I fear Universal dropped the ball on Kate And Allie (1 Viewer)

I am very disapointed to hear the news that season 1 of Kate And Allie will be released alone in May, all of six episodes, barely enough for a "best of" disc, for $29.99.

Considering higher-profile and remembered shows such as Murphy Brown and Night Court haven't had what it took to merit a season 2 set, I know Universal just ruined Kate And Allie for everyone.

I know that a few years ago, Anchor Bay released a six-episode Three's Company season 1 set, but there's a huge difference there... John Ritter had just died and season 1 was originally planned to be released with season 2 in the spring of 2004, but AB rushed out season one just to get some added Christmas sales because of the rekindled interest in Ritter after he passed. However, this isn't the same for Kate And Allie, plus it's overpriced for 6 half hour episodes ($30!!!! Three's Company was $19.99 upon original release and now you can get it for $5.50 at Wally World).

A shame, I was looking forward to Kate And Allie on DVD, but it looks like this six episode set will be all we'll get.

I think the excuse they'd use is that The Office had the same SRP, same number of episodes, and sold well (or is selling well).

Of course, the actual purchase price will most likely be under $20. Still...

yep, but The Office is current and when the DVD came out, six episodes was "the complete series".

I don't see why Universal couldn't just bundle seasons 1 and 2 together like Sony has done with Seinfeld, Newsradio and will be doing with Facts Of Life (season 1 of which was THIRTEEN episodes, more than double Kate And Allie's first season)

The problem is, K&A isn't a title that is going to be a blockbuster seller, but if seasons 1 and 2 came out together, I think there was a reasonable chance it'd sell... $30 for 6 episodes is going to be suicide and I know we'll never see seasons 2-6 now. Universal really blew it with this show.

Interest in Kate and Allie might rise due to Jane Curtain's new sitcom, Crumbs, on ABC. While critics have not been kind, I think it's very funny and enjoy seeing Jane again.

I agree. Universal has sealed the fate of Kate & Allie. Sony has the right idea with Facts of Life. Why couldn't Universal have done the same thing?? I'm going to buy it anyway just to get the message across to Uni to get more seasons out.

What is even more interesting is on the Knight Rider S3 DVD there is a trailer (with box art too!) for Seasons 1 AND 2 of Kate & Allie featuring all 28 episodes. I guess Universal made last minute changes.

I guess it does seem a bit kooky & nutty to release just the first season but it's true that this will likely not be a big seller. I'm wondering if they are putting out the first season only just to test the waters a bit. By now studios must be gunshy about putting too much effort into certain shows. It's a shame but I'm guessing that's what's going on here.

K&A fans, buy this release even if you'd rather have had it bundled with the 2nd. No sales for the 1st season means no 2nd season.

true, but Night Court and Murphy Brown did sell... just they didn't sell Friends numbers and you haven't seen season 2 of those in a year. I'm sure KaA will sell well too, but since it's not up to the standards of one of Universal's blockbusters, they'll ignore it.

Keep in mind Universal only owns US rights to this, which leaves the door open for another company to release it in Canada (still region 1).

Gord

I just hope you're wrong. I also hope the episodes are uncut. That's what matters the most to me. I still have a nagging fear about Gimme a Break season 1, which was produced by the same company who made Kate & Allie (the company was Alan Landsburg Productions, and I believe Universal bought their library).

I was pretty miffed about the Kate and Allie: S1 info as well. No way I'm paying $30 MSRP (probably $20-$30 retail...even $15 would be too much) for 6 episodes of a series. This wasn't a top priority purchase for me to begin with, but now my interest has pretty much gone down the tubes. Charles in Charge and Gimme a Break are full-season sets for $35 MSRP if I'm not mistaken...i'll stick to buying those sets instead.

Universal definitely got carried away with the pricing here. MSRP should have been about $15-$20 tops. I refuse to pay more than $10 for this release. I wonder how many people will be willing to pay $20-$30 for just 6 episodes of Kate & Allie?

Almost none if they realize there are only six episodes. If the packaging says "the complete first season" or similar how many people will understand there are only six episodes in the set?

Depends on what is written on the packaging. If they read on the box that there are only six episodes on the DVD, they'll obviously know. (if they bother to read it) Universal might not want to mention the episode count on the box, but there should probably be a runtime on there...whether people see it and put 2 and 2 together, I have no idea.

If people buy this expecting to get a regular lengthy season, they'll surely feel cheated when they finally watch the disc...or, at least I would.

Exactly my point. I'll be shocked if the number of episodes is prominently displayed and you know the vast majority will not be savvy enough to look at runtimes. The backlash should be amusing.

Even people who love this show might not remember that the first season was so short. I didn't.

I really don't see why, when two seasons have a combined episode total of 30 or less, they don't combine them.

They did it for Dallas.

They did it for Family Guy.

They plan to do it for The Facts of Life.

Universal, however, believes that six episodes of a TV series can go for thirty bucks when whole full-length seasons go for that much. The backlash will be amusing, but I won't be laughing if seasons 2 through 6 don't come.

I'll end up buying it anyway.

Assuming they DO decide to release season 1 by itself, I'm sure they'll prominently tell everyone it's only six episodes. Besides, if it's packaged in a regular keep case like Barney Miller was, then that might clue people in too.

Also, Anchor Bay did the same thing for Three's Company and it didn't hurt them too much. Don't know what the srp was, though, plus I think Anchor Bay stands by their products more than other studios. But anyway, I can't imagine this would be more than 15 bucks like a previous poster said.

Amazon has the list price of Three's Company: Season 1 at $9.98. (a 6 episode disc, I believe) That is reasonable. And yes, Anchor Bay tends to be very consistent with their TV-DVD releases. (or, at least the ones I buy; Roseanne, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Doogie Howser, etc.)

Three's Company also has rarely been out of syndication since it ended in 1984, and the season 1 DVD was rushed out of greed (sorry, but it's true) to cash in on John Ritter's untimely passing, it was a guarenteed success considering how much demand there was for Ritter in late 2003 after his death. There's a huge difference between that show and Kate And Allie, which has almost become forgotten with time and only hardcore Jane Curtin/Susan Saint James fans are gonna spend $20-30 for just six episodes.

There might be a glimmer of light for the upcoming K&A release according to this review of Gimme A Break:

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

In the paragraph describing the special features on this release it mentions the inclusion of a 1st season episode of K&A and says:

"Kate & Allie will be released on May 2nd. The previews show a first and second season combined release for it."

Can anyone confirm that this is true ?