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Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

post #1 of 122
5/18/09 at 7:02am
Thread Starter 
I see on TV Shows On DVD that Amazon is taking orders for season 5 of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. I guess we made enough noise that we caught someones attention. But are we shooting ourselves in the foot? Or somewhere higher? Will we see a season 6 and 7 and who knows when? Will we go from season 5 to "The Complete Series". Which of course will cost us even more money since we bought another season that will be repeated. Ok, we do what they want us to do. WE GAMBLE. My suggestion. A great number of folks voiced an openion on that past thread. Ladies and gentlemen, we gotta support Mary and Lou and get that 5th season.
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post #2 of 122
5/18/09 at 7:14am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

I am sure it would be a good thing if the 5th season showed surprisingly strong sales.
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post #3 of 122
5/18/09 at 8:31am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

I preordered it as soon as I saw the news.
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post #4 of 122
5/18/09 at 10:37am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

This is on my preorder list too, great show
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post #5 of 122
5/18/09 at 11:27am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

My favorite moment of the entire series is in S5 when Ted gets caught up in football betting and he delivers that hilarious line of panic, "TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS!"
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post #6 of 122
5/18/09 at 4:10pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

I doubt they'd go from Season 5 to the Complete Series, after the uproar that was caused by the rumor they might go from Season 4 to the Complete Series.

Since interest in completing the series was the result of Oprah Winfrey having the cast on her show, and since I'm sure Oprah wants the entire series to be released, she can make it all come true by buying up thousands of copies and giving them away. According to Forbes, in 2008 her personal income was $5,000,000 a week. With only one week's income, she can buy 250,000 copies of Season 5. That alone should be enough to ensure a Season 6.
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post #7 of 122
5/18/09 at 11:33pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Lugoff

I doubt they'd go from Season 5 to the Complete Series, after the uproar that was caused by the rumor they might go from Season 4 to the Complete Series.

Since interest in completing the series was the result of Oprah Winfrey having the cast on her show, and since I'm sure Oprah wants the entire series to be released, she can make it all come true by buying up thousands of copies and giving them away. According to Forbes, in 2008 her personal income was $5,000,000 a week. With only one week's income, she can buy 250,000 copies of Season 5. That alone should be enough to ensure a Season 6.

Wowzers. She can push the market any way she wants.
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post #8 of 122
5/19/09 at 12:13am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Right now this is the only way to get Season 5. There's no guarantee that a complete series will ever be released. If you're willing to hold off on buying this one until you see if a complete series set comes out then you'll have saved yourself from double-dipping on yet another season. However, if enough people avoid this release and the sales are low then you are less likely to see Season 6 or the complete series.
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post #9 of 122
5/19/09 at 1:28pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

I'll buy this set as I have the first four, however it strikes me how clueless Fox is about this whole thing.
The first four sets sell poorly
so
Fox decides to package all the previous releases together with a lesser amount of unreleased content so they can then charge a high msrp to offset weak sales.
They finally catch on that this is unfairly and stupidly gouging the only people who were actually supporting the releases all along
so
rather than making an all-in-one package of the last three seasons with which they can they set a 3x higher msrp (than the individual sets), they revert back to the sales model that was making no one happy- not them or us. When are these suits going to catch a clue? The fan base wants the rest of the series. They DO NOT want to pay to rebuy the material they already own. Is it me or is the reconciliation between everyones needs here pretty damn clear?
Is this rocket science?
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post #10 of 122
5/19/09 at 4:57pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

I'd guess if they sell Seasons 5-7 as a package, they'll only sell to the series' hardcore fans, and it has been made clear to them that there definitely aren't enough of them to make it profitable.

When they knew the Complete Series would anger those fans, it seems the only option left to them was to revert to the traditional one season at a time system.

I still say Oprah Winfrey should subsidize the darn thing already.

-------------------
"Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around ..." - Thornton Wilder
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post #11 of 122
5/19/09 at 6:42pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Pre-ordered mine today. Hope to see the last two seasons at some point in the future. The price was right. Can't really argue with 21 bucks for some Ted Baxter hilarity!
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post #12 of 122
5/21/09 at 9:08am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

My pre-order for The Complete Series was cancelled by Amazon.com, for what it's worth.

Oprah pushed for this, and she better not let it fail, but the rest of us need to do our part and actually buy it.
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post #13 of 122
5/21/09 at 10:27am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Yikes! You guys complain if it doesn't come out; you complain if it does come out. Yikes, I tell you--Yikes!
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post #14 of 122
5/21/09 at 1:39pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Quote:
Originally Posted by MatthewA
My pre-order for The Complete Series was cancelled by Amazon.com, for what it's worth.

Oprah pushed for this, and she better not let it fail, but the rest of us need to do our part and actually buy it.

Well, it's more important that Fox "do right" by the customers, even if that means Seasons 6 & 7 never get released. Because the Complete Series Set would have "forced" people who didn't want to to double dip against their will.

We'll see what the future brings... Hopefully it's all remaining seasons in one form or another.
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post #15 of 122
5/21/09 at 8:29pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Are "series" sets even selling that well these days? I always wonder who has the money to splash out on those things. Do we even know that the MTM series set was cancelled due to fans' complaints and not because, financially, it was a bad idea? That seems just as likely a reason as any.
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post #16 of 122
5/21/09 at 8:57pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Yes, it seemed like a bad idea financially after all those complaints about it on Amazon (and here).
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post #17 of 122
5/21/09 at 9:02pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

That means nothing.

It's the internet, and as much as we'd like to believe we have some influence, the people who post on Amazon and on message boards are just a blip on the sales radar.

I would sincerely hope Fox's decisions were not based on Amazon reviews. I mean, it could've been ten very vocal people under a dozen different names apiece creating all of the bad reviews. You can't know with the internet.

Now, if they floated it to retailers, and the retailers didn't bite, that's a more acceptable reason (IMO) to cancel the complete box set for the time being.

...But not the internet.
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post #18 of 122
5/21/09 at 11:13pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Obsolete Man
That means nothing.

It's the internet, and as much as we'd like to believe we have some influence, the people who post on Amazon and on message boards are just a blip on the sales radar.

I would sincerely hope Fox's decisions were not based on Amazon reviews. I mean, it could've been ten very vocal people under a dozen different names apiece creating all of the bad reviews. You can't know with the internet.

Now, if they floated it to retailers, and the retailers didn't bite, that's a more acceptable reason (IMO) to cancel the complete box set for the time being.

...But not the internet.

For every few dozen people booing there can be thousands more wanting it, people on amazon message boards are just a tiny fraction as you say.
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post #19 of 122
5/22/09 at 10:06am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Yeah, but ...

Those reactions on Amazon were very strong.

Fans of the series would check the Amazon listing, right? People who didn't give a hoot about The MTM Show wouldn't even look at the page, much less comment.

And I'd say it's more likely than not that most of the comments were from different people, as opposed to one crank writing ten negative comments under ten different names.

I don't know where this idea came from that the Internet, probably the most powerful communication device since the invention of the printing press, means nothing to companies.

I bet they DO read comments on Amazon -- and those concerning the proposed Complete Series release of The MTM Show were so powerfully negative, it wouldn't surprise me if they were a major part in the decision to forget about a Complete Series set until Seasons 5, 6 and 7 were released separately.

I'm not a fan of corporations, but there has to be some limit to how selfish and uncaring they are!
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post #20 of 122
5/22/09 at 2:13pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

I don't see how this is a "gamble". It increases my MTMS collection by 25% and I don't have to repurchase four seasons that I already own. The only "gamble" is that at this rate I may not be alive by the time they finish releasing the series!
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post #21 of 122
5/24/09 at 2:50pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

I just pre-ordered season 5. I would like to complete the MTM series with individual season sets so here's hoping.
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post #22 of 122
5/25/09 at 11:17am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

I have also pre-ordered Season 5 from Amazon. Season by season is the only way this series is going to sell. Almost everyone who is interested in Season 5 already owns seasons 1 - 4. I, too, hope season 5 sells well, assuming it will actually be released.
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post #23 of 122
5/25/09 at 7:21pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

It would seem logical to assume that Season 5 wouldn't sell any better than Seasons 1-4 sold, wouldn't it? I mean, how many people could there be who didn't get Seasons 1-4 but who would then say, "Oh, look, Season 5 of The MTM Show! Now, that's the one I've been waiting for!"?
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post #24 of 122
5/25/09 at 8:58pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Lugoff
It would seem logical to assume that Season 5 wouldn't sell any better than Seasons 1-4 sold, wouldn't it? I mean, how many people could there be who didn't get Seasons 1-4 but who would then say, "Oh, look, Season 5 of The MTM Show! Now, that's the one I've been waiting for!"?
I agree, Joe. Which is why I was happy (despite your objections) about the idea of a complete series set, so I could grab one before 20th Century Fox realized the error of their ways.
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post #25 of 122
5/25/09 at 11:09pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

If someone would have asked me to bet which one of "The Doris Day Show" or "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" would be successful enough to complete the entire series on DVD, I'd have thought the easy answer would be MTM.

I'd also have bet on "Leave It to Beaver" vs. "That Girl."

Well, as philosophers have tried to tell us for ages -- it just goes to show you!

But I really don't get it.
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post #26 of 122
5/26/09 at 12:24am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Lugoff
If someone would have asked me to bet which one of "The Doris Day Show" or "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" would be successful enough to complete the entire series on DVD, I'd have thought the easy answer would be MTM.

I'd also have bet on "Leave It to Beaver" vs. "That Girl."

Well, as philosophers have tried to tell us for ages -- it just goes to show you!

But I really don't get it.

Apples and Oranges. Doris' fan base is quite large and buys everything with her in it, hence the 3 Warner boxsets. MTM has been seen more in syndication over the years. But more importantly, MPI is a much smaller company than Fox, so their overhead is less, therefore a much smaller profit margin is acceptable.

Same with "Beaver" (Universal) vs. "Ann Marie" (Shout). It's not about the quality of the shows.

I'm sure we'll see all six seasons of Here's Lucy released and out on the shelves before we see Seasons 6 and 7 of MTM released.
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post #27 of 122
5/26/09 at 9:40am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

If it all comes down to overhead, then Fox and Universal should license these shows out to Shout! and MPI and other companies. I wish they'd hurry -- I don't know about you, but I'm not getting any younger.
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post #28 of 122
5/26/09 at 10:05am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe Lugoff
It would seem logical to assume that Season 5 wouldn't sell any better than Seasons 1-4 sold, wouldn't it? I mean, how many people could there be who didn't get Seasons 1-4 but who would then say, "Oh, look, Season 5 of The MTM Show! Now, that's the one I've been waiting for!"?

Not necessarily, I think there are new people getting involved in buying TV shows on DVD's everyday. My transition was movies of my era, to movies of the past, to TV shows of the past, and now some of the shows from my era. Collectors move from one area to another as they feel they have some what exhausted what is being offered in a single area.

I've only been heavily involved in purchasing TV shows for the past year and it is on foums such as this that I get ideas on what to purchase. When new seasons of a show come out it creates a buzz that may attract the attention of others that otherwise might have not even realized it was out.

While at times I will do searches to see what has become of my old favorites and what the story is about potential releases, if any. However, a good percentage of my purchases involve shows I rarely saw or were before my time and I missed in syndication. These come to my attention through new posts in this forum.

Therefore, I think there is merit in releases that are spread out a bit. The buzz for season 5 might actually increase the number of sales of previous seasons. So don't always assume past sales of individual seasons will always be indictative of future sales. Each new release could be bringing in new fans and increasing the sales of previous seasons, as well as people new to buying classic shows on DVD.
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post #29 of 122
5/26/09 at 6:59pm

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Well, could be. But years ago I read, as with movie sequels, each new release sells a certain fraction of the previous release (90%, 78%, whatever -- but almost always lower.)
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post #30 of 122
5/28/09 at 10:23am

Re: Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble

Cough cough *NIGHT COURT* cough cough!
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