A few years back Cannell Productions inked a distribution deal with Paramount to release TGAH on videotape overseas. The PAL VHS tapes were released by CIC Video. The tape only contained the pilot movie, the same cut broadcast on ABC minus the ABC teaser and preview of next weeks episode. No extra scenes are to be found, nothing was trimmed and the music remained. The front cover one the left is from the U.K. release, the other two pictures are from the German videotape.
There is a rumor that the pilot could have played in theaters overseas during the 1980's, however I have not yet been able to confirm that.
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On Feb. 8th, 2005 Anchor Bay Entertainment released season one of TGAH. The first DVD set included all of the first season and the unaired pilot of TGAHeroine. Also as bonus material were 75 minutes worth of all new interviews with Stephen J. Cannell, William Katt, Robert Culp, Connie Sellecca, and Michael Pare. Due to music licensing issues the fan favorite cover tunes such as Help Me Rhonda, Rocketman, etc were not included, however all of Stephen Geyer's original music remained intact.
In what must have been the quickest release in history for a second season televison series DVD set, Anchor Bay rolled out the next box on April 5th, 2005. This set contained all 22 episodes from season two, plus interviews with Stephen J. Cannell and Mike Post. The discs also contained a photo gallery, DVD ROM script and Japanese language track for The Two Hundred Mile An Hour Fastball. Missing again were all cover tunes, which disappointed fans who missed the song Eve of Destruction from Operation: Spoilsport, and actually caused a few minutes to be trimmed from the episode Classical Gas. The teasers/previews included on other Cannell related DVD sets (Riptide, Hardcastle & McCormick, etc) are sadly not on any of TGAH sets.
Finally on August 9th, 2005 TGAH's final season was released by Anchor Bay. No bonus material was included on the final set, and the cover music changes were slight due to the fact not many cover tunes were heard in the final year. The audio and especially the picture quality found on all the sets is excellent. The show never looked and sounded this good, even when broadcast on ABC.
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During the release of season three, Anchor Bay gave out the lunchbox featured below as a promotion item. The lunchbox was not sold in stores, and is a rare piece of memorabilia.
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The success of the individual season set releases of the series led to Anchor Bay Entertainmant releasing a super collectors set on Oct. 3, 2006. This set not only included all three seasons packaged in a deluxe tin, but also a cape, iron on transfer of the suits insignia, and the holy grail of all TGAH items....the instruction book, complete with working lights! Plus 200 random sets also included an autograph from William Katt.
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Mill Creek has released season one and two, available as a 14.99 two pack at Target stores. I have two local Targets, as of last week (1/19/10) one store had sold out, and I bought the last two pack at the other. For a re-release the series seems to have started off selling well. A Mill Creek representative informed me that a box set containing all three seasons is scheduled for release in May of this year. The package design has been greatly improved over the previous release, and I only noticed one flub written on the back of the 2nd season box stating that the suit gives Ralph the power of x-ray vision, which we all know it does not.
I was happy to see Mill Creek corrected some Anchor Bay mistakes, as the company had incorrectly titled A Chicken In Every Plot as A Chicken In Every Pot and The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea as The Devil In The Deep Blue Sea, both are correct in the Mill Creek titles. Mill Creek also used the full title of Captain Bellybuster And The Speed Factory, the Anchor Bay team just called the episode Captain Bellybuster. Sadly, season one's Saturday On Sunset Boulevard is STILL incorrectly titled on the Mill Creek discs as Saturday NIGHT On Sunset Boulevard. Leads me to believe that somewhere in the Cannell files that episode is mislabeled, and that's what both AB and MC worked from.
The same prints provided to Anchor Bay are used again with the new release. So no teasers (why no teasers? AGHHHHHHHHH!!!!) and the same changes to the music are also found here. Since the exact prints are used, once again Don Cervantes is missing from the opening credits in the latter half of the second season.
Below you will find front and back photos of the new DVDs, plus a Mill Creek trailer spotlighting the Cannell releases.
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On November 18, 2009 Suevie Films released a Spanish DVD edition of TGAH. Individual sets of seasons one & two can be purchased, or a special edition as pictured below. The SE contains the first 2 seasons, logo t-shirt, 32 page booklet, small insignia, and a CD containing music from the 80's and 90's. No word yet on if this set contains the teaser/previews or if the original music is intact. No information has been given about the release of the third season.
*UPDATE*
The Suevie Films Spanish DVD release of the 1st and 2nd season DOES contain all original music. Maxwell F.B.I. was kind enough to provide that information and photo of the inside covers of both sets found below. The set is advertised as Region 2, however Maxwell discovered his box set is actually Region 0. It's not known if every box set has been produced in this manner.
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Suevie Films has also released the 3rd season of the series. It has not been confirmed, but one can assume that this final set will also contain all original music.
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Here is the Portugues release of the series. Again the set is packaged in the Anchor Bay style of box with small changes, the episodes are in English with Portugues subtitles. The original music is intact, however there are no teasers/previews included in the set. Below is the set.
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The series has also been released on DVD in Japan. The packaging for these Region 2 discs can be found below. Unlike the American release, the Japanese release contains ALL the music originally heard in the show. No tunes have been altered or omitted, although sadly the teasers/previews are still not included.
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