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What happened to "Rescue Me, Season 4"?

post #1 of 7
3/28/08 at 3:20pm
Thread Starter 
As you all know, the third season of "Rescue Me" was released on Blu-ray last June. I was particularly happy about that and took it pretty much for granted that the rest of the show would also be released in hi-def, on whatever format would turn out to be victorious in the end.

For a short while now, "Rescue Me, Season 4" has been announced and it is also up for preorder at several retailers. But there is no Blu-ray version to be found anywhere, and TVShowsOnDVD reported that there were currently no plans for a hi-def release. they also said that could still change and that the Blu-ray set could be released at a later date, but for now, that's how it'd be.

Well, and now I'm a little worried I won't be able to get me some more "Rescue Me" on Blu-ray, at least not anytime soon. I was also surprised that no of the new shows were announced on Blu-ray, e.g. "Californication" or "Burn Notice", but I attributed that to the relatively high cost to make such a set with comparatively few buyers in contrast to standard DVD. But when it comes to shows that have had a previous hd-release like "Rescue Me", I'm at a loss to explain why they would not give us a Blu-ray set right away.

I really do want season 4 of that show, especially since I'm a "home video-only viewer" from abroad. But I am hesitant to order the standard-def set while still holding out hope for a "blu" one down the road.

Any thoughts on that?
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post #2 of 7
3/28/08 at 4:43pm

Re: What happened to "Rescue Me, Season 4"?

I would guess that the Blu Ray release of Rescue Me was something of an experiment - and an unsuceesful one. The Blu Ray market is still relatively small and unlikely to generate the kind of sales numbers the TV sets need. (Star Trek: TOS is an exception, but Trek has always been an exception when it comes to home video sales in the U.S. It was one of the handful of series that did well on VHS and laserdisc.)

Not long ago a Paramount exec was speculating on the kind of shows that might do well on hi-def disc and he thought that FX heavy shows like the Treks and CSI shows might have enough of a "wow" factor to sell well, but that most series initially wouldn't benefit as much from the new formats and that even fewer would look enough better to lure people who owned the SD releases to double dip.

Don't forget, despite having won the format war, Blu Ray is still a niche of a niche. Even 60% of the installed base of hi-def players is not a huge number, and the installed base of HDTVs is still small compared to the total number of TVs in this country. It took several years before the DVD market was big enough to sustain full season sets, and there's no reason to think that Blu Ray will be any different.

Especially since the clock on Blu Ray has essentially just started. A lot of people sat out the format war (me included.) A lot went with HD-DVD. Hi-def DVD has been something basically limited to early adopters, and not even all of those. In terms of widespread adoption it is almost like the last couple of years never happened, and hi-def DVD has only just arrived. Not surprising that there is little in the way of TV content as yet. Releasing Rescue Me S3 on Blu Ray was probably premature, and Sony has just learned from its mistake.

Regards,

Joe
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post #3 of 7
3/29/08 at 1:07am

Re: What happened to "Rescue Me, Season 4"?

didnt help that S3 was going for over $100 at most brick and mortars. I held off on getting it just for that reason till i found it on amazon for $50.
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post #4 of 7
4/5/08 at 11:14am

Re: What happened to "Rescue Me, Season 4"?

I'm also one of those annoyed that I have S3 on BD and I'll have S1, 2, and 4 on DVD...

That being said, I don't even think FX has an HD channel, so you can't even see the show in HD.

The price for the season was pretty darn steep, too.
I'll probably hold off a while for S4, unless I find it real cheap on SD its first week out.

LOVE the show though.
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post #5 of 7
4/6/08 at 9:45am

Re: What happened to "Rescue Me, Season 4"?

The BD of RM S3 (man, was that enough abbreviation?) got some poor reviews of its video quality. Most reviewers said there was very little improvement over the SD discs. I stuck with the SD's of S3, and I think S4 just got announced.
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post #6 of 7
4/30/08 at 3:39pm

Re: What happened to "Rescue Me, Season 4"?

Quote:
Originally Posted by PatWahlquist
The BD of RM S3 (man, was that enough abbreviation?) got some poor reviews of its video quality. Most reviewers said there was very little improvement over the SD discs. I stuck with the SD's of S3, and I think S4 just got announced.
I thought season 3 was great on Blu-ray, particularly the fire scenes. The DVD version doesn't deal with the darkness and smoke well at all, even on the 26" tv in my bedroom I noticed the difference right away. I'll be really annoyed if I have to deal with murky DVDs for season 4.
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post #7 of 7
8/8/08 at 2:45am
Thread Starter 

Re: What happened to "Rescue Me, Season 4"?

Just found the email address of Sony Pictures Home Video...I guess it couldn't hurt to tell them that there are in fact people waiting for season 4 on BD.

Please spare two minutes of your time to let them know.

consumer@sphecustomersupport.sony.com
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