Is THE GREEN HORNET going to be released on DVD?

Maybe.

They (Warners or whomever owns the rights) haven't even released Batman yet; if they don't think Batman will fly, what hope the emerald crusader? Better pray Rogen's GREEN HORNET project comes about, because that might be the only shot the tv series has.

I thought that the BATMAN issues were all rights-related. If I'm remembering correctly, the problem lies in the fact that 20th Century Fox (who produced the series for ABC) retains the rights to the series and its episodes, but never made a deal with DC for redistributing the episodes outside of broadcast and syndication rights. They *did* retain those rights for the 1966 film, which has allowed them to put it out on DVD, but that's it. As a result, Fox owns a series that they can't do anything with because they don't hold any rights to the principal characters in the series.

Well, since they missed the 25th and 30th anniversaries, they can capitalize on this year being the 35th anniversary of Bruce Lee's death (July 20) and sell it on its Lee connection. And I believe it's Fox, not Warners.

You would think Warners and Fox would get together and make sure a BATMAN Complete Series DVD set happens, because the profits from that could finance a small country. I presume Warners' THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN sets did pretty well, and BATMAN would surely do 2 or 3 times as much business. I would say there is no American television series yet unreleased that would be more popular on DVD than BATMAN.

The BATMAN thing is definitely a legal issue. I don't know about THE GREEN HORNET, though it's possible the same entanglements apply, where Fox owns the episodes and somebody else the character. AmericanLife TV has been airing both BATMAN and THE GREEN HORNET on Friday nights, if you'd just like to record off-air reruns.

You know... I've tried watching the Green Hornet episodes. I have a handful that I've recorded off television. I really, really want to like it. Every time each episode begins, I'm convinced that I'm going to love it. But man - it always turns out to be the longest 24 minutes of my life. I'm so bored by the end that I realize that I've missed important information and have completely lost the thread of the plot. I much prefer the old serials and radio show.

But I'd still probably buy it on DVD if it came out. Call me a masochist.

D.

That's funny - cuz the reason I asked is that I have an overmiddle aged buddy who is curiously obsessed with this all but forgotten TV show. I keep telling him there's no way it'll live up to his memory...that it'll probably - in fact - blow. He agrees but says he doesn't care, he's buying it if it ever sees the light of DVD...

To me, it's only worth watching for the Bruce Lee fight scenes. It's like a time trip or alternate universe insert in the middle of an otherwise routine, undistinguished mid-1960s TV series. And if an episode doesn't have any fights, it's a complete waste of time.

I agree--it is a pretty bad show. The best way to describe it is BATMAN with absolutely no humor.

Actually, that sounds good to me... :P

It's actually not the lack of humor that bothers me about the show, but rather the lack of outrageousness. In the few episodes I've seen, GR and Kato take on fairly ordinary gangsters and blackmailers. The one exception is an episode in which the villain is Dr. Mabuse (!)

D.