Volume 3 Update January 7, 2015

Robert Simon and Dean Fredericks in episode #8, "Pilot Error", behind the scenes publicity photo taken on Friday, August 29, 1958 on Universal Studios Stage #8, "VOQ Set". Note stage lights at top, no ceiling! Pilot Error can be seen on The Complete Steve Canyon On DVD Volume #1.

Here's the actual description from the back of this publicity photo from Pegasus Productions.

Work Progressing...

Pushed myself a little too hard towards finishing V3 (with no breaks over the last two months) and caught a nasty bug (which nearly put me in the hospital). Still, I planned to post this last weekend but moving slower on everything (including things NOT related to Steve Canyon). SO... continuing last of the cleaning on the pilot and finishing the documentaries... now planned to have the final files transmitted to the factory by early next week, and then shipped asap (once DVDs are back from the factory) in mid January to everyone that pre-ordered.

Have also been setting up for the "big shipping days", changing a few procedural things, updating shipping addresses for pre-orderers that have changed,  and ordering some new specialized shipping supplies. We are also having to change the copyright notices on the packaging and on the DVDs themselves indicating a 2015 release; Johann Mitchell is changing the DVD cover art files and I am in the middle of changing the copyrights on the videos themselves and re-authoring Disc 1 and correcting Disc 2 (which will be authored just prior to transmitting to the factory). Things are looking good!

Be sure to read to the end of this post as it concerns shipping and details important to those who have pre-ordered Volume #3!

I've been opting to keep working on V3…but I have thrown together a rough little video here that I hope everyone will enjoy!

Here's a taste of some of the documentary content on Volume 3:

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Preview Promo for the Steve Canyon Documentary on the upcoming final 3rd volume of The Complete Steve Canyon On TV DVD set, includes selected interview segments with Lance Hickman, A. Love, Bob Burns, Abel Fernandez, Patrick McClung, Arthur Marks, Jan Paulshus, James Farmer, Dean Hess and Stephen Hickman. More appear on the final DVD than this (which is a sampling of some of the comments and people). Includes photography by Michael McMaster, Laura Lozano and Thomas Swyden.

Hope you enjoy the clips in this, getting to see the faces and hear the voices of some of the people you been reading about for the last 8 years!

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Note again that Pre-Orders on Volume 3 are CLOSED until it is officially released, then those that missed out and want to order will once again be able to do so. Also note that further SHIP-AID donations are unnecessary and are also now CLOSED.

Please be SURE to be subscribed to our mailing list (link below) to keep up with our newest updates, and note that IF YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED RECENTLY you MUST RE-SUBSCRIBE.

Subscribe to our mailing list

(Subscribe with confidence...your information will only be used by us to send updates to you concerning Steve Canyon & Milton Caniff Estate Releasing).

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Also be sure to let us know if your shipping address has changed by emailing us at: 

stevecanyontv@gmail.com

We've heard from many of you with address changes and just wanting to make sure we have the right address to ship V3 to you, and we have answered everyone so far. Doing my best to reply asap. ALSO WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM THOSE OF YOU THAT SENT IN MONEY ORDERS OR CHECKS TO ORDER VOLUME 3 (to make sure we have your correct shipping information). There aren't many that did, but it will help us to make sure.

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I will continue posting updates EVERY FEW DAYS until the VERY LAST pre-order is mailed out (around mid-January) and in your hands…I understand confidence is low with a few of you, and hopefully this will help. Thanks for all the nice cards and emails and overwhelming support- it is most appreciated!

See you here in a few days!

John Ellis

Happy New Year 2014

…to have a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to everyone! Still pushing hard to complete V3, continuing last of the cleaning on the pilot and finishing the documentaries... now planned to have the final files (which we are working on through the holidays) transmitted to the factory (fingers crossed) on Monday January 5th, and then shipped asap (once DVDs are back from the factory) in early January to everyone that pre-ordered. We now have a way to ship them out a little faster to get them into everyone's hands quicker, thanks to Steve Canyon fan Patrick Wider who pointed us in the right direction. Thanks Patrick!

Be sure to read to the end of this post as it concerns shipping and details important to those who have pre-ordered Volume #3!

So glad to be feeling better and everything back on track. The last two years have been challenging in so many ways I don't wish to go into, but everything is fine and am looking forward to the Future.

I have worked straight through the holidays (including Thanksgiving, Christmas and now New Years) and haven't taken a single day for myself…you may get a bit of an idea why this has taken so long by checking the video below:

A little about the restoration/cleanup process
for the 34 regular Steve Canyon episodes
(plus original unaired pilot)

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Between 37,000 and 40,000 individual film frames are in each episode, and nearly each frame has been carefully examined and many retouched by hand after undergoing a light digital non-destructive propriety process (developed by John Ellis). 

Each episode has taken between one to two months to restore by John Ellis, with the exception of the film in this demo (the original unaired pilot film) which has taken nearly a year due to the poor condition of the original print.

Most digital Noise Reduction actually blurs the image to remove the dirt and defects, resulting in a lack of sharpness associated with poor quality. Our technique doesn't do any blurring to preserve as much quality as possible of the original film.

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Note again that Pre-Orders on Volume 3 are CLOSED until it is officially released, then those that missed out and want to order will once again be able to do so. Also note that further SHIP-AID donations are unnecessary and are also now CLOSED.

Please be SURE to be subscribed to our mailing list (link below) to keep up with our newest updates, and note that IF YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED RECENTLY you MUST RE-SUBSCRIBE.

Subscribe to our mailing list

(Subscribe with confidence...your information will only be used by us to send updates to you concerning Steve Canyon & Milton Caniff Estate Releasing).

###

Also be sure to let us know if your shipping address has changed by emailing us at: 

stevecanyontv@gmail.com

We've heard from a lot of you with address changes and just wanting to make sure we have the right address to ship V3 to you, and we have answered everyone so far. Doing my best to reply asap. ALSO WE WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM THOSE OF YOU THAT SENT IN MONEY ORDERS OR CHECKS TO ORDER VOLUME 3 (to make sure we have your correct shipping information). There aren't many that did, but it will help us to make sure.

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I will continue posting updates EVERY FEW DAYS until the VERY LAST last pre-order is mailed out (around mid-January) and in your hands…I understand confidence is low with a few of you, and hopefully this will help. Thanks for all the nice cards and emails and overwhelming support- it is most appreciated!

See you here in a few days!

John Ellis

Merry Christmas 2014

Steve Canyon (Dean Fredericks) wishing you a Merry Christmas from the 16th episode, THE GIFT, written by Ray Bradbury and Sidney Carroll and directed by Don Taylor, which aired originally on Saturday December 20th 1958 at 9pm on NBC. It was never repeated in the United States, but is fully restored and included in The Complete Steve Canyon On TV Volume 2 DVD.

Merry Christmas to everyone today. Continuing preparations on Volume #3 which is planned to have it's final files (which we are working on through the holiday today and this coming week) transmitted to the factory (by the last day of this month) and then shipped in early January to everyone that pre-ordered. We are looking into a way to ship them out a little faster to get them into everyone's hands earlier in January…stay tuned for the next post within a few days for (hopefully) more info on this and other V3 related news.

You may find it interesting to note that 87% of the orders are from the USA, 4% are from Australia, 3% are from Canada, 2% are from the UK, 1% are from Brazil, and the rest of the orders from other countries are all less than 1%, in the following order: Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Belgium, Norway, France, New Zealand, Japan, Greece, Austria, Denmark, Spain, and Germany last. Of course Steve Canyon played on TV in Australia and Brazil and is well known in those countries.

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Note again that Pre-Orders on Volume 3 are CLOSED until it is officially released, then those that missed out and want to order will once again be able to do so. Also note that further SHIP-AID donations are unnecessary and are also now CLOSED.

Please be SURE to be subscribed to our mailing list (link below) to keep up with our newest updates, and note that IF YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS HAS CHANGED RECENTLY you MUST RE-SUBSCRIBE. Also be sure to let us know if your shipping address has changed by emailing us at: 

stevecanyontv@gmail.com

We've heard from many of you and will be responding (verifying we got your mail and changes) in the next day or so. Thanks again for your support and kindness, MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to you all, and see you back here in in a few days!

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Subscribe to our mailing list

Subscribe with confidence...your information will only be used by us to send updates to you concerning Steve Canyon & Milton Caniff Estate Releasing.

Volume 3 Pre-Christmas Update

Where the Volume 3 Official Release stands right now is that the final files will go into the factory before the end of the year and we will begin mailing out the pre-orders (with the bonus gift slipcases) as soon as we receive them back from the factory. I expect to have them all mailed by the second week in January. I had hoped to be able to use the "ship-aid" orders (that many of you were kind enough to donate) through Paypal to generate the USPS 1st Class shipping labels, but that won't work, Linda and I have to hand type EVERY order (or select and paste first name, last name, street address, city, zip code, and email address…and select state from a pulldown menu), ON THE DAY THEY ARE MAILED. and this will take some time (even with both of us doing it separately). Not to mention the international orders. Note there are hundreds of pre-orders…how MANY hundreds is proprietary information, sorry.

Yes, it's slipping over into January, no shipping will occur until AFTER the holiday rush is over: I want to make sure they arrive safely. I will be issuing several updates here this next week before the end of the year to advise everyone in a timely manner, and further updates as the packages go out. My health has improved tremendously and is no longer a factor in finishing here, and note that money is not a factor at this point either. In spite of the stitches in my right (primary) hand last month, I've been working straight through to finish the restoration on the original pilot and the finishing of the two documentaries and bonus "easter eggs" on this final volume this coming week. After 8 YEARS of work on this I am looking forward to the finish line.

Okay, so once the pre-orders are all shipped to those that ordered, then we will begin offering Vol 3 sales again (for those that missed out).

If you pre-ordered and want to make DOUBLY SURE that we have your correct shipping address, (especially if it has changed), send an email (with just your name and shipping address AND note if your email has changed) to: 

stevecanyontv@gmail.com

Note we will be checking these against our master order list, so only send if you pre-ordered and want to make sure. You will get an email response verifying we received it.

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I do want to say a LOT of work has gone into the packaging art and design for the Canyon DVDs. Johann Mitchell is owed a great deal of thanks and respect for her work in turning out art that prints EXACTLY the way we intended. Note also that the 4x4 wraps (covers) are REVERSIBLE on all 4 DVDs (including the Special Edition) and V 1-3 are designed to look a "certain way" in the slipcase. Some "gentleman" on some custom CD/DVD cover forum a few years ago said that our covers sucked and that he was eventually going to get around to designing "proper covers and disc art" for them…I kept that from Johann until just recently (I didn't want her feelings hurt)…she laughed out loud when I told her! She has designed literally thousands of key art for printing, and a lot of love came from her hands into the Steve Canyon DVDs key art. Just wanted to share that. Thanks Johann!

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Note that all Volume #3 Pre-ordering has been closed here and we are accepting NO MORE PRE-ORDERS for Vol. #3 until the official release at the end of this month. It will be available to order (minus the bonus slipcase gift) from this site (and additionally Amazon & other sites) once it has been officially released. Those that have already pre-ordered will receive their copies first along with the slipcase. Thanks for your patience and support.

Also, my sister Suzy is doing great and says hi and happy holidays to all of you!

Volume #3 Pre-Ordering Now Closed!

Note that all Volume #3 Pre-ordering has been closed here until the official release later next month. It will be available to order (minus the bonus slipcase gift) from this site (and additionally Amazon & other sites) once it has been officially released. Those that have already pre-ordered will receive their copies first along with the slipcase. Thanks for your patience and support, it's been a rough road.