Sun 15 Jul 2012
A TV Movie Review by Michael Shonk: BANYON: WALK UP AND DIE (1971).
Posted by Steve under Reviews , TV mysteries[33] Comments
BANYON: WALK UP AND DIE. NBC World Premiere Movie, 15 March 1971, Monday at 9-11pm. NBC World Premiere Movie / Warner Brothers Television. Cast: Robert Forster as Miles C. Banyon, Darren McGavin as Lieutenant Pete Cordova, Jose Ferrer as Lee Jennings, Anjanette Comer as Diane Jennings, Herb Edelman as Harry Sprague, Ann Randall as Linda. Written and Produced by Ed Adamson. Executive Producer: Richard Alan Simmons. Director: Robert Day.
NBC World Premiere Movie began in 1966 as a means for the network and the studios (it was an idea of Universal Studios) to profit from pilots for possible television series. When Banyon aired in 1971, the movie series had all ready produced twelve series for NBC, and even the failures were profitable for their studios in syndication.
A note about the title: the movie was called Banyon, but in syndication to separate it from the series it was also known as Banyon — Walk Up and Die.
The problem with TV Movie pilots is telling the best story is not the primary goal. Instead you need to establish premise, setting and characters for the possible weekly series while hopefully providing an entertaining drama or comedy.
For example, several scenes were forced into this story to establish the series’ comedy relief in the form of Banyon’s secretary. Banyon’s office was down the hall from Peggy Revere’s secretary school. Banyon “confesses†his passion and love for the much older Peggy (Hermione Gingold). She is not sure if he is kidding or needs a psychiatrist. They have an agreement for him to use one of her students whenever needed. This gave the young secretary-to-be some experience, and Banyon got his secretary for free.
The opening titles attempted to establish the time (1933-1938) with newsreel photos and art. The theme by Leonard Rosenman (Combat) sounded more generic 70s than something suitable for a hardboiled PI mystery set in the 30s. However it was better than the series theme by Johnny Mandel (M*A*S*H) that only reminded us the series was a Quinn Martin Production. (Quinn Martin had no involvement with this TV movie pilot, but more on that later.)
Irene (Deidre Daniels) is told her ex-boyfriend, mobster Victor Pappas (Ray Danton) is out of prison. Because of her involvement in sending him to jail, she fears for her life. A friend sends her to a guy who can help her. She has to introduce herself to the guy who pulls out a gun and kills her. The killer leaves, removes the fake sign on the door that had covered the office sign of Miles C. Banyon, PI.
Meanwhile, Miles finishes another case and is sulking because he hates his job as a PI. He enters his office and finds Lieutenant Pete Cordova (Darren McGavin) waiting with the dead body. Miles barely reacts. Cordova notes the murder weapon was Miles’ gun. The Lieutenant is ex-cop Miles’ former partner and tries to play nice, but Miles still holds a grudge against Cordova and offers him no help.
A few years before, Miles had gone undercover as a cop-on-the-take to get the evidence that convicted Pappas. But there had been a political mess involving the department at the time and Miles had been picked to be the fall guy. Worried about how he would support his family without his job, Cordova had helped the department frame bachelor Miles.
Miles arrives at home only to find his best friend and legman Harry (Herb Edelman) drunk and asleep. Harry is avoiding his wife Ruthie (Leslie Parrish). Before Harry and Ruthie married, she had dated Miles. Now Harry is convinced she wants Miles because he is a broke loser working for others as a legman and Miles is a disgraced ex-cop turned sulking PI. And all three know Harry is right.
Miles sends Harry home, has some China tea (he doesn’t drink liquor) and begins to work on the only thing that makes him smile, his erector set. Sadly, he is interrupted by a phone call from Pappas who invites Miles to his place to talk. Miles agrees to meet with the man who swore revenge against him and others who had put him in jail, others such as the dead ex-girlfriend Irene.
Miles finds no one in the apartment. He looks around and finds and plays a record with music (“Remember Whenâ€), followed by the voice of powerful radio gossip Lee Jennings (Jose Ferrer) informing his listeners he is upset over Pappas parole and brags about his role in getting the mobster behind bars, then the record cuts to Pappas’ voice threatening Miles.
The cops arrive and haul Miles off to the police dungeon where Cordova takes away Miles licenses to be a PI and carry a gun.
Miles is summoned to meet the all-powerful Lee Jennings who wants Miles to find Pappas and stop him from killing anyone else (especially him). Banyon says no and humiliates the bully in front of his lackeys and his popular wife (with all the men).
Miles is not afraid of Jennings because he had nothing that Jennings can take…except Harry. When Jennings threatens to ruin Harry, Miles agrees to work for Jennings. After another killing or two, Miles, with the help of Harry, finds Pappas.
Banyon was the creation of writer Ed Adamson who had written the script specifically for actor Robert Forster. Adamson had written in radio for several series including That Hammer Guy (Mike Hammer). In TV his resume featured such series as Richard Diamond, Wanted Dead or Alive, and Mannix.
Adamson’s script had its flaws, the most serious of which was it lacked any reason for the viewer to care about Miles C. Banyon. On the plus side the movie has a final act that makes Banyon — Walk Up and Die worth watching.
The Oscar-nominated actor Robert Forster (Jackie Brown) is a rare disappointment. Usually the highlight of anything he does (Kate Sisco, Hollywood Harry, Alcatraz), he played the self-pitying Miles with a dull disinterest through most of the movie. He does redeems himself in the final act as he finally brings Miles to life.
With the focus on Miles, the story, and setting up the weekly series, there was little time left for developing the rest of the characters. The cast did what they could with their clichéd one-dimensional characters.
Director Robert Day (The Avengers, Murder by Natural Causes, The Man with Bogart’s Face) made some odd choices, most noticeably during the scenes of violence. Twice, Banyon knocks out someone while the camera focused on another character’s reaction. All deaths took place off camera. Perhaps caused by Congress continued pressure on the networks over violence on television, but this visual style soft-boiled the hard-boiled PI.
The vintage clothes, the use of 30s music and radio shows such as Fibber McGee and Molly, as well as vintage automobiles driving a few feet along the studio lot 1930’s street gave Banyon — Walk Up and Die less a sense of the real 30s and more a 1930s movie feel.
While I was unable to discover what exactly was on television opposite of this TV Movie, ABC was scheduled to run ABC’s Monday Night Movie, while CBS was scheduled to air Mayberry RFD (9pm), Doris Day (9:30pm) and The Carol Burnett Show (10pm).
NBC liked this pilot and considered ordering it as a series for a possible 1971 -72 mid-season replacement. Someone else liked the movie, Quinn Martin. QM Productions was one of the top independent TV Production companies of the time and had never had a series on NBC. NBC offered Banyon to Quinn Martin, creating a behind the scenes turmoil between Ed Adamson and the QM people forced on him.
The first episode of the NBC series aired September 15, 1972 and had a ratings share of over 30 and finished 31st out of 65 shows. Broadcasting (September 25, 1972) sampled reviews of the first episode from various critics who were near united in their disappointment.
The next week’s episode dropped to low 20 shares and from then on the series would finish each week in or near the bottom ten. It aired Friday night at 10pm opposite CBS Friday Movie and ABC’s Love American Style.
On October 2, 1972, Ed Adamson (58) died of a heart attack. His dream TV series Banyon would soon follow with its last original episode airing January 12, 1973.
For more information about the series, check out this post on The Rap Sheet blog.
For a updated link to sample the book Quinn Martin, Producer by Jonathan Etter:
http://books.google.com/books?id=5k7Z31qKsZ0C&lr=
Other source: “Broadcasting†Magazine
July 15th, 2012 at 8:55 pm
The Banyon pilot is a memorably moody piece of work. I’ve seen it a number of times (and bought a bootleg version off the Web some years ago). Yes, it had its flaws–worsened by Quinn Martin, when the teleflick became a series–but I have always had a warm place in my heart for Banyon, as I do for another similar (and similarly short-lived) NBC series, City of Angels. Maybe this calls for me to break out my copy of Banyon and watch it again.
Cheers,
Jeff
July 15th, 2012 at 9:52 pm
I’ve not seen either the pilot or any of the episodes since they were first broadcast, but as far as I know, I didn’t miss an episode.
Did Michael’s in depth description of the pilot ring any bells? Do I remember anything of any of the episodes? No, and no. Only Forster and Jaeckel as the two leading characters, and the fact that I enjoyed them all.
Put this series in the same category as THE OUTSIDER. I have most of both of them in bootleg form, but I
hesitateam afraid to watch either of them, lest they not match up to how I remember them.And yes, you can put CITY OF ANGELS in the same box.
July 15th, 2012 at 10:47 pm
Jeff, thanks for the visit. I actually watched this twice because of the ending. The ending (the story’s climax before the embarrassing tag scene) make this worth watching but I can’t say more without spoilers.
BANYON gets compared to CITY OF ANGELS but the two shows were very different. Comparing the pilots, CITY OF ANGELS was interested in the social and political change during the period (1930s), while BANYON was a hard-boiled PI mystery set in the thirties that could have worked in other decades such as the 40s and 50s.
One of the complaints the newspaper reviewers had with the first episode of the series (which I have not seen) was it was a mystery that could have been set in any decade.
While CITY OF ANGELES (and THE OUTSIDER) went gritty, BANYON had a slick movie look that reminded me more of ELLERY QUEEN (which I consider one of television’s best mystery series).
Steve, be brave. It doesn’t have to be actually good to inspire fond memories.
July 16th, 2012 at 3:31 pm
One “period” private-eye show that often gets overlooked is the appropriately titled “Private Eye,” which had a very short run on NBC, from September 1987 to January 1988. The show was set in the fifties in LA and co-starred Josh Brolin as a rock-n-roller/sidekick to the main character, a PI wrongfully kicked off the LA police force. The show was created by Anthony Yerkovich, of “Miami Vice” fame. It premiered one season after “Crime Story,” another period crime drama, which met with slightly more success (two seasons).
I may be wrong, but off the top of my head it seems to me that pre-“Mad Men,” nostalgia dramas were a pretty tough sell to American TV viewers.
Michael, maybe “Private Eye” will one day make it onto your list of shows to be reviewed.
July 16th, 2012 at 4:12 pm
#4. David, nostalgia dramas have and continue to be a hard sell to the public, remember PAN AM? The only nostalgia dramas I can think of as a success with the masses were Westerns in the 50s and early 60s and BBC period pieces. I doubt MAD MEN could have survived being on any of the Big Four. I do expect CBS’ VEGAS to be a hit next fall.
It is odd the two 30s era PI series aired five years apart and then nothing. I have only seen clips of PRIVATE EYE but who knows, I may get around to it. I need to pay more attention to 80s and 90s television. At the time, I was in Los Angeles working 60 hour weeks and night shifts and didn’t have time for much TV. I need to catch up with what I missed.
The late 80s and 90s was a strange period for television. I continued to be surprised by how many old TV series were brought back or remade. The nostalgia dramas (and comedies) then were more nostalgic for old TV shows than real history.
July 16th, 2012 at 6:59 pm
i recall being very excited about the show, at 17. i turned on the first episode and lost interest in a couple of minutes. as i remember, i thought they were trying too hard to make it resemble cliches about 30s private eye fiction, rather than latching on to the period itself.
July 16th, 2012 at 8:09 pm
Clem, I got the same feeling from the TV Movie. Establishing the time period is the greatest challenge facing period dramas. The same can be said for fantasy and science fiction.
There is a scene where they have FIBBER MCGEE AND MOLLY on the radio and its Tuesday, so the time is 1935. But it didn’t feel like 1935. The dialog fit any era. The soundtrack played period music when you are supposed to notice it and average 70s soundtrack cues when its just background. There is a “rent party” tossed in for no reason.
The thirties were the Depression, yet everyone’s clothes looked new. Everyone had a home. Los Angeles was for the white man, run by corrupt forces, and had different values than today. CITY OF ANGELS came as close to that as the network would let them.
But I don’t think Ed Adamson was trying for the real 1930s, I think he wanted to do Chandler’s Marlowe. But it needed a rougher edge to the Lieutenant and the period.
The best period drama in TV history in my opinion was ELLERY QUEEN. From the opening theme song to the end credits, for one hour every week I was in the post-War Forties.
BANYON had its good points. The scene where Banyon enters the house where Pappas is staying and what follows is quality mystery television. But even that could have taken place in any era.
July 16th, 2012 at 11:35 pm
i was a total birdbrain when i was 16, and it does not surprise me what i might have missed. please keep writing your posts. they fascinate me.
July 16th, 2012 at 11:38 pm
the link re Quinn Martin, however. fascinated me completely. the level of craft required to produce leaves me in awe. i work in comic books. some of the editors i have worked for remind me of Martin and others. they demand the absolute best of those they hire. Scott Allie is a good example. he drives me completely nuts, but i would do anytihng to make him happy.
July 17th, 2012 at 12:36 am
Clem, thanks for the kind words.
As for Quinn Martin, I feel sorry for Ed Adamson. While he had written and produced television before, this was his dream project. To have it sell then given to someone else had to be hard on him. Running or starring in a weekly sixty minute dramatic television series is one of the most physically demanding jobs in entertainment, with six day weeks and days that can stretch to 16 hours. Add the stress of fighting for your vision of the show. One wonders how much of that caused Adamson’s fatal heart attack.
Good luck with your career. For awhile I was the submission editor for Full Tilt, a small group of webcomics. It can be fun but difficult to make a living at it (which can be said for any creative career).
July 17th, 2012 at 6:20 pm
thanks for your good wishes. i’ve been in comics since 1977, and what i really need good luck with is getting OUT of comics.
July 17th, 2012 at 6:27 pm
maybe your description of a producer’s life is why there are EXECUTIVE producers, who can stand above the fray and hang on to the vision?
to my thinking, the biggest TV tragedy of my childhood was Norman Felton’s jobbing out UNCLE to third-rate line producers, who destroyed what had been one of the most carefully crafted franchises in TV history. this really began early in the second year of the series, and it broke my heart.
July 17th, 2012 at 7:12 pm
#12. Line credits on television has changed over the years and vary from show to show.
Poor Adamson also was the producer for the final season of WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE when lead Steve McQueen was on the edge of stardom and got whatever he wanted.
By the 80s shows began to give producer credits out to the staff and executive producer credits to people with little contact to the production of the series.
Today, the showrunner (the boss) is an executive producer, but others with less power will also get executive producer credits. Producer credits can go to writers, production people and actors who may have a piece of the show.
For independent production companies such as QM Production the showrunner was usually picked by and answered to Quinn Martin. In a co-production such as BANYON, with Warners and QM sharing, who has the final say was often the choice of the network. Here NBC wanted to get hit maker Martin away from CBS.
Today, the showrunner is usually selected by the network. The creator of the show has some chance of becoming the boss, but if he or she is new, the network often assigns an experienced showrunner to help the new person run the show or even replace the original writer.
In the seventies the networks relied more on studios and independent production companies such as QM or MTM or Lorimar.
Today, the networks often have a stake in the production company that is shooting the show.
How this worked behind the scenes then and now depends on the show and who ran it. HILL STREET BLUES and BARNEY MILLER were reportedly difficult places to write because the showrunners where demanding and difficult to work with. REMINGTON STEELE’s Michael Gleason used his show to train future showrunners but there was tension on the set. BOB NEWHART SHOW was a happy place where everyone had a good time and liked each other.
As a Sam Rolfe fan, I was unhappy to see him leave MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., but what I have read about GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E. places the blame at different places from the producers to NBC to the success of BATMAN to the stars refusing to treat the material seriously.
July 17th, 2012 at 7:51 pm
oh yeah, i’ve heard NBC pressured Felton to Batmanize UNCLE, and not having walked in his shoes, i can’t say what i would have done under similar circumstances.
but UNCLE’s first year was quite lovely, with Rolfe at the helm. Rolfe liked creating series, but then preferred to move on. had Felton offered him a lot of money, and maybe more creative control, UNCLE might still be on TV.
February 21st, 2013 at 11:24 pm
i would like to get a copy of banyon as my copy is old and of in poor condition. i wish it would be reissued as it puts current movie pictures of this type rubbish. i would like a diagram and plans to build a similar set
February 21st, 2013 at 11:28 pm
i would like plans for the erector set seen in the movie
February 22nd, 2013 at 12:18 am
15, 16. joe hume, this was a Warner Brothers release which is good news as Warners is the best of all the studios at re-releasing old forgotten TV Movies and films. Warners Archive does MOD (Made On Demand). You might want to contact the company and ask to have this show re-released. Their Facebook page seems to be were they interact with fans the best.
I got my copy from the collector’s market. You can try ebay, ioffer, and sell.com. If your copy is a videotape, you might want to check local photo shop and see if they can restore and transfer your copy to DVD. I think Wal Mart offers this but I could be wrong.
As for the erector set. Google (or use search engine Bing) and see if you can find some fellow collectors or maybe you will find the plans somewhere on the web. Or shop at ebay etc.
Good luck.
November 12th, 2013 at 4:10 pm
Does anyone know where I can find a good
quality copy of the Banyon pilot movie
on DVD?
I recently received a “better than nothing”
copy of it from an 80’s recording on a popular U.S. cable station in the South which is a poor quality copy (tracking messages at the bottom of the screen, tracking problems that were eventually adjusted into the movie opening credits, and at least one picture drop-out).
Overall it was barely watchable.
Also got 1 episode “The Murder Game” (# 13)
on the same disc which was in much better condition (uncut, no commercials, but
with low volume.
Just thought I would ask.
So far, what I have as the saying goes is the only game in town.
I read Time-Warner owns the rights to the
series.
November 12th, 2013 at 10:17 pm
Jim, contact Warner Archives. I believe they are on Facebook. They have a streaming service that is adding some titles with little chance to make it to DVD. Titles such as BRONK, MCLAIN’S LAW, JERICHO, and others. You can ask them. As you have learned the TV Movie is out there in the collector’s market but you won’t find a great copy there.
Consider yourself lucky in one way, I have never found a copy of any of the series episodes.
January 11th, 2014 at 9:19 pm
Thanks for the tip, Michael. I do consider
myself lucky to get what I have recently.
I appreciate your interest.
Since my last post, I managed to find a copy of the pilot movie “Look Up And Die” (same source as the one I already have) and another episode “Meal Ticket” from a collector in Canada on DVD. There was just one small problem; it was done as a computer file (he has his shows on hard drive) and therefore can only be played on a computer not any DVD player. {Unfortunately the latter item has a sound (voices out of
sync) problem as well.} Until the series
is officially released on DVD by Warner
Archive this is as close to Banyon as I
can really get.
I was also fortunate to find the pilot movie and 3 episodes of the 1974 Quinn Martin detective series The Manhunter starring
Ken Howard, which is also very rare. I
have since acquired a fourth episode but
it can only be played on a computer too.
I’ve never really been a fan of the Quinn
Martin produced TV series overall, but Banyon and Manhunter were the sole exceptions. I likewise have a complete set of the 1979 disaster A Man Called Sloane (Robert Conrad, the last QM Production in
name only–just because I’m a Conrad fan) but it is not nearly in the same league
as Banyon and Manhunter.
January 11th, 2014 at 9:45 pm
Nice to hear from you.
I have done reviews on THE MANHUNTER.
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=22030
MAN CALLED SLOANE episode Venus Microbe.
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=18010
And the pilot TV Movie for SLOANE called DEATH RAY 2000.
https://mysteryfile.com/blog/?p=14167
Last time I checked DEATH RAY was still available on YouTube (in 10 parts).
You also might see if you can find anyone who can show you how to download and burn a disc from the computer files you have.
January 22nd, 2014 at 8:00 pm
Thanks for the suggestions, Michael.
Will keep in mind for future reference.
Just noticed, the Banyon pilot is titled
“Walk Up And Die”. My mistake.
On Quinn Martin shows that are well-known,
not a detective series but I failed to mention the World War II drama Twelve O’Clock High (1964-1967) starring the late Robert Lansing and Paul Burke respectively. Another good series that should be on commercial DVD and isn’t. Fox owns the rights to that I believe.
I have a DVD set of the complete series of
A Man Called Sloane starring Robert Conrad
(1979 NBC airings) including the Robert Logan pilot movie T.R. Sloane (AKA
Death Ray 2000) from a 1987 USA broadcast.
The Conrad episodes are not in good condition, barely watchable but better
than nothing. I think the same recordings
have been circulated amongst video collectors since the 80’s (I wasn’t surprised at the quality, quite frankly).
The T.R. Sloane is in the best condition
of the lot.
I have read that NBC did not air Death
Ray 2000 until 1981, long after the
Conrad Sloane series was off the air.
Does anyone know why this is? I’ve always wondered having watched the show from the
start. I also found the change in lead
interesting. I initially assumed that
Robert Logan (best known for the 70’s
Wilderness Family movies besides classic
TV show appearances like 77 Sunset Strip–
as J.R.Hale, Kookie’s replacement and
Daniel Boone’s sidekick Jericho Jones)
was not available to do the series for
some unknown reason so the role went to
Bob Conrad instead. But I have since read
elsewhere that NBC programming chief Fred
Silverman did not like Logan and wanted
Conrad as the star of the show, which as
viewers who watched it know bombed. But I
liked it out of loyalty to Robert Conrad,
but his previous show The Duke (1979) where
he played an ex-boxer turned private eye
was far much better (Silverman reportedly
talked him into doing Sloane according to
an interview Conrad did on Johnny Carson’s The Tonight Show at the time. He then cancelled The Duke so Conrad could do Sloane.) Off-topic but I just wanted to
share what I knew about it.
I watched a LOT of TV in the 70’s and remember well most of the one-season
short-lived shows of that decade which
compared to today’s ridiculous reality TV
weren’t quite so bad, after all, Robert
Conrad’s A Man Called Sloane included.
I could make a list of what I liked that
the networks cancelled, that’s for sure.
January 23rd, 2014 at 6:10 pm
#22. Jim, if you have not all ready done so, check out the comments for the Death Ray 2000 and Sloane reviews I did and you will find some fun stories about the show. Links in comment 21.
There is a behind the scenes book about QM Productions called QUINN MARTIN PRODUCER: A BEHIND THE SCENES HISTORY OF QM PRODUCTION (McFarland) by Jonathan Eiter and Walter Grauman. The book has its flaws but offers a gossipy POV of QM.
The pilot aired after the series because NBC was desperate for product to fill its TV Movies of the Week. The series itself was rerun in the summer of 1980 as filler.
Reportedly, all the changes from pilot to series were due to NBC President Fred Silverman who was after a James Bond spy series. Conrad did this for money (I suspect he was tired of playing spies – WILD WILD WEST and ASSIGNMENT VIENNA).
March 28th, 2014 at 1:11 pm
Hi, Michael,
Just an update on my attempts to acquire something remotely resembling Banyon on
DVD. I had mentioned previously that I had
respectively the pilot movie Banyon (AKA
Walk Up And Die)–a VHS transfer from the mid-80’s–and Meal Ticket episode 5 from the series on DVD but they were computer “mpg” files which could not be played on my DVD player. I also had The Murder Game episode 15 (I think) on a separate DVD from an alternatesource that does play on my DVD player. The bad news was that Meal Ticket
has an audio out of sync problem that
unfortunately can’t be corrected and is
also on the original copy of the person
I got it from, so we’re both stuck with it.
Now all that having been said without getting too technical, I managed to find
a computer program online (free) that
allowed me to convert the file to mpeg
format and then burn it to DVD. So I am
proud to say that I have a DVD player-
playable copy of the Banyon pilot, the
episode Meal Ticket, and the Manhunter
eoisode The Baby-Faced Killers (# 3)
giving me a total of 4 episodes and
the pilot movie from that series as well.
Banyon meanwhile is pilot movie and 2
episodes. The copy of the pilot movie
is not pretty but it’s complete, all there
and watchable (despite the condition of the
original tape it came from).
They will suffice until Warner Archive sees
fit to perhaps release the Banyon pilot movie and 15 series episodes on commercial
DVD eventually. Considering that they have
already released Nichols (1972) starring
James Garner (complete series, 24 episodes),
Search (1972) including pilot movie Probe
(2011, separate DVD) and complete series of
23 episodes, and most surprisingly Man From Atlantis (1977) starring Patrick Duffy (pilot movie, 3 TV-movies and 13 episodes
from the series), that is a good sign that
Banyon’s turn might come sooner or later.
I hope….
March 29th, 2014 at 10:59 am
Now we need to get you to do a review of those episodes:)
I wouldn’t be surprise to see BANYON or MANHUNTER either get its pilot TV Movie released or added to Warner Archives Instant (the streaming service). Both series share the same qualities of SEARCH, HARRY O, NICHOLS, MAN FROM ATLANTIS, BRONK, MCCLAIN’S LAW, etc. They are all short lived TV series from the 1970s.
March 29th, 2014 at 11:01 am
Correction: MCCLAIN’S LAW was from 1981.
January 7th, 2015 at 11:36 am
BANYON Should Be On DVD Soon.
January 7th, 2015 at 2:09 pm
It’s about time, if true. I haven’t given up hope, but I’m not holding my breath, either.
January 7th, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Depends on who owns BANYON’s rights. The series was a co-production between QM and WB, but the TV-Movie pilot was just Warners. I expect BANYON to follow such WB series as SEARCH and DELPHI BUREAU and release the TV Movie as a DVD on demand. The series is more likely to appear on Warner Archive streaming service where such series as BRONK appear then disappear.
January 28th, 2015 at 6:41 pm
I see I’m almost a year behind, but if Jim Smallwood still checks this – is there any chance of getting a copy of the Banyon episode Meal Ticket? It’s on my long list of tv episodes to find. Would greatly appreciate it.
October 21st, 2018 at 1:57 am
Don’t count on Warner Archives releasing Manhunter. CBS owns the rights to that one. Maybe if we petitioned VEI in Canada, that’s been releasing short-lived CBS-owned shows on DVD, that would be a better bet.
October 11th, 2019 at 11:44 pm
Does anyone know where I can get the pilot for BANYON ?
June 20th, 2021 at 9:37 pm
I know I’m jumping in on this thread years too late, but I’ve recently worked to fix the out-of-sync audio on the circulating copy of BANYON Episode 5 (“Meal Ticket”). So my copy properly matches the sound to the video. Also, I have a rather decent VHS capture of the BANYON pilot movie, sourced from an old broadcast on Channel 13 in Los Angeles. The print is a tad dark, but there are no tracking problems or picture drop-outs. If Jim Smallwood is still reading these posts, I’d love to hear more about his copy of the MANHUNTER episode “The Baby-Faced Killers.”