History KeepCirculatingTheTapes / LiveActionTV

* The BBC ran the forerunner of pretty much all reality shows back in the 1970s called ''Series/LivingInThePast'' where a bunch of historical re-enactors tried to live successfully in an Iron Age lifestyle. They have never released the 12 one hour episodes, nor issued any reasons for refusing to do so (although it is suspected that they didn't get the proper permissions to sell footage of some of the participants).

* ''Series/PoliceCameraAction'', an extremely popular ITV show, has bootlegs floating around on torrent sites but has ''never'' had an official DVD release. Add [[WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings the fact that fans want]] '''all''' versions, including the EditedForSyndication copies, and it looks impossible, but not unlikely. UsefulNotes/{{Copyright}} of police footage comes into play here. Music rights are an often-cited theory as to why the show hasn't been released.

* While the official Oscars Website/YouTube channel has many clips of [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Award ceremonies]], such as the actual awards presentations/acceptance speeches and host monologues, full show releases aren't in the cards due to myriad music and film rights issues that would have to be cleared for such segments as Best Original Song nominee performances or film montages. The 1994 playlist, for example, doesn't include Creator/BernadettePeters' opening performance of a specially-rewritten-by-Creator/StephenSondheim-himself version of [[Theatre/SundayInTheParkWithGeorge "Putting It Together"]] because it was accompanied by a montage of clips depicting the filming and promotion of a variety of films. And don't expect to find footage of notorious moments like the 1989 opening number with Creator/RobLowe and Snow White or Creator/WillSmith slapping Creator/ChrisRock at the 2022 show.

* Several popular Japanese Tokusatsu shows, such as ''Franchise/KamenRider'' and ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' recently got an official release in the west, in the form of DVD sets or made available for streaming. Unfortunately, "The West" in this case only means America; The DVD sets are coded for Region 1, while the streaming services are geoblocked. Western fans outside America are therefore still forced to watch the shows through illegal fansubs.

* Most of the Japanese live-action ''Franchise/SuperSentai'' series has never aired in the United States and none have ever seen any home media release. This includes the classic ''Series/HimitsuSentaiGoranger'', which essentially kicked the genre off in the mid-1970s. DVD releases [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff in countries where certain seasons were popular]] (Brazil, France) exist, but whether they have English subtitles and the viewer can bypass the regional lock is another issue.
** Fortunately Shout! Factory came to the (eventual) rescue, with complete season releases (though they unfortunately still exclude the various side movies and specials) starting with ''Series/KyoryuSentaiZyuranger''; as of spring 2018, the line has continued with ''Series/GoseiSentaiDairanger'', ''Series/NinjaSentaiKakuranger'', ''Series/ChourikiSentaiOhranger'', ''Series/GekisouSentaiCarranger'', ''Series/DenjiSentaiMegaranger'', ''Series/SeijuuSentaiGingaman'' and ''Series/KyukyuSentaiGoGoV'', and releases of ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger'', ''Series/HyakujuuSentaiGaoranger'' and the pre-Zyuranger series ''Series/ChoujinSentaiJetman'' are also all scheduled for release later in the year.

* ''[=WonderWorks=]'' was a joint PBS/Disney series that created short made-for-TV movies based on acclaimed children's books, such as ''A Cry in the Wild (Literature/{{Hatchet}})'' ''Literature/JacobHaveILoved'', ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'', and ''The Hoboken Chicken Emergency''. It also brought several other countries' miniseries adaptations of classic kidlit to the United States. Despite most of the films seeing release on VHS (some were also fixtures of the Creator/DisneyChannel in TheEighties), only a few have seen the light of day on DVD, and never under the ''[=WonderWorks=]'' banner. These include the first two titles mentioned, the [=BBC=] adaptations of ''Literature/ALittlePrincess'' and ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'', and the first two Kevin Sullivan-produced ''Literature/AnneOfGreenGables'' adaptations.
** ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0162334/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_1 Frog]]'' and its sequel, ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315609/?ref_=fn_tt_tt_15 Frogs!]], starring Paul Williams, only exist on VHS and had a few PBS airings, but have since vanished with no DVD release.

* ''The Pop 'N Rocker Game'' was a short-lived game show/variety show hybrid that featured live concert performances and a quiz show element related to each performance. While many clips of the performances exist, only two full episodes have surfaced. Given the concert-heavy premise, clearance issues are likely at play here.

* ''Series/{{ALF}}'' is a very special case. The entire series was released, but only in the EditedForSyndication versions. The producers have insisted that it would be too expensive to compile the original episodes for DVD release, but that didn't stop Europe from getting an uncut version of the series.

* ''[[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115413/ Viper]]'' has no reruns and no DVD release. The only way to find it is on Website/YouTube. A few people have put most of the better episodes up, but they're typically in VHS quality; the presence of local-station logos may be a point of contention.

** ''Cracked Actor'', an ''Omnibus'' documentary that followed Bowie on his 1974 tour of the U.S., has never been made available on video despite its high regard amongst fans, historians, and even the man himself (and Nicholas Roeg decided to cast Bowie in ''Film/TheManWhoFellToEarth'' after seeing it, as Bowie had ''exactly'' the alien quality he was looking for).