What does The Brady Bunch have that Happy Days doesn't?? (1 Viewer)

[Bryan^H]

Ok, so I finally found out the real reason for no further releases of Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, and Mork and Mindy. POOR SALES!!
Does this make any sense? These were staple shows of the 70's and 80's, and yet they all sold poorly. Three's Company used to air on Tuesdays nights, along with Happy Days, and Laverne and Shirley, and it's almost on a 5th season release.
About a month ago I decided to check around to get The Brady Bunch season 2. Every store I checked had it, but here's the thing: I was also checking for Happy Days to see if there was a price drop or something, and only place I found it was Best Buy. Here are the stores that didn't have it: Sam's Club, Wal-MArt, Target, K-Mart, Meijer, Circuit City. Most of these stores also didn't carry Laverne and Shirley, or Mork and Mindy. Now I know these releases are over a year old, but I checked all these stores when Happy Days was released initially, and Best Buy and Target were the only places I found it back then.
So why is The Brady Bunch(Paramount) avaialble everywhere you turn, and Happy days(Paramount)has been laying low ever since it's release over a year ago?

 

[David Rain]

There doesn't always seem to be any rhyme or reason for the way TV shows on DVD are treated. But the music rights with HD & L&S are likely a huge deciding factor. If those rights are a lot of hassle and cost a lot of money then the poor sales have put a nail in the coffin.

I'm disappointed that fans of classic TV did not buy these releases in droves.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Brady Bunch is more fun to watch now than Happy Days is. H.D's didnt age well and maybe the comedy didn't either. I am just guessing.
I've watched reruns of both and I cant stand Happy Days anymore but still like Brady Bunch.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

"The Brady Bunch" still has a big fan following. Some fans love it as camp, other fans love it as nostalgia for the early '70s, but they all love it enough to buy it.

"Happy Days" doesn't have that kind of following. It's popular in reruns, but it's popular in a "I'll sit down and watch it when it comes on" kind of way, not a "I'll buy the DVDs and watch the episodes multiple times" way. And a show needs the latter kind of popularity to succeed on DVD.

Maybe one thing that works against Happy Days (and Laverne and Shirley) is being set in the '50s. At the time, it helped set the show apart, but now it means it can't draw the '70s and '80s nostalgia crowd the way other shows from the same era do.

 

[FrancisP]

Apparently Happy Days and L&S have certain rights issues that make it more expensive and Paramount's profit margin thinner than The Brady Bunch. I guess that they would have had to sell more copies than they do on The Brady Bunch and couldn't do it. Rights issues can be vexing. That's the one advantage 60's
and early 70's shows have over later shows. There are
generally few if any rights issues with the exception
of Batman.(That's another thread.)

 

[Jay_B!]

I disagree with the consensus, I like Happy Days more than BB myself. I know I'm in the minority, but I even liked the Crystal Bernard (who went on to Wings) and Billy Warlock (who went on to Baywatch, General Hospital and just recently returned to Days Of Our Lives) episodes.

 

[Garysb]

This article was referenced in today's Digital Bits concerning TV shows that stop after S1. Its probably where Bryan got his information.

http://www.videobusiness.com/article/CA6273056.html

 

[Ethan Riley]

I said on another thread that the packaging for HD, L&S and M&M looked cheap. Fans were turned off. BB gets those venticular covers and they look intriguing. BB, however, needs WAY more extras.

 

[Bryan^H]

If Anchor Bay had the rights to Happy Days, or Laverne and Shirley there wouldn't be a danger of no more season sets. They would simply find a way around the music rights issue(substitutions would be a good bet) and continue to release them. If Silk Stalkings, 21 Jump Street, and The Greatest American Hero can make it, I know for a fact that Happy Days would continue. Just too bad Paramount has the rights.

 

[Sean.S]

I, personally, didn't buy Happy Days S1 because of the simple fact that I do not really like that season. I was waiting for the much superior (at least, in my opinion) live-audicence episodes that began with S3. On the other hand, I haven't purchased any Brady Bunch either, because I don't really like that show.

 

[David Rain]

I own the Laverne & Shirley set and I think it was very well done. The packaging was in keeping with the theme of the show and the episodes were uncut and looked better than I have ever seen this show. And I've been watching it since it first aired. This is one stalled release that I'm very upset about not getting more of. So much so that I'd actually be willing to live with music substitutions. The only songs I can think of that would need to stay in would be the ones performed for the Schotz Brewery Talent Show episodes.

 

[JohnMor]

While I have no illusions about the quality of The Brady Bunch, I still do prefer it over Happy Days and it's ilk because I HATED how they milked the studio audiences on those shows. The shows would practically have to stop while they egged the audience to cheer each actor's entrance. I'm sorry, but if there was no need to do that for Lucille Ball, Dick Van Dyke or Mary Tyler Moore when they entered, then why for Erin Moran or Anson Williams. It was just so silly.

I much preferred the first year of HD, when it wasn't filmed in front of a studio audience, and Fonzie wasn't the cartoon caricature he became shortly thereafter.

That's my 2 cents anyway.

 

[Jay_B!]

it got soooo bad in the post-Howard seasons, especially the Crystal Bernard/Billy Warlock era of the show when a pizza delivery guy would suddenly be getting a standing ovation. I am in a rare minority but I love seasons 1 and 2, and like seasons 8-11, but cannot stand seasons 4-7, season 3 does have a few genuinely great moments. If anything, the exit of Richie gave the show new life, and I liked a lot of the newer characters.

 

[Bryan^H]

Well it's 2006, and if there are no new releases for any of the impending doom titles(HD,L&S, M&M)the first half of this year, chances are it's over. Even though Nothing has been announced, I still have hope.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I enjoy the first couple of seasons of HAPPY DAYS (at the very least... maybe season 3 too)... I bought SEASON 1 and I'd buy SEASON 2. For me, those were the best, when the show was truly trying to be ABOUT something... life in the '50s, instead of "The Fonzie Superhero Show".

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

To answer the thread title with a quote from BB: "Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!"

Seriously though, I think people have touched on a few of the issues. The Sherwood Schwartz shows have managed to age very well, while the others in this thread haven't, at least not to the point where I would feel compelled to buy them. While the Fonz was cool when I was ten, the shtick gets old fast now. The same thing applies to a lot of the shows I grew up with.