What's new

Mary Tyler Moore Show Complete Series Set Coming (1 Viewer)

Joe Karlosi

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2003
Messages
6,008

That is always such nonsense, when people say this. If you're a person who loves a certain show, then of course you WILL want to own the whole thing. And the company fully realizes this. What are you supposed to do, love and collect a favorite show for the first few seasons and eagerly anticipate the remaining seasons, only to have to abstain from buying it just because you won't want to double-dip the earlier ones??

In a way, this IS akin to the studios "putting a gun to your head and forcing you". IF you really love the show. "Exercising free will of choice and just not buying it" is not even a practical solution when you're a diehard fan who wants an entire series.
 

Joe Karlosi

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2003
Messages
6,008

Though you've worded it a funny way, I think in a sense that is precisely what the studio is doing.

If "the MTM sets aren't selling well", then who exactly is going to buy the entire show in one shot? This sounds like a contradiction. OF COURSE Fox is betting that the same diehards who bought seasons 1-4 are going to re-buy and put the cash in to sell The Complete Series.

This is where "the majority of sales" will be. The "drop in the bucket" you speak of will be blind buys from non-MTM fans, just taking a chance on the Complete Series. And do you really think there'll be that many of those?? Hell, no -- and especially not for such a high price! If we break down the sales in the end, I would have no doubt the overwhelming majority, like 75% or more, will be returning diehard patrons who already paid for Seasons 1-4. Fox knows this, and it's how they're going to make the bucks back.
 

Joe Lugoff

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2005
Messages
2,238
Real Name
Joe

According to the rules here, that should get you banned! I wouldn't recommend you getting into a contest with me as to who's smarter.

You might not know it, but there are all kinds of things that go on today that would be unheard of in the older days. Younger people might accept them because they have nothing to compare them to.
 

Joe Lugoff

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 4, 2005
Messages
2,238
Real Name
Joe
Gary OS and Joe Karlosi are the most reasonable here.

There is no defense to this plan. The lack of logic defending it is startling. So if MTM hasn't sold well in Season Sets, what makes anyone think The Complete Series will fly off the shelves? If anything, it'll sell worse.

The largest part of their potential sales -- and I'll top Karlosi and go as far as saying maybe as much as 90% of them -- will come from people who already own the first four seasons! Do you think they don't know this? This is a desperate attempt on their part to get as much money as possible out of this series.

We've already been told they had no plans to release Seasons 5 through 7 but apparently some executive who likes the show wanted it all out there. When he was told, "We'll lose money on them," some bright guy got this idea. "Hey, I know how we can get people to pay a high price for Seasons 5 through 7." ... "How?" ... "We'll get them to buy Seasons 1 through 4 again!"

You all know this is the way this played out. You don't have to be a "conspiracy theorist" to see this.
 

RickER

Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2003
Messages
5,128
Location
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Real Name
Rick
Guys, jeez, your making MY blood pressure go up. I know we dont need that, do we?
Let me tell you what i have started doing...i think it will help some of you guys. Cause let me tell you, you wont live a long healthy life if you let things like this get your blood boiling.
When it comes to TV on DVD it was really starting to piss me off. Why?
High prices, scratched discs, double sided discs that dont work, funky packaging, packaging that changes halfway through a set (OCD, dont ya know)...all that stuff was getting to me, and keeping me from having FUN! Thats what this is all about FUN! Joe, Gary and you others, its not fun for you anymore. Time to let it go. Stop buying stuff that makes you mad! It really is that easy. If it makes you mad, stop doing it!
I love Perry Mason, but was getting tired of scratched disc, and i hated the half season for $40 or so. When season 3 was way over priced, and they changed the packaging, i decided i had enough Mason. I stopped buying it, and never looked back! I think it was the price that pushed me over the edge. Just because they release it doesnt mean we have to BUY it. See how easy that is? No one is gonna twist your arm and take your money for a DVD! Its NOT your choice to release a show the way you want it to be, but you can choose not to buy it.

I am sorry its not going the way you want, but you can live with it, and save yourself some cash!
In a year or so you might find that series set for cheap, then get it! I just got the complete Emma Peel Collection of The Avengers (18 discs) for $30. How could i go wrong!
Wait, look for deals, and teach yourself to ENJOY your hobby again.
 

Corey3rd

Screenwriter
Joined
Feb 24, 2007
Messages
1,728
Real Name
Joe Corey

Maybe these complete sets won't fly off the shelves. But they'll attract more attention than Season 5 of MTM getting released. Or even a boxset that has 5-6 & 7. There will be press reports about the Complete boxset. There will be plugs on the various infotainment shows hyping its release. There will be retrospective stories about the series and the set. They'll be able to get cast members to promote it. This won't happen if it's merely a few more seasons.

Stores are more open to constantly stocking a complete set of a noted series than maintaining every seasons' boxset. Of the five local Best Buys in my area - only one has a first season of MTM in stock.

Oprah is going to give away these complete boxsets. You think the audience is going to be excited merely getting the last three seasons?
 

David Levine

Supporting Actor
Joined
Apr 25, 2006
Messages
502

Here is the problem with your logic. Complete series box sets sell VERY well. Do you really think 90% of the people buying the complete Sopranos, Friends, West Wing, MASH, etc are the ones who bought every season individually as well? That 10s of thousands (sometimes 100s of thousands) of people are double-dipping?

Some people wait for the complete set, some get pulled in by how much cheaper it is to buy compared to the singles, many people give them as gifts. Some bought the 1st season and never got around to buying any subsequent ones.

The retail landscape has changed with the economy. I know from talking to people at Best Buy and at the studios that the days of everything that a major presents to Best Buy automatically getting in the stores is over. They are cutting the size of the DVD sections, but they are increasing the area for Gift sets. They will flat out refuse to take any New Release that they don't believe will make their weekly sales goals, but they are much more forgiving with "big ticket, evergreen" items like Complete Series Gift Sets.

Like I said in an earlier post, I bet Fox pitched season 5 to Best Buy (and Wal-Mart) and were shot down. So they regrouped and pitched the Complete Series and both stores said "I'll take it".
 

TravisR

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2004
Messages
42,388
Location
The basement of the FBI building
I didn't say that you were stupid and from your posts, I can tell that you are a fairly intelligent person. However, I don't think you can say that someone's age or any other superficial characteristic is the reason why they think something different from you.
 

Aryn Leroux

Screenwriter
Joined
Aug 19, 2001
Messages
1,514
Well whatever side of the fence you are on here, one thing is for sure, people seem to be very passionate about this show. I am just trying to put a positive spin on things here. As it is seemingly starting to turn ugly with some unnecessary banter back n forth.
 

Gary OS

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2004
Messages
5,987
Location
Florida
Real Name
Gary

Since you can apparently read my mind and tell me what is and isn't fun for me anymore, perhaps you can give me the numbers for next week's lottery too. ;)

Actually, I don't play - but you get the point, Rick. And I'm not trying to be rude, but I honestly do think it's a bit much for you to tell me what is and isn't fun for me any more. Had you not named people, and just said generically that you think "some" need to step back, that would be one thing. Or if you had put a "In My Humble Opinion" with your remarks, it would have gone a long way in making what you had to say a lot more palatable. But you spoke with final authority as if you could read hearts and minds and that's over the line, IMHO.

I can be outraged at a studio, or even an entire industry, for certain things they do but still enjoy the hobby itself. You're wrong in stating I should let it go. That's my decision and mine alone. Whether you were sincere or not, I respectfully disagree with your telling me and others here what we do and do not enjoy & that we should let something go. That's over the top.


Gary "over and out on this thread" O.
 

Mike*SC

Second Unit
Joined
Jun 20, 2005
Messages
260
This is a very, very good point. It is important to remember that the people who post on a board like this are not in any way a representative sample of the buying public at large.

Here's an example: A friend of mine who is a huge fan of "The Odd Couple" e-mailed me on November 13th, to acknowledge what all "Odd Couple" fans know is the day Felix Unger was asked to remove himself from his place of residence (as stated in the main titles). We sent a few e-mails back and forth about it, and then he wrote "Why can't I get this show on DVD?" And I wrote back "You can! All five seasons are out!" He had no idea. This is a huge fan of the series, and a man who buys DVDs (not obsessively, but he does buy them). But he'd never noticed the show at "Best Buy," presumably because it's buried in the "O" section of a huge rack that is organized alphabetically unless it's from Fox or HBO, which have their own sections, and unless it's a recent release, which is elsewhere. That is, if it's there at all.

But box sets have their own section, a section I have often gone to for gift inspirations. Box sets generally take up less space per dollar earned than season sets, they generally get some press, or at least a mention in a store flyer. They're appealing to retailers for all these reasons and the ones David Levine stated.

None of this will make you feel less ripped off if that's how you're inclined to feel. But it is not a crazy decision made by Fox to screw the only people likely to buy this series set. As David Levine states, box sets sell well even if all the seasons of the series were released separately. Clearly, it's a different market.
 

Michael Rogers

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 31, 2005
Messages
740

Great point, not everyone is like me and scours "TVshowsonDVD" or other sites to get info on upcoming movie and TV on DVD releases.
 

FanCollector

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2006
Messages
5,010
Real Name
Lee
If it is, in fact, just a question of shelf space and Fox tried their darnedest to release the new seasons separately as well, then couldn't they very easily send the full series gift sets to Best Buy et al. and make the new seasons available through online sellers, for whom shelf space is less of a concern?
 

Jeff Willis

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2005
Messages
3,386
Location
Dallas TX

Mike, that's one of the best lines of the thread. I've said this many times on this Bd but...maybe it's just me....it seems that some don't get that part of it. Then again, this is a forum and that's what it's all about, voicing views on TV/DVD. I can't count the times that I've heard the same thing..."You mean....Get Smart is on DVD?", etc.

I don't collect MTM but I do hear what the loyal fans are saying here, those that bought the previous single-season sets as released. I've learned since '04, as Wendy said so well, this hobby can be a difficult one, waiting for a show's release, waiting for some kind of news, either way, about a show, etc. I don't pre-order or buy on release any TV/DVD's any more after the recent issues with underscore replacements, etc. I wish it were otherwise. As for MTM, since I don't collect this one, I was spared the tough decision of double-dipping here, but I can only imagine the difficult choice if one of my "grails" (Combat!) had S1-3 released and then stopped....then a complete set gets released with the 2 remaining seasons in it. I was feeling the same way recently when that "Wild Wild West" set came out with the TV-movies included. I "supported" the release buying all of the S/S sets. Since we on the Bd represent a very small #, I don't let that "support the release" thing influence my buys any longer.

As Gary posted well earlier. this is a "2-viewpoint" issue to me. I think I see both sides and understand both, but since I'm not a Fox employee, I lean toward the MTM collectors on this one.

There have been some excellent suggestions here regarding what could be viable alternatives, releasing the remaining s/s sets with an online-exclusive sale, Amazon, etc. I read a lot of things about the B&M shelf space and outlets such as BB, etc, having a lot to do with what may see releases. If more of the buying TV/DVD public bought online, maybe we woudln't be having this discussion on the MTM thread.

As those have stated well here, "it's a business first". That's hard to accept for an MTM fan but it's the way it is.

Jeff "Kickoff is 45 minutes away" W.
 

wh5916

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 26, 2007
Messages
62
Real Name
William Hicks

Mary Tyler Moore is one of those rare shows that actually got better during the latter part of its run. If anything, I would have expected sales of the final seasons to be higher, had Fox chosen to offer them.
 

Joe Karlosi

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2003
Messages
6,008

Same here (and hey -- I thought *I* created the "then can you give me the winning lottery numbers" line!).

I have a ball with my hobby, so what Rick said was just a lot of air.
 

RickER

Senior HTF Member
Deceased Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2003
Messages
5,128
Location
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Real Name
Rick

So i was reading you guys wrong. Sometimes, as i pointed out in my post, things tick me off. If i was reading to much into your posts, please forgive me. I respect the thoughts of you guys, and would hate to think i was "lowered" in your eyes.

Im done.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,710
Messages
5,121,134
Members
144,146
Latest member
SaladinNagasawa
Recent bookmarks
0
Top