ADV Films - Farscape series not in SEASONS??? (1 Viewer)

[Serega_M]

Hi people,
Today I just have watched my "New Cutey Honey - Collection One" disk from ADV and there were their previews before the feature. So - there was the fantastic preview of the Farscape series. I went online immediately and found out that it is the great Australian made-for-cable Sci-Fi/Adventure series which has 3 seasons already. And - ADV Films has published 9 disks with the show already, each disk contains just two episodes plus some supplements. The question is - WHY NOT THE SEASONS BOXSET??? Of course I do understand their politic - the less they put on the disk - the more disks they will publish and the more income thei'll get cause the fans of the show will buy each and every disk with the series episodes. But as we all know - other companies just publishing their series in Seasons BOXSETs and I am sure they do a lot of money as well from that (X-Files etc...). So - the question is (I hope that maybe some one know something or is close to ADV and could ask them) - will ADV publish the Farscape series in the Seasons BOXsets and if yes - when will it happen? Personally, I WON't buy the series disk by disk cause it is just a waste of money. Also - I am sure that there is (or will be soon, or at least in my lifetime ) Australian Region 4 edition and possible that it is (will be) in the Seasons BOXset (I do not know cause did no research on that subject yet). So, I really hope that someone will share any bits of information

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

ADV releases anime titles primarily, many of which are TV series, and they have yet to release them as a complete set (though that will change for Evangelion). I wouldn't hold my breath for Farscape. Releasing over time allows for less investment up front and recoupment of costs sooner. Also, they make more money by selling individual discs at a lower price than they would by boxing them.

 

[Nigel McN]

don't forget that ADV pays quite a premium for the rights to Farscape and a season box set would be very expensive, and I believed it was mentioned that they would have great difficulty getting that expensive set onto store shelves.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

The show is MADE in Australia, it's not Australian though. It's made by the Jim Henson Company in cooperation with Hallmark, Sci-Fi, and about 3-4 other companies. All of those companies need to be paid before ADV sees a dime, hence the expense of making these DVDs for them.

Yes, I estimate ADV does over half their buisness with Suncoast video, who will not stock huge expensive sets in quantity. You need to have a series like Buffy, or X-Files to really get stores to buy in huge amounts. While ADV is a huge anime company, even someone like Artisan dwarfs them. Last I heard they are looking at producing some sort of box after disc 11 comes out that will hold "Season 1". Whether that will be an X-Files type box or just something to hold keepcases is still up in the air. They are aware of what the fans want. If you look at ADV's catalog, you'll notice they have NEVER released a box set of anything except the City Hunter sets, and those were not really meant for retail anyway.

You won't see a commercial season by season set, so forget that. The UK/Australian discs are the same basic contents (minus the commentary tracks), except it's 2 discs (4 eps) to a set instead of 2. You're really just better off buying the domestic releases.

 

[Serega_M]

Hi, Jeff and others.
Thanks a lot for the wonderful explanation of the current situation But I want to comment on some of your sentences. First of all - I DID check ADV site and their online catalogue, so - guess what, in their Farscape section (as well as in their full catalogue) they have only 6 disks presented, while in reality (at least at Amazon.com) there are 9 disks published already - and on ADV site there are no mentions of the last 3 disks. Cool, heh? And also I can not see the reason why they (in the case of the huge commercial success - and I do hope that Farscape is a commercially successfull show both on the TV and on DVD) do not want to re-package the existing disks in the BOXset (or even to re-authorize the disks to fit four episodes with the supplements on one DVD-9 disk) so people could buy the entire Season (also if not in retail but Online then - and I think that in Online sometimes you can sell much more disks of certain titles than through retail-chains). Strange politic, really. Also I would like to know - do they have the rights on the whole series and will they publish the entire series or just some part of it? I am so interested in this show and the DVD's just cause here (Moscow, Russia) nobody know about this wonderful show - I am in doubt that our TV will buy it soon, and no Region 5 edition will be for sure. So - my only chance to see the show is to buy Region 1 disks and that would be better - if the series will be available in Seasons So - hope for your answers

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Since you obviously have a region free deck, why not just buy the Australian discs since those are 4 to a package?

Box sets are a whole seperate ball of wax when dealing with a license. Look at what happened with Cowboy Bebop and Bandai. It took them close to a year to hammer out a deal to stick some discs in a box. I'm sure that all kinds of people would need to sign off on a full-season set.

The discs are in-order and they're doing all of the episodes, so it really doesn't matter how they're being put out. Going over 2 episodes a disc would kill the extras (I've done a volume check, they only have about 2GB of space left on average, not enough for another episode) this is how the title is coming out all over the world, just UK/Australia do it in 2 packs rather than singles. This is how Henson wants things done to keep the A/V quality high.

As I said before, they are looking into producing an empty box/booklet to hold seasons. Farscape is selling very well for a niche program, but it's not like X-Files or Buffy, where the mainstream has really picked up on the show. Again, ADV is a small outfit with limited resources. I'm positive Artisan (due to their Hallmark deal) had first right of refusal on the show, and they probably went to a few other outfits before ADV got a chance to bid on the title.

It's possible that The Right Stuf (an anime retailer) might put together a Season 1 bundle price, but you'll find a better discount elsewhere.

So bottom line, buying by seasons will not happen for Farscape. Will you be able to buy all the episodes in order? Yes, you will.

 

[Nigel McN]

just a note, I too would buy this show if it came in a season set format, I bought disc 1, and it is very nice, but I am already getting ST TOS and didn't want another giant set like that. (to compare I am getting Simpsons, Sopranos, Stargate, Roughnecks & Reboot(more please! ))

 

[Serega_M]

To Jeff
I do not want to buy Australian disks (although they are in PAL, which means more resolution) cause of two simple reasons - first - is cause as I've heard (maybe I am mistaken) - they doesn't have a commentary track (which Region 1 disks has), and the second reason - cause my only retailer (cause of many things) is Canadian based Dv-Depot with the bargain prices for DHL delivery, what I need cause I would not trust our post such expensive packages And I did not know that Boxsets deals is such a big pain in the ass - just got my Cowboy Bebop set a week ago - and I need to say that it is wonderful set (I am a collector of some kind) And thanks a lot for your recommendations and information - you have really helped me to make a decision Seems that I will start buying the series disk by disk. But also I have the final question - you said that ADV is going to publish the entire series in the right episodes order. But the question is - how frequent does they publish disks? One disk a month? Or how? Thanks in advance

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Yes, the are committed to publishing the entire run in the order specified by the Jim Henson Company (which differes slightly from the aired order on Sci-Fi that you might find in episode guides).

They put out a new disc roughly once a month

 

[Tom Brennan]

While I would rather see full season box sets, I will be pleased with chronological releases.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Some notes....
Farscape 10 has been announced and will be released on Jan 22, 2002. The episodes are Nerve & The Hidden Memory. I have information on all the Farscape releases at http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releaselist.cfm?ShowID=1447
Nigel: ADV has released all the episodes of Reboot they own the rights to. Another company owns the rights to season one and two (I don't know which that is). There are also the two TV movies that just came out.

 

[Nigel McN]

thanks Gord I am aware of that, when the dvds were initially announced I immediately wrote to ADV and that was the reply I got,... probably still got that email around somewhere,.......

hey found it

***************

From: Christy Guest

To: 'Nigel McNaughton'

Subject: RE: reboot season 3?

Date: Mon, 24 Jul 2000 09:02:50 -0500

X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2650.21)

We only have rights to season 3. I don't know who has rights to seasons 1 &

2.

-----Original Message-----

From: Nigel McNaughton [mailto:[email protected]]

Sent:Saturday, July 22, 2000 7:45 PM

To:Christy Guest

Subject:reboot season 3?

isn't that starting um ,... 2 seasons late?

 

[Beast]

I have discs 1-9 so far, and love the series. Sure, I wish they had done season boxsets, but I'll take it anyway I can get it. I do hope that they plan to issue some sort of box, for all of us that have collected the full season.
If not, I will do the second best thing. There are some new DVD cases coming to the market that hold 4,5,6, even 7 DVD's. I'll pick up a couple of those (1 size 5 and 1 size 6 to hold season 1)whip up some custom art for the covers and par them down to two cases that take up less room. I loved the size 4 case they used on the POTA TV-Series.
MTFBWY and HH!!
Mike

 

[Tom Brennan]

That's a great idea Mike! We can make our own Season Sets!!

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Reboot season 3 was a little funky, they canned the show in the US, so it was only shown in Canada, and the episodes were backed by different people. Same thing with Sailor Moon, The first 1.66 seasons were backed by DIC for syndication, then a Canadian station group paid for the final 15 of Sailor Moon R to be dubbed so they could finish the story.
Rights are a really odd thing :frowning:
Good idea on combining your Farscape discs if space is an issue. Since each season is 11 discs, 5 doubles and a single, 3 triples and a double, or 2 quads and a triple should do it
Or just wait for the box if it ends up panning out

 

[todd s]

My biggest complaint, next to the price. Is the release rate for the show. It is like one disc every 2-3 months.

On another topic. I heard ADV has gotten the rights for the US dvd release of Andromeda. Has anyone heard when it will be out?

 

[CaptDS9E]

Farscape comes out at pace of 1 a month. This month there is none since last month had 2. Guess they wanted to wait for the next one till after the holiday season. Yes they got the right to andromeda. No news yet from them. I would think they would start releasing them after this current season is over. So they dont catch up to the show itself because of reruns

capt