Has Sony given up on classic TV/DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Dan*T]

Well, it seems that other than Married with Children, Sony has pretty much abandoned the classic Tv genre.
I for one, have been waiting for years to see such spelling shows as:
Charlie's Angels
Hart To Hart
T.J. Hooker
all be completed on DVD.
Add to that, the Norman Lear shows which include All in the Family, Jeffersons & One Day At A Time.

I don't get it, these are some of the most popular series around, I can't figure out why they're all abandoned..
Only good thing for the Angels, is that they are planning a 3rd movie. Maybe that will spark another season??

 

[MatthewA]

Either they didn't sell well (which is likely, considering the lack of promotion or extras and that Sony's boneheaded moves regarding certain releases have alienated too many customers), or they use the economy as an excuse.

But if a megahit like Designing Women gets into Shout! Factory's hands, I think the answer is yes, they've given up. The best we can hope for is that Shout! gets the rest of Sony's orphans.

 

[Jack P]

The lack of a second season of "Fantasy Island" frustrates me the most with Sony in addition to the stalling of "Hart To Hart". "Charlie's Angels" at least got to S3 and the full "essential" run of the show. S4 would only be mildly interesting to me there while S5 with Tanya Roberts I could live without.

Sony did surprise me by going back to "Barney Miller" for S3 after a 14 month wait, and then they surprised others by fast-tracking the last two seasons of "The Partridge Family" so while their overall track record is pretty dismal for the most part, they have shown the capability to surprise us at various junctures ("Quark" last year was a real pleasant surprise).

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Mostly? I think the majority of studios have given up on the classic shows are are more interested in promoting the shows that are currently in broadcast run on television. They're more interested in tying DVD releases of NCIS, Lost and Grey's Anatomy into the television shows than older shows like Barney Miller and All in the Family.

That's mainly because there's more money into tying current shows into the DVD releases into the current television broadcast run. They can tie the DVD releases into the new seasons for that show.

 

[Jack Cleveland]

How about finishing "Here Come the Brides"? Only a two season show!!

 

[Jack P]

I think SWAT holds the record for the longest wait for just one more season needed to finish a title.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

You'd think churning out classic shows on DVD, often with no or very little extras, would be both easier and cheaper than going to the trouble of producing new stuff for recent shows. I want more "Police Woman", "SWAT", and "Who's the Boss?", to just name a few.

 

[Phyll]

I just bought the third season of Barney MIller(that show rules!)Anyway, the packaging was horrible. I thought I was missing two discs because when I opened the case, I only saw one disc. Instead of three plastic hubs, there was only one and all the discs were stacked on top on one another. UGH, that was cheap!! I am sure Bewitched is coming out this summer. I would just be happy if Sony would finish what they started, All in the Family, the Jeffersons etc. I would like Fox to just finish the Mary Tyler Moore Show and the Bob Newhart Show and Newhart. Maybe if these companies took a little more pride in the work they do for these sets, they would sell more of them.

Sometimes, it seems like the people involved do not have a clue about these shows or just don't care. With cable tv being a toilet bowl of swill, dvds are the only game in town. Too bad Sony couldn't take a little more pride in the classics that made them what they are today.

 

[Pete Battista]

This is the one of the main ones I been waiting for as well.

 

[Doug Wallen]

I feel for those of you waiting for your favorites. I am just gald that they are continuing to release my favorite - Barney Miller. At the current output rate for that show, I might expire before it gets completely released.

Doug

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Charlie's Angels still has more seasons to be released. Invisible Man has one season to go, the newer series. seaQuest has one season to go.

But, what everyone doesn't realize is that studios will concentrate on releasing a DVD set for a show that is currently in production and currently being produced so that they can tie the sales of the DVD set into the show that is currently being broadcast. With older shows, studios can't tie in the DVD releases for older shows into their broadcast run because they aren't being broadcasted so they don't release them as frequently.

Studios are more apt to release massively popular titles such as Bewitched, Walker Texas Ranger, Scooby Doo before they're going to release more sets of All in the Family, Barney Miller or SWAT.