Do long runs hurt shows DVD chances? (1 Viewer)

[Tony Bensley]

Low sales are the primary factor, of course. But there are still some stalled series for which more has to be at play. Green Acres is a good example. When the first three seasons were released, they sold well enough to appear on some annual bestseller lists for TV-on-DVD titles. There were no missing elements for the latter seasons that would have cost significantly more than the earlier ones. We can all name literally dozens of series that have come out and surely had lower sales figures than Green Acres. The corporate situation with MGM and Fox, and then whatever difficulty there is on agreeing to a licensing deal, has certainly contributed to the stalling of Green Acres. Sure, if it sold tens of millions of copies, those other factors wouldn't matter, but I think it is sometimes oversimplifying to say that series with low sales stall and series with high sales don't.

Hi FanCollector!


One case in point is that, even though CBS/Paramount reported fewer than 5,000 Units sold for the original GOMER PYLE: USMC set, this hasn't prevented them from recently reissuing a repackaged Complete Series Set!


In regards to a stalled series that had strong sales, I might also suggest that if it involves a rights holder who has suddenly decided they want the moon (Or if suddenly, NO amount is enough, for some reason!), even sales in the millions for prior Seasons might not be of much help!


That's a crying shame regarding the long stalled GREENACRES!


CHEERS!


Tony

 

[Ron1973]

Low sales are the primary factor, of course. But there are still some stalled series for which more has to be at play. Green Acres is a good example. When the first three seasons were released, they sold well enough to appear on some annual bestseller lists for TV-on-DVD titles. There were no missing elements for the latter seasons that would have cost significantly more than the earlier ones. We can all name literally dozens of series that have come out and surely had lower sales figures than Green Acres. The corporate situation with MGM and Fox, and then whatever difficulty there is on agreeing to a licensing deal, has certainly contributed to the stalling of Green Acres. Sure, if it sold tens of millions of copies, those other factors wouldn't matter, but I think it is sometimes oversimplifying to say that series with low sales stall and series with high sales don't.

The rural purge lives on. Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction have not even come close to being treated with respect. Gomer Pyle, USMC has music cuts and its parent show, The Andy Griffith Show, had edits as well on its DVD release. The Real McCoys, though not part of the rural purge exactly, hasn't been treated with proper care on DVD suffering edits as well. We got a one-off release on Mayberry, RFD and nothing further on that so far. Four of those are CBS properties and if your name isn't Lucille Ball, good luck!

 

[TVonDVDJunkie05]

All of Fox's Shout! Factory acquisitions have stalled for reasons that are beyond comprehension.

It is the most easily understandable of reasons -- LOW SALES. As much as we all want to believe that the shows we love are beloved by multi- thousands of others, my guess is that actual sales show otherwise.

My thought on why so many of Shout!'s releases of Fox shows have stalled is because Fox is demanding too much $$. It seems to me that they license out their content at a fixed rate and do not care about low sales or anything else. Shout! acquires the rights to several seasons of a series then more then likely re-evaluate things after releasng these to see if acquiring the right to and releasing further seasons is worth it. WIth sales figures in hand, they probably tried to get Fox to negotiate a lower rate for later seasons but Fox wouldn't budge and want what they want thus why no further seasons have been released of L.A. Law, Newhart, NYPD Blue, Zane Grey Theatre as well as the final 2 seasons of Mr. Belvedere and final season of Rhoda. I think you would have seen all these series continue on DVD if Shout had been able to license out the remaining seasons at a fair price (a price that they would be able to make some money off the releases instead of losing money). I am putting the blame on Fox and not on Shout! Factory as they seem to still have a huge interest in releasing classic series on DVD (unlike the larger studios).

 

[Neil Brock]

We all know Fox is the mortal enemy of any lover of classic television. Such a shame that they control the Metromedia, Four Star and MTM libraries in addition to their own. Just that many more shows that they can keep locked away in the vaults.

 

[bmasters9]

I am putting the blame on Fox and not on Shout! Factory as they seem to still have a huge interest in releasing classic series on DVD (unlike the larger studios).

I think that Shout!'s interest in releasing the last 3 seasons' worth of Hart to Hart is what led to those releases, because prior to what Shout! did, we only had Sony's first two releases, and we thought we would never get any more.

 

[phenri]

I think that Shout!'s interest in releasing the last 3 seasons' worth of Hart to Hart is what led to those releases, because prior to what Shout! did, we only had Sony's first two releases, and we thought we would never get any more.

I think that Shout! is better able to release series owned by Sony and Universal, who must be more accommodating than Fox.

 

[LouA]

Your above posted stats are indeed, most sobering, Neil!


77 SUNSET STRIP is one show that I've especially wanted to see for many decades, as my late older brother's description of this always intrigued me!


Some wishes remain unfulfilled, I guess! Just have to be thankful for what IS available!


CHEERS!

There's a chance "77" and the other 3 WB detective shows might come out via the Warner Bros. Archive . There are music rights issues to be cleared up, but it's possible we may see them. WBA has been pretty good about releasing their TV shows.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I think that Shout! is better able to release series owned by Sony and Universal, who must be more accommodating than Fox.

They seem to go through cycles.


Shout released quite a few Sony series on a season by season basis, then they all just stopped. Then, last year, we started getting the complete series sets of Sony shows.


Fox and Shout have also had a start and stop history.


Universal and Shout have always seemed pretty steady, though, with the exception of Ironside.

 

[Ethan Riley]

One thing with long-running medical dramas is that I think they don't do well on dvd for some reason. Maybe those kinds of shows, as popular as they are when they're new, don't have a lot of replay value for most people. We saw one lone season of St Elsewhere--NINE years ago--and nothing since. Ditto "Strong Medicine." I don't think they're ever done Chicago Hope in the U.S. "Medical Center" does okay from the Archive, but then it's basically made to order for the fans who want it. The same marketing would probably work best for the rest of these shows.


On topic--yes, I believe the longer a show ran, the weaker its chances of getting to completion on dvd. The Simpsons is case in point. One of the mistakes they made with the Simpsons is that they should have always released the most recent season in the Fall, and then one of the classic seasons around Christmas time. And they should have cut down on the commentaries which slowed down the releases and added to the cost in the first place. I really didn't need 500 commentaries of Al Jean laughing at his own jokes.


Other long-lived series seemed to just barely make it to the end. 90210 is a good example--notice how crummy the packaging was in the last two seasons--they were cutting costs. And the only reason that show kept coming out is because they were trying to tie it in with the sequel series. Ditto, Dallas.


The reasons behind dvd releases are unique for every single show. Case by case. You can't really generalize. But I know that the studios are cognizant of diminishing returns and know that season 1 of something will be the top seller and it'll be downhill from there. And if they're looking at an older show with 6 or more seasons they have to project if they'll take a loss on the last season and whether it's worthwhile to start up the show at all.

 

[MatthewA]

The reasons behind dvd releases are unique for every single show. Case by case. You can't really generalize. But I know that the studios are cognizant of diminishing returns and know that season 1 of something will be the top seller and it'll be downhill from there. And if they're looking at an older show with 6 or more seasons they have to project if they'll take a loss on the last season and whether it's worthwhile to start up the show at all.

What I don't think some studios realize is that a first season often does not represent a show at its best.

 

[bmasters9]

And they should have cut down on the commentaries which slowed down the releases and added to the cost in the first place. I really didn't need 500 commentaries of Al Jean laughing at his own jokes.

That's why the Bob Newhart Show commentaries (which are kept on Shout!'s full-series release), IMO, were sensibly done. I haven't listened to any of them, but what matters is that there were, IIRC, 5 per season for Seasons 2-4, and only on selected episodes. That's much better and far more sensible than having one for every single episode.

 

[Dave Lawrence]

As far as I know, it's still stalled in the UK, too. The Season 7 release date has been pushed back multiple times for over a year. The current release date is July 20, but I expect that to be postponed, too.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009TR7AQW?keywords=la%20law%20season%207&qid=1436153793&ref_=sr_1_1&s=dvd&sr=1-1

I've purchased the Region 2 releases for Seasons 4, 5 & 6, so at least I have a version (albeit not Region 1), but it's disappointing that even the Region 2 releases appear permanently stalled.

As I expected, the Region 2 release of LA Law Season 7 got pushed back again. Now the Amazon UK listing shows a release date of March 21, 2016. At this point, that listing (and the one for Season 8) might as well be taken down. They're clearly not happening despite the lack of any official cancellation notice from Revelation Films.

And now with Fox not licensing out Region 1 versions of Seasons 4 thru 8 to Shout Factory, I guess that's it for this series for a long time, if not permanently.

 

[MatthewA]

We all know Fox is the mortal enemy of any lover of classic television. Such a shame that they control the Metromedia, Four Star and MTM libraries in addition to their own. Just that many more shows that they can keep locked away in the vaults.

Before they became part of News Corporation, Fox and Metromedia were two peas in a pod regarding preservation of some, but not all, of their respective intellectual properties—the former was junking its nitrate negatives after transferring them to acetate while the latter was busy wiping all the Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney shows—so it's small wonder they ended up together!

 

[Neil Brock]

Someone I know asked the lawyer who worked on the Fox buyout/takeover of Metromedia as to what happened to the rights to the Metromedia owned shows, both MPC and on the local stations and he was told that he didn't know as there was nothing at all in the contracts even mentioning those shows. That's why whenever anyone has gotten their hands on any MPC shows, like Dusty's Trail or some TV Movies, they treat them as PD. Fox is so clueless that they don't even know if they own the Metromedia stuff and possibly they don't.

 

[Regulus]

August is my Birthday Month, and here's the first of four purchases I'll be making this month. (I relieved "The Big River" (That's http://amazon.com for those of you in Rio Linda! ) of the following:


1. These two Mill Creek Documentaries:


Secrets of War -The Complete Series


True War stories - The Complete Series


2. This Hanna-Barbera Series:


The Dukes


The second purchase will take place on August 14 (The Payday closest to my birthday). I'll raid "The Big River" of about $100.00 of TV shows, mostly from their bargain bin.


The third purchase will take place on my Birthday (August 19). After the party's over I'll use my Birthday Money to relieve "The Big River" of a few movies.


last but not least the final purchase which will take place on August 31. I'll relieve "The Big River" of a few movie serials (the forerunner of TV shows).

 

[Rick Thompson]

One thing with long-running medical dramas is that I think they don't do well on dvd for some reason. Maybe those kinds of shows, as popular as they are when they're new, don't have a lot of replay value for most people. We saw one lone season of St Elsewhere--NINE years ago--and nothing since. Ditto "Strong Medicine." I don't think they're ever done Chicago Hope in the U.S. "Medical Center" does okay from the Archive, but then it's basically made to order for the fans who want it. The same marketing would probably work best for the rest of these shows.

The reasons behind dvd releases are unique for every single show. Case by case. You can't really generalize. But I know that the studios are cognizant of diminishing returns and know that season 1 of something will be the top seller and it'll be downhill from there. And if they're looking at an older show with 6 or more seasons they have to project if they'll take a loss on the last season and whether it's worthwhile to start up the show at all.

Which is why they should be done in complete series sets, not by season. No diminishing returns.

 

[jcroy]

Which is why they should be done in complete series sets, not by season. No diminishing returns.

VEI is one of the few companies doing this semi-consistently. At this stage of the game, this seems to be the one of the few viable marketing strategies left for less popular tv shows.


(IIRC, TimeLife was doing this a decade ago or so).

 

[Ron Lee Green]

Here's 2 more long-running shows available on DVD:

Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman was released with 325 episodes.

Prisoner Cell Block H was released overseas in Austrailia and the U.K. with 692 episodes.

I have both series in my collection. Both shows have a fan base but its not as big as Dark Shadows or Star Trek.

 

[Scott511]

Sheriff of Cochise/U.S. Marshall - 156 (nothing)

Neil because of your post, yesterday I noticed U.S. Marshall while trolling through the DVD racks at one of my local Dollar General stores. It's on a Echo Bridge 70 Classic Westerns set.


http://www.amazon.com/70-Classic-Western-Stories-Clayton-Moore/dp/B00IJ7E6Q0


Only 8 episodes, but I was glad to be able to watch a few as I had never ran across this series in the past. Even if it is from one of the cheap PD sets

 

[Neil Brock]

That's funny that its called a western when its no more of a western than Highway Patrol or State Trooper is.