Brian Himes

Columbia House TV Library Being Discontinued

I thought I let everyone know who is a subscriber to any Columbia House TV Library that in a letter I received dated 10/31/05, that Columbia House is discontinuing all of their DVD library titles.

In the letter that was sent out to subscribers there is good news however. If you contact Columbia House by 11/29/05, you will be given a chance to purchase any of the remaining DVDs for the series that you are currently subscribed to. For instance, I was getting the Carol Burnett DVDs and I was able to purchase the final four DVDs in the set that I needed to complete the set. Also, they are offering free shipping on all purchases and each DVD that you purchase you will receive the title at 40% off. Again, this is only available to folks who are currently subscribers in the TV library and it's only for the current series that you are subscribing to.

The letter doesn't state if the VHS tapes for TV shows are also being discontinued, but it does state that the library is being discontinued so I assune that it applies to VHS as well as the DVDs.

JohnOPR

Brian

I've been getting the Carol Burnett series, too, currently waiting to get volume 24 this month. How many more are in the set? I'm certain I'll follow your lead and get the rest, also. Was just wondering how many discs are in the complete set.

Someday, when these things are out of print, you and I will make a million when we sell them on EBay. Seriously, I don't think I'd ever part with my copies.
Classics!

John

RickER

I was getting Perry Mason but gave it up after volume 12. I was getting scratched discs, one right after another. Course i was returning the scratched ones, and getting them replaced. But the hassel of an hour (on hold) on the phone with customer service and $25 price got to be a pain. On a side note they were going to turn me in to collections for not paying for Smallville season 1. I never ordered, or received, Smallville from them. But i did get a nasty letter. Again i was on hold for an hour with customer service to straighten them out. Bad customer service, high prices, and no more Columbia House only releases, it was only a matter of time.

Tony S

Doesn't suprise me that they are discontinuing this. With season sets now the norm, it makes no sense to charge $25 for a handful of episodes. I expected this last year when they started the TV edition of the club.

Brian Himes

Hey John,

There are a total of 31 volumes in the Carol Burnett set. I got off really lucky with this. I just got volume 27 two weeks ago and now this happens. As it is, the last four volumes only cost me $46.00! What a savings. I mean two volumes cost me $50.00! I'd say anyone who is close to completing a series with Columbia House that they should seriously consider the final volumes that they neeed for a full set. Since this has been the only way to get full episodes of Carol Burnett it was a no-brainer for me.

JohnOPR

Thanks, Brian

It's a no-brainer for me, too. I'm calling Columbia House today. Most assuredly want those final discs!

All the best
John

FrancisP

I haven't gotten any letters from CH. It's a shame because I subscribed to the PM and Wild Wild West. Those are not out on dvd and don't look to be in the future.

I don't know what type of licensing agreement CH has but I wish they could sell the volumes on their tv club and order them seperately.

Jeff#

I purchased the first 10 volumes (the first 31 episodes in order) of The Wild Wild West from Columbia House and they look great! Didn't have a problem with any of them. The only problem I did have was that they didn't have any more copies in stock of Volumes 11 through 15, so there are at least 5 more discs of more 2nd season episodes I don't own.

I was never a member of their WWW club though. I bought those through their DVD movie club individually and collectively at various times in 2004.

Mark Talmadge

I don't why anyone would purchase those subscriptions. They contain two episodes per tape and take up way too much room. I would just dukmp them or have them transfered to DVD.

FrancisP

The problem is that PM and WWW are not available in season sets. The only way to get these were through CH. It wasn't the best solution but it was the only solution.

It's a shame that CH didn't have the courtesy to send me a letter letting me know about this. Very poor customer service.

MarcoBiscotti

It was a horrible program from a horrible company to begin with. I'm just glad I got all my Woody Woodpecker discs before they went oop and started fetching ridiculous prices on Ebay. Even if it did take many angry phone calls and months to get them all!

Ethan Riley

I hated Columbia House, but ya know, 10 years ago they were the only show in town. It sucked. It utterly sucked, when you think about it. Here's how I saw it:

1.) The vhs tapes cost $19.95 each, for about 2 hours of entertainment: either 2 hour-long eps, or 3 or 4 1/2 hour eps.

2.) The tapes came a whole month apart.

3.) Lots of videotapes take up lots of room in your home. A season of Star Trek would be about 14 video cassettes, vs. the cute dvd season sets, which takes up the space of about 1 and 1/2 video cassettes.

4.) Usually, and especially in the case of sitcoms, the episodes were out of order. In most cases, they were built around some stupid "theme."

5.) The packaging was always good, but it got repetitive and redundant. Every single volume of each series looked exactly the same, except for minor changes in lettering. This made for some pretty boring household displays.

6.) The sets were not always complete series collections. There are some exceptions, for instance, all of Lost in Space and Star Trek were distributed this way. However, upon ordering a set for the first time, you'd never know WHAT you were going to get. For instance, I subscribed to the Bewitched tapes. I got 4 eps per tape, all built around some stupid theme, like "the Tates," and the eps were mixed up among the first 3 seasons. Well, I was satisfied enough with them, but they got to tape #10 and stopped. I gave it a couple months, called Columbia House and they said, nope, that's all we made. So now I'm stuck with 10 Bewitched tapes, all the eps out of order, together costing me $250 or so (don't forget to add the $5 or so for shipping).
Well, listen, my dears, I am now the proud owner of two dvd sets of Bewitched. Together they cover some SIXTY eps of the show, all in order, and together they've so far cost me about $45.00. UN-BE-LIEV-ABLE.

Yes, I do very much resent the bad economics of my having bought ANY CH sets in the past. I had probably 100 of the damn things. I don't WANT to think about the money I spent. However, there's a little less ugliness now and then. I don't regret buying Soap, because there are scenes on Soap that don't exist on the dvd sets. Same with the Lost in Space tapes, which many fans consider to be superior to the dvds, (although I sold my Lost in Space tapes ages ago).

Yeah, in retrospect I'm pretty unhappy that I ever bought so darn many CH tapes, but I have no one to blame but myself. Thank god for dvd season sets, it just opened up so many more opportunities.

(I'm just hoping that the next format doesn't blow away the concept of season sets, cause then I'd be really po'd).

Jeff#

I did indeed get Wild Wild West on DVD because they were -- and still are, the only way to buy that series. (Although WWW was released through Columbia House on videotape in the previous deca