The beginning of the end for classic shows? (1 Viewer)

[Gary OS]

That's for sure, Dave. I can't think of one national cable/satellite channel that is better today, program wise, than it was 10 years ago. Not one!

Gary "and when you add the increase of commercials to the mix, I don't see how anyone could be happy with any national channel at this point" O.

 

[michael_ks]

That's precisely why I suspended cable/satellite service a couple of years ago.

Borrowing from Gary:

Michael "Lost in the rapture of 50s-60s era tv-on-dvd and lovin' it" S.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

I'm not far from this move myself.

 

[JeffWld]

A lot of true collectors were recording like mad in the mid-80's during the "golden age" of cable channels when a lot of rare classics (and not-so-classic shows) were running (with complete end credits and no bugs!). There's a lot of transferring to DVD going on now from those recordings since the majors aren't going to look after us.

 

[Sylvia*ST]

And how. At its very beginning, A&E *actually* ran episodes from the great anthology shows of the 1950s (Studio One, Alcoa Presents, etc.).

The Nostalgia Channel ran Ben Casey 15 years ago and I would have gotten them all on tape except my cable company cancelled the channel after less than six months. This channel renamed itself GoodLife TV and then AmericanLife TV. Why? Since they run no programming at all with closed captioning, could it be that they change their name every three years so they're exempt from the 1996 law??

I lost ALife TV yet again, recently when I moved, but am hoping the new Time Warner acquisition of Adelphia will mean I will have it again.

 

[Michael Alden]

What law is that? The reason they don't have more cable pickups is simple. One, they run shows that appeal to families and baby boomers, two groups that are not desired by advertisers. Nothing edgy (aka vulgar) and nothing that appeals to obnoxious 20 year olds sitting home drinking beer with a backwards baseball cap on and 8 tattoos. Secondly, they are independently owned and therefore they cannot extort companies into carrying them, ala Disney/ESPN, NBC Universal and Paramount/Showtime/MTV Networks.

 

[Jeff-Wooten]

Check this out, for anyone who thinks classic tv won't sell. The recent ADDAMS FAMILY, VOL. 1 set was one of the top twenty dvd sellers of the week:

http://www.videobusiness.com/topDVDS...out=marketData

Maybe soon we'll get that LITB announcement (although my dvd budget is going to take a BIG hit over the next two month, so I'm not THAT angry it won't make 4Q).

BTW, I'm thirty-five years old, and my fave shows range from LUCY, ANDY GRIFFITH, and ODD COUPLE to BUFFY, SEINFELD, and ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT. I guess I just love good tv, regardless of when it was released.

 

[docdoowop]

In what could be a bad sign, I noticed remaindered copies of "The Joey Bishop Show" complete season 2 and "Make Room for Daddy" the complete season 5 on sale for $9.99 at Half Price Books. I bought both of these at what I thought was a great price of $18 or so a year ago. The pricing model is also changing.

 

[Michael Alden]

I'm not sure what you are saying. Is remaindered a word?

Both of those were from Questec, a company which did an abominable job on the two releases and from which thankfully no other shows will be forthcoming.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Hey, docdoowop! How about a link, eh?

 

[Steve...O]

Remaindered is a retail term which means excess stock.

Half Price Books is a retail chain. Each store has different stock. Essentially customers bring in unwanted books, CDs, movies etc. and these are supplemented by distributors providing their remainders for sale.

As Micheal said, these were releases from a small time label that were not worthy of the shows.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Those so-called "complete" season sets ended up being remaindered because people like me, who otherwise would have grabbed them the day they went on sale, passed them up entirely. "Make Room for Daddy" used cut, syndicated prints, which translates to automatic "No Sale" for me.

Now they'll think there's no interest in these series and there won't be any more. We'll never know what the results might have been if they'd been done correctly in the first place.

 

[docdoowop]

Hey, docdoowop! How about a link, eh?[/QUOTE

They don't sell online, but have quite a few stores. Locater link:

http://www.halfpricebooks.com/find_a_store.html

 

[Susan Nunes]

Oh, nonsense. There are MANY people out here who collect vintage television shows, including yours truly, also a baby boomer, not to mention many of these shows have cult followings. I strongly suspect "The Fugitive" and "Maverick" will eventually see release just as many other titles have. These shows have very large followings.

Frankly, the argument is stupid that people "won't buy" these titles. If the titles aren't available, then OF COURSE nobody will buy them.

Look at it another way. Many, many, many classic, black-and-white movies have seen DVD release because the studios KNOW there is a market for them. Heck, there are even releases for foreign-made and silent movies (though they are usually more expensive). People buy them. The plain fact is studios have to release in order to for people to buy their products.

Not every vintage show ever made will see release, mind you, but there is no good reason why the major ones, the true classic ones, won't.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

This afternoon I read an article that said women are less likely than men to engage in debate because they've been raised to be more polite (or less aggressive) than men --- and then along comes Susan with her "nonsense" and "stupid" thrown at us. So much for that article!

If more TV shows from the '50s and '60s were big sellers (not just the most famous shows like "I Love Lucy" and "The Twilight Zone"), there'd be more of them for sale now. That's not nonsense or stupid; it's reality.

 

[FrancisP]

It has nothing to do with reality. The trouble with marketing departments is that they are populated with young people who are nothing more than accountants. They assume that because they are not interested in a product no one else is. The Adventures of Superman is a 50s show that exceeded Warner's sales projections. The fact is that baby boomers make up the largest part of the population and are the most prosperous. The major studios are leaving a lot of money on the table.

Universal's decision to use dvd-18s were undoubtably driven by the bean counters in the marketing department. Even with the high rate of defects, they stayed with dvd-18s for a long time. I do believe that is the reason so many of Universal's tv on dvd shows failed. Poor word of mouth can kill.

Sometimes the more education you get, the dumber you get.

 

[TravisR]

That's an unfair comparison. Adventures Of Superman has a built in fanbase that many (nearly all) classic shows do not have.

 

[Michael Alden]

And Man From UNCLE doesn't have a fan base? The Fugitive? There are other fan bases out there for shows besides just the comic geeks.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

I've seen The Adventures of Superman in syndication on and off for the last 30 yrs, but I don't remember the last time I saw either The Man From UNCLE or The Fugitive on TV. I think sometimes they take into account how much exposure the public has had to these shows lately, before they decide whether to release the show or not. I've been waiting for Love American Style and The Mothers-In-Law to come to DVD but since they're nowhere to be found on the tube, I guess they'll never be released.

 

[Charles Ellis]

Carlos, obviously you haven't been watching cable lately- both UNCLE series have been running on the American Life Channel every Wednesday for the past few years! The last thing this thread needs is a negative attitude. I am still holding out hope for a lot of the vintage shows in the studio vaults. As for those of you who are being such naysayers on this thread- if you can't say anything nice, don't say (or post) anything at all.