Season 5 of MTM Show. Is This a Gamble (2 Viewers)

[EricSchulz]

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!

 

[PopBodhi]

I just pre-ordered season 5. I would like to complete the MTM series with individual season sets so here's hoping.

 

[Marty M]

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.

 

[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!"?

 

[Mike*SC]

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.

 

[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.

 

[JohnMor]

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.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

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.

 

[smithb]

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.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

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.)

 

[Ethan Riley]

Cough cough *NIGHT COURT* cough cough!

 

[Marty M]

Not sure what that means.

 

[Joe Lugoff]

Me either, and I didn't want to ask.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I simply meant that when it comes to diminishing returns, Night Court seemed a bigger problem than Mary--took about 4 years to get to volume two. Everwood tops them all, though--at a good five years between seasons 1 and 2. Mary "only" took 3 years between seasons 4 and 5...

 

[David Deeb]

This hobby makes me laugh.

I suppose it's a gamble to spend $30 on anything. But if you like the show, I'd say get it.

It's a gamble for two people to go out spend $30 at a full service restaurant. But you might not like it. Two movie tickets & a soda will put you back $25 and you might not like the movie.

People are checking the same threads over & over & over & over again to see whether or not they should spend $30. People don't go through this much agony over a toaster or some other $30 item do they?

 

[MatthewA]

Too bad Oprah never became a judge.

 

[EricSchulz]

The disappointing news: I received an email asking if I wanted to keep my pre-order for season five open since it had been four weeks since I placed it. There is still no release date listed.

The good news: the pre-order price has dropped to $18.99!

 

[cajunhillbilly]

I got the same email and said, You betcha. Keep my preorder active.

 

[Marty M]

I also got the email and will renew my pre-order. Although, I think the price did not change for me when I renewed the order. I will check again, but I think my pre-order is still saying $20.99.

I figured if I canceled my pre-order then Fox might decide to drop the release. It is a bit discouraging that there has not been an official announcement of this release, just like for the previous entire series pre-order.

 

[Rick Thompson]

It's pretty obvious that MTM is a gamble. I believe a Fox release announcement when I hold the shrink-wrapped box in my hand. I still remember getting my Hill Street Blues Season 2 box that included the announcement of Season 3. Don't count on seeing any more MTM in any format.

I don't blame them for not putting out a show that hasn't sold well. I just don't believe anything they about forthcoming releases.