That brings back memories. I miss those 90s and early 2000s Canadian shows (I was able to watch in syndication in the U.S.) like First Wave, Earth: Final Conflict, Forever Knight, ReGenesis, Poltergiest: The Legacy, and especially Highlander: The Series and The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (which SciFi picked up and aired), or even some of the shows on early UPN like Nowhere Man, or Werewolf on a very fledgling FOX network, and not long after another of my favorites Friday The 13th: The Series. Of course, there was the grand Babylon 5 on PTEN.
They were low budget, and some were a complete miss, but many of them had interesting, creative stories and characters that worked well within the constraints. There's been similar shows more recently like the Canadian/SyFy series Continuum, or Travellers on Netflix, but too many these days, despite (or perhaps because of) there being a much larger span of content, and despite (or perhaps in some cases because of) having bigger budgets, seem to possess less creativity and charm. Or, maybe I'm just older now so little seems new anymore.
Good luck with First Wave. Here's hoping it eventually gets released in its entirety. I do see some bootlegs of the entire series out there, but most likely those are pulled from VHS recordings and will be of questionable quality. Before they got an official release, I tried something like that with the 80s Nickelodeon show The Mysterious Cities of Gold, also The Mighty Orbots and The Real Ghostbusters, and they were adequate at best, so its risky.
_________________________________________
Never believe. Always question. Rebuke belief, a.k.a. bias, a.k.a. groupthink, a.k.a. ideology, the bane of skeptical, logical reason.
reply
share
scannerdarkly (1380)
3 years ago
Wow you just named off several shows I enjoyed! I purchased each season of Forever Knight back in 2017 off ebay (season three was hardest to find and cost the most but I got lucky) and then just recently they did an entire series release collection on DVD. So there is some sliver of hope for First Wave collection in the future : )
Highlander series was fun to watch and Earth Final Conflict? I had completely forgotten about that show but seeing the pictures of it refreshed my memory enough to know I had seen it on tv before xD
Andromeda with Kevin Sorbo is another early 2000's Sci-Fi show with Gene Roddenberry signature people have forgotten about.
And writing of old cartoons, well I know another site that has almost ALL of the old cartoons. I watched some of Gargoyles and was surprised how well it has held up after all these years.
(make sure you got adblock plus before clicking the link xD)
https://kimcartoon.li/Cartoon/Gargoyles
I checked the search bar on the site and all those cartoons are on the site! So you could check out many on there (some are poorer quality like how Mighty Max was when I watched some of its episodes) but you dont have to buy bootleg and can still watch em!
I really wish companies would put more effort in to conserving older programs and shows, or at least relinquish the rights so a company could step in and make genuine restored copies to sell on DVD and Bluray. Perhaps I just thought up a business model. A company that goes to show companies and acquires enough rights to restore and sell older programs! It'd be a GOLDMINE
reply
share
warrior-poet (1364)
3 years ago
Oh wow Mighty Max. Another kids cartoon with some hidden depths and clever storytelling. I actually own Gargoyles on DVD, and it's also on Disney+, but for the vast majority of animated content from the past sites like the one you mentioned are the only option. I'm definitely going to check that site out. Much appreciated. Sounds like they've really put in some effort to collect as much of that stuff as possible.
Most of those old cartoons I don't need physical media for, but there were a few that for whatever reason stayed with me over the years (the 70's Adventures of Flash Gordon was one that really stands out, which I have on DVD), but that site is a terrific resource. There's another one I watched as a teen in the 80's on Nickelodeon called Belle and Sebastian, and unfortunately that site only has a recent remake of the series I didn't know existed. Wish they had the old series from the 80s. Despite the plethora of stuff there, that one's missing. :( Only a few episodes are on VHS, and there's a Spanish DVD with some episodes.
Yeah there are so many rights hurdles that prevent some great old shows from getting the DVD/Blu-ray treatment. Sometimes it's about the songs used, with them being embedded on a single track so can't be replaced, making the endeavor just far too expensive to be worth it, although for some of it may just be that they've faded and been forgotten, and/or there's a lack of interest. Definitely an area of need there.
I'll be awaiting GOLDMINE in the future :)
_________________________________________
Never believe. Always question. Rebuke belief, a.k.a. bias, a.k.a. groupthink, a.k.a. ideology, the bane of skeptical, logical reason.
reply
share