No more Mary Tyler Moore Show sets? (1 Viewer)

[Rob P S]

While I've generally liked the episodes I've seen, I've never been a big MTM fan, because I was too young when it was on the network and it never did well in local-station syndication. (Unlike my lifelong faves All in the Family, Three's Company, Taxi, and The Brady Bunch, which have been in constant syndication ever since I was a kid.) I never had time to get into it on Nick-at-Nite or TV Land either. However, I'm rooting for you guys to get the remaining seasons released on DVD. All series that have one season released should have all the seasons released. Good luck.
If Fox couldn't clear the rights to "White Christmas" what do you think would happen to the final episode when the gang sings "It's a Long Way to Tiperary"?

 

[Dane Marvin]

If Fox couldn't clear the rights to "White Christmas" what do you think would happen to the final episode when the gang sings "It's a Long Way to Tiperary"?

I think it would cost them nothing. Since 1988, this song has been public domain.

 

[Ben Phillips]

Like a lot of people, I was very pleased to have "Mary Tyler Moore" on DVD, even more pleased to see what a fantastic release the first season received, and then stunned and heartbroken to learn that disappointing sales had endangered future releases. I think the time has come for those of us who want more "Mary" seasons to take a collective action toward seeing that it happens. (I'll let it go without saying that every "MTM" and TV-on-DVD fan who does not already own this set should hightail it to their nearest DVD retailer and pick it up.) Someone above mentioned a petition to Fox; this is a good idea and could theoretically make an impact, but it would have to be bolstered by something more pro-active, IMO. My idea is simple: I think that everyone who owns the first set and would like to own more should give at least two "MTM: Season One" sets as gifts before the end of the year, for birthdays, for Christmas, or for no particular reason at all, to anyone they know who appreciates "MTM," classic TV, and/or quality DVD product.

Speaking for myself, I would happily donate $100 toward the cause of getting future seasons released, and the "MTM: Season One" set really does make a great gift item. Of course, unless more people do the same, my two purchases seem unlikely to make much of a difference. So does this sound like a good idea to anyone?

 

[Ron Kaye]

Not that the tv movie 'Mary & Rhoda' has anything to do with the original MTM, but I'm thinking, if that lame movie gets a dvd release, why not MTM!

 

[Dane Marvin]

It's a good idea you have, Ben, but a little expensive.
And, unfortunately, I don't think Fox pays attention to fan petitions as a general rule. One of the biggest media-related fan petitions in the computer age was directed at Fox (regarding the show Futurama) and they turned a deaf ear.

 

[Brandon Gantt]

Not that the tv movie 'Mary & Rhoda' has anything to do with the original MTM, but I'm thinking, if that lame movie gets a dvd release, why not MTM!

Since FOX are a profit participant in the TV movie perhaps it's sales will color their decision about further MTM sets.

 

[Brandon Gantt]

I must add that in trying to please collectors, Fox inadvertantly killed MTM. Had they ignored collectors and just released bare bones seasons, everyone would have been happy. After all, it is the original content which matters.

Your absolutely right Edward. Although some of us may cry and whine about extras for classic TV releases, it looks as if the majority of the market could care less. This places studios like FOX in a bad position when trying to recoup cost spent on extras. FOX may have also set their goals a little to high by over estimating the popularity of MTM. The set may have sold well compared to other TV releases, but it probably didn't turn a profit because of the money spent on extra features. What gets me is that there were already 2 MTM documentaries setting in a vault somewhere, one from 1991 and the other from 2002. So why go through the expense of producing a another?

 

[Paul_Scott]

i've found dvdtalk skews mightily to a 20-something demographic, so i'm not surprised.
i'm sure if Miami Vice and alf were available, more than 1/2 the people there would own them (i could care less about either of 'em).

 

[Alan Lee UK]

In answer to previous UK posters, the last time the MTM show had a regular run on UK terrestrial TV was in 1984/85 when Channel 4 showed most of seasons 1 and 2. I seem to recall the season 1 ep "Toulouse Lautrec" being shown as a one-off a couple of years later, and "Chuckles" has been shown a couple of times under various pretexts. However, apart from "Chuckles", nothing from season 3 onwards has ever been shown on UK terrestrial TV (I don't know about satellite).

It was during the C4 run that I discovered the show. It grew on me more and more every week until that 30 minutes was the absolute highlight of my week.

Having barely seen an episode in 18 years, needless to say I was in like a shot to order season 1 when it appeared on Amazon. Many on this thread have complained about the price, but it worked out at around £30 for me. When you consider that UK boxed sets (inferior to the US versions) for the likes of Friends and South Park cost upwards of £50, the MTM set was an absolute bargain to me. I would buy the remaining seasons at the drop of a hat, and I would also buy boxed sets of "Rhoda" and "Newhart" (both of which I discovered in the wake of the MTM show).

My advice to Fox would be: a) Cut the extras and save a disk. The extras are nice to have, but it is the episodes themselves that I will be watching in years to come. b) Make them region-free, then you can market them to the whole world. There must be fans of these shows in Europe and elsewhere who haven't bought them because they don't have multi-region players.