Hart to Hart ran for 5 seasons, from 1979 to 1984, starring Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers and Lionel Stander. In 2005 and 2006, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released
Season 1 and
Season 2 of the show on DVD, but we haven't heard of anything since then. However, there's new word today about disc-based releases related to the show...but it's not actually for the three remaining seasons!
During the '90s there were 8 post-series telefilms produced for the show, all of them starring Wagner and Powers, and with the first five including Stander as "Max," prior to his death. These productions were
Hart to Hart Returns (1993),
Home is Where the Hart Is (1994),
Crimes of the Hart (1994),
Old Friends Never Die (1994),
Secrets of the Hart (1995), Two Harts in 3/4 Time (1995),
Harts in High Season (1996) and
Till Death Do Us Hart (1996).
Now, thanks to our longtime reader "Adam," we've learned that the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th of these will be available for DVD on
September 21st, through a Manufacture On Demand (MOD) program
at Critic's Choice Video (CCVideo.com). Each one is 86-90 minutes long, and costs $24.95 SRP per title. Here's a small look at the cover art for these, followed by the synopsis
provided by Critic's Choice (click on the text link in the title to pre-order a copy; they are currently discounted to $21.21 each by the seller)
[NOTE PLEASE SEE THE UPDATES AND CORRECTIONS AT BOTTOM]:
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#1: Hart to Hart - Hart to Hart Returns (1993):
Following their successful run on network television, Stefanie Powers and Robert Wagner returned as everyone's favorite detective couple in a number of movie-length mysteries, the first of which, released in 1993, was HART TO HART RETURNS. Jonathan Hart, the wealthy entrepreneur, and his charming investigative reporter wife, Jennifer, once again get caught up in a mystery, this time involving corrupt government contractors. Aided by their trusty servant Max (Lionel Stander), who is more family than employee, and their dog Freeway, the Harts try to resolve issues with an investigation into Jonathan's business dealings with an old friend in the aerospace industry, and find themselves in the midst of a dark plot which will put Jonathan's freedom, their home, and even their lives in jeopardy. Newly remastered.
#2: Hart to Hart - Home is Where the Hart Is (1994):
When a mentor and friend of Jennifer's dies, she and Jonathan return to the sleepy town where Jennifer once lived and worked as a reporter. Nearly immediately, they discover that all is not right within this picturesque town. The town's economic troubles pale next to the danger the Harts find themselves in as they try to sort out whether their friend's death was murder, and what sinister secrets may lie behind the truth. With a great cast of guest stars, including Maureen O' Sullivan, Howard Keel, and Roddy McDowall, the stars of "Hart to Hart," Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers, and Lionel Stander, reprise the roles and chemistry that made this hit 1980's television show such a classic. Newly remastered.
#3: Hart to Hart - Crimes of the Hart (1994):
In their very last adventure, Jonathan and Jennifer Hart travel to The Big Apple, where a play she wrote in college is being produced on Broadway. But there's sabotage going on, and when a stagehand is murdered, everyone's a suspect - even Jonathan! Such terrific guest stars as Richard Belzer, Alan Rachins, Alec Mapa, Audra Lindley and the legendary Lew Ayres, under the direction of Tony winning Broadway veteran Peter H. Hunt (both the stage and movie versions of 1776) join Robert Wagner, Stefanie Powers and Lionel Stander in bidding a fond farewell to America's favorite fun-loving married amateur detectives. Newly remastered.
#5: Hart to Hart - Secrets of the Hart (1995):
Set in San Francisco, Jonathan and Jennifer Hart are faced with the prospect of being reunited with Jonathan's long lost sister (Marion Ross), and her nephew (Jason Bateman). Is it possible that Jonathan will finally discover a key to his past or will the "family" turn out to be after something, putting Jonathan and Jennifer in danger's path one more time? Wendie Malick, Pat Morita, Donald Trump and Natasha Gregson Wagner (Robert's real-life stepdaughter) also guest star. This would be the final role for Lionel Stander, who so ably played the beloved Max in the television show and movies. Newly remastered.
We aren't certain if these are actually "exclusive" to the Critic's Choice website, but we've looked around and haven't spotted them elsewhere at this time. Nor do we know what the situation is with the other four telefilms (4, 6, 7, and 8); right now the four listed above seem to be the only ones offered. If we find out anything different, we'll certainly let you know! Stay tuned.
UPDATE: We've quickly learned from multiple reader e-mail (thanks to each of you!) that these are also available at CCVideo.com's sister site, DeepDiscount..com, and at a lower cost (currently discounted to $17.86 each):
#1,
#2,
#3 and
#5.
UPDATES and CORRECTIONS (9/10): In our original write-up above, we credited Critic's Choice (CCVideo.com) as the source of these MOD titles. This morning one of our readers, who simply signed his name as "Josh," informed us that these titles are part of
Sony's "Screen Classics By Request" MOD program, available primarily as part of the studio's online store. CCVideo.com and their sister e-tailer DeepDiscount.com may indeed be selling these, as reported earlier (above)...but apparently this is primarily Sony's effort, not theirs. We regret any confusion caused by our report last week.
Sony's online store is selling these titles for $19.94 each, less than CCVideo.com's price (but a bit more than the one at Deep Discount). Sony's listings also have a corrected synopsis for the second telefilm,
Hart to Hart - Home is Where the Hart is, plus more in-depth info for the synopsis of each of the other three titles. We've adjusted our DVD listings, as well as the descriptions above, to include the official Sony synopsis for each title, and the link now goes to Sony's listings (where you will also find video clips for each one) rather than CCVideo's. However, we HAVE noticed that there's a mistake in Sony's synopsis for the 3rd telefilm: they refer to it as "their very last adventure" (and mention a "fond farewell"), even though 5 more telefilms would be produced afterward. Ah, well. Our thanks to Josh for his valuable assistance on this!
