NYPD BLUE SEASON 5 (1 Viewer)

[Joseph DeMartino]

Shout!, like every other third-party company that releases DVDs under license, is at the mercy of the studio when it comes to the source material. If you want to blame someone for Rhoda, try blaming FOX or - more likely, in this case - MTM. In the 70s, in particular, there was little incentive for studios or producers to hang on to the original materials. It cost money to store and maintain that stuff, and there was no market for it. The syndication versions they produced would do for the typical syndication lifespan of most shows, and after that they saw no reason to keep the shows at all. As with films in the early days of Hollywood, TV producers, studios and networks viewed themselves as producing disposable entertainment, not historical documents worthy of preservation. (And for the most part, they were right in both cases. Most early - and current - films are crap, as is most of what is produced for TV, most novels, most of what is published in the newspapers. Sturgeon's Law lives. "90 percent of science fiction is crap. But so is 90 percent of everything else.")
That there are shows that are well-preserved and well-presented is largely a matter of luck.
Regards,
Joe

 

[JulianK]

Shout did a great job rescuing Son of the Beach, when that floundered between seasons.
I'd rather they released the rest of NYPD Blue than the most likely alternative: that no-one releases it.
Ditto Picket Fences and Hill Street Blues.

 

[BobSchneider]

Im sorry NO. Shout knew they had issues with Rhoda release but though they could sneak it by , until there cover was blown by pre release reviews here and other dvd forums. Unlike Timeless media who was up front about quality issues M Sqaud series release and let buyer deceided, Shout! did not want thier customers to make a informed buying decesion and is a company not to be trusted . Believe me guys so far you may be happy with shout or give a pass on there behavior but its just a matter of time before Shout trashs your favorite series after string you along you'll sour on shout too.

 

[TravisR]

Im sorry NO. Shout knew they had issues with Rhoda release but though they could sneak it by , until there cover was blown by pre release reviews here and other dvd forums. Unlike Timeless media who was up front about quality issues M Sqaud series release and let buyer deceided, Shout! did not want thier customers to make a informed buying decesion and is a company not to be trusted .

And Shout is the only company to do something like that? If you're so mad at Shout, you should also be mad at every major studio too.

 

[cfazzari]

I just got that 12-Season DVD Set for $99. It SUCKS. DO NOT waste your money. I am sending mine back to "The Land Of General Tso's Chicken" (Since The moderator will probably delete the name of the country anyway. What these Asian guys did was get good DVD quality copies of seasons #1 - #4 and THEN VCR copied Seasons 5 - 12 from TNT - They didn't even bother to try and erase their logo!!- The picture quality is BAD-VCR Speed lousy. The sound quality is lousy. And the second disk in Season #5 CANT BE READ!! What is the point of having this set if you can't even watch all the episodes!! Anyway - You're All Warned!! Look for me on FB Carmine Fazzari

 

[sternagain]

so is there any way to contact anyone else at fox.....no one has mentioned it for over a year now.....its amazing the show is off the air 4 years and nothing new.....what i really cant believe is all the websites that show brand new movies from the theaters and no one has any bootleg episodes (even from tnt)........ who can we write to find out more???????

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

its amazing the show is off the air 4 years and nothing new.....

Well, if by "amazing" you mean "pretty much self-explanatory", I'd agree. The show didn't sell very well when it was rerunning 24/7 on TNT. Now it isn't being broadcast at all and there's nothing to keep it in the public eye. This makes it less, not more, likely to be released on DVD.
Unless someone invents a time machine, goes back a few years, and buys a sh*tload of copies of the first couple of seasons, I don't think there are going to be any more releases. When TV shows don't draw ratings they get cancelled. When the early seasons of shows on DVD don't sell, the later seasons don't get released. In both cases it is very rare for someone to come along after the fact and revive the shows. And the more time that passes after "cancellation", the less the chance of anything further happening. At a certain point you just have to accept the judgment of the marketplace and move on.
Regards,
Joe

 

[Mark Talmadge]

What the heck are you talking about?

First, NYPD Blue wasn't discontinued due to lack of sales. I have it on personal authority that 20th Century Fox not only still has the rights to the series but that they outsourced the release of the series to a different company, which hasn't been identified as of yet.

Secondly, everyone is making the absurd leap that because there hasn't been any news on future releases that the series has been canceled. This is also incorrect.

You just need to be patient. The economy has all of the studios eithe rcalceling releases or slowing down their release schedules.

 

[TravisR]

Originally Posted by Mark Talmadge /img/forum/go_quote.gif
First, NYPD Blue wasn't discontinued due to lack of sales.

So they stopped releasing sets because they were selling too well? If it was selling well, they wouldn't have licensed it to another company (assuming that's even accurate). I'm not saying that there won't be any more releases but clearly, it didn't sell that well or there wouldn't have been at least 3 years between releases.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

First, NYPD Blue wasn't discontinued due to lack of sales. I have it on personal authority that 20th Century Fox not only still has the rights to the series but that they outsourced the release of the series to a different company, which hasn't been identified as of yet.

Right. Because studios always "outsource" their successful series release to third parties. Why keep all that nasty money to themselves when they can share some of it with someone else?
Here's how things work on planet Earth - When the studios have a show that is underperforming, they stop releasing it. That's because studios are not in the business of losing money or - at best - devoting resources to shows that return a tiny profit when those same resources could be applied to other shows that will do better. If, and only if, a third party comes to them, and asks to buy the rights to a given series will it be outsourced. The studio loses 100% of the risk and 100% of the expense and still gets a small share of the profits, if any. But somebody (other than the studio) has to think there is a chance of making a profit and therfore be willing to pay an up-front fee to the studio and pay the mastering, production and distribution costs.
Whatever your "personal authority" says, if Fox has licensed the show to a third party, they no longer have the North American DVD rights to the show, at least for the duration of the contract. And as far as Fox is concerned, the release is, indeed, cancelled.
It remains to be seen if any third party will actually come forward with a release announcement, but two things are certain: No such announcement has been made, and Fox will not be releasing any more seasons of NYPD Blue. Your "third party" aside - and your post remains the only "evidence" that there is such a thing - there are no indications whatsoever that there will be any more seasons sets. Which is a shame, but I stand by my earlier advice. Accept the judgment of the market and move on. If the show does materialize somewhere down the line, that would be a bonus.
Regards,
Joe

 

[jdee28]

I think the best years of NYPD Blue have been released already. The show was still good during its later years, but the best of the best was those first few years.

I'd actually rather see more releases of Hill Street Blues. There was a series Fox supposedly had planned to release all 7 seasons of, but then ended up cancelling it after two.

 

[BobSchneider]

No I dont agree that the best of Nypd blue been released I'd I like NYPD blue till the the end, and at a minumn I like to see but to season 7 (thats when Jimmy smiths left). I'd glad buy the rich schroder' years that were good but uneven due to poor writing of scripts for schroder's character and honestly I think it was his fustration with the show wriiters more than martial problems is why he left . And I really like mark paul gosselar years, I like his character and the last season was great fun to watch (atleast in my humble oppion). I really miss the show I dont have cable and it hasnt been on free ota tv in So Cal for years. So I like to see all the seasons I'd buy every one release or download and burn if some studios would create such sales distrubution system

 

[drew02110]

Dude dont do it i did cause i could not resist half the discs dont work and there are gaps between episodes i am bumed and am trying to send it back so i can just wait patiently crap

 

[doggcapone213]

I cannot believe FOX would release some of the crappiest shows and movies that they have ever made on DVD (like Elektra????) but refuse to release NYPD BLUE on DVD!!!!!!! I am a huge fan and would buy any season 5-12 in a heart beat. FOX is very STUPID for not doing so. They obviously do not care about it's customers!!!!! I will try to avoid purchasing any movies and television shows released on DVD by FOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A bunch of IDIOTS!!!!!!

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Dave:

First, welcome to the forum. I respect your passion for NYPD Blue (and, in fact share it) but recommend that you read the forum rules and the FAQs.

1) You should really search for a subject before starting a new thread on it. Believe me, you are not the first one to notice that Fox did not complete its DVD release of Blue. There have been numerous threads about the subject.

2) The forum is divided into sections for a reason. Your post belongs in the section devoted to TV shows on DVD and Blu-Ray disc, not in the section set aside for people who are new to Home Theater and need advice on what components to buy.

3) The short answer to your question is that Fox stopped releasing NYPD Blue because it wasn't selling well enough to justify continuing the release. If they were making money on the show, believe me, they would have continued. The simple fact is that the studios are in business to make money. They don't make decisions based on emotion and whether they continue a release or not is never "personal". They don't release show "A" because they like (or its fans) better than show "B", which they drop. It all comes down to costs, sales, profits and production capacity.

4) Just as a general rule for posting anywhere - repeating punctuation once or twice might work for emphasis (?? or !!!) but doing so seven or eight times just looks silly. /img/vbsmilies/htf/smiley_wink.gif

I have moved your post to one of the more recent Blue threads here in the TV Shows on DVD area. If you read the entire thread I think you'll see that the subject has been hashed out pretty thoroughly, so I'm not sure you'll get much in the way of answers.

Regards,

Joe

 

[Slibero]

This BLOWS! What a bunch of Jerk-offs at Fox. They should all KMA.

There are fans all over the world dying to get this show on disc. Why won't they release it?

 

[moparmanpr]

check out dvdtvseriessales.com i just ordered all 12 seasons of NYPD Blue in a boxed set for $89.95 plus shipping.
anyone interested in the complete Hill Street Blues boxed set can go to findtvshowsondvd.com
they also have China Beach, one of my favorites.
glad i could help. i've been looking for years.

 

[Ghostmech]

I am a HUGE fan of Blue but never bought the DVDs mostly due to the slow release schedule of individual seasons. I found the first 4 seasons at Best Buy a few months ago on a display and they were selling for $9.95 each....I bought all four.

I suspect Blue would have done much better if they would have released DVDs after each corresponding season as they do nowadays but unfortunately, Blue was too early for the DVD revolution and was on it's way down when it could have taken advantage of the technology...a victim of being born too early.

As far as a third party, that would make the most sense since we know Fox still has the shows somewhere in their storage vaults. I would love to see a Time-Life collection style since I think the best hope of selling it is in a full collection now. I find it sad that a show that was so popular and showered with so many accolades (Emmy's, ect) is now not even worthy of some sort of DVD release. There was obviously a following for many years by millions of viewers and I'm sure there is a way to reunite the two.

 

[David Rain]

It's frustrating when any series is abandoned on DVD. What's even more frustrating is that so many "fans" don't understand WHY these shows are abandoned. It's called business. Like any product, if they don't sell then they no longer get released. There's no secret conspiracy going on. The studios are not idiots for stopping. Maybe some consumers are idiots for not buying something they say they love and then having the nerve to complain when it stops coming out.

 

[vnisanian2001]

Originally Posted by David Rain
It's frustrating when any series is abandoned on DVD. What's even more frustrating is that so many "fans" don't understand WHY these shows are abandoned. It's called business. Like any product, if they don't sell then they no longer get released. There's no secret conspiracy going on. The studios are not idiots for stopping. Maybe some consumers are idiots for not buying something they say they love and then having the nerve to complain when it stops coming out.

And what's even more frustrating is when you keep acting like you know what you're talking about, like you went to business school or something, when clearly, it's worth noting, you don't.