The beginning of the end for classic shows? - Page 6

Steve...O · 11-04-2006, 11:10 AM

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 · 11-04-2006, 12:07 PM

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 · 11-04-2006, 02:33 PM

[quote=Charles Ellis]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 · 11-04-2006, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott_F_S

OK, so let's go back to the question suggested by the OP. Why do you think there is such a drastic slowdown in release schedules this year?

I would contend it's because the studios have discovered that they don't sell well enough to justify releasing everything in sight.

I've made my point: There is not a significant market for classic TV on DVD, and the studios have learned that. It has nothing to do with the quality of Ben Casey vs. the quality of the Apprentice. It has everything to do with the fact that they'll sell 10 or so copies of the Apprentice for everyone one Ben Casey at much less the cost.

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 · 11-04-2006, 06:22 PM

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 · 11-05-2006, 01:31 PM

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 · 11-05-2006, 04:44 PM

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

Michael Alden · 11-05-2006, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TravisR

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

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 · 11-05-2006, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 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.

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 · 11-05-2006, 06:31 PM

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.

Joe Lugoff · 11-05-2006, 07:09 PM

If the executives are making business decisions based on only what they like or know, then they should be demoted to the mail room or something. The first lesson of marketing is to find out what people want and provide it -- even if you don't like it yourself or never even heard of it.

They must be doing some kind of market research (at least, I hope they are!) and the results probably don't inspire them to release too many shows from the 1950s or 1960s. I don't really expect them to. But I do wish they'd license them out.

JohnMor · 11-05-2006, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Charles Ellis

The last thing this thread needs is a negative attitude.

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