Shout! brings classic sixties' TV series 'ROUTE 66' to DVD

By April MacIntyre Nov 8, 2011, 2:45 GMT

Shout! Factory announced that it has acquired the renowned television classic Route 66 from Roxbury Entertainment.

Great news for classic TV fans!

Shout! Factory announced that it has acquired the renowned television classic Route 66 from Roxbury Entertainment.

In this landmark deal, Shout! Factory now owns extensive proprietary rights to this beloved television series, including all 116 original episodes, its archived materials, worldwide home entertainment and digital rights, and North American broadcast rights.

This announcement was made today by Shout! Factory’s founding partners Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos.

“ROUTE 66 is one of our favorite TV series from the 1960s and is an American classic,” stated Shout! Factory’s founding partners. “As we are aggressively expanding our purchasing libraries of premiere television and films, this deal exemplifies the type of strategic acquisitions we plan to actively pursue.”

Shout! Factory plans a multi-tiered rollout of ROUTE 66 on all packaged media, digital distribution via electronic-sell-through (EST), video-on-demand (VOD), subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), and North American broadcast, cable and syndication.

While film and TV production company Roxbury Entertainment and producer Kirk Hallam have retained the trademarks and television remake and film rights to ROUTE 66, Roxbury Entertainment and Hallam, in collaboration with Shout! Factory, are currently in development of a TV series remake.

Created by Academy Award-winning writer Stirling Silliphant, ROUTE 66 stars Martin Milner and George Maharis.

The series aired on CBS from 1960-1964 and garnered extraordinary reception from viewers and critics alike. Throughout its four season run, the series featured an impressive list of guest stars, including Robert Redford, Robert Duvall, Walter Matthau, Martin Sheen, James Caan, Burt Reynolds, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, Lon Chaney Jr., Ron Howard, Lee Marvin, Suzanne Pleshette, Ed Asner, Julie Newmar, Cloris Leachman and Leslie Nielsen, among other notables.

Brimming with intriguing characters, smart writing and featuring its timeless Nelson Riddle theme song, ROUTE 66 has endured ever since as a symbol of the original road trip drama and further established Corvette as the iconic American sports car.