Sony Stalling Some Classic Shows: Why Sony Why? (3 Viewers)

[John Karras]

I have the Hazel releases but why do the color episodes on my sets got a tick tick right thru the audio of episode after episode? I have not seen any complaint about this problem in reviews I have read.

Are you saying this occurs on every season release or a specific season? I'll check my copies if you can narrow it down a bit.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

What is moviepas talking about? They do not have any encoding issues, do they?

 

[Neil Brock]

Well since we've already mentioned in addition to the four Lear sitcoms, Flying Nun, Fantasy Island Hart To Hart, Rookies, Police Story, Police Woman I can't think of another title unless we're sliding into the 80s and then maybe we're looking at T.J. Hooker or Facts Of Life or some other 80s title I can't think of.

Yes, we are going to be sliding!

 

[HenryDuBrow]

I thought Shout quit Sony titles, because (A) sales they weren't happy with and (B) Sony said they themselves wanted to release them. Well, they haven't released anything so far not even MOD which is odd as many shows would be suitable. If they can release the fine Ghost Story as standard DVD, then I don't see what's wrong with The Rookies, Who's The Boss, Police Story, Mike Hammer, T.J. Hooker or Police Woman. Some studios stall some quit, proof that studios sometimes stall for years and then continue is Streets of San Francisco to name one.

 

[Jack P]

"Ghost Story/Circle Of Fear" and "Born Free" were released as MOD titles. Then after that, Sony did nothing more.

 

[FanCollector]

The second season of Benson was also a MOD release from Sony.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

"Ghost Story/Circle Of Fear" and "Born Free" were released as MOD titles. Then after that, Sony did nothing more.

True, a bit of Ghost Story did also turn up on a William Castle collection.

 

[oldtvshowbuff]

Mill Creek could lay track for "Iron Horse", starring Dale Robertson, maybe a complete series collection on this one. Antenna TV aired it for awhile and I caught a few episodes. I thought it was pretty good.

 

[John Karras]

Mill Creek could lay track for "Iron Horse", starring Dale Robertson, maybe a complete series collection on this one. Antenna TV aired it for awhile and I caught a few episodes. I thought it was pretty good.

"Iron Horse" is another example of Sony's endless dithering. They announced a release, then withdrew it.

 

[Neil Brock]

Companies do this all of the time. First they want to put their shows out themselves, then they don't, then they do. On and on it goes. Remember when Fox wanted the moon for any show? Now, they are letting the shows go for what I assume are reasonable fees. MGM did nothing, then they opened the doors wide and from what I hear, they have now slammed them shut again and nothing more will get out. Universal hasn't stopped licensing. No, they just canned the department that did the licensing so now there's no one working there to handle it anymore. Just goes to show that the disfunction that exists in that town doesn't stop on the casting couches.

 

[Kasey]

Are you referring to new acquisitions or continuation of existing properties that Shout! has previously released?! Shout has stalled out 10 Sony shows- what happened to Fantasy Island, no word about future releaes or why it was stalled in the first place?!

My guesses for possible new acquisitions are: Archie Bunkers Place, The Jeffersons, Maude (if they can release WKRP then they can release this series which I presume does not have as much music?!) and One Day at a Time.

I have been trying to figure out what is going to happen even though the last two are the ones I want more than any other show besides It's a Living.

Archie Bunker's Place:
Pros - This is one of TV's most iconic characters and a spin-off of one of TV's greatest sitcoms so they figure it might sell on Archie's name value alone. It's only a 4-season show so the least amount of work involved.
Cons - It hasn't been syndicated much in the last 20 years and without Edith, Mike and Gloria lacks the magic of its parent show.

The Jeffersons:
Pros - Of the four shows, this one probably has the broadest appeal and with six seasons already released, obviously sold the best.
Cons - With Mill Creek now re-releasing the earlier seasons, I doubt a Complete Series is in the works; that would mean consumers would have THREE ways to get the early seasons on DVD. Too much oversaturation like the PD releases of The Lucy Show, Hillbillies, etc. If they did get it, I think Shout will begin with S7.

Maude:
Pros - Again, name value. Three generations (four actually) know who Bea Arthur is thanks to endless Golden Girls reruns. Many younger people are interested in seeing her and Rue together in something other than GG. The airings on Antenna TV have helped spark interest and every other comment posted on the episodes posted on Youtube seem to ask why there aren't any more seasons out.
Cons - Sony and Shout don't seem to think sales will be strong enough to warrant music costs.

One Day at a Time:
Pros - Has a litle name value thanks to Valerie Bertinelli's success on Hot In Cleveland.
Cons - Again, music costs vs. projected sales figures. S1 obviously did not sell well enough for Sony, but the show didn't hit its' stride 'til the second season. There's 209 episodes and that's a big investment for a box set for a title that's not a cult hit like Mary Hartman was. I think they may release S2 and see how things go.

 

[exposed]

It has nothing to do with studios stalling releases. The DVD market has gone soft and it's not as profitable as it once was. Blu-rays releases for TV shows are also extraordinarily high, which is why studios aren't releasing classic titles. Not only that, but these studios conduct market research all the tim to determine the viability of a particular catalog release. If they have announced it and then withdrew it, it means that the market was too soft for that title. Everyone seems to think that it's greed because they won;t release a particular TV series.

Believe it or not, studios are not in the habit of releasing a TV series to home video if there's no money to be made from it.

 

[John Karras]

these studios conduct market research all the tim to determine the viability of a particular catalog release. If they have announced it and then withdrew it, it means that the market was too soft for that title.

I disagree. By the time a studio makes a formal announcement, they are long past the research phase and have allocated it as a go-ahead project. Sony pulled the same stunt with "Bridget Loves Bernie"...then released it years later.

 

[exposed]

Not necessarily. Market research always changes and everyone knows that studios put TV shows on the back burner in favor of releasing season sets that coincide with launch dates of current first-run TV shows. But, I also blame the consumers for not supporting TV show releases when they finally do get released. I don't blame studios like Sony, Fox and Universal for balking at releasing certain shows, especially catalogue titles that have long since run their course.

I also blame retailers like Amazon as well as studios like Warner Brothers Archives when they produce release via DVD-r's that have a norotious unreliability for not working with current DVD or Blu-ray players.

 

[Ron1973]

Not necessarily. Market research always changes and everyone knows that studios put TV shows on the back burner in favor of releasing season sets that coincide with launch dates of current first-run TV shows. But, I also blame the consumers for not supporting TV show releases when they finally do get released. I don't blame studios like Sony, Fox and Universal for balking at releasing certain shows, especially catalogue titles that have long since run their course.

I also blame retailers like Amazon as well as studios like Warner Brothers Archives when they produce release via DVD-r's that have a norotious unreliability for not working with current DVD or Blu-ray players.

Let's not be so quick to blame the consumer. Studios are notorious for cutting music and/or music replacements (even The Beverly Hillbillies had incidental music replaced on the S4 release, music I'm pretty sure was intact on the S3 release as S4 made us of the same incidentals as S3) and CBS did a bang-up butchering job on My Three Sons and The Fugitive. Thankfully The Fugitive had enough public outcry that it was fixed. When you have warning labels on the back saying it may contain edited versions that's a tough sell for some people.

Studios are also notorious for bringing out a huge box set with extras which the season sets didn't have. Who can blame the consumer for holding out?

 

[exposed]

Studios are not notorious for cutting music. Unless you have a large weaqlth of money, I don;t see you paying for the music licensing that the music industry imposes on home video releases. You seem to think that these studios have an inalienable right to using music that they don't have a license to. Also, I don;t see you willing to pay $60 or $70 for a boxed set with its original music ... music is not a big issue for me because I buy a TV season set to watch the episodes, not to use my DVD player as an overpriced, overglorified music player.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

$60 for something uncut that's peanuts if the content is important and worth it, I think.

 

[Ron1973]

Studios are not notorious for cutting music. Unless you have a large weaqlth of money, I don;t see you paying for the music licensing that the music industry imposes on home video releases. You seem to think that these studios have an inalienable right to using music that they don't have a license to. Also, I don;t see you willing to pay $60 or $70 for a boxed set with its original music ... music is not a big issue for me because I buy a TV season set to watch the episodes, not to use my DVD player as an overpriced, overglorified music player.

Umm, yes they are. CBS butchered My Three Sons and The Fugitive both as well as The Odd Couple. I've already made mention of the incidental music of S4 of The Beverly Hillbillies as well. What strikes me as odd is that Universal seems to have no trouble clearing music.

Also, I NEVER said the studios had an inalienable right to the music. I realize there are companies who wish to require a king's ransom for some small sliver of music. I hardly think, however, that the incidental background music of My Three Sons or The Beverly Hillbillies is being held for a king's ransom. When public opinion went against CBS on The Fugitive, the situation was corrected posthaste without the price going exorbitant.

I also don't think you know what my budget allotment is for a show. I would suggest you look up the cost of Bear Family CD's for an example of something I'm willing to pay for that's done correctly. I have their box sets of Jim Reeves, Jimmie Rodgers and Johnny Horton as well as numerous individual CD's of obscure and well known artists both. If something is done correctly, I'm willing to pay.

In the future, please drop the assumptions and attitude.

 

[LeoA]

Sometimes it happens out of paranoia like the Capitol cues with CBS or pure laziness where they just can't be bothered.

I can't prove it, but I rather suspect that's why season 3 of Petticoat Junction is edited. I bet if they had tried, they'd of cleared that little bit borrowed from Green Acres without paying a dime to MGM. After all, it essentially is just free promotion for that property.

Instead, it was more expeditious just to replace it and not even bother trying. And while it's not a killer (Although I'm puzzled why they felt the need to create replacements that don't fit rather than just leave it blank or substitute with music seen elsewhere in Petticoat Junction that would blend in seamlessly), the set is definitely worst off for it.

 

[exposed]

Ron1973, music licensing is the number one cause of why TV shows aren't released and all the complaining that it's not true, I suggest you direct your questions to Bill Hunt at Digital Bits or Gord Lacey at TVShowsonDVD. It's obvious that you have no idea what you're talking about. ChiPs, WKRP in Cincinitti are some of the shows that used a lot of classic music from the 70's and 80's of which they didn;t have the lciensing rights to that music for home video releases.

Sony, Universal, MGM, Fox ... all of these studios need to pay for the licensing rights for the music that is included in those episodes. 99% of the time, the shows are never released. Instead, all we hear is moaning and temper tantrums from the fans of these TV shows because they seem to think that music licensing should be free and that the artists who created that music should not be compensated.

If you expect these TV shows to be released, you need to start complaining to the movie studios to pay for those music licensing costs.