Warner Bros. finally releases ‘Harry O’ TV pilot from its vaults

One of the failed promises of digital content has been the fact that so many old movies and TV shows might never get released in digital form.
If studios don’t think there’s a return on investment, they won’t put forth the effort to digitize and spruce up those older works. The same holds for new TV shows canceled after one season or less.
But this week, Warner Bros. started selling one of two TV pilots for the acclaimed TV series “Harry O” online through its manufacture-on-demand DVD business.
As a fan of the show, I ordered a DVD of the television movie “Smile, Jenny, You’re Dead” (1974) for $19.95. It stars David Janssen (“The Fugitive”) as private detective Harry Orwell. (See article on TVshowsonDVD.com.)
The fact that the movie featured a young Jodie Foster probably helped get the movie released.
I can only hope that Warner will soon release the original pilot, called “Such Dust as Dreams Are Made On” (1974), and the TV series “Harry O” (1974-76), which lasted for two seasons on ABC.