Would u like tvshowsonblueray (2 Viewers)

[TravisR]

Who says that it has? Blu-ray may be growing but DVD is, by far, the king of the mountain so I doubt the studios were going to release a flood of small catalog titles or small TV shows and just changed their mind because Blu-ray came along.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Travis, I sure hope you're right about that because I'm on your side about hoping that Std DVD is still "King" and remains in that ranking for a while

I'm not opposed to the Pro BR gang here at HTF but unless/until we see more older TV/DVD shows getting routine releases on BR, I have more than enough Std DVD titles (including R2/4 regions) that I have yet to watch and look good enough to me upconverted to my Plasma set. I guess it comes down to "how much PQ improvement is needed" for each of us when comparing 50's-60's shows vs Std (upconverted) PQ? After deciding that, then the next point for me is, how large is the available catalog for BR with the same vintage TV/DVD's? For me, the Region-free point figures in big in any future decision to go to BR or possibly add a BR machine to the home ent setup.

I'm still blown away when I plug in one of my "Donna Reed" or "Father Knows Best" 50's era DVD's upconverted on my 50" Plasma in 4:3 viewing mode.

 

[Gary OS]

Richard, my good man. AMEN, AMEN, and AMEN to your entire post. I'm with you all the way on those thoughts. I'm in no way opposed to Blu-ray in theory. I'm just of the same mindset you are in that BR is, along with the recession and perhaps computer downloading, hurting vintage TV on DVD (for the exact reasons you stated so well). I'd have loved to see what another 3 to 5 years would have brought a Classic TV fan like myself if standard DVD was still the only medium. But now, we'll never know.

While I agree with others that BR will not push SDVD out the door next year, I do believe the industry as a whole is going to push the media to grow as quickly as possible. I do believe inside of a decade SDVD will be gone. Maybe even quicker. Just my two cents. The bigger deal to me is your point about what the introduction and expansion of Blu-ray is doing to classic TV on DVD. It's not helping us to get more stuff. It's only going to hurt at this point.

Gary "when I start seeing things like '77 Sunset Strip' or the now stalled 'Leave it to Beaver' come out in Blu-ray then I'll change my tune - until then all the evidence points toward Richard's conclusions" O.

P.S. And Jeff Willis is spot on with his comments as well, IMHO. Good points, Jeff. How much better can we really get some of these old shows like I Love Lucy, TAGS, Rawhide, Perry Mason, and the like? I'd hazard a guess and say not even to make me double dip.

 

[David Deeb]

No one said that it had. I don't know any quote or article that stated studios are changing their release plans because Blu-ray is around. You are complaining about Spider-man 3 and Cinderella. Yes. They will get more special editions. Who cares. Don't buy them.

But they aren't TV shows and I still say, why are you arguing against TV shows on Blu-ray. If Lost or 24 or Ugly Betty gets a Blu-ray release, it has nothing to do with Spider-man 3 getting a special edition.

 

[Brian D H]

Agreed, why is no one discussing this?
They want to push Blu-Ray players, but the average Joe doesn't care about better resolution? Well, he might just care about convenience and shelf space in his house!

Why not release all future TV Shows and unreleased seasons on Blu-Ray encoded DISCS in two versions:
1) 1 disc per season in standard definition. (Replaces the DVD version and has cheaper packaging.)
2) Multiple discs in the highest resolution possible for the show in question. This version would only be offered if it makes financial sense for that show. (ie: Is there a demand for a high-def version from us videophiles?)

I see no reason to offer any more TV shows on regular DVDs. If all standard definition TV was put on Blu-Ray encoded discs then more people would buy the Blu-Ray players. They may not even notice that their Blu-Ray TV is Standard-Def and their Blu-Ray movies are Hi-Def - just that Blu-Ray is "better".

Personally, even though I bought a Blu-Ray player for the increased resolution, I still would rather have certain shows in standard-def on fewer discs. For example: I'd rather have Star Trek TNG (with it's standard def effects) on 7 discs rather than the current 50 discs. The only way this show would work in Hi-def is to re-do all the effects and that's just not happening.

 

[Gary OS]

I think you are missing Richard's point. It's not the new shows like Lost, 24, or Ugly Betty (never seen one second of any of them, btw) that are being hurt by Blu-ray. His point is that older, more obscure shows that studios were turning to for release on standard dvd are no longer being considered because the studios can now focus on re-releasing the big cash cows on BR, likely causing many older classics to be lost forever in any medium.

Gary "heck, no one should be worried about BR's affect on new shows - those have nothing to worry about" O.

 

[David Deeb]

Maybe I did miss his point a bit, Gary and Richard. I see what you mean.

I understand that you are both concerned about some of your older shows getting released. Believe me, there are several I'm dying for too. I'd gladly buy them on SD to get them. The current Three Stooges Collection is a perfect example. I'm loving these and I buy each one of them on release day. In SD. (They look great; pick up a copy )

But if there is a big enough market for these shows on SD or BD, they will get released. But I don't believe it is because BD is out there. Mary Tyler Moore, Leave it to Beaver and other series were not abandoned because of BD, they were abandoned because a company felt like they weren't selling enough.... on SD, long before BD was even a factor.

 

[Carabimero]

That The Fugitive is being released on SD and not on HD (even though it was logically mastered on such) tells me that SD is still good for niche stuff, and that certain titles like Flipper may not see completion, I can't blame it on Blu-ray. I agree with David Deeb.

 

[Carabimero]

From a personal perspective I can offer my own reasoning for the drop of DVD sales on my part--after eight years and 4500+ DVDs, I own more than 90% of everything I want--so of course my buying is slowing down, but in my case it has nothing to do with the recession or Blu--I'm just reaching saturation point. And with Mission Impossible about to finish, along with The Waltons, I'm getting close. Father Knows Best is the title I am most worried about.

 

[David Levine]

They aren't doing it because there is already so much confusion about what Blu-Ray is with the general public that they don't want to muddy the waters even more.

Blu-Ray is being marketed as "the highest possible quality" and not "look how much space you can save" and those are 2 VERY different things. If a studio puts out a complete series in SD on a BR disc, you absolutely will get people buying it and then wondering what the fuss about Blu-Ray quality is and that will do considerably more damage to the format than the few sales gained by people excited that they get all 10 seasons of Friends on 3 discs.

I know for a fact that SD content on BR discs has been pitched to retailers by more than 1 studio and the retailers won't even listen. It's a growing niche product and everyone is OK with that as long as it continues its very nice growth.

And I don't believe SD is going anywhere anytime soon. The beauty of SD and BR is they are complimentary products. Buy a BR player and the world is opened up for you. If there is a movie or TV show you think is worth the premium, go Blu! If not, the SD is waiting for you. And both play in the same machine. Its seamless for the consumer.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Agree to disagree with Brian on this one but I understand his angle on it. I'm ready to jump to BR when the 50's-80's title catalogs catch up with the format and the R-free questions (for me) are answered as well as the reliable R-free BR player prices dropping further.

The data-storage capacity point made here is a very good food-for-thought angle. I'd love to have a complete series (or more) on a single BR disc but, as Gary mentioned, the double-dip issue would remain. I'm not ready to re-buy TV/DVD sets that I already own on Std DVD, at least not without seeing a big "blows me out of the room" PQ difference with the current std Fugitive/Rawhide/Perry Mason PQ vs BR PQ's (upconverted) of the same shows.

I'd most likely get a BR player to compliment my R-free Std player at some point. What would "sell" me on doing this would be to see a few 50's-60's shows getting exclusive BR releases without duplicate Std releases...as Gary said, "show me the beef" Let us see LITB, Dennis the Menace, Sea Hunt, 77 Sunset Strip, etc, getting BR releases.

 

[Mr. Film]

It's Blu ray!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And no, I don't want TV shows on Blu Ray.

 

[TravisR]

Except for the number of discs owned (I thought I was nuts with about 1,800

), that's basically my story. However, I am buying Blu-rays but the higher price on them has actually made me choosier in what I purchase which has sorta saved me money.

 

[Gary OS]

I hope everyone that thinks SDVD is still a very long ways away from extinction is correct as well. But I'm just not quite as sure. I still think a decade is the most we have left with this format unless something catastrophic happens to Blu-ray.

And that's a great way to put it, Jeff: "Where's the Beef"? I'm looking for one of two things to demonstrate I have nothing to worry about:

1) Either shows that have never seen a release or stalled series appear on Blu-ray (not holding my breath).

2) See an upsurge in SDVD Vintage releases. I and others have already discussed, using numbers/facts and not just our opinions, that we are seeing a downturn in Classic releases. That's just a fact. Look at the 4th Q of last year and compare it to the 1st Q of this year. It's not even close. We can't say it was all about Christmas either. Not with the discrepancy in volume that we've seen.

Sure, part of it we can attribute to the economy. No doubt about it. But I think we are acting the part of the proverbial ostrich to say at least some percentage of the downturn isn't because we are dealing with another format that the studios are pushing and the retailers are making more and more room for, thus pushing out shelf space for SDVD. And especially vintage SDVD series.

I don't think it's an either/or situation. It's many things contributing to the downturn, but I'm not convinced the introduction of Blu-ray isn't a factor. Surely not the biggest factor. That has to go to the economy. Maybe not even a major factor. Carab's point about saturation and a large percentage of the well known classics already being out would be a major factor. But to say Blu-ray is no factor at all? I'm not buying that.


Gary "just my two cents" O.

 

[Carabimero]

I didn't read where anyone said Blu ray wasn't a factor at all. Must've missed that post.

 

[Nebiroth]

Yes - it's pretty much as Gary has said.

Because DVD had been around so long, most of the "obvious" material had been released. The studios were turning towards more and more obscure and less well known/popular shows because there was nothing else left to release,aside the current year's crop of shows like Stargate Atlantis. The reasoning would be that whilst these obscure shows would never be big sellers, they would sell enough to make a profit thanks to the mass market nature of DVD - plus there would be a mass of disc-starved buyers who just might blind buy something they never heard of as there was nothing else out there. And the same logic applies for the stores to carry those titles.

But with the advent of Blu, this isn;t going to happen because:

1) The studios now have a choice between digging out an old show from the archive or just re-churning a big cash-cow onto Blu. Guess which one they will choose! Remembering that they are keen to get everyone on the Blu bandwagon precisely so that it quickly becomes a mass market for those cash-cow titles.
2) The buying public now also have a choice between buying a popular show surrounded by "High definition" hype or some old show they may never have heard of (should it chance to get released) on standard.
3) The stores have a choice between giving shelf-space to an obvious big seller or some obscure thing that most buyers never heard of

So it comes down to a choice between releasing an obscure TV show which requires lots of restoration work and has a whole mass of rights issues to clear that a small number of buyers might pick which the stores might put on their shelves...or simply putting a known best seller onto Blu.

It's all to do with a release cycle: there are many titles that would probably have been released onto VHS had we not had DVD. The same will happen with DVD because now we have Blu. By the time the studios start looking at the more obscure stuff for Blu, some new format will have come along, and they'll just reboot to the start of the cycle with Star Trek again. The result is that there is masses of stuff that will rot in the archives that will never get a release on any medium.

Until the day comes when a method of release arrives that costs virtually nothing to produce initially, so that even one sale adds up to a profit.

 

[nolesrule]

There are many shows out there, some obscure and some not, that did not make a profit and so were abandoned. Blu-ray has nothing to do with it.

There was a time when studios were willing to put out the obscure stuff because the costs could be subsidized by profits from the cash cows. That was noble of the studios, but it doesn't make good business sense. In the current economy with movie disc sales down, that means profits are down. You can't expect studios to throw their money at something that they are sure won't recover its costs.

 

[Ockeghem]

I don't know if I will ever purchase anything on Blu-ray. I might buy things on Blue-rey or Blue-ray, but Blu rey and Blew Ray are out of the question, whereas Blew Rey and Blew-rey might just do the trick one day.

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

Not to get too much off the topic of TV shows on Blu-ray, but I just picked up the Blu-ray version of Pinocchio at Toys R Us yesterday ($21.99) and the high defnition documentary on the making of this artistic masterpiece, and the popping colors of the feature presentation in HD are worth the purchase price of a Blu-ray player alone. It's awesome. The fact that they included a SD version of the movie with the BR suggests to me that they realize if you don't have a BR player now, you will eventually, and you WILL be blown away by this presentation. And I'm one who thought that animation, since it's usually 2D, wouldn't benefit as much from HD. Wrong.

The bottom line is, that as viewers get more and more used to watching HD on their big screens, this is the inevitable software format to complement that standard of viewing.

It's great to re-live our favorite classic series in SD, but there are immense rewards in tasting the present and future in BR.

 

[Rodrick]

Hmmmm I still don't know on this subject. Buy a Playstation 3 gaming system just to get loading times greater for bluray, and will do same thing as other players bluray like making dvd's go 1080. Im getting undecided.

And the laser inside, and about how well bluray discs stand up to scratches. How much more delicate they are towards scratched cd's or dvd's