Why isn´t Sony releasing "Hart to Hart"-Season 3,4 and 5? (1 Viewer)

[Mr. Pacino]

A couple of years ago Sony released the first and the second season of the very popular TV show "Hart to Hart" within two years on DVD.
But then they stop to continue with the rest of the five Seasons.

I think this show was very popular and I also think that Season 1 and 2 were purchased by many fans....
So why stopping the release the rest of the episodes?

Does it have something to do with music rights?

 

[cajunhillbilly]

I have wondered that myself. I too have waited for the remaining seasons. If I was not afraid of poor quality pictures, I'd be tempted to buy a bootleg set.

 

[Gene M]

It could be music right's, Just like The fugitive hit a brick wall because of music rights, I don't know if the studio will continue the Fugitive DVD's , 2. The economy could be the biggest factor! I noticed 2 online retailers going toe to toe against eachother Deepdiscount and Amazon! for DVD's sales, and some retail stores is starting to pick up the pace ie best buy, wall-mart ect.. I been getting good deals both online & retail! As I said economy could be the biggest factor, the studios could put off to continue the rest of the seasons sets or they could finish the season sets if the studio receives a buttload of complaints that the consumers want their favorites series to go on like Hart to Hart or so on!

 

[Ron Lee Green]

This is my theory, so please take it with a grain of salt...

Hart to Hart star Robert Wagner filed a lawsuit in 2003 against Sony Pictures claiming he's entitled to half the profits from Sony's two ''Charlie's Angels'' movies because he is a part owner of the ''Charlie's Angels'' franchise, thanks to a deal dating back 29 years.

I have no idea if the suit was settled out of court or still in process.

My theory is that there may be bad blood between Sony and RW, so maybe Sony doesn't want to release those 2 shows and give RW more money. Just a guess?
Here's the story:
Robert Wagner sues Sony over ''Charlie's Angels'' | Charlie's Angels | In the News | News | Entertainment Weekly

 

[David Rain]

Um, I'm guessing poor sales for the first set ?

 

[70sTVlover]

Who knows, but I would buy them all in a heartbeat

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Maybe because the set didn't sell. COmpanies don't continue releasing somethign if it doesn't sell and Hart to Heart isn't exactly a great seller.

 

[bmasters9]

I would guess that it isn't a great seller because a lot of DVD purchasers, at least by actions, would think that Jerry Seinfeld, for one, is better than Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers. I, however, believe otherwise, and this is why I, for one, am upset that "Hart to Hart" did not sell as much as "Seinfeld."
There seems to be an attitude among some people that clean is overrated and dirty is underrated, at least when it comes to television; I, for one, do not subscribe to that view.

 

[Bryan^H]

Because people of today's generation want to buy tv series overflowing with realism.

Shows from the 70's and 80's(fun, wholesome, escapist entertainment) suffer because of this.

Do any of you happen to notice the TVLand network lately. They are pretty much edging out old shows altogether. They get newer shows(mid 90's to present) it seems on a monthly basis to replace the "classics".

It seems the general tv viewing public would be perfectly content if the older shows would just lay down and die....forever!

 

[TV_Fan]

Which is exactly why I don't watch much TV anymore.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

bmasters, it isn't that ... I just never liked Hart and Hart ... it was a sub-par series and I always seen it as a rip off from classics such as Magum P.I., Simon and Simon, Rockford Files, Remington Steel and the like.

I'm sure many other consumers had seen it the same way.

 

[Mark Oates]

Chacun a son gout, I suppose. Personally I preferred H2H over derivative shows like Magnum PI and Simon and Simon. If it ripped anything off it was the Thin Man movies of the 1940s.

Here in R2, sales of the first two seasons have obviously been bad enough for the sets to have been discounted into the bargain bucket, which is unusual for tv series box sets which as a rule are overpriced over here.

I'm honestly surprised Robert Wagner tried to get any money out of Sony back in 2003, as I'd have thought it was one can of worms he would not want to reopen. During the original run of Charlie's Angels, the arrangement he and Natalie Wood had with Spelling-Goldberg had blown up into a scandal nicknamed "Angelgate" when a senior network accountant had flagged irregularities about the financing of the series, believing that the Wagners were being ripped off. There was a considerable fuss made at the time (I don't have my Hofstede to hand to verify the details) but Hollywood accounting practices came under scrutiny at the time. The Wagners proved uncooperative witnesses and the case fell apart, with the only casualty being the network accountant who subsequently couldn't get another job in Tinseltown.

I suppose the lure of a piece of the action of a lucrative reborn franchise and all that...

 

[bmasters9]

You're probably right. I had just read a lot of message boards and thought that I was representing the majority view of a lot of disgruntled viewers who couldn't find anything good to watch, and as such, abandoned it altogether or turned to DVDs. If you didn't like the Harts, I can understand. I've liked it because it showed that a happily married couple could solve mysteries. A lot of people, however, don't want that; they want blood, gore, excessive sexuality, the works-- everything that today's fare has to offer. If that's their taste, that's fine-- they have that right. I personally cannot
stand much of today's stuff.

 

[bmasters9]

That's a great response, and I kind of figured as much. If they don't like the cleaner fare of the past, then that is their taste. I just, for the life of me, cannot stand stuff with blood and gore and excessive sexuality and realism-- it revulses me. The way I see it, at least so far, "Hawaii Five-O" stands head and shoulders above "CSI," and by that token, Steve McGarrett of Hawaii stands head and shoulders above Gil Grissom of Las Vegas.

 

[cajunhillbilly]

I agree. Hawaii FiveO is a great show. CSI got real old after the first season or two.

 

[Robert13]

I don't think that's true. I had heard both sets sold very well. I'm thinking Ron Lee Green's theory is probably more the reason.

 

[Robert13]

I have to agree with you wholeheartedly.

One more note about H2H... RW and Stefanie Powers were guests on Graham Norton earlier this year and the first question from an audience member was "When is Season 3 coming out?" to which RW answered "I don't know....it will be soon". Graham Norton made a joke out of it asking again in a crazy voice "Where is Season 3?!?!"

I'm sorry to see it hasn't been released yet. Surely, if there are enough fans to buy Gomer Pyle and warrant the entire series release on dvd, there must be enough H2H fans. Amazon is riddled with comments from fans looking for Season 3.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Okay. You did not go there. The lack of H2H season three has NOTHING to do with taste. The truth is more like Sony's lack of commitment to several series, not just H2H. The fact is that Sony has been too busy dealing with BluRay and low sales in dvd altogether. It has nothing to do with some perceived public backlash against good taste. Your line of thinking is totally ridiculous. It's just Sony's disinterest in tv on dvd in general. It's not just Hart to Hart; they haven't yet finished the Jeffersons, All in the Family, the Flying Nun and a dozen other shows.

 

[TravisR]

Today's shows might be more explicit but it's not like complaints about violence or sex are new. 50 years ago, people complained about how horrible TV was and people still have the same basic complaints today. You think TV today is bad (which is fine) but most likely, people thought the same thing about the older shows that you loved.

 

[bmasters9]

I just noticed what you said, and you're absolutely right. I don't know what I was thinking. I said what I said because of DVD sales and thought that the low DVD sales numbers for all of those '70's series warranted what I said; apparently, I was mistaken. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.