Route 66 in the News
Route 66 TV Series DVD Release Imminent; Feature Film on the Way
2007-09-26 22:00:41
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. - The first 15 episodes of the top-rated 1960s television series “Route 66,” which defined the wonder lust of the open road as well as establishing the Corvette as an American icon, is slated for release on DVD Oct. 23.
Former “Route 66” co-star George Maharis, who played the tall and handsome Buz Murdock, describes the filming of the famous series “like living on a wagon train,” Maharis said. “Almost every day we were in a different town, meeting unique individuals, many of whom we enlisted as extras and even some speaking roles.”
The iconic TV series, which ran from 1960-64, is also the foundation of a major motion picture, currently under development at Santa Monica-based Roxbury Entertainment and is expected to be released late next year. Kirk Hallam, who produced such movies as Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival winner “Local Color,” staring Ray Liotta and Charles Durning, is keeping tight-lipped about the cast and crew for the up-coming “Route 66” film.
“We’re in the middle of casting right now,” Hallam said. “All I can say now is that we have some top-shelf talent already attached to the project.”
Hallam said that they would be filming later this year on location in places such as Arizona, New Mexico and Chicago, among other Route 66 locations.
That will be a departure from much of the filming that occurred during the television series, according to Maharis. “We did some filming along the route in places like Chicago (Illinois), Albuquerque (New Mexico), Tulsa (Oklahoma) and Kingman, Arizona but many of the locations, such as New Orleans, Cleveland and the Corrigan Ranch in Simi Valley (Calif.), were nowhere near Route 66,” Maharis said.
“Sure, there were a lot of little towns in between but that was more than 40 years ago and I can’t remember them all,” Maharis said.
“It all went by so fast. What I do remember was that all the towns and people in them were so uniquely different then. It’s not like that today, with all the cable TV, Internet and video games. Today, you can go 3,000 miles across the country and everybody is the same. It was different back then,” Maharis said.
Some of those unique aspects to “Route 66” can be found on the DVD special features chapters, including classic original TV commercials; filmographies of the stars and special guests; and a classic Corvette photo gallery and specs.
“Route 66” was one of the first television series to be shot on 35mm film, giving it a clear and sharp feel,” Hallam said. “When we went back to remaster the series for DVD, we used a duplicate copy of the original film stock that had been kept in a climate controlled special vault in Burbank, (Cailf.),” Hallam added. “There are 116 episodes in all and we will be releasing them 15-20 episodes at a time.” Hallam said that the next 15 episodes will likely be released just before Christmas and if sales are good, Roxbury and its distributor Infinity Entertainment may compile a collector’s set sometime in the future but that idea has not come to pass just yet.
“I know this series will appeal to the 50-and-older crowd,” Hallam said. “But I also believe that this will appeal to the 20-to-30 crowd, as well. It’s a coming of age film and the very first modern road trip experience.”
“Route 66: Season One, Volume One” is the beginning of a story about Yale graduate Tod Stiles (Martin Milner) is an intellectual who has led a privileged and sheltered life. Buz Murdock (George Maharis) is a tough young man, raised in “Hell’s Kitchen,” struggling his entire life just to survive.
When his wealthy father dies, Tod finds himself unexpectedly penniless with just one possession, a powder-blue Chevrolet Corvette. On a quest to find adventure – and themselves – Tod and Buz hit the open road in the ultimate American journey.
In search of excitement, the duo traverses the famed Route 66, which stretches from Chicago, Ill., to Santa Monica , Calif. Encountering people from all walks of life -- ranch hands, bodyguards, shrimp boat crewmen, prospectors and beautiful women -- the show featured a renowned list of guest stars, including Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Walter Matthau, Martin Sheen, James Caan, Burt Reynolds, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr., Ron Howard, Lee Marvin, Suzanne Pleshette, Ed Asner, Julie Newmar, Cloris Leachman and Leslie Nielsen, to name a few.
Created by Academy Award-winning writer Stirling Silliphant “In The Heat of The Night” and prolific producer Herbert Leonard “Naked City,” “Rin Tin Tin,” “Circus Boy” and “Popi,” “Route 66” offered television viewers a unique anthology series with groundbreaking production values and meaningful dramatic themes.
“Irving Lippman, the cameraman, used to do some amazing things to get just the right shot, “Maharis said. “I remember him digging ditches so that he could get the camera down low enough to shoot up at the actors. And back then there were no radio microphones. So, when we would be walking and talking, the sound crew had to follow us with a cord connected to our hidden mics, there was no dubbing in the sound back at the studio. We did everything right then and there… It was as close to live as it gets.” he recalled.
~Brett Sporich, HollywoodToday.net
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