In the wake of
news a week ago about
Dallas - The Complete 12th Season, fans of other primetime soap operas from the Lorimar library have been intense in asking us about Warner Home Video's plans for DVD releases of shows such as
Knots Landing and
Falcon Crest. Our readers who want the latter show, starring Oscar-winning actress Jane Wyman, are quick to point out that this past May saw
a European release of the first season.
Warner ("WHV") hadn't given us any hints about either show's DVD chances in the United States for a while now, and the most recent public word was a bit over a year ago, during a Sept. 2008
online chat held between the HomeTheaterForum.com ("HTF") and WHV. In that 2008 chat, they revealed that 2009 would see a long-awaited release for the second season of
Knots Landing (which did
come out this past April). In the chat, they also said "
we're interested in how Knots Landing sells as an indication of potential support for Falcon Crest." Like we said, though, all of that was a year ago.
There hasn't been a 2009 "TV and Animation-themed" chat between the HTF and WHV yet, and Ron Epstein of the HTF tells me that, since the HTF's recent site redesign, they're working to get a compatible chat client in place so they can begin scheduling chats again. They hope to have it in place soon, and would love to do a new chat with Warner (assuming the studio is open to it, of course). Nothing is firm right now, though (we appreciate Ron giving us that information).
So, with that in mind, we went directly to the source, Warner, to get the latest on both
Knots Landing and
Falcon Crest. This afternoon, we got our answer...and it turns out to be a mixed bag. The outlook isn't so good at the moment for fans of Abby, Gary, Valene and the rest: WHV simply tells us "
No plans on Knots Landing." But fans of
Falcon Crest can jump for joy, because Warner Home Video had something to tell us, that honestly we weren't expecting:
We are planning to release Falcon Crest in 2010.
Wow. This makes it a great day for Earl Hamner Jr. fans, since Hamner created this show as well as The Waltons (which got a new DVD release - its final one, in fact - announced today). It's also a great day for fans of Lorenzo Lamas, who not only co-starred with Wyman in every episode of Falcon Crest, but who afterward appeared as the title character in the cult classic TV series Renegade. Only 3 of that show's 5 seasons were released on DVD, years ago, but a new announcement today shows that another studio has bought the rights, and intends to finish Renegade on DVD.
Lots of terrific news to share with our readers, but we know that the Falcon Crest info - no matter how welcome - is still just a tease. We don't have a specific release date for you yet, nor content details or package art, because Warner hasn't finalized any of that so far. When the studio wraps that up and puts a cork in it, then we'll bring the info to you as soon as we can. Stay tuned!
