Soul Train: Music TV Series Set to Return
One of America’s longest-running series, Soul Train, is finally back on track. The once “must see” music show has been purchased by a new owner who promises to resurrect Soul Train in a new fashion.
Soul Train started airing in Chicago on August 17, 1970 and showcased many R&B and soul artists. An immediate success, Soul Train was quickly syndicated and began airing in selected cities across the US. The show’s home base moved to Los Angeles in 1972 where it remains today. Don Cornelius, the series’ creator, served as host until 1993 when he was replaced by a series of guest hosts. Mystro Clark took over full-time in 1997, Shemar Moore replaced him in 1999, and Dorian Gregory began hosting in 2003.
The music show is billed as “the longest running, first-run, nationally syndicated program in television history.” Soul Train aired original episodes from 1970 until the 2005 — 2006 season. After that, compilation episodes began airing as The Best of Soul Train.
MadVision Entertainment has recently purchased the rights to Soul Train from Cornelius. The 71-year-old series creator didn’t have a problem letting go and told the NY Times, “Thirty-five years is a long time.”
The new owner has announced that they’ll be producing new episodes of the popular series. Their plan is to delve deeper into the hit show’s archives for the older viewers and to produce new shows for younger generations.
MadVision is also interested in bringing Soul Train’s brand into new mediums and exploring other new opportunities. Peter Griffith, co-founder of MadVision, said, “The series has never been shown on DVD, and it’s not been utilized on video-on-demand or mobile or Internet platforms.”
This may not be an easy venture because, as the Times observes, the company will likely have to make new deals with artists for the music rights. These kinds of issues have led to delaying other TV shows’ releases on DVD for quite some time.
There’s no word on how all of this will affect the Soul Train movie that was announced in April. Cornelius revealed that he’d made a deal with Warner Bros. to develop a buddy picture called Soul Train: The Movie. The story follows a pair of male dancers from the TV show who get in over their heads.
We’ll have to wait and see if any or all of these new ventures come to fruition. One thing is sure though, one way or another, the Soul Train will keep on rolling. Stay tuned! 
3. arnetta said,
Great show i miss it much.
2. LovePeace&Soul said,
I am so happy to read this. I MISS SOUL TRAIN. The Best of Soul Train archived shows were fun to watch for awhile, but I’m really sick of them now. The guys dance so queenie and the girls are dressed like they are going to church. I started watched Soul Train when I was a kid (in the 70’s) and have seen it change through the years. One of the things I didn’t like about the latest shows was just how little you got to see the people dance versus them having their artists for the week sing. They really didn’t need three artists per week — they could have cut it to two and played more chart music or music vids. The other thing that was crappy was how they had all these women lined up dancing like they were in cages on top of a bar and so very few couples. If you were a dude looking for big booties and hooters, you would have loved the show, but if you were a chick or a ***** dude, it got boring watching the same chicks slide their hands up and down their sides and flick their hair back. They needed to get more dude dancers with those washboard abs — and have them DANCE — all the guys ever seem to do are those mechanical movements — you never saw them dance. And the quality of the chicks they have dancing went way downhill as time went on to. That Tracy chick with the gap in the teeth you could drive a Mac truck through was looking worse and worse as time went on. And the asian chick with the hair down to her knees got really old watching too. I think they just need to incorporate some of the old stuff in their new shows and play some decent music and the show would be a hit. They gotta remember that they probably have a majority female viewing audience and start showing more hot dudes. And that last host, Dorian Gregory was awful — bring back Shemar or find someone cuter. And spend as much time showing the dudes in the Soul Train Line as you do the chicks — some chicks would have the camera on them for 30 seconds, and the dudes were lucky to get about 5 seconds. Not everyone is interested in boobs and ***.
1. C.P. Lehman said,
There’s a new book out about the show, called A CRITICAL HISTORY OF SOUL TRAIN ON TELEVISION. It looks at the show from its start in Chicago in 1970 to the national franchise of 2008. It contains interviews with former dancers, guests, and colleagues of Cornelius.
This is the weblink. http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-3669-9