The Donna Reed Show: SEASON 4 - Page 11

I thought music rights clearance only had to do with a home video release of a TV show and not TV syndication. The reason there is a problem with some shows is because it was never considered at the time that a show like Donna Reed was made that the show would be sold for home use and therefore those rights were not obtained at the time the show was produced. For more recent shows it is a money concern, they just could not agree on a price to use the music on home video or the holder of the rights don't want their music used at home. Shows like Charmed or Dawson's Creek which had their theme songs replaced in some season sets, run with the correct theme song on TV today. As far as Donna Reed show is concerned I am sure the rights to the songs needed to be cleared for this release but I don't think the songs has anything to do with season 4 being pulled from syndication. I am sure the reason often given, that they wanted to reduce the number of shows in each rerun cycle is true. Why it was done the way it was and not say by reducing each season by 5 or 10 episodes so that the younger actors wouldn't suddenly get older, I don't know. Perhaps the fact the episodes removed were all filmed but not necessarily broadcast in a season has something to do with it. Perhaps the only way to remove episodes from a TV show is take a complete season out instead of individual episodes. It could be something unique to the Donna Reed Show. I don't know of another show where only a portion , 5 of 8 seasons, reverted to the heirs. Just speculation on my part.

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Good work, Mark! 

 

 

Gary "thanks for keeping us updated" O.

Mark for the updates about this series. This one will just get in under the radar in time for special delivery

I just got an order update from Amazon.com telling me The Donna Reed Show S4 set now has a release date of December 20th again.  Anyone else get this notice?

 

 

Gary "one week won't make or break me either way" O.

Yes, I received the same notice. And yes, one week won't make or break me either. I have way too much stuff to watch as it is. Despite the whole Fugitive mess, these are pretty good times for me as I never dreamed back in my laserdisc collecting days that things like "Good Morning, World", "I'm Dickens, He's Fenster" and "Car 54" would ever be on my video shelf.

Soon, it'll be S4

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Since I don't have access to all the great emotes Jeff does, I can only do this: 

 

 

Gary "I'm just glad S4 is coming" O.

(kidding....maybe)

Mark, for all your info and posts here about this show. This one's still in my 3 all-time blind-buy show list.

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You've got it, buddy! 

 

 

Gary "have a Happy Thanksgiving" O.
 

Mark,

&

I found out that I'll be getting this delivered on the 24th by

Santa had to cancel my pre-order. Looks like it'll be on the Birthday wish list instead. Sigh... At least it's out there so there *is* hope I'll get a copy before too long.

Got mine and looked through it already. The quality of the vintage promos and commercials, etc. is excellent and I love the neat, slim packaging (it's identical to MPI's "Here's Lucy" sets). I uploaded some screen captures to my Amazon review a little while ago. My only complaint--that I'm so busy with Xmas things that I won't have time to dig in to this set til after New Years!

Do you feel this disparateness has something to do with this season being withheld from the syndication package?

Not at all! With your comments, the simple fact that the season *is* a bit "different" seems to point to one reason why it was left out of syndication packages. If it's "more dramatic" than the others, even by a *small* margin, that could be a major factor why it was left out and hasn't been seen much since the intial airings. Buyers of a syndication package would argue that a "comedy" show with a month's worth of shows that are "less" comedy and more "drama" can kill momentum and cause viewers to tune out. As an example, I worked in broadcasting and the station I worked for ran Gilligan's Island in the afternoons. When sweeps started they would *not* run the B/W episodes even if they were in the middle of a season! They would switch to color for sweeps and then pick up where the B/W episodes left off when sweeps ended. I'd always argue with the program director that people who liked and watched didn't care if it were B/W or color and would watch anyway. Her response was along the lines of "Channel surfers will keep going if they see a B/W show but will stop for color". She could never explain why we ran the B/W at other times as I'd always counter with "why do we run *any* B/W shows if that's the case?". I can see a more dramatic season, even if it *is* primarily comedy, being such a detriment to a syndication package. People (distributors/suits/program directors) just do *not* understand how true fans feel about favorite shows and so never take those feelings into consideration when creating packages for TV/Cable *or* DVD sales.

I'm jealous of you guys who already have your set!