Bonanza episode Forever for DVD release in limbo… -- Bonanza: Scenery of the Ponderosa Forum

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Date Posted: 22:59:30 09/09/22 Fri
Author: Rick
Subject:

Bonanza episode Forever for DVD release in limbo…

This goes back three years ago at the storage vault in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Andrew Klyde kept reminding the guys to locate the original camera negative and soundtrack for DVD release. When they went to pull it off the rack, it was not there. Missing. All that was on the rack, was the film cannisters for the two-part version that was prepared for TV reruns back in the summer of 1972 at Warner Brothers in Burbank. The feature length cut was also missing that was struck from it, last seen on Family Channel in 1988 and 1989.

NBC-Universal gave CBS the go-ahead to pull seasons 11, 12, 13 and 14 from the vault to be flown to Los Angeles to be digitally restored in HD, this way everything was all done at once.

The episode was filmed and assembled in July and August 1972 and two versions were made from it for TV reruns down the stretch. The 14th season had the lowest ratings and NBC would not allow them to be aired until 1988 on cable TV. At the time, many of the episodes were being stored at KNBC in Burbank in the vault, as the series was broadcast there and filmed at Warner from 1970 to 1972. For a great masterpiece that was written and directed by Michael Landon to be missing in storage back east, 50 years later is very frustrating and a travesty.

There are some scenarios that could explain what happened…

1… The original 35mm film and sound elements were stored in the Burbank vault and possibly, they might still be sitting there, and were never shipped to the New Jersey warehouse. An authorized search of the Burbank vault should be made to verify it.

2… Did the guys in the New Jersey warehouse misplace the original film and sound elements and not bother to go looking for it elsewhere?

3… Did Michael Landon acquire the rights to the episode and store them in his private vault in North Hollywood some years later? Although this seems very unlikely to me, there could be an inside chance, although he probably had no reason to. He did have partial ownership to all the episodes that he wrote and directed with NBC through the end of Little House in 1983.

4… Were the original film and sound elements destroyed by NBC in 1972 after some time? I refute this because logically, there was no reason to do so. Everything on film that was written and directed by Michael Landon for Bonanza and beyond still exists with the original film and soundtracks by the company to this day.

5…Were the original elements acquired by an NBC executive and remain in private storage? I think this is highly unlikely because any big-wig staffers at NBC would probably have no interest in it.

If the original camera negative and the soundtracks can be located over time and a stand-alone DVD release would work by CBS.

Rick

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Replies:

[> Re: Bonanza episode Forever for DVD release in limbo… -- Will, 02:53:46 11/20/22 Sun [1]

Someone please tell Paramount to search their film vaults in the Hutchinson Salt Mine outside of Hutchinson, Kansas.

Warner Bros, which purchased MGM's film assets, found the 17-minute reel of footage that Stanley Kubrick edited out of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) back in 2010 in that same salt mine vault.

That reel of footage wasn't thought to exist prior to its discovery.
--

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[> [> Re: Bonanza episode Forever for DVD release in limbo… -- No name, 18:49:40 05/27/23 Sat [1]

NBC and Warner Brothers should conduct a search for it because it’s probably sitting around in Burbank. The series was moved to Warner Brothers in 1970, so Paramount had no future involvement..

Rick

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