unfortunately no way this would sell enough to warrant the cost, which would require new scans and masters for the entire series.

[karsten]

Originally Posted by Bates_Motel

Sell to who? Nobody under 40 remembers it, and a lot of people over 40 stopped buying discs and went streaming. There’s unfortunately no way this would sell enough to warrant the cost, which would require new scans and masters for the entire series.

I freely admit, I have no idea what the costs involved with that would be.

But a blu-ray of the complete Buck Rogers TV series from roughly the same period did come out, and that show has never gotten a more recent revival, so it was strictly on the basis of interest in the original show. I personally prefer Buck Rogers between the two (and own it), but I'd wager that more people remember BJ and the Bear (it lasted somewhat longer, I believe). So if there was enough of an incentive to blu-ray Buck, then there might be enough to blu-ray this show as well -- and I still think that the absence of an official DVD might benefit a blu-ray's fortunes.

Just speculating.

[cj0203]

It ran for 3 seasons (79-81)

To the contrary, it still has a big following and continued interest in the trucking fraternity so I am surprised it hasn't been released for that reason alone when other lesser known trucking series have e.g. Movin' On. It was also popular in a lot of countries, I am in Australia and it's still quite well known to the over 40's even though it hasn't been rerun for probably 30 years..

Now there is speculation that the copies/broadcast masters (not the actual masters) were destroyed in the Universal fire a few years back but not confirmed. There is also talk that the show has eluded release due to music rights issues and although there is a lot of popular music of the time on the show, it is actually re-recorded studio covers of the music (which was quite popular at the time - Greatest American Hero/Knight Rider etc) so that may not be the issue.

Either way, I do believe it would be a steady seller, a number of Facebook pages about the show and the most popular question is DVD's, and the bootleg episodes are horrible quality period.

Long overdue for release I say..