Cimarron Strip (1 Viewer)

[Winston T. Boogie]

OK, so I have the complete series set of Cimarron Strip on DVD. I believe the set is out of print. This is a great Western series, in my opinion, with Stuart Whitman in the lead. Each episode is sort of like a mini-movie and it looks like the show had a sizable budget based on how everything looks. I would love an upgrade over the DVDs, which quite honestly do not present a great image. I ran across this preview for the show and I have some questions if anybody has any idea...



First what is the H&I Network? I've never heard of this. Where would I find this network? Is it on ROKU?

Second, the images in this clip look a hell of a lot better than the DVD release of the show. Does this mean some HD version of it exists somewhere? I searched to see if it was streaming but it did not come up.

Any other fans of this show here that maybe have some info on this or maybe you found it streaming somewhere. I'm not holding my breath for this to get an upgraded DVD or Blu-ray release. Really high quality Western series in my opinion.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

This is the DVD set I have. It seems to now be out of print. There are a couple other releases of it from different countries that are available and I wonder if they have a better image quality than release I own.

 

[The 1960's]

OK, so I have the complete series set of Cimarron Strip on DVD. I believe the set is out of print. This is a great Western series, in my opinion, with Stuart Whitman in the lead. Each episode is sort of like a mini-movie and it looks like the show had a sizable budget based on how everything looks. I would love an upgrade over the DVDs, which quite honestly do not present a great image. I ran across this preview for the show and I have some questions if anybody has any idea...

It was discussed here.

First what is the H&I Network? I've never heard of this. Where would I find this network? Is it on ROKU?

Link.

Second, the images in this clip look a hell of a lot better than the DVD release of the show. Does this mean some HD version of it exists somewhere? I searched to see if it was streaming but it did not come up.

It's no longer aired on H&I. Nowhere else to the best of my knowledge at this time.

Any other fans of this show here that maybe have some info on this or maybe you found it streaming somewhere. I'm not holding my breath for this to get an upgraded DVD or Blu-ray release. Really high quality Western series in my opinion.

See the SynBible. I believe it will be on Prime someday.

This is the DVD set I have. It seems to now be out of print. There are a couple other releases of it from different countries that are available and I wonder if they have a better image quality than release I own.

View attachment 219027

Yes sir. I too purchased that. Unrestored and disappointing.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

This video is probably more representative of what the DVD image looks like, which is why I wonder what that H&I Network is showing in their preview clip above.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Wow, so based on that info H&I showed the newly restored to HD Cimarron Strip on their network, as according to your comment:

-----------
Cimarron Strip was restored to 4x3 HD in 2015. The snybible last update on 1/22/15 does state. This series has been transferred into HD and has the following masters: Network 4x3 HD. See attachment below. synbible.cbstvd

---------------

That lines up with when H&I advertised showing it and why the image in their preview is so much better than the DVD. Wow, wish someone could release the series on a Blu-ray. It looks much better in that clip from H&I.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

So here is the info from the link Neal directed us to:

--------------

Number of Episodes: Available 23
Number of Seasons Aired: 1
Years Produced: 1967-1968
Network Carried On: CBS

This series is not currently closed-captioned for network and is mono.
This series has Latin American Spanish tracks.
This series has been transferred into HD and has the following masters:
Network 4x3 HD

Note: 1-1/2 hour episodes (episodes run approx. 73 minutes each.) Series is in color.

--------------

So, if the series has an HD master...maybe someone could release it on Blu?

 

[GMBurns]

I bought this series 10 years ago when E-One first released it. The prints are definitely washed out. But I love Stuart Whitman in this role and consider it one of my favorite westerns. E-One also released Ellery Queen a while back and that series looks much sharper, but that hasn't diminished at all my enjoyment of Cimarron Strip.

 

[David_B_K]

First what is the H&I Network? I've never heard of this. Where would I find this network? Is it on ROKU?

I originally watched H & I (Heroes & Icons) via antenna. The Frndly TV app (not free) offers the channel. I watched pretty much all the episodes of Trackdown on H & I a few years ago and they looked great. However, no video release ever happened for that series.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I bought this series 10 years ago when E-One first released it. The prints are definitely washed out. But I love Stuart Whitman in this role and consider it one of my favorite westerns. E-One also released Ellery Queen a while back and that series looks much sharper, but that hasn't diminished at all my enjoyment of Cimarron Strip.

Yes, I've had the EOne release for a while and pulled it last month to watch more episodes of it. I figured when I started watching them that perhaps whatever the elements are they used for it must be in terrible shape because it was not a good looking image. So, I figured there was no way it could look any better. Then I saw that preview trailer from H&I Network and I wondered where the hell they got their version of the episodes from because it was night and day, a far better image. So, obviously there were good elements for the show (I assume it was shot on film, it looks like it) and they have been scanned into HD.

It was just a single season show, from what I understand because it was really expensive to make. They had great guest stars and the show was very much a series of movies. So, not sure how many people remember it or watched it. However, I think the series is one of those gems ripe for discovery. Whitman made a great lead that was fantastic as a "TV star" and I would love to see the HD version of the show.

I mean, with the renewed interest in Westerns now, and we just got an obscure Western series from WB archive, I suppose someone could take an interest in this, but probably as Neal said, streaming seems the most likely place it could turn up. I would snap up a Blu-ray release though.

 

[LouA]

I didn’t get this when it was released because of the bad reviews of the quality. Same goes for Iron Horse ( France I think) . If those shows were issued in better quality, even by a company like Mill Creek I’d buy them.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I didn’t get this when it was released because of the bad reviews of the quality. Same goes for Iron Horse ( France I think) . If those shows were issued in better quality, even by a company like Mill Creek I’d buy them.

Yes, the set is oddly low quality in terms of the image. I don't know what was used for the DVD transfer but it was not good. The good news is there is an HD transfer that has been done, we'll have to see where it turns up. All I have found is that H&I showed the HD version but that was about 6 years ago, and I don't know if it has been shown anywhere else since.

I'm happy to have the show on DVD, just so I can pull out an episode to watch but having seen the H&I trailer above...now I really want to see that version of the show. That looks very nice, beautiful color and a far better overall image. In that form it really stands out what a great looking show it was.

 

[MartinP.]

I only remember watching this a couple of times when it originally aired. I looked up some info on the show just now and this is probably why: "Cimarron Strip aired opposite ABC's The Flying Nun, Batman and Bewitched, and NBC's Daniel Boone and Ironside." Impressive: Maurice Jarre wrote the theme music.

 

[Neil Brock]

I recorded them off Encore Westerns around 10 years ago. They were the same edited by 5 minutes transfers which were done for CBN in the 80s. If the show is complete (and I have a couple off film chain), they run 76 minutes. Anything shy of that is cut.

 

[Neil Brock]

I didn’t get this when it was released because of the bad reviews of the quality. Same goes for Iron Horse ( France I think) . If those shows were issued in better quality, even by a company like Mill Creek I’d buy them.

I recorded Iron Horse off Crackle and they look pretty good and they're complete.

 

[MartinP.]

I recorded them off Encore Westerns around 10 years ago. They were the same edited by 5 minutes transfers which were done for CBN in the 80s. If the show is complete (and I have a couple off film chain), they run 76 minutes. Anything shy of that is cut.

Does that running time include the preview of next week's episode?

 

[Dan McW]

I believe the DVD set has the same edited episodes that Neal Brock mentioned aired on Encore Westerns.

I posted somewhere on the HTF several months ago about seeing a Cimarron Strip episode on a streaming service that stated the run time was about 76 minutes, and thus uncut. But the commercial breaks were a killer, with (long) ads popping up at random and not at the proper original breaks. It took some 2 hours plus to watch that one episode.

Doesn't Stuart Whitman's estate own Cimarron Strip? I think that's why scattered VHS releases of some episodes and the DVD set were not done by CBS.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I guess, since I am seeing some other sort of obscure TV shows getting released, maybe this would/does have a chance to get a release on Blu. I don't know, I mean I guess it depends on who may want to release it. Everything about this show is very high quality so, it would make for a great HD release. I mean Colt .45, a show I've never seen got a release. So, maybe someone would do Cimarron Strip.

Isn't Wild Wild West getting a Blu-ray release? That was a very popular show, I know.

 

[JohnHopper]

I guess, since I am seeing some other sort of obscure TV shows getting released, maybe this would/does have a chance to get a release on Blu. I don't know, I mean I guess it depends on who may want to release it. Everything about this show is very high quality so, it would make for a great HD release. I mean Colt .45, a show I've never seen got a release. So, maybe someone would do Cimarron Strip.

Isn't Wild Wild West getting a Blu-ray release? That was a very popular show, I know.

Like I said previously, the three CBS series that need a Blu-Ray release:
The Wild Wild West (season 1 DVD is in bad shape)
Rawhide (season 4 DVD is in bad shape)
Cimarron Strip (the whole season DVD is in bad shape)

 

[Neil Brock]

Does that running time include the preview of next week's episode?

No. It's the full episode. No preview.

 

[Neil Brock]

I believe the DVD set has the same edited episodes that Neal Brock mentioned aired on Encore Westerns.

I posted somewhere on the HTF several months ago about seeing a Cimarron Strip episode on a streaming service that stated the run time was about 76 minutes, and thus uncut. But the commercial breaks were a killer, with (long) ads popping up at random and not at the proper original breaks. It took some 2 hours plus to watch that one episode.

Doesn't Stuart Whitman's estate own Cimarron Strip? I think that's why scattered VHS releases of some episodes and the DVD set were not done by CBS.

Yes, they do. And if they weren't remastered for Encore, which usually foot the bill, then there's little chance they will go back and do new transfers.