This past October we
gave you the gossip that Universal was eyeballing a possible DVD release of
Tales of the Gold Monkey, with a release timeframe of "Spring 2008". There were all kinds of good reasons for us here at TSoD to believe these rumors: we got them from a pretty darn good source, and other TV-DVDs from show creator Donald P. Bellisario and show star Stephen Collins were doing pretty well sales-wise, and then there was a possible marketing tie-in with a new entry in the film series which inspired the network to green-light
Tales in the first place:
Indiana Jones! But since posting that rumor we had heard nothing, even with
Indy IV DVDs and Blu-rays now announced for a mid-October release...why wouldn't Universal try to tie in a
Monkey DVD launch with that event at least? I had gone seeking an answer, and here's what I found out.
In various conversations with different industry sources in the past month or so (give or take), I've heard that Universal did indeed make a run at getting this DVD release together, and even began the effort of contacting cast and crew to try to get them into the studio to record bonus material. But then everything got pushed back before those extras got recorded, and then put on hold even more indefinately sometime before the Spring timeframe arrived. What was the hold-up? We hear that it was the cost of getting the elements restored to look presentable enough for a home video release. Too much money for Universal to do it themselves, and an unwillingness to license the show out to any other studio that wouldn't be willing to do the restoration.
Which is a shame, because Patricia, who runs fansite GoldMonkey.com, has reported that Jeff MacKay, who played "Corky" on the series, unfortunately who also passed away last week. McKay had been interested in participating in the extras whenever they did get recorded. Now we won't have that opportunity, if the home video release ever does get taken off of hold.
And of course that's always a possibility. In fact, here at TVShowsOnDVD, we usually prefer not to post any news saying that a DVD release "isn't happening". Why not? Because things CAN change, and studios can change minds, and the "no" answer becomes a "yes" all the time. However, since I had passed along the rumor about
Gold Monkey in the first place, I thought that maybe I also ought to bring some closure to that item, at least in its present form. But really, don't give up hope! Gord and I fondly remember how an exec at another studio once assured everyone at the high-profile Home Theater Forum message board that the classic mini-series
Shogun could never, ever see a DVD release, due to the high costs of restoring the film elements. And of course that "ain't never gonna happen" DVD has been sitting on my shelf for something like 5 years now! So yeah,
Gold Monkey *could* still happen on down the line. But right now it does looks like the whole thing is on hold. But if we ever hear of anything further about this title, we'll certainly let you all know, so stay tuned.
