All In The Family: Season 3 - Now Coming in July!! (1 Viewer)

[Dane Marvin]

Thank you for articulately stating above what I've been wanting to say, Gord.

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With any luck, E! Network will eventually get someone to distribute episodes of "True Hollywood Story" onto DVD in the future. The "AITF" episode is top-notch. Nearly all the supplemental material you need for this show -- from conception to the spinoffs -- chock full of interviews, clips & discussion of the show's cultural impact is discussed over the course of nearly two hours.

There would probably be some legal stumbling blocks regarding the licensing of show clips for DVD, but I'd pay a good sum to own official DVD releases of the series.

 

[EricSchulz]

I totally agree!

Within the last two weeks, two DVDs I rented had entire (it appeared that way at least) episodes of the "Charlie Rose" show...One Hour Photo and Capturing the Freidmans . They were GREAT additions to the DVD. Another show that would be nice to see as a bonus feature would be "Inside the Actors Studio" from Bravo.

 

[Chris:L]

(I know I'm going to be vehemently bashed by Gord and Dana... (Dana I thought your comment was funny) but here is my opinion)

It sounds like Columbia TriStar has no idea what they're doing. I don't know. I may be wrong. Sue me But it does seem weird. Think about it... they didn't commercialize it... they didn't clean it up very well (there's a complaint on another post about the Larry Sanders Show)... they didn't add extras... they released the first season without a slipcover in a three-pane fold-out (i'm not complaining about the fold-out, that's a cool idea)... The discs are fingerprint magnets while the second season has a slipcover, the discs aren't as fingerprint attractive. Other companies like Warner Bros and Paramount DO NOT DO THIS. They're smart enough to know. Gord, I'm not saying I know their business better than they do. I don't.

Is anybody agreeing with me or am I just wasting time?

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

I wonder if the sales of AITF might have been hurt by the fact that the first season was overpriced. (The second season was at a much better price, but the damage was already done.) I'm just a bit surprised that "Sanford" is doing better, since I've always gotten the impression that AITF is more popular (but then again, that may be because I'm in Canada where the PRIME channel shows two AITF episodes a day, while "Sanford" is only seen on digital cable). Not that it matters, as long as AITF is coming out. The third season was one of the best, and the show was fabulous up until the end of the fifth season. (At that point, Mike and Gloria moved next door; the head writers -- Nicholl, Ross, and West -- left the show to tend to The Jeffersons and then Three's Company, and IMO that was the shark-jumping point, though the show was still watchable until Meathead and Gloria left altogether.)

My problem with Columbia's releases of older shows is not the lack of extras -- with an old show, that will probably not sell at the level of a current show, it's perfectly reasonable to sell the episodes and the episodes only. Extras are just what the term implies: extra. What does bug me is that there's a general air of shoddiness and cheapness about some of these releases -- the packaging is often cheesy, they'll squeeze ten episodes onto the first two discs and then put the last four on the third disc; they sometimes use syndication versions where the complete versions do exist (the SOAP box has two syndication-shortened episodes, and I'm pretty certain I've seen at least one of them uncut on the Comedy Network in Canada). Little things, but they add up. Fox's presentations of M*A*S*H are also bare-bones, but they have decent packaging, booklets, episodes evenly distributed between discs... little things that just make it feel like a quality presentation. If Columbia could pay more attention to these presentation issues, they could make the sets more attractive without spending money on extras.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

AITF season 1 was not handled all that well, but and I'm sure Gord will correct me if I'm wrong, but that was also 1 of the very first TV shows they put on DVD, Larry Sanders was also an earlier Columbia offering. Are they still making some mistakes, probably, but have they gotten better they absolutely have.

I'd say I've bought more Columbia TV shows than I have of any other studio, because the price has been right, and some of the shows are either new favorites (King of Queens) old favorites (Married with Children) or classics (Good Times, What's Happening, Jeffersons, Sanford, and AITF)

Hey, at least season 3 is coming out, it wasn't all that long ago that there were a lot of posts on the HTF expressing doom over it being canceled.

If you don't like the package they're putting out for this or any other series than don't buy it, vote with your wallet as it were, of course with TV you run the risk of poor sales canceling future seasons.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

Casey --

You misunderstand me; I'm not trying to bash Columbia. And the problems of, say, the "Soap" package didn't stop me from buying it or being glad that it was available. I was just trying to observe that there are ways to make a release seem higher-quality without spending money on extras, things that include the quality of the packaging.

On the whole, I think Columbia's approach to its gigantic back catalogue is pretty good, and I think the practice of releasing inexpensive, bare-bones sets of older shows is a good one. There's room for improvement within that method, though.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Jaime, I think you miss understood me, as actually I wasn't thinking that or rather directing that your way, it was more of a general statement that doesn't just apply to the product that Columbia is putting out, it could be any studio and not just a TV show but a movie. Its a flat recommendation.

I will however admit that there is a flaw in this, in that I don't really like what they did with the MWC first season DVD but I bought it anyway just because I am a huge Al Bundy mark and in that respect I somehow felt that I was encouraging mediocrity.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Yes, All in the Family Season 1 was one of their first season sets. The packaging was the same as Larry Sanders (no slip case) which is actually the same type of packaging that Lions Gate is using for "Saved By the Bell" and "the Dead Zone" a few years later. I agree it's cheap and crappy but that's also why Columbia isn't using that anymore.

Chris, I don't think I've bashed you ever, just your actions.

I don't think that the way Columbia TriStar has treated All in the Family differs from the way they've treated Sanford and Son, Goodtimes or What's Happening!! If those sets are doing well for them to continue then how do you explain AitF doing poorly?

Gord

 

[Chris:L]

It's the most controversial television show in the history of tv and Archie's inflammatory remarks insult us.

Actually the show was made so we, as a people, could look in the mirror and ask ourselves "is that us?"

The only reason people kept watching it in its hayday was because people were curious to know what Archie would say next.

I don't know. Is that good enough reason?

I wish they would have a All in the Family for today.

 

[Shawn_Sm]

I think it more likely has to do with the show itself. Don't get me wrong, I love AITF, but it's audience is obviously somewhat limited. Let's face it, most people find Archie Bunker too abrasive to enjoy. I know I'm generalizing, but most African Americans and other targets of his rants are not going to want Archie Bunker on their DVD racks.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

Gord --

What I was wondering was whether the high price of the AITF season 1 set might have set a lower "level" of sales for subsequent sets. As we all know, people who buy season 2 of a show tend to be people who already bought season 1. If season 1 was overpriced, and that hurt sales, it may not matter that subsequent seasons are lower-priced; the damage is done because the sales of season 1 are the key to the sales of future sets. Which is to say I don't think there's anything Columbia can do now to make AITF sell better than it is (and as long as they don't stop bringing the seasons out, that doesn't worry me).

Re AITF in general; I remember that when AITF was not in reruns, I sort of assumed that it didn't hold up and that that's why it wasn't being shown. When PRIME brought it back -- and it's been so successful for them that they've been showing it twice a day for years -- I not only realized how well it still holds up except for the topical references, I was astonished to hear college kids discussing yesterday's AITF reruns. It really is an astonishing show, and the prime seasons -- say, seasons 2 through 5 -- don't feel dated at all except for the Nixon references. This separates it from a lot of the other Norman Lear shows, which are obviously still popular but which (IMO) feel very much of their time in straining to be "relevant" and "with-it." What's great about AITF in its prime is that Don Nicholl, Bernie West and Michael Ross always put humor first; they just found humor in subjects that you didn't usually see on TV. (After they left, Lear brought in a bunch of writers who thought the show was supposed to be "relevant" first of all, which is when we got the issue episodes like Edith and the rapist or Archie and the KKK.)

 

[Chris:L]

Gord, Dane, anyone. If the sales of AitF aren't doing that well, why do they keep releasing sets?

 

[Dane Marvin]

I've never said that I thought the sales weren't doing well. In fact, I'm even going to go against Gord on this one and suggest it's not a sales-related issue that's slowing this one down. I'd put my money it havign something to with either the legal department or the source material itself.

That said, shows can still get released if sales are "not doing well". Columbia probably has not made as much money off of one of the biggest sitcoms of all-time as they'd like to, and that's probably it. I think there's a chance for AITF to sell better once several season sets are available for purchase. I didn't buy one season of M*A*S*H until the first 4 were released. Same with Friends (except for seasons 1-3 were purchased at once in that instance). They also badly need to lower the MSRP of AITF season 1. It's taken them far too long for that. In fact, a reissue of it with a slipcase included is also in order.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Its not really that the show has sold poorly, its just that it hasn't sold as well as some of the other Columbia product which means it has a lower priority. Sanford and Son season 1 came out 5 months after AITF season 1 and is about to see a release of Season 4, probably due in large part to the fact that it has sold better than AITF. If AITF had sold better than Sanford and Son perhaps it would be released faster. Good Times was also roughly a year between releases, and the Jeffersons was something like 9 months.

I also suspect that the sales of MWC and King of Queens were really well given the fact that they are seeing faster second season releases than Sanford or any other show so far that I've tracked from this studio.

So, its not really that AITF didn't sell, its just that it didn't sell as well as some other Columbia shows, and I don't blame them for wanting to get the shows that sold better to market quicker. If they released all of these shows at the same time, it would be a case of flooding the market which would do them no favors.

 

[Gord Lacey]

I think Casey has it right; sales weren't crap, just not as good as other product, so it's on a slower release schedule while they get out things that will sell better.

Gord

 

[Chris:L]

Well, I'm glad to know there is at least some hope.

 

[Jon_Are]

Still no firm date on this?

Jon

 

[Paul Miller]

I use to watch All in the Family religiously as a kid in syndication. I think the show still holds up and the only extra I'd be interested is commentaries by Carroll O'Connor but sadly that is impossible. But I never even considered by this DVD set...

I most recently took advantage of the deal at Best Buy for 87 episodes, the first four seasons of Sanford and Son, for $43.

If I wanted to buy the first season of All in The Family which is only 13 episodes, I'd have to spend $30 at Deep Discount DVD which means I'm getting 74 more episodes for $13.

All in the Family has Mary Tyler Moored.

Paul

 

[David Von Pein]

But you certainly can't expect a 4-seasons-for-$43 offer to come down the pike every day. That's an amazing price, to be sure.

AITF S.2 was priced much more reasonably. Can't figure why CTHV hasn't re-done the MRP for season 1 accordingly.

But, although the PQ is pretty much crappola, the AITF S.1 and S.2 episodes are still worthy of having IMO.

 

[Paul Miller]

You would think that if someone isn't selling well and enough time has passed that they would lower the price but you don't really see that with a lot of season sets.

Paul