The consolidated thread for NYPD BLUE season 3 (1 Viewer)

[todd stone]

thanks.

 

[David Lambert]

1/13/2004 according to one source.

 

[todd stone]

ouch january hehe

 

[Jeff Harris]

How were sales on the first two seasons of Blue? Were they poor? I'm trying to figure out why season 3 was delayed.

Jeff

 

[Gord Lacey]

They were poor, yes. I don't think we'll see Season 3 out, although no one at Fox has actually said that :frowning:

Gord

 

[Craig: Mclaren]

Damn. Thats a shame. It was never top of my wanted list but I did buy both seasons. I'd like to see the first five seasons at least on DVD. I was never planning on collecting all 12 to be honest. Any more info Gord?

 

[Randy_Cre]

This is really disappointing news. In part because I really love NYPD Blue, and it just compounds my feeling that I'm ready to give up on TV on DVD. It seems like a genre that it's going to be devoted primarily to Sci-Fi, animation and every thing that has vampires or the occult, and an occassional sitcom that has a strong under-30 audience like Friends.

I really don't see many 'quality' TV shows ever receiving full-series treatment, Friends, Dick Van Dyke because of the way they were released without time to realize that it'd only sell 1/100th the copies of Buffy. Maybe Cheers and Seinfeld after its released. But I'm even nervous about M*A*S*H since there has been no formal announcement about Season 6 after regular announcements of the first 5 season. I've assumed that All in the Family season 3 is dead, along with Mad About You season 3, Soap 2, as well as the other confirmed dead ones like Mary Tyler Moore and Law & Order.

Oh well, maybe I'll have a chance at getting a complete Quantum Leap series since it has a Sci-Fi component.

Sorry about the rant, but seeing a show like NYPD Blue stop getting released, sort of feels like the final nail in the coffin for adult type dramas and sitcoms. I don't know if its that the marketing of such shows has been poor, or if the audience for these shows just as are not as fanatical about the shows as the other genres I mentioned.

 

[Rob T]

I wanted all the seasons!
I thought it was just delayed until May or something like that. :frowning:

 

[John Berggren]

I picked up NYPD Blue season 1 at Costco when they ran their sale right before Christmas. It was a series that I wasn't sure I'd be interested in. Having watched 2 discs so far, I really quite like it. It's too bad if it can't support future releases.

I also wonder if poor selling releases as such will make studios more conservative about what they release to TV on DVD.

 

[Rob T]

Maybe they could re-format the way they do the sets for this show. Like 3 DVD-18s or something like that.

I missed a few seasons and I was kind of hoping to see them on DVD. :frowning:

 

[Gord Lacey]

Fox doesn't do DVD-18s, so that isn't much of an option.

I'm pretty bummed about it myself. I really enjoy the show, and I wanted to keep watching them on DVD.

Randy, Law & Order isn't dead, they just haven't announced a second season release. Normally that would be a bad thing, but we're not hearing much of anything coming from Universal.

As for NYPD Blue, it hasn't officially been cancelled, I've just heard that sales were low for the sets and season 3 isn't scheduled at this time. I really, really hope I'm proven wrong and it comes out. Things don't look good though.

Gord

 

[Randy_Cre]

Gord, I'll keep my fingers crossed for both shows.

It just gets a little frustrating seeing series that were/are consistent top 10-20 ranked shows in the Nielsens disappear after one or two releases on DVD, while stuff that can't even crack the top 100 is gold on DVD.

I start getting the feeling like my TV/DVD collection may be limited to a huge collection of "1st seasons". But not much beyond that which is disappointing since seldom do shows peak in their initial season. I can't wait for Taxi to be released since it rarely gets any syndication play. But realize it may never survive on DVD long enough that I'll be able to get the classic Jim Ignatowski (sp.) seasons with Christopher Lloyd. When I heard it was coming to DVD, my initial reaction was Thankyouverymuch that I could laugh at Latka again, but I'd be so disappointed if I never get to see Jim Ignatowski taking his driver's test again on DVD.

 

[John Berggren]

It just gets a little frustrating seeing series that were/are consistent top 10-20 ranked shows in the Nielsens disappear after one or two releases on DVD, while stuff that can't even crack the top 100 is gold on DVD.

I think this highlights a problem with Nielsen more than anything.

It's amazing to me how well any series sells on DVD with as many options are on the market right now. I'm sure people are picking and choosing between shows they would like to have. It may be that someone chooses a lower-rated show over NYPD Blue because they've already seen NYPD and would rather spend their money on something new. It could also be that the audience for the lower rated show is more significant than Nielsen calcultes.

I think another interesting possibility for lower rated shows doing well on DVD is that they weren't supported well on their home network. Sometimes we miss fantastic television because NBC wants to focus on Law and Order or ABC wants to focus on Millionaire for their advertising.

 

[Rob T]

Fox doesn't do DVD-18s, so that isn't much of an option.

Damn.
Well if they could find some way to cut down the costs to give us the rest of the seasons, I'd be happy.

 

[Jeff Harris]

What are DVD-18s?

I will be extremely upset if Blue doesn't make it out on DVD. This has consistently been one of the best TV shows on the tube. You realize how bad this sucks especially after a fantastic episode like last night's.

I wonder if Blue doesn't get released if it will impact the release of other Botchco shows. I don't think Brooklyn South's sales were anything great, IIRC. I Want Hill Street Blues!

Jeff

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

My father will be especially disappointed about this; he's a big Blue fan.

One thing I'm curious about is, if the first set sold so poorly, why Fox proceeded to release the second season (at the same price, what's more). Not that I'm complaining; I'm glad to have two seasons instead of one, but... I know they saved some money on the soundtrack for season 2, and they'd probably already recorded the extras, but still, I'd think that normally they wouldn't expect season 2 to sell any better. Is it that they thought the show might sell better with the Jimmy Smits years?

 

[Randy_Cre]

I wonder if Blue doesn't get released if it will impact the release of other Botchco shows. I don't think Brooklyn South's sales were anything great, IIRC. I Want Hill Street Blues!

It can't be good news for others. I recall seeing an executive in one of the chats comment that they would be closely watching the NYPD Blue sales with regards to a potential release of Hill Street Blues.

Unfortunately, viewer ratings don't translate to DVD sales for a couple reasons in my opinion. Overall ratings are reflective of a very broad demographic range... the percentage of hard core DVD buyers is likely 30-and-under (I'm in my late 30s) so I think the overall Nielsens probably don't accurately reflect what will sell well on DVD (whereas the ratings for viewers 30-and-under probably would be more accurate).

Also the ratings never reflect the fervency of fans for a particular show are. So while 1 of every 2 Star Trek or Buffy fan might buy season sets on DVD, maybe 1 of every 200 Blue fans would buy season sets, largely because the fan base of the two shows is dramatically different. While Blue might have 20-million fans, that would only equal 100,000 DVD sales. While Buffy with a rabid fan base might have just 2-million fans, yet that translates to 1-mil DVD sets sold. So with a smaller fan base, one show can outsell another by 10-to-1 because of the characteristics of one show's fan base compared to the other. To fans of one show, its just a very well done quality show, to fans of the other it may be a methaphor for life or something.

Unfortunately, the companies releasing the shows are going to look at the bottom line only so some thing like "The Tick" has a greater chance of being released than Hill Street Blues.

I can't fault the companies for releasing programs based on the demographics of its DVD buyers.

Though at times, to me it feels like seeing a new music format being released and finding out the Beatles, Rolling Stones, U2 and Bruce Springsteen won't be released, but every recording of Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and 50 Cent is getting re-released on the new format.

 

[John Berggren]

Unfortunately, the companies releasing the shows are going to look at the bottom line only so some thing like "The Tick" has a greater chance of being released than Hill Street Blues.

Not always unfortunate. "The Tick" was a damned good show that was given the short end by the network while it aired. They planned on the cancellation before the first episode aired.

I'm glad to have those DVDs. I'm glad to have my NYPD Blue DVDs as well. I don't think that newer/younger shows are getting released at the expense of older/mature shows. I think there is room in the market for both, so long as the sales are there.

 

[Dave Scarpa]

Could it also be that both Law And Order and NyPd Blue have Run Adinfinitum on Court TV and TNT,A&E ?

 

[David_Blackwell]

I do think NYPD Blue might be affected by reruns so many times (2 episodes on TNT and 1 nightly episode on Court TV), but I think FOX could have bought ad space to let some Blue fans know the DVDs are out during a new episode of NYPD Blue.

On the other hand, I think the CSI DVDs are selling well.

Be Seeing You,
David Blackwell