Jack Benny Program 24 lost episodes from shout factory?

[_bill]

Word is beginning to get around about this

http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.a ... id=1619272

This seems the only mention of it - anywhere?
Sept 11, 2012 release

[Jhammes]

Here is a little more from our friends at the "Sitcoms Online" website:

The Jack Benny Program has had several DVD releases over the past decade, but all of those releases have been from low-budget studios and have included (exclusively) public domain material. But on September 11, it appears that Shout! Factory may be bringing us something a little bit better with The Jack Benny Program - The Lost Episodes! We haven't heard anything about this anywhere else, but according to another listing for the item on Movies Unlimited, the set will include 24 episodes of the classic series, not seen since their original airing, with guest stars including Milton Berle, George Burns, Gary Cooper, Frank Sinatra, President Harry S. Truman, John Wayne, and others. The information also suggests that there will be a few special features as well. There is no word on the source for these episodes, but an article appeared in The New York Post in early 2010 indicating that CBS had discovered "roughly 25 episodes" of the classic series in their vault, but was being "stingy" (remember, The New York Post is a paper which likes to sensationalize news) and refusing to let them ever be seen again... but the real news in the article is that the real problem is likely costs for music clearance, something which CBS is not necessarily always eager to pay for on their DVD releases. So, is it possible that these episodes being released by Shout! Factory are indeed these episodes? Perhaps they are some other lost episodes? Or are they just more of the standard public domain releases we've seen in the past? We don't know just yet, although given Shout! Factory's history, it is unlikely that it would be more like the releases we've seen in the past. We'll let you know when we know more. Our appreciation goes to the poster of this message on the website Home Theater Forum for bringing the matter to the attention of others! By the way, if you're hungry for some of the standard public domain Jack Benny fare already out there, check out Mill Creek's 39 episode collection of The Best of Jack Benny... it may be public domain, but it is a much nicer public domain release of the series than the other collections out there.



Read more: http://blog.sitcomsonline.com/2012/06/d ... z1zZSzFnGb

[Jhammes]

Forgot to mention that Shout! Factory has a very good track record regarding lost or "off the beaten path" programming (they released the excellent Ernie Kovacs Collection last year), so this should inded be very good news!

[jbmfc]

It'll be fantastic to see something "new". Let's hope this release is as special as it looks.