Herbie, the Love Bug

They actually screened this in Australia prior to the TV Movie coming out, I enjoyed it as a child, can't remember much of it though, and of course its not available anywhere, legitimate copy or not.

The "general knowledge" is that Disney canceled the series after only 6 episodes and refuses to let it out of The Vault because its central theme is a divorced woman with children finding happiness with the (in this version) single Jim Douglas. And Disney will not tolerate the idea of divorce, nor support it in any way; doesn't matter that 1/2 of American marriages fail, divorce is wrong. That's the word on the street anyway, and its at least an explanation, even if it is a downright stupid one.

Also, only Herbie Goes Bananas was truly terrible, Herbie Fully Loaded was pretty good if you ignore the general laziness of the production and stupidity of the main characters. Even the TV movie is saved from the trash heap by virtue of Bruce Campbell and his power of being awesome.

With the release of the 'SPECIAL EDITION' DVD of "THE LOVE BUG"(1968/9), and its companion: "HERBIE, THE LOVE BUG" Movie Series DVD-boxed set - featuring all four-original 'Disney' films: "The Love Bug,""Herbie Rides Again,""Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo,"Herbie Goes Bananas"- ... why won't 'Disney' release this rare, nearly forgotten, short lived series - "Herbie, the Love Bug" - on DVD? Plus, with the theatrical release of the newest entry/chapter in the "Herbie" movie-series -- "Herbie: Fully-Reloaded" -- the DVD for this 'Gem' would be gladly received. Then we would only need to wait for the fifth-entry to the series, the 'Made for TV Movie'(remake) 1997's "The Love Bug"(TV), starring: 'Bruce Campbell'- from the 'Evil Dead' movies.

I had never even known of this TV show's existence until now in early January 2019. The story goes that the show was cancelled after only 5 episodes and the series locked away and forgotten about after its first airing.

This is such a shame because the show is absolutely charming! At first I thought it was very cheap and tacky looking but I started to really get into it and discovered that it was actually very good. Herbie is wonderfully mischievous as the lovable car with a mind of its own and it's great to see Dean Jones back as Jim Douglas. The blossoming romance between him and a pretty divorcee with 3 kids is sweet to watch, as is Herbie's cheeky match-making.

Thoroughly entertaining and inoffensive stuff. The show might not have the budget of the films and being a TV production from 1982 it does look dated, but it certainly has charm in bucketloads thanks to a great lead and a wonderfully charismatic little car.

If you are a Herbie fan then this is a must!