My Fear On Warner MOD (1 Viewer)

[Frank Soyke]

In my opinion, I feel that Warner should start finishing the series they have already begun rather than continuing to start new ones. I, too would like to see Sunset Strip or Hawaiian Eye but my fear right now is that they are running too many series at a time and rather than complete them, they will just move on to starting something else.Their releases are S-L-O-W, and they have a lot of shows running currently. Here's a list just off the top of my head. I may have errors here:

1) Maverick - 2 seasons released, 3 left

2) 8 Is Enough - 3 Season released, 2 left

3) Cheyenne - 5 seasons released, 3 left

4) Kildare - 1 season released, 4 left

5) FBI - 4 seasons released, 5 left

6) Tarzan - 1 season released, 2 left

7) Daktari - 2 seasons released, 2 left

8) Medical Center - 2 seasons released, 5 left

9) Courtship Of Eddie's Father - 2 seasons released, 1 left

10) Sugarfoot - Reported to be starting soon.

I think thats all of them. Let me know if I missed any. The point is this. At the slow pace they release titles, it seems unlikely to me that they will complete most of these if they keep adding new ones rather than working on the ones theyve begun.

 

[Gary OS]

I believe there's only one season of Tarzan left.


Gary "I'm not as worried about this issue as you are, but it's something to keep an eye on" O.

 

[Jack P]

Tarzan indeed only has one season left. That's been slower coming than I would have liked since we're over 12 months since S1 was released but they've said they are doing a remastering job on it and we will certainly see it this calendar year.

We've also had three one season titles finished in one release. ("Girl From UNCLE"; "Gallant Men"; "The Lieutenant"). And there's also "Alice" which is at three seasons now and has six more to go.

I'm personally more interested in seeing more of the shorter-lived titles make it than I am the longer-running detective and western shows ("Maverick" is the only Warner western I'm still buying at this point). Shows like "Cains Hundred", "Jericho" and "Eleventh Hour" which I think we will see eventually, I will be giving a crack.

 

[Frank Soyke]

I did some figuring and if you look at all the unreleased seasons of shows they are currently releasing, it comes to 27. Now Warners current pace seems to be about one TV release per month (minus cartoons). 2 on sporadic months. This isn't CBS we are talking about who are releasing 2-3 every month. Here's the point, unless they dramatically step up their releases, at their current pace, it would take more than 2 years just to finish the series they have already started, let alone the new ones. I think even without adding new ones, at this pace, many of these will not be completed anyway.Those odds would go down even further if they continue to add new ones. All I'm saying is that if I was a big Kildare or Medical Center fan, I might not be jumping up and down they next time they announce a new series starting. IMO

 

[Randy Korstick]

I'm not worried at all. Their release pattern has actually picked up to one a month where a little over a year ago it was about 1 every 2 months. You have to keep in mind that besides all the TV series they are also releasing Animated shows and doing an excellent jobs on those, movies and movie series so they have alot on their plate and so many people request different things from them that they can make everyone happy all the time. So patience is the key with Warner Archive. If they completed all those shows in 2 years as you mentioned that would actually be great.
With so many things to buy not only from other companies as well as Warners a faster schedule would bankrupt most of us and how do you find the time. I have so many shows I'm viewing slowly as it is and so many I want to buy but don't because I'm overwhelmed right now. So again patience is the key. Afterall since the Mod program is low risk for them they can only make money if they release it so why not release it. Different shows take longer for different reasons: i.e. music rights, mastering issues, other cleance issue, etc.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

I agree with that, their release pace seems at an alright level to me - how else would fans find the time or the money for it. S5 of The F.B.I. is probably due sometime later this year, personally I'm busy watching S3 still, so if they bring out other series as well that's fine by me not to mention more TV movies as well where it is a tad slow admittedly. As far as TV titles not yet released, I hope they'll eventually get around to some short-lived 'easies' like The Mississippi, Kaz and King's Crossing.

 

[Frank Soyke]

I really do hope you guys are right on this one. I just remember CBS started a ton of new series at the same time a few years back and never finished a bunch of them. Maybe Warner will do better

 

[Ronald Green]

What about non-Warner MOD TV titles like Ghost Story, Bridget Loves Bernie, Born Free, Charlie's Angels season 5, etc. They are Sony properties but are sold through the Warner Archive. I don't get it? Is Warner manufacturing those titles too or just selling them? Why doesn't Sony start there own business like Warner Archive?

 

[jimmyjet]

hi frank,

here is a question, whose answer would make a big difference towards supplying you with an opinion.

you listed 10 shows.

do the same people from warner do all the mods ? or is there some specialization to be figured into the equation ?

or put another way, is there any difference amongst the shows in making transfers ?

might one team be better at one show, and another team be better at another show ?

 

[MattPriceTime]

If anything the fact that it is Warner Archive and not CBS is the reason to be positive in the first place. The only thing that serves as a worry point in their business model is the time. But when said company puts out releases nearly every week, i'm not feeling too worried. Sure some of us really want our favorites to be next, but their track record is pretty stellar compared to a lot of the others.

 

[BobO'Link]

Frank, do you know something we do not? Maverick is not currently a MOD title and I'd like to keep it that way.

 

[Frank Soyke]

You are right on Maverick. I was mistaken.

 

[JamesSmith]

dear Frank,Granted, WB's MOD releases are slow, but consider this. The FBI and Alice are two of the longest running series, and they've made excellent progress on them. In about two and a half years, they'll be done and more shorter, unreleased series might opening. I know waiting isn't fun, but it's better than the alternative--which is getting no releasesJames

 

[The Obsolete Man]

dear Frank,Granted, WB's MOD releases are slow, but consider this. The FBI and Alice are two of the longest running series, and they've made excellent progress on them. In about two and a half years, they'll be done and more shorter, unreleased series might opening. I know waiting isn't fun, but it's better than the alternative--which is getting no releasesJames

Honestly, if they were at retail, I don't think the MoD series would have made half the progress they have.

I mean, Night Court got, what, 3 releases in the last year as an MoD title? It took 5 years to get 3 releases as a regular retail title. And Shows like Eight is Enough and Alice would probably be in the same boat.

 

[BobO'Link]

Honestly, if they were at retail, I don't think the MoD series would have made half the progress they have.

I mean, Night Court got, what, 3 releases in the last year as an MoD title? It took 5 years to get 3 releases as a regular retail title. And Shows like Eight is Enough and Alice would probably be in the same boat.

Night Court is somewhat of an exception IMHO. Everything I've read about that series pointed to people wanting S4 and up because that's when Markie Post became a regular and the show took off. I really think sales would have picked up dramatically had S4 been released earlier as pressed and we'd see that series getting "regular" releases rather than MOD. Due to the number of seasons released over the past year I'm really surprised it's not left the MOD auspices and gone with full retail pressed releases.

 

[Wvtvguy]

I've never seem FBI but I'd jump on it if it wasn't for the half seasons. I've loved Medical Center & thought I read that season 3 was being prepared. Two seasons a year for all series would be nice.