Mr. Novak - The 1963 Show Starring James Franciscus is Planned for DVD Warner's Sr. VP, George Feltenstein, says to expects the first season next spring
Posted by David Lambert	10/09/2017
George Feltenstein is Warner Brothers Home Entertainment's Senior Vice President of Classic Catalog Marketing, and as such he is the main man at the Warner Archive Collection. He and his team have worked to bring DVD releases to us of many TV shows from deep inside Warner's library. One such show that appears to be in-the-works is the NBC-aired 1963 program Mr. Novak, which ran for two seasons and 60 hour-long episodes. Recently a book about the show, "Mr. Novak: An Acclaimed Television Series," was released. At the website which promotes this book, they are announcing the following: "IT'S OFFICIAL!!! - The first season of Mr. Novak will be released in 2018 in a DVD set by Warner Home Video. Prints will be struck from the original 35mm camera negatives and will look pristine. No release date yet but might be as early as March or April of 2018. - George Feltenstein." So it looks like we'll get Mr. Novak - The Complete 1st Season on DVD (probably as a manufacture on demand title from the Warner Archive, sold through online MOD sellers such as WBshop and Amazon/CreateSpace...on the other hand, it may possibly be traditionally produced and sold in stores) roughly in the Spring 2018 timeframe. Our thanks to longtime reader Phil Satterley for emailing us about this item! James Franciscus (Naked City, The Greek Tycoon, Beneath the Planet of the Apes) starred in the title role, and Dean Jagger (Bad Day at Black Rock, The Robe, White Christmas) co-starred as the school's principal, Albert Vane. Guest stars during the first season included Ed Asner, Tony Dow, Kim Darby, Shelley Fabares, Diane Ladd, Tige Andrews, Royal Dano, George Takei, Beau Bridges, Martin Landau, Walter Koenig, Edward Mulhare, Kathy Garver, Harold Gould, Barbara Barrie, Bonnie Franklin, Teri Garr, Toni Basil, Malachi Throne, Marion Ross, and Marta Kristen, among others. A formal announcement through regular channels is probably still several months away, and of course the timeframe given above might change in the meantime. Stay tuned for finalized info, a specific date, the method of availability (remember that above we're just GUESSING about the Warner Archive/MOD-ness of the item), pricing, package art and other details, as further information becomes available.