The Magician - DVDs for 'The TV Series' Starring Bill Bixby...VERY SOON! Appearing magicially at last, in just a matter of weeks, from VEI
Posted by David Lambert	8/04/2017
Bill Bixby ("The Incredible Hulk") stars as master stage magician Tony Blake, a playboy philanthropist who uses his talents as an illusionist to solve crimes and help others in need. After being falsely imprisoned, Blake escapes and uses his unjust imprisonment as a motivator to seek justice for others. Airing from 1973-1974, the series also stars Julian Christopher ("Smallville"), Keene Curtis ("Cheers"), Joseph Sirola ("Hawaii Five-O") and features guest appearances by Mark Hamill (Star Wars), William Shatner ("Star Trek"), Jessica Walter ("Arrested Development"), and John Colicos ("Battlestar Galactica"), among others. Blake, an amateur magician himself, did all his own magic tricks and all episodes were preceded by an announcement that no trick photography was used. The above quoted material comes from the studio, VEI (Visual Entertainment, Inc.), who has just announced (see button link below) a pre-order for their long-awaited release of The Magician - The TV Series, starring Bill Bixby. In fact, the last paragraph quoted above says "Blake, an amateur magician himself, did all his own magic tricks..."; we're very sure that VEI meant to say "Bixby" rather than "Blake," as it was the late Bill Bixby who was the amateur magician, and performed his own tricks while playing the role of "Anthony Blake." It's been almost two years now since our November 2015 report that VEI had acquired the rights to this classic program, and that it was in-the-works for DVD. Bixby was well-known in other shows, such as My Favorite Martian, The Courtship of Eddie's Father and later his legendary role in The Incredible Hulk, and fans couldn't wait for The Magician to finally hit home video. So it was with regret we updated fans in fall 2016 that the show was delayed, along with other VEI plans for TV-DVDs, until 2017. Package art is below, and as you can see it's simply titled "The Magician - The TV Series." Price is $39.99 SRP, and it will be available on Friday, August 25th. The show had a pilot telefilm, and then 21 regular weekly episodes. While the package doesn't say "complete" anywhere in the title, and the studio's listing fails to mention how many episodes are included (or whether the title in included), we noticed that the URL of the listing at VEI's online studio store uses the designation, "the-magician-the-complete-collection" as part of the link's wording. So we hope (as you do, we're sure!) that this turns out to be complete (with all 22 installments) after all. If not, well, we're sure VEI did their best. Stay tuned! Our thanks to readers Gordon Hartman and Phil Satterley for emailing us about this item.