"Mama's Family" ratings on i Network boad well for DVD releases! (1 Viewer)

[Joe Lugoff]

When this situation comes up -- as with "Roseanne" and "Alf" and too many others -- someone points out that the expense of restoring the original, uncut episodes may be greater than the revenue that's lost from the people (like us) who won't buy the sets. (I've talked to many "laymen" who say they don't know or care if episodes are cut -- I'm afraid we're in a minority.)

But I do know this. We know for a fact that there ARE people who will refuse to buy a set that has cut episodes (because we're among their number) -- but is there even ONE person on Earth who PREFERS cut episodes? I mean, is there anyone who says, "I refuse to buy this set if the episodes are UNCUT?"

I doubt it -- so screwed-up releases like this can only DECREASE sales, not increase them. So REVENUE will be down. However, PROFIT is another story -- and we don't know what the "bottom line" is on releases like this. It all depends on what the expense would have been to find (or restore) the original episodes vs. how much revenue is lost by releasing them cut.

Economics aside -- no "Mama's Family" for me, and I'm really disappointed (and angry) at Warners now.

 

[Jason_V]

Joe, I understand what you're saying and agree with most of it from a business sense.

However, if the episodes are not complete, then the advertising for the set--The Complete First Season--is false advertising. These are not the complete seasons. I know a couple people got into this argument a little while ago about what constitutes "complete", but my opinion on the matter still stands. (As, it sounds like, yours does too).

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Jason, I totally agree with you -- the word "complete" is a false claim. But what can we do about it? I'm willing to testify to Congress or something .............

 

[Jason_V]

Not buy the set. I know it's kinda like cutting off the nose to spite the face, but if this doesn't sell, Warner is going to say people really wanted it in season sets based on the online survey. Why didn't it sell?

We can, POLITELY, e-mail or call them with our reasons for not buying it. Complete episodes ONLY. In the next Warner TV chat it can be mentioned. I'm sure some of the "high rollers" around here do have someone at Warner's ear. They can reiterate how TV on DVD should be done.

And if Warner decides to do right with a S2 set (meaning complete and uncut episodes), I'll be there. If they do replacement discs for S1, I'll bite. They've got to learn somehow. I think it's the best we as general consumers can do.

 

[MatthewA]

The expense is worth it. To restore a program would not just to make a DVD look nicer; it would be to preserve it in its entirety for as long as possible. We do not yet even know whether such work is even necessary; at this point it is all conjecture.

“We are all of us custodians of our culture. Our culture defines not just who we are but what we were. Those of us who have labored a lifetime to create a body of work look to you for the preservation of that work in the form we chose to make it. I believe we have that right.” – John Huston

 

[MatthewA]

Jason, I have been saying the exact same thing. People have talked the talk in this regard, now is the time to walk the walk.

Their use of the word complete on the box means they are engaged in half truths, if not outright fraud. All of the episodes are there, but all of the footage of all of the episodes are not.

I, personally, would like to see the removal of footage on TV shows for syndication and cable TV reairings and especially home video made into a federal crime, with steep fines for offenders and jail time for repeat offenders.

 

[Jason_V]

I love the passion you're showing here for uncut versions of, basically, televised history. However, I would like to think the government has bigger and more important things to worry about that if a studio is selling edited television shows under the "complete" moniker.

Now, there should be an internal body set up by the studios/DVD industry to police quality, people who break street dates and things like this. If they had the power to impose fines and to make these either COMPLETE sets or to take the COMPLETE terminology off, I'd be all for it.

 

[Jay_B!]

I'm pissed off at Warner, but I am not boycotting the company for good, I just won't buy Mama's Family. Supernatural and Veronica Mars are my top two current series and both shows have gotten the respect on DVD, so I'll continue to support those sets until both shows end (and hopefully that'll be some years from now)

 

[MatthewA]

I would support this. I just hope that this theoretical body is run nothing like the MPAA.

The mailing address and phone numbers are on the first page of this thread (post #29). And please don't mention specific websites, especially HTF, or they'll brand you a fanatic.

 

[MatthewA]

If you don't want to boycott other Warner TV show DVDs, that's fine with me. I, however, will until such time at which they recall and replace season 1, and vow not to screw up future seasons. The main issue here is "Mama's Family."

 

[Jay_B!]

well, I can refuse to support any Warner product until the next Veronica and Supernatural seasons come out on DVD, and let's face it, that'll be a year from now. That should give Warner enough time to see their wrongdoing over Mama.

 

[Malcolm R]

Well, might as well fire up the ol' DVD-R and start recording them off the i Network, 'cause I sure as hell ain't buying this set anymore.

 

[JohnMor]

That's an important key. All TV on DVD packages should be clearly marked as to whether the episodes are edited in any way, syndication versions, whatever. That is just fair and good business.

I think the main thing is, if you don't buy the set, to make sure to let WB know POLITELY why you haven't bought it. As has been pointed out, it doesn't help if they just think the show doesn't sell well. They need to know WHY. But they also need to know it in a polite, dignified way. Remember, we don't "own" these episodes when we buy TV on DVD; we merely pay for the license to screen them in our homes in a not-for-profit situation. They are still the owners of the material and reserve the right to present it to us in any manner they see fit. What we need to do is let them know what we are NOT willing to pay for, and hopefully, they'll listen.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

One thing about "Mama's Family" -- we don't have to worry about the "Bubba/Iola" years (as I call them), because those were made directly for syndication in the first place and, unless I'm mistaken, they ran short (at a "syndicated length," so to speak) and were never cut for subsequent syndicated showings -- or were they?

 

[MatthewA]

I doubt it. The WWOR recordings from the late 1980s don't even reach the 22 minute mark, nor do other first-run syndicated sitcoms of that era.

 

[Jay_B!]

while 21:30 is acceptable for seasons 3-6, I still think the NBC episodes deserve their full lengths, to me the early episodes were the best, even tho I'd be a liar if I said the Bubba/Iola seasons didn't also crack me up

 

[Ethan Riley]

Joe and Jay: I taped all the syndicated episodes as they aired. About 6 years ago, I taped them all again off of TBS, and checked a few of them against the "originals." I didn't notice a thing that was cut, and the running time was the same.

I also taped about half of the NBC episodes as they aired. I still have the tapes and can check them against the dvd when it comes out, to be sure once and for all if they are complete. Oh boy, will I be mad if they are not!

 

[Jason_V]

John, I hate to get into this topic again since it led to a lot of bad blood a little while ago, but the dictionary definition of "complete" (believe me, I looked it up) is "having all parts or elements; lacking nothing; whole; entire; full". If they wanted to market this (and other cut sets) as "The Complete Syndicated Cut First Season", there would be no problem. However, seeing as how the syndication versions are not whole (which WB and other studios would know if they did ANY research on the products they were releasing), it is fale advertising at the very least, fraud at the worst.

 

[MatthewA]

Because they had the nerve to call it complete, George Orwell's looking down on us from wherever he is now and saying "See, I told you so!"

 

[Pavan_P]

http://www.sitcomsonline.com/mamasfa...dvdreview.html