Murphy Brown S2?

At the last chat, Warners said there were currently no plans for S2 of Murphy Brown. Doesn't mean that it won't eventually happen though.

Steve

I think with the "lower selling shows", I don't see why not just adhere to a "one season a year" policy, that way everyone wins

How does the studio win in this scenario? Just that their loss is spread over more time?

studios rerelease ultimate editions of flop movies all the time (who wants to bet we'll see the three-disc directors cut of Catwoman in a collectors tin this summer?) but yet they avoid unchartered tv show territories. I think once the first season sells a certain amount, then it's a sign for the company to know what to do and what not to do next season.

With Murphy Brown, Warner could decide to make it bare-bones and maybe press less copies so there won't be as much surplus. If Fox found a way around the flop of Mary Tyler Moore, Warner should do the same for Murphy Brown, Night Court and other shows... shows that DIDN'T FLOP (I know too many people who own these sets), just that they aren't as big and profitable as Friends (::yawn:, Fresh Prince (::yawn: and Full House (::yawn:, three shows that are overplayed to death.

Therein lies the problem. Key word in that sentence, SMART. Therefore you are losing a large part of the buying public. Intelligent shows do not really appeal to the masses.

well, you must remember that Murphy was a huge hit in it's original run, and it was so hot at one point that it actually sparked a political debate, so the audiences did embrace it, I think Warner should seriously consider at least going up to the end of season 4 where Murphy gave birth before abandoning it

I think the combination of lower than expected sales plus the cost of music clearence have sunk this for now.

Remember music clearence issues, and how you all complained about Universal (while somehow failing to point the finger at Sony who are just as bad with their Tour of Duty and Dawson's Creek releases).

I think Murphy Brown shows that the finance and business model are different when releasing TV on DVD. There's lots of reasons for this:

1) They are ongoing releases. With a film you can't really see how well the disc will sell before it is released. With TV on DVD you can. As the 1st season is generally the highest selling, if that doesn't reach sales expectations, their ain't much point in releasing the rest (unless you change the business model by dropping the extras such as King of the Hill did).

2) Movie Re-Releases. Well, these too are much less risky than continuing an underperforming TV show release. Mainly because all the clearences have already been negotiated and perhaps even paid - the cost of publishing a new DVD is smaller than releasing it's initial release, but can potentially have huge returns. This is why we'll never see an end to "double-dips"

3) Publicity. It's easy to get publicity for a new film release - especially one that did fair to exceptional business at the box office. Magazines, newspapers and tv/radio will often promote the release themselves via news and reviews. The announcement of the DVD release of the latest Harry Potter makes the mainstream section of a newspaper. The annoucement of Murphy Brown S2, M*A*S*H S9 or The Brady Bunch S4 generates no space. In addition, in the scramble for customers, the big stores often advertise their prices for the biggest new releases each week. These sometimes include TV shows, but unless the 'franchise' is exceptional like The Simpsons, they rarely include post season 1 sets. Thus the studios have to rely on their own advertising to let the public know the title is available, and this often results in a number of the potential buyers of a title unaware it is available to purchase.

TV on DVD is a harder sell than feature films, even though, ironically, it often offers better value for money. I'd love to see more Murphy Brown, but I can't see it happening anytime soon. Warners' have "no plans" for a reason.

"Murphy Brown" was a major critical and commercial hit during the early years of its run on CBS, but the series never came close to duplicating that success in ancillaries. Few major sitcoms have performed as disappointingly as "Murphy" did in syndication---many broadcast stations paid top dollar for the series, only to see it tank in the ratings.

Other smart and funny sitcoms such as "MASH" and "Seinfeld" achieved great success in both syndication and on DVD---so I don't think that being smart and funny explains why "Murphy" has consistently underperformed since its run on CBS. What made "Murphy" a tough sell is that the series relied heavily on references to then-current events that may not be familiar to latter-day viewers.

The first season set apparently sold poorly; I bought the set last June at a store in NYC that was selling it for $11.99---just a few months after the set had been released by Warner. I wouldn't hold my breath for the second season.

It seems to be a trend that DVD's that appeal to older audiences simply do not sell as well as the ones aimed at younger consumers. Perhaps if Murphy and the gang had run around naked on an island and shot at each other then younger buyers would be more interested. Older consumers need to be more aware that their favorite shows are on DVD so the sales will pick up.

Also, with regard to Murphy the show has rarely been seen in reruns lately so it's current profile is quite low. Plus, it seems as though all of the music was included in the 1st season release. That had to have cost a lot. That added in with supposedly low sales may be what have sunk further releases. So I suppose this could be another great show dead in the water.

Or if all of the characters dropped 50 IQ points each and just spent their time worrying about getting drunk and getting laid. Then you'd have the "MTV generation" lining up for it.

actually, Murphy can be seen on Nick At Nite every night around 3 am

Yeah, I've wondered if this may have a chance of coming out around the time of the mid-term Congressional elections later this year. Just a theory.

I honestly love Murphy. They can scrap the music for all I care. What opening/closing song is used means absolutely nothing to me.
The show was well written, smart and funny. I hope we do see more of Murphy.

Oooh, no no no, that's not my opinion at all!

I am almost 24 and found this show funny when it origally aired so i pre-ordered. I went through the show quickily on dvd and loved it still probably understand more the jokes now. I think part of the problem is that it is a smart show and unfortunily the majority of the public is not smart.

I want the music kept in tact, I think Warner has the best record compared to the other studios in this matter.
Its funny that Full House is getting such a quick release, I only ordered the 1st for the bonus disk with Growing Pains and Step by Step epsiodes.

I say nothing is impossible and Murphy Brown S2 and beyond will come

what really irks me is that Warner gives preferential treatment to the sitcoms like Friends, Full House and Fresh Prince that have been overplayed to the point of sickness, but yet Warner can't even do a "one season a year instead of two" type of deal with Murphy, a show that airs on N@N, but is not played to death like Fresh Prince

Yeah, but all those have also done very well in DVD sales. And I guess that's what counts the most in any business.

Money talks, folks. And in this case it's saying "Murphy, who ?"

Re: Murphy Brown S2?

2 years later. I guess this is a writeoff. Time to pull out the VHS tapes.

Re: Murphy Brown S2?

Thank goodness I recorded the show in it's network run (also did in syndication). Time to pull those out, too. So many great episodes, especially the holiday shows.

Re: Murphy Brown S2?

there is a listing on AMAZON US for the second season so if anyone who wants it, should SIGN UP on the right of the page. Who knows! many said that Amazon plays a role in these things! Big demand = release !

Amazon.com: Murphy Brown - The Complete Second Season: Candice Bergen: Movies & TV

plus for the fans out there: REUNION: msnbc.com Video Player

Re: Murphy Brown S2?

Yeah, because WB gets cc'd everytime someone clicks the "notify me if anything ever changes" button on Amazon.com.

That "page" is an index "placeholder" for MB that was probably created as soon as season one went on sale, and was just never taken down - not an indication that further seasons are coming. Still less is it some kind of "vote for Murphy Brown page. WB knows perfectly well that there are people who would like to see more MB released on DVD. They also know perfectly well, based on sales of the previous set and probably some market research in the meantime, that there aren't enough of these people to make further releases economically viable. (Especially given the high cost of music rights.)

So it really doesn't matter how many people sign up to be notified of the future MB releases on that Amazon.com ghost page, there still aren't going to be any further releases for Amazon to notify anybody of. Sad, but true. The studios are in business to make money for their shareholders, and they aren't going to deliberately release a product at a loss just to make you and me happy. (They release enough stuff at a loss by accident as it is. )

Regards,

Joe

Re: Murphy Brown S2?

It's bad enough to not get any more seasons on DVD but it's made even worse when you can't properly watch it in syndie. It's edited, of course but Nick @ Nite also has been very bad about putting it on, taking it off, moving it with no notice, pre-empting it and for awhile were actually airing it a few minutes off schedule making it difficult to Tivo it properly without losing the first few minutes. All around, very bad treatment for a classic show.

Although for the record the show jumped the shark after the 4th season. It was a shadow of itself after that even with the eventual addition the divine Lily Tomlin and the inspired Paul Reubens.

Re: Murphy Brown S2?

The only way to get WB to put out season 2 is if more people buy season 1. Those are the only numbers that they are going to look at.