Earlier this week we posted
a story about the CBS/Paramount announcement for
The Beverly Hillbillies - The 2nd Season DVD, coming out on
October 7th. In that story we described how the first season-and-a-half of the show had already been released on DVD in 2005-06 by MPI Home Video. Those 55 episodes are in the public domain, while the remaining episodes are owned by CBS DVD. Therefore, CBS could release any or all of those early episodes if they choose to. Apparently they've chosen to leave season one alone for now, but will bring out all 36 episodes - including the public domain ones - from the 2nd Season in this upcoming 4-disc set.
We've confirmed from industry sources that the opening and closing theme songs, which is owned by the estate of the show's late creator, Paul Henning, is going to be licensed for use on these releases. Also, the studio is interested in putting some extras on board if possible, but nothing has been finalized as far as our sources have been able to confirm. It's also worth noting that the MPI releases were transfers from 16mm prints at the Henning estate's archive. CBS, however, is apparently going to work from their own 35mm sources for their upcoming release.
Please remember, though, that NONE of the above is final, and you should consider it all "industry gossip" until CBS/Paramount makes all the official details public. The same goes for the cover art below: the studio sent this over to the retailers, but hopefully this is just some early temp art, and not the final box cover:
