Warner Bros. upsets me

stewprime · 07-18-2008, 09:19 PM

I don't know what there business policy is but it sure stinks. They release Night Court Season 1 as a bare bones set in what? 2004? And fail to produce the reamaining seasons. Then, 2 years later, they release Drew Carey season 1 on the DVD and guess what? Screwed again. And we've only got 1 season of Whose Line is it Anyway? as well.

I mean, seriously, who the hell is driving Warner's Home DVD sales department? A chimp? I've seriously got a bone to pick with who ever is in charge.

Warner Bros. Get your act together...please.

Joe Tor1 · 07-18-2008, 10:16 PM

While we're at it, where's Season 2-4 of HUCKLEBERRY HOUND?

WHV did do well with classic Hanna-Barbera releases until then. Wha' hoppen?

And, too often, their PACKAGING is that slimmer, cheaper packaging that Warner Home Video has used since the latter part of 2005, where one disc rests upon another. You cannot handle or remove DISC TWO without first removing or handling DISC ONE. There is always potential, however slight, for damage with packaging of this sort.

bmasters9 · 07-19-2008, 06:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stewprime

I don't know what there business policy is but it sure stinks. They release Night Court Season 1 as a bare bones set in what? 2004? And fail to produce the reamaining seasons. Then, 2 years later, they release Drew Carey season 1 on the DVD and guess what? Screwed again. And we've only got 1 season of Whose Line is it Anyway? as well.

I mean, seriously, who the hell is driving Warner's Home DVD sales department? A chimp? I've seriously got a bone to pick with who ever is in charge.

Warner Bros. Get your act together...please.

I think, stewprime, that it is the infamous "starts with F" rule that is the reason why "Night Court," "Drew Carey," and "WLIIA" each only have one season's worth released. If it doesn't start with F, Warner seems to say, it's not going to get completed, released beyond S1, or even released at all. This, I believe, is part of why "Friends" has had all 10 seasons' worth released and why it has also been released in a full series package as well.

Two notable exceptions to this are "The Waltons," which has been released from 1972-79 (7 seasons' worth), and "Dallas" (9 seasons' worth from 1978-
86; this being the way that Warner counts seasons).

JohnMor · 07-19-2008, 03:56 PM

The bottom line is if S1 sells, there will be a S2 released. Friends and The West Wing sold enough to not only complete their runs, but release deluxe complete sets as well. Dallas sells well enough to get up to S9, but Knots Landing stalled at S1.

Why would they release further seasons of shows that don't sell? It's a business, pure and simple.

It's frustrating, I know. I would love to get The Mary Tyler Moore Show completed, but the last season released (S4) only sold about 75,000 units, and Fox isn't interested in those kind of numbers. But that's business.

Bryan^H · 07-19-2008, 04:34 PM

Warner Brothers doesn't joke around. If it doesn't sell as may units as they would like, they will drop that title forever. I don't know of anything Warner has abandoned, and returned for another release. Once they stop a title, they never seem to look back. They are ruthless. Punch you in the gut, and ask if your OK ruthless.

**HTF Ads**

Haden · 07-19-2008, 07:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan^H

I don't know of anything Warner has abandoned, and returned for another release.

Well that seemed to be the case with Mary Tyler Moore at first, which had season 1 come out in 2002, and then nothing for almost 3 years until season 2 finally came out in 2005. There seemed to be hope for awhile after that with seasons 3 and 4 being released in 2006, but alas it looks like it's been abandoned again.

I'm somewhat amazed and thankful Dallas has made it this far with 9 seasons. I guess that's a testament to its continued popularity. Surely they won't stop when they are this far into it. Only 5 seasons left to go.

Bryan^H · 07-19-2008, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haden

Well that seemed to be the case with Mary Tyler Moore at first, which had season 1 come out in 2002, and then nothing for almost 3 years until season 2 finally came out in 2005. There seemed to be hope for awhile after that with seasons 3 and 4 being released in 2006, but alas it looks like it's been abandoned again.

I'm somewhat amazed and thankful Dallas has made it this far with 9 seasons. I guess that's a testament to its continued popularity. Surely they won't stop when they are this far into it. Only 5 seasons left to go.

I didn't know MTM was a Warner Brothers release. I stand corrected.

whisperintherain · 07-19-2008, 08:39 PM

Ironically enough, my favorite Warner shows are the ones that don't sell. Don't get me wrong, I love BABYLON 5, FRIENDS, GILMORE GIRLS, NIP/TUCK, SIX FEET UNDER, SMALLVILLE and VERONICA MARS (all of which I collect), but I can't help feeling terribly sad that we may never see the rest of KNOTS LANDING (my favorite show ever, I like it much better than DALLAS which I can't help finding awfully boring), LIFE GOES ON (an underrated gem of a show) and EVERWOOD (a wonderful show with excellent writing and acting, probably the best thing that The WB ever aired) released on DVD. I was surprised by the DVD success of something like THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, which I in no way begrudge, but am wondering if by any chance, the sales expectations were set at a lower level for that show.

Is there a complete list of WARNER's abandoned shows available online? I know that people often mention MURPHY BROWN or NIGHT COURT, but besides these titles and the ones mentioned previously, I'd like to have just a rough idea of how frequent this practice is.

Oh, another odd thing I thought I'd mention in passing: some shows get quicker releases in Europe than in the US. For instance, ER season 12 is already scheduled for a fall release and Season 4 of WITHOUT A TRACE was released last month. Just wondering: is it possible that these titles are more popular over here than in the country where they first aired?

However, other titles are not very popular on DVD around here. For instance, there are currently no plans to release DALLAS beyond Season 7 in France, due to poor sales (despite the fact that the show is constantly in reruns over here).

Haden · 07-19-2008, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryan^H

I didn't know MTM was a Warner Brothers release. I stand corrected.

It's not, but I was just using it as an example of another series that seemed to stall for quite a while after the first season came out and then picked up again after 3 years with seasons 2, 3, and 4.

Bryan^H · 07-19-2008, 11:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Haden

It's not, but I was just using it as an example of another series that seemed to stall for quite a while after the first season came out and then picked up again after 3 years with seasons 2, 3, and 4.

My fault. I took your first paragraph the wrong way. I guess time will tell on WB's abandoned titles.

Joe Karlosi · 07-20-2008, 06:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnMor

The bottom line is if S1 sells, there will be a S2 released. Friends and The West Wing sold enough to not only complete their runs, but release deluxe complete sets as well. Dallas sells well enough to get up to S9, but Knots Landing stalled at S1.

Why would they release further seasons of shows that don't sell? It's a business, pure and simple.

It's frustrating, I know. I would love to get The Mary Tyler Moore Show completed, but the last season released (S4) only sold about 75,000 units, and Fox isn't interested in those kind of numbers. But that's business.

Yeah, yeah, yeah -- "That's business". But what about good or even classic shows that ought to be preserved?

I'm sick and tired of "newer" shows like FRIENDS getting all the attention. OF COURSE a show like that is going to sell very well on DVD, because it's a recent show that younger people love. But really great older shows like MARY TYLER MOORE should suffer just because they premiered in 1970 instead of in 2006??? That's what really irks me.