History KeepCirculatingTheTapes / Rescued

* ''Film/HeavyMetal'' was theatrically released in 1981, but only got to VHS after 15 years - with a DVD one year later - due to copyright issues (the film has much, much licensed music). The AgonyBooth [[http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Heavy_Metal_1981.aspx recap]] even says the movie got much of its CultClassic status for its rarity than for actual quality.

* Cult band ''The Enid'''s first two albums ''In the Region of the Summer Stars'' and ''Aerie Faerie Nonsense'' (1976-7) had to be be remixed and partly re-recorded in 1984 when the original record company wouldn't return the 2-track masters to the band. Because of this the original mixes were only available on vinyl until 2010.

* ''The Strange World of Gurney Slade'' was a surreal 1960 series starring singer/actor Anthony Newley. It seems to have been too surreal for mass appeal, and it wasn't until 2011 that modern audiences got a chance to view it on DVD and judge for themselves.

* In December 1987, {{Prince}} ask Warner Brothers, his record label at the time, to scrap the release of ''The Black Album'', a week before it's release date. However, by this time over 500k were pressed on vinyl and preview copies had gone out. All were destroyed, with the few remaining being the source for "'''the most bootlegged album of all time'''". In 1991, Warner planned a greatest hits package which would have included the album as a bonus disc. However, it was scrapped when Prince delivered ''Diamonds and Pearls'' to the company. Finally in 1994, during [[TheTropeFormerlyKnownAsX Prince's]] feuded with the same label, the album was given legitimately released. Prince was payed around $1 million for its released. Ironically, it's now out of print.

* In 1988, at the last minute {{Prince}} scrubbed the release of ''The Black Album''. However, by this time preview copies had gone out; these copies were heavily bootlegged. Then in 1994 the album was legitimately released.

* ''WhereOnEarthIsCarmenSandiego'' had some {{Compilation Movie}}s released by Lionsgate and the first season released by Shout! Factory, then five years passed without any other releases. Thanks to Mill Creek Entertainment, a DVD of the complete series will come on Valentine's Day 2012.

* Before Anchor Bay released the eight episodes of ''{{Profit}}'' onto DVD--four of which hadn't even seen broadcast in the USA--the show's ''creator'' circulated the tapes/DVDs himself!

* For the longest time, a JeffBuckley documentary titled ''Amazing Grace'' was completely unavailable to fans. The documentary had won numerous awards and was one of the most accurate documentaries about Buckley's life. Due to copyrights issues rumors of it being released on a DVD spiked up and then soon fizzled out. Then, in 2009, it was officially released on a special edition of ''Grace Around The World''. However, these special editions are quickly running out and odds are the documentary will fade back into this trope.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police]]'' hardly saw daylight after its initial 13-episode run until the popularity of [[Game/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Telltale's Sam and Max games]] that it was able to get a release through Shout! and many new fans were able to experience the show for the first time.

** This troper has them, they're YTV's copies. Logo is on the openings. 'Sly', a high up at Madman, said this was the best quality one available to them. They don't seem to be missing any scenes, but what happened to the clean originals?

* The 1927 classic, ''Wings'' has finally been announced for release on DVD and Blu-Ray by Paramount. Before this announcement, it had been the only film that has won best picture at the Oscars that hadn't been released on DVD.

* The 1927 classic, ''Wings'' has finally been announced for release on DVD and Blu-Ray by 20th Century Fox. Before this announcement, it had been the only film that has won best picture at the Oscars that hadn't been released on DVD.

* The English-language version of ''TheMysteriousCitiesOfGold'' was believed to have been lost after the dubbing studio went bankrupt. However, DVD editions of the entire collection were finally released in 2008.

* The Wii compilation ''Data East Arcade Classics'' was a bit of a surprise, since Data East had been defunct for almost a decade by the time of its release.

* The Series/''AlienNation'' TV series aired from 1989 to 1990, and ended on a heart-wrenching cliffhanger. It was quickly released on VHS. The cliffhanger, and numerous unresolved sub-plots, were eventually resolved in made-for-tv movies that aired from 1994-1997. Only the first two were ever released on VHS; leaving more hanging plot threads with no resolution for fans who hadn't managed to see the movies when they originally aired. The series was given a full DVD box-set release in 2006; but it took another two years for the movies to be released, finally giving fans the entire story. However, the parody advertisements that were part of the original series airing have yet to be released in any format.

* The ''AlienNation'' TV series aired from 1989 to 1990, and ended on a heart-wrenching cliffhanger. It was quickly released on VHS. The cliffhanger, and numerous unresolved sub-plots, were eventually resolved in made-for-tv movies that aired from 1994-1997. Only the first two were ever released on VHS; leaving more hanging plot threads with no resolution for fans who hadn't managed to see the movies when they originally aired. The series was given a full DVD box-set release in 2006; but it took another two years for the movies to be released, finally giving fans the entire story. However, the parody advertisements that were part of the original series airing have yet to be released in any format.

* It took damn near 22 years, three distribution companies, and a ''very'' dogged fanbase to get ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' on DVD in the United States. Cue ''massive'' {{Squee}} [[AndTheFandomRejoiced when Kcsh finally released a two-part set]].

* It took damn near 22 years, three distribution companies, and a ''very'' dogged fanbase to get ''AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' on DVD in the United States. Cue ''massive'' {{Squee}} [[AndTheFandomRejoiced when Kosh finally released a two-part set]].

* ''TheRealAdventuresOfJonnyQuest'', which ran for a total of 52 episodes in two seasons during 1996-1997, had a few single-episode VHS tapes and laserdisc releases during its run, but was all but forgotten after that, especially after the Time Warner merger. Most of the episodes can be found online, though, thanks to the shows' faithful fanbase. ''Finally'' in 2009, Turner released a DVD set of the first 13 episodes of season 1, including director/producer commentary and "making of" mini-features. There have been no announcements about releases for the rest of the series as of yet, but the fans remain eager... hopefully it won't take another ''13 years'' this time around.

* Shout! Factory has started to release ''{{Madeline}}'' on DVD, in random compilations. All the episodes (though none of the specials or the direct-to-video movie) can be found on Hulu.
* ''SWATKats'': Despite many people asking for it, a DVD set had yet to happen for over a decade. The Warner Archive will start selling complete series [=DVDs=] on December 14, 2010.

* ''ThePhantomTollbooth'' was set for a 2008 DVD release but got delayed. It is now available to order off the Warner Bros website.
* Most of the Nicktoons, again. For the longest time, the only Nickelodeon originals with full DVD sets were ''SpongeBobSquarePants'' (CashCowFranchise extreme), ''TheRenAndStimpyShow'' (John K. got the rights back), ''InvaderZim'' (titanic fan demand, though it was released by Media Blasters, who usually deal in anime), and ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender''. In 2010, [=DVDs=] of ''{{Doug}}'' (minus two episodes), ''AaahhRealMonsters'', and ''HeyArnold'' have hit Amazon, and season 1 of ''RockosModernLife'' was be released in June 2011.

* ''{{Jem}}'' — Rhino Video released seasons 1-2 and part of 3 on DVD. The rest? Left in limbo. To make matters worse, the first two sets of [=DVDs=] went out of print and cost a pretty penny to buy a second-hand copy. Luckily, Jem now airs regularly on TheHub, as "Jem and the Holograms." Even more fortunate: Shout! Factory has decided to release a complete series DVD boxset, including the long-unavailable season 3 episodes.

* ''{{Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers}}'' was rescued and released on DVD.
* ''ReBoot''. AD Vision never released Seasons 1-2 on DVD, only four episodes from Season 1 ever came out on VHS. Seasons 3-4 came out on DVD, but went out of print. Fortunately, Shout! Factory eventually released [=DVDs=] of the complete series.

* In mid-2009, Mirage Studios released the "[[Comicbook/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles TMNT Collected Book Vol. 1]]": a large TPB with the first 15 issues of the original comics. The book quickly sold out and necessitated a second printing. Later that year, the entire ''Turtles'' franchise was sold to Viacom and the second printing never happened. [[http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/article/1677/ In early 2011]], Viacom granted IDW Publishing the ''TMNT'' comic license, which includes the reprinting of the Mirage comics for the summer that year.

* The delay of the [=DVD=] release of ''TheAdventuresOfBuckarooBanzaiAcrossTheEighthDimension'' is one of the strangest stories in the industry. Producer David Begelman made a shady career for himself as an executive at several major Hollywood studios, including Columbia Pictures and MGM. During this period, he was the target of multiple lawsuits and criminal prosecutions for embezzlement and fraud (including a notorious check-forging scandal that exploded after actor CliffRobertson discovered that fake checks had been made out in his name, which eventually led to Begelman's being fired from United Artists), and successfully blackmailed JudyGarland with illicitly obtained medical photos. After being fired from those studios, he founded his own production companies, Sherwood Productions and Gladden Entertainment, where he produced several moderately-successful films, including ''Buckaroo Banzai''. Due to some legal chicanery, he ended up the sole owner of the rights to the film, and because of a falling-out with the writer and director over financial issues, refused to allow any further use of the property. This included blocking a planned television series, a sequel film, and the later DVD release. During this time, Laserdisc copies of the film were selling for well over $100. It took Begelman's bankruptcy and subsequent suicide for the rights to devolve to his largest creditor, Crédit Lyonnais bank, and then to Polygram Entertainment where executive Steve Gelber (a ''Banzai'' fan) pushed for a DVD release; it was finally released in 2002 under MGM's distribution. Begelman's obfuscatory and legally-questionable bookkeeping practices continue to prevent any further development of the Banzai property — such as the long-awaited sequel, or a soundtrack album — as no one is really sure who owns the various rights involved.

* Due to rights problems (including song copyrights), ''Hellzapoppin'' has never been released on VHS or DVD in America. It ''did'' get a UK DVD release in 2007, though.
* For nearly 20 years, a copy of ''JohnnyGotHisGun'' was fairly difficult to acquire. Why? Well, {{Metallica}} wanted to use footage from the movie for their video of "One" back in 1988, and found it simpler to just purchase all the rights to the movie...and then do nothing with it. Only in 2009 was a DVD release made.
* ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'' was like this for a long time due to claims from the [[{{Dracula}} Stoker Estate]]. Both are now in the public domain, ending the dispute.
** It's worth noting that because of the dispute, all copies of the film were ordered to be destroyed; were it not for those dedicated bootleggers, ''the film would not have survived at all''. To those collectors and reprinters, wherever you may be — the fans and historians of the world salute you.
* MichaelJackson's ''{{Moonwalker}}'' didn't get a Region 1 re-release for a long time, for obvious reasons. It was finally released internationally on Blu-Ray in 2010, albeit with some of the violence in the "Smooth Criminal" segment trimmed.
* The underrated 1981 made-for-TV thriller ''Dark Night of the Scarecrow'', having only been released on VHS in the mid-1980s, was finally released on DVD in September of 2010.

* ''{{The Adventures of Pete and Pete}}'' got around this by replacing any protested music cues with clips from their house band Polaris on the [=DVDs=]. Unfortunately, the "Nick Rewind" DVD series was discontinued (''after'' it was designed, but) ''before'' the last season set was released.
** However, the fact that most of the music was independently owned and the musicians involved enjoyed working on the show makes it so that the number of replaced music cues can be counted on one hand.

* ''AllyMcBeal'' fans in the United States either had to trade tapes, import the British DVD series set from the UK, or be content with a five-episode "Best Of Season 1" compilation for many years because of a flop of a syndication deal where FX took a nearly $2 Million bath every time they aired an episode (they stopped after two years and nobody else dared to air it again), and the sheer fact that all the music rights used on the show were not negotiated at all before the rise of TV on DVD, not to mention that Vonda Shepard would be looking at quite the sweet DVD royalty check for being the house singer on the show. Thankfully, the long wait was worth it — in October 2009, Fox released the full series in a Region 1 box set with no music cuts whatsoever.

* ''CrimeStory'' has been released, but with knock-off tunes in place of the original early-1960s pop numbers underscoring the action. It just isn't the same.
* ''TheEqualizer'' was just that, until recently Universal released Season 1 on DVD. And, the funny part with "Complete Season 1" DVD set? It's a rare case of "[[BadExportForYou Better Export]] [[AvertedTrope For Them]]".
* The civil rights documentary miniseries ''Eyes on the Prize'' was once unavailable on DVD because it includes a lot of music and film footage that was licensed only for a limited time. The license was renewed in 2006, thanks to additional funding from the Ford Foundation. The funding to remaster and rebroadcast the series for PBS came with the stipulation that the DVD release be available for purchase only to schools and libraries, not individuals. However, as of 2010, it is now available to the general public for purchase on the PBS website.
* {{Averted|Trope}} with ''{{Freaks and Geeks}}'', which got a DVD despite having a soundtrack that included Styx, TheGratefulDead, Cream, and two episodes that used only songs by TheWho and BillyJoel respectively. One time when TooGoodToLast helped the {{DVD}} release.
* ''{{Family Matters}}'' qualified for this for almost a decade until they finally released the first season on DVD. There have been no mention of the other eight seasons, so everyone's hoping that those will be made as soon as possible.

* ''{{Ghostwriter}}'' wasn't available until Shout Factory announced a DVD release of the first season.

* ''TheGreatestAmericanHero'', released but with music rights problems.
* ''ItsGarryShandlingsShow'': All four seasons were released on DVD in Fall 2009.

* From Sweden is the show ''KennyStarfighter'', a big cult classic over here. There was a VHS release in 1997 when it came out, but had major rights problems. It wasn't until 2006, before the movie came out, that the show did eventually see a DVD release.
* ''LaFemmeNikita'': Season 2 was released and then unreleased, pulled from store shelves, when one of the featured bands demanded more money for the use of their song. Instead, the song was replaced, the [=DVDs=] rereleased and they got nothing.
* ''Little Muppet Monsters'' was like this for over 20 years. Beyond the first episode, Muppet fans had no way to gain copies of the three aired episodes. In 2008, a Muppet fan came forward saying he had all three episodes that aired on {{CBS}}. He made copies for the Muppet fan community and are now very easy to find.
* ''MarriedWithChildren'' was released on DVD, albeit with FrankSinatra's ''Love and Marriage'' song replaced with more generic music due to rights issues.
* ''TheMaryTylerMooreShow'' had Season 1 put on DVD in 2002. Thanks to disappointing sales of that set, it took three years for Season 2 to be released, and it ultimately took eight years to get all seven seasons on DVD.

* Music rights are also the reason it took forever for ''MiamiVice'' to get a video release (the [=DVDs=] were first — it '''never''' got analog video releases), and why there were lengthy delays between each season's box set. Still, the episodes were completely unabridged...well, save for a sequence cut from the Season 4 episode "By Hooker, By Crook" because it was deemed to be excessively disturbing. It showed a prostitute being tied up and murdered while Crockett has sex with another woman.
** In an interesting case, however, while you can now find most episodes online (completely legally, through Hulu and Netflix), there are one or two episodes that are withheld from the internet for apparent rights issues.
* A slightly different issue arose for ''MySoCalledLife'': It wasn't that there ''wasn't'' a DVD released for it; it was that it was so rare that the cost to buy it was prohibitive (there were sets for $200 on eBay). Luckily, a new DVD release came out, which dropped the price from prohibitive to merely expensive.
* Under {{Disney}}, ''PowerRangers'' got screwed over with only some episodes (usually from the start of the season) ever getting DVD releases and just about every season, bar the {{recut}} of ''MightyMorphinPowerRangers'', pulled out of airing. After Saban reclaimed the franchise from the Mouse House, ''MMPR'' was streamed in its original form one episode a day on the official website in early 2011 as a lead-up to ''PowerRangersSamurai'' and the entire franchise [[https://twitter.com/#!/anbmedia/status/80498732512198656 is available on Netflix]] starting June 15, 2011, alongside related Saban shows ''BigBadBeetleborgs'' and ''VRTroopers''.

* The full run of ''Series/RemingtonSteele'' has been released, albeit with many edits to the soundtrack, most noticeably in the episodes "Steele Trying" (in which the entire soundtrack of Tony Bennett songs has been replaced) and "Steele on the Air" (in which Laura Holt is seen driving and singing along to the radio; Laura is singing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", but the radio is playing something else).
* ''Series/SheWolfOfLondon'' ... finally released after many years in February 2010 (Region 1), according to [[http://www.amazon.com/She-Wolf-London-Complete-4pc-Mcsh/dp/B002QU1Z1K Amazon.]]
* ''SmallWonder'': Shout! Factory released Season 1 to retail stores on Region 1 DVD in February 2010. Season 2 was released directly to fans in June 2010.
* Reruns of ''Series/SoulTrain'' started in November 2009 on BET's rebranded ''Centric'' network, with DVD sets available from Time-Life. Selected segments are also available through Comcast On-Demand.
* ''TheState'' had been released on iTunes, but all of the music had to be pulled for rights issues. Most of it was replaced with ''just close enough'' soundalikes, but on at least one sketch ''all'' of the audio had to be completely redone due to the lack of original masters, using looped actors' dialogue, fake Marvin Gaye music, and canned laughter.
** (Eventually) averted. Viacom finally got all the rights to every episode settled (mostly by replacing the original music)... and then decided not to release it on DVD anyway. Thankfully, campaigning by the show's stars managed to convince them otherwise, and a complete series box set is now available. Only one short segment had to be cut because characters were singing a Pearl Jam song that could not be cleared. Still, at least it got here before ''{{Daria}}''.
* ''TheStarlost'' (1973), based on a story by HarlanEllison (and later ScrewedByTheNetwork), finally got a full-series Region 1 DVD release in 2008.

* ''{{Thirtysomething}}'' was this for about two decades.
* After years of being forgotten in its (small) fanbase's memory, ''VanPires'' of all series actually got a DVD release in 2007.

* ''Series/{{Witchblade}}'', released but with music rights problems.

* Negativland's single ''U2'', where both tracks were essentially {{Voice Clip Song}}s featuring Casey Kasem having obscene temper tantrums between takes of an episode of ''American Top 40'' set to instrumental covers of {{U2}}'s "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For". It was quickly pulled from record stores due to a lawsuit by Island Records (both for unlicensed samples and the fact that the cover misleadingly had "U2" in much bigger letters than the band name). It then continued to stay out-of-print due to Casey Kasem, who understandably was embarrassed by his ranting. Averted in that the band themselves put both sides of the single up for free download on their website, and later [[RefugeInAudacity started distributing a bootleg album containing 11 different versions of the song]], which is surprisingly still available.
* BobDylan once performed a rather...famous concert at the Royal Albert Hall in the UK. For many years, a near-perfect recording of that concert circulated in one form or another, until it was officially released as part of the "bootleg" series of [=CDs=].

* ''{{Daria}}'' was not commercially available from its finale in 2002 until the summer of 2010. Fans wanting the show either had to hunt down the Real Player versions of the series (which were taken from the original airings of the episodes/movies on MTV) or more mainstream AVI/MPEG video captures that were (unfortunately) taken from the show's run on Noggin, who butchered the episodes mercilessly, both for content and to make room for more advertisements. Now the show is '''finally''' on DVD and on TV (LOGO has the rights to it), though with the trade-off of having ''all'' of the music yanked and replaced with generic replacement tunes.
** Even more annoying: While all 65 episodes of the series itself are uncut (new masters were made à la "The State" with the replacement music), "Is It College Yet?" is the same old butchered version that aired on MTV after its initial commercial-free airing, which was used for the original DVD release of said film.
* Thanks to Warner Home Video's "CartoonNetwork Hall Of Fame" DVD collection, the first seasons of ''CourageTheCowardlyDog'' and ''JohnnyBravo'' now have DVD releases as of Summer 2010, with ''DextersLaboratory'' coming the following October.

* While still no signs of the DVD, ''MegasXLR'' has had official releases for iTunes and Xbox Live Arcade.
* Seasons 1-3 of ''{{X-Men Evolution}}'' have had DVD releases, but the fourth hasn't. iTunes has somewhat rectified this.
* ''BumpInTheNight'', which got yanked when Disney [[ScrewedByTheNetwork took over ABC]], got a DVD collection in July 2010.
* ''WesternAnimation/SonicTheHedgehog'' was caught in this state for over a decade until, finally, a worthy DVD set was released. Same goes for ''WesternAnimation/AdventuresOfSonicTheHedgehog'' and ''WesternAnimation/SonicUnderground''.
* ''MightyMouse: The New Adventures'' was caught in this trap, but then the entire series came out on DVD in 2010, with the picture digitally remastered from the original film negatives AND bonus features. Quite a big treatment for a show that hadn't aired in years.
* The 1990s ''WesternAnimation/{{X-Men}}'' cartoon subverted this: after years of having to wait for a DVD release, and feeling all hope was lost, the first 32 episodes were released on DVD (in two 16-episode sets) for the first time in 2009 (presumably to cash in on ''[[{{Film/X-Men}} X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]''), with three more sets later released completing the series.

* ''ThePiratesOfDarkWater'' became available at [=WarnerArchive.com=] on August 31, 2010 with a complete series box set.
* Warner apparently releases seasons of ''{{Superfriends}}'' at random, and it seemed unlikely that the "lost" 1980s shorts and [[OldShame the fan UN-favorite Wendy & Marvin season]] would ever come to DVD. That is, until one set of the "lost" shorts made its way to DVD in August 2009, and the Wendy and Marvin episodes the following year.
* It took damn near 22 years, three distribution companies, and a ''very'' dogged fanbase to get ''AdventuresOfTheGalaxyRangers'' on DVD in the United States. Cue ''massive'' {{Squee}} [[AndTheFandomRejoiced when Kosh finally released a two-part set]].

* ''TheRealAdventuresOfJonnyQuest'', which ran for a total of 52 episodes in two seasons during 1996-1997, had a few single-episode VHS tapes and laserdisc releases during its run, but was all but forgotten after that, especially after the Time Warner merger. Most of the episodes can be found online, though, thanks to the shows' faithful fanbase. ''Finally'' in 2009, Turner released a DVD set of the first 13 episodes of season 1, including director/producer commentary and "making of" mini-features. There have been no announcements about releases for the rest of the series as of yet, but the fans remain eager... hopefully it won't take another ''13 years'' this time around.
* ''KimPossible'' had a couple of episode [=DVDs=], but for years, Disney didn't seem to see the value in season box sets. DVD sets of the first two seasons finally became available in October 2010, but only through the Disney Movie Club.

* ''SWATKats'': Despite many people asking for it, a DVD set had yet to happen for over a decade. The Warner Archive will start selling complete series [=DVDs=] on December 14, 2010.
* ''CodeLyoko'' only got Season 1 and five episodes of Season 2 to DVD before Funimation quietly dropped the title. It was thought that the rest of the series would never see an official release [[NoExportForYou unless one lived in France]] until Taffy Entertainment began distributing the seasons on iTunes in November 2010, with XANA Awakens available free, and the first six episodes available free on [[http://www.youtube.com/user/TaffykidsUS their YouTube account]]. As of January 2011, all four seasons have been released.

* ''RoverDangerfield'' was released December 2010.

* ''{{Jem}}'' — Rhino Video released seasons 1-2 and part of 3 on DVD. The rest? Left in limbo. To make matters worse, the first two sets of [=DVDs=] went out of print and cost a pretty penny to buy a second-hand copy. Luckily, Jem now airs regularly on TheHub, as "Jem and the Holograms." Even more fortunate: Shout! Factory has decided to release a complete series DVD boxset, including the long-unavailable season 3 episodes.

* Some people decide to watch a [=~Let's Play~=] for this reason.