Space Rangers: The Breakdown

Space Rangers is a show that has lasted for one season in 1993, and only six episodes while co-staring one of my favorite actors (Clint Howard).  This show is nothing special compared to all the other space adventures that came before and after, but I still wanted to own this.  I am a nut about space movies/TV shows.

Image 1. The Space Ranger logo from TV Share.

Time Line

1993

Ranger Productions, Trilogy Entertainment Group, RHI Entertainment produced the TV show and in CBS broadcast the show for only six episodes.  Space Rangers was released not only in the United States but also Australia, Sweden, Germany, and Finland (IMDB).

1995

In 1995 three volumes were sold in the VHS format through RHI and Cabin Fever Entertainment.

1997

Released in Japan, under the distributor NHK (IMDB).  At this time a DVD was released as well under Region 2 (Japan, Europe, South Africa, and the Middle East, including Egypt) (Amazon) (Movie and TV Showing Devices: Part 2: By Region).

Image 2. An image captured from Amazon.com under the listing Space Rangers.

2013

Then on October 15, 2013 a region 1 DVD was released by the distributor Mill Creek Entertainment (Amazon).  The current version that is being hold has two discs.  The first disc is all six episodes, and the second are all six episodes grouped together to make three movies.

Production & Distributors

Production Companies

Ranger Productions Inc. (Defunct)

RHI Entertainment (Name Change and Mergers)

Trilogy Entertainment Group

Distributors

Cabin Fever Entertainment (Defunct)

CBS

Mill Creek Entertainment

NHK (Japan)

Above is the list of production and distribution companies that have worked on Space Rangers according to IMDB.  Take into account that each company is linked to the IMDB page.  The problem with using only IMDB is that they list each episode separately, so for the Space Rangers, that would be six individual listings.

Image 3.

Ranger Productions

Ranger Productions is a defunct company without an official website.  Ranger Productions was formed to develop Space Rangers.

Cabin Fever, RHI, and Sonar Entertainment?

Cabin Fever Entertainment is both defunct and no website.  Cabin Fever Entertainment did distribute movies and television shows (on VHS), but mysteriously became null and void.  When one types “Cabin Fever Entertainment” into the search engine Wikipedia is one of the top results, but the link is for Sonar Entertainment.  This claims that RHI Entertainment and Cabin Fever Entertainment are both part of Hallmark Entertainment.

A Yahoo Answers from 2007, that someone asked how to contact Cabin Fever Entertainment.  The only reply said that Cabin Fever Entertainment did not exist, but Hallmark Entertainment has the rights to some of the properties.

I have not seen evidence of the ownership of Sonar Entertainment (at one-point  Sonar Entertainment was Hallmark and before that it was RHI Entertainment) owns Cabin Fever Entertainment.  It is true that RHI Entertainment was bought by Hallmark Cards (for the sappy programing), and then changed the name to Hallmark Entertainment (ADWEEK Eastern Edition 1994, May), then after a bankruptcy between 2010 through 2012 the name changed to Sonar Entertainment (Screen International 2012, April).  A distribution deal was made with RHI back in 1992, but only a deal (Billboard, 1992 Feb).  There is evidence of a distribution deal, which means they only held the rights to certain prints, but not the actual copyrights.

Part of piecing all the information together Cabin Fever Entertainment disbanded in 1997 or 98.  There is  an article from Video Business states that Cabin Fever Entertainment paid their debts in 1998 after being disbanded a year ago (Video Business 1998).

UPDATE (7/24/2014)

There as something that I missed, and I had a funky feeling that I could not throw away.  But I found it.  On March 2, 1998  Cabin Fever Entertainment sold all the rights to RHI/Hallmark.  The official date that Cabin Fever Entertainment kicked the bucket was on March 2, 1998 (Goldstein, S. 1998) (Reed V. Freebird Film Productions 2009).  This was not a merger, but just the rights sold.

Trilogy Entertainment Group

Trilogy Entertainment Group is an independent film company that has been around since 1984 founded by John Watson and Pen Densham (Trilogy Entertainment Group Website).

CBS

We all know about CBS.  I will be saving CBS for a later time.

Mill Creek Entertainment

They were founded in 2002 from Golden Valley, Minnesota.  This is the company that sells old seasons of TV programing for cheap, and pack deals that are partially or mostly in public domain for a decent cost.

Video Lists (Official Websites)

1. Sonar Entertainment (RHI/Hallmark)
2. Trilogy Entertainment Group
3. CBS
4. Mill Creek Entertainment

Reviews, Memories, Reflections, etc…

• John Kenneth Muir’s Reflections on Cult Movies and Classic TV
• Great But Forgotten: Space Rangers
• The Official Website of Marjorie Monaghan
• ALL SCI-FI: Nothin’ but pure science fiction!
• RPG.net: Thread: [WIW] Space Rangers
• Blankbook19: Pinterest: Space Rangers

References

(1992, Feb.). Cabin Fever signs distribution deal with RHI. Billboard, 104(5), 54. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA11862383&v=2.1&u=drexel_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=44d585f112b89505e62561e6f128d862

(1994, May).  Hallmark buys RHI.  ADWEEK Eastern Edition, 35(18), 12. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA15424329&v=2.1&u=drexel_main&it=r&p=AONE&sw=w&asid=c1c8683dbcf77a4c1009b45ffce51d58

(1998). Despite disbanding, cabin fever gave promised $100,000 to retailers. Video Business, 18(28), 32. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/223923635?accountid=10559

(2012, April). Stewart Till named CEO of Sonar Entertainment. Screen International, Retrieved from http://www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic

fin73, A.Ryan (2007),  How can i contact cabin fever Entertainment?, Yahoo Answers, retrieved from https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070921164257AAGZLpy

Goldstein, S. (1998). Handleman loses handle on video; hallmark gets a case of cabin fever. Billboard, 110(12), 93. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/227085135?accountid=10559

Reed V. Freebird Film Productions, 1:08-cv-01761-CAB Doc #: 96 (09/22/09)

Space Rangers: Release dates. IMDB, retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106144/releaseinfo?ref_=tt_dt_dt

Space Rangers: Company details. IMDB, retrieved from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106144/companycredits?ref_=tt_dt_co

Notes

• Image 1 is the Space Ranger logo from TV Share.
• Image  2 was a captured shot from Amazon.
• Image 3 is a creation by me, and it is mine.
• I have 7 sources that I have created in the reference section.
• I have reference one actor and and one TV show with the help form IMDB.
• I have referenced 6 to 8  (depending on which ones you count) movie/TV (production/distributing) companies.
• Some links are to IMDB, and some are to the corporations official site.

 

Searching, Collecting, & Maintaining DVDs!

I like to collect stuff. I have a card collection (all sorts), lapel pin collection, and a DVD collection.

When in search of DVDs, I look for the rare, the vintage, the common, the interesting, the blockbuster, the “diamond in the rough”, and/or childhood/new memories.

Each person’s motive is different.  This is just my personal account of how I research to add to my living collection.

Step One: Know the product.

What is the format?

An avid searcher for DVDS I came across out dated formats such as VHS, Beta, Laser Disk, and HD, of course I have also come across DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital.

What is the Region?

There are six regions (Go to  Amazon for a full list) for a regular DVD, and three regions for blu-ray  The standard DVD for the United States and Canada  is region one (U.S., U.S. Territories, Canada, and Bermuda), and for blu-ray the region is A/1 (North America, Central America, South America, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia).

I once bought a region 6 of  a season of Deep Space 9 through Amazon.

Some movies or TV shows can be released in one region and not another.  A short live show from the 90s that I saw on Netflix, Space Rangers, is released for VHS, and Region 4 (only in Australia).

Amazon and other sites that sell used (or new) DVDs will primarily sell region 1, but one will find other regions, so be careful.

Step Two: Know, Store and Maintain the Existing Collection

CD & DVD Wallets

I have DVDs.  I have a lot of DVDs.  Within the last year and a half, I started to store DVDs in binders.  Yes, a binder full of DVDs (Memorex Travel Case Active CD & DVD Wallet 256-ct).  I like this one the best.  I bought one with a fancy design for my audio CDs, and that fell apart.

The problem is that I can only find these at Target, and they are around 32 dollars.  I have eight to ten of them.

Do not make the mistake that I did when transferring each DVD from the case to the binders.  One  movie might not mean one DVD.  A TV series does not equal one DVD, more like for to seven discs.    I easily own over three hundred to four hundred titles.

The majority of one binder will cover my Star Trek Collection alone.  I have also kept space open, just in case I get the titles I do not have.

I find when going through my existing collection that I start thinking if there are holes to fill, and then I list them.

Maintenance

I found that some of the disks were thrown across the room by small children, and did not work as they should.   I finally took the plunge and did some research online.

Can You Fix a Scratched DVD with a Banana?
Fix a Scratched DVD

These were the two best articles that I found.   Over vacation, I took a couple of my DVDs that did not work, bought some car wax, and they worked.

Step Three: Listing and Finding Part One

How to do what?  Make a list?  Just write down what you want.  Is that simple?  I don’t know, maybe?  Or maybe not?   This is up to your ambition.

I have too many family members.  I don’t mind shopping for people.  That is fun, and I do not care about the cost.

Because of the family (by birth and in-laws) a listed needed to be created any way  This list has also other items, but mainly DVDs.

I have no idea what I want, so first I go through my binders and look at the franchises I own (Star Trek, Babylon 5, Wizard of Oz, Highlander…) and started to do some searches online to see if there were other versions or different stories.

There are many websites that will help in this process.  Part of this is to remember what they are and their functions.  Amazon is my go to, but they are not always the cheapest, nor do they have everything.

Netflix & Amazon Prime & The Internet Movie Database

Netflix and the Prime well they let me watch movies, and then I go “hey; I like this movie. I think I want this movie.”

Then I go online to IMDB to do a little, simple research on the movie, and maybe a Google search.

Amazon, Half.Com,  & Albris

Of course, there are other sites as well, but these are the ones that I like for a mix of new and used.

Step Four: Listing and Finding Part Two

Going to Netflix, Amazon, Albris, Half.com, etc….. Even to Google for a movie, and to see if it is anywhere.  That is one thing, and a basic search is of course a necessity.

Let us break the walk.

I had an epiphany one day.

I look at my one dollar DVDs, and I wondered why they are not around any more and why were they a dollar.  I was in college when they first came out, and have obtained some of the Cartoon Craze, Warriors of the Wasteland and The Wonderful Galaxy of Oz.

The company is Digiview, and the movies they sold were all Public Domain movies.  Digiview did go out of business, and that is a shame.

However, I use this technique to look for other publishers of DVDS, and producers.

Magnet Releasing | WB Shop | Funimation |Discotek Media |Sony Pictures| CBS Store | Disney Store: Movies |

There are so many other sites that sell their product, or list their product to give you ideas.