WarnerArchive.com to release: Maverick, 77 Sunset Strip, Bourboun Street Beat et al (2 Viewers)

This Variety article mentions that warnerarchive.com will also be releasing DVD-Rs of some TV shows:

OK, but I want Surfside 6, The FBI, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., and The Courtship of Eddie's Father!

Can you imagine how expensive these will be if they are also $19.99 per disk like the movies they have announced at Warner Archives.

^They won't be that expensive. There's no point in making them available if a season of a small show is going to cost $80 or $100.

Well, price will definitely be the key to this entire innovation. If we are looking at literally $19.99 or even a discounted price of $14.99 per disc, meaning only 3 or 4 hour long episodes per, then that's going to be way too expensive. If we can get a half season for $19.99 then they have a customer. But I'm not going to be able to afford anything that amounts to more than approximately $40 per season.

Having said all that, I love the idea in principle and hope WB (and maybe other studios) can make it work. Pricing will be the key though.

Gary "we'll just have to see how this shakes out" O.

That'd be my guess on what they'll cost. It's pricey but not insane (just like the archive movies). If they go much higher, they're just cutting off potential sales for something that already has a limited audience.

If this is the only way that Warner will release these series, that's fine by me. As far as I'm concerned, they don't have to get fancy with this . . . I don't need fancy artwork or elaborate packaging. Just give me solid looking episodes on discs that play in my DVD player and I, for one, will be one happy camper! When it comes to pricing, I just hope that they remember that there is a recession going on and this venture is going to have to be competitively priced with standard DVD for them to make a go of it.

Except for possible DVD-R concerns, the WB archive service looks interesting since they've added some TV shows to the list. I've been following the WB Archive thread on the Std Film Bd as some probably have here. There's been a lot of discussion about the DVD-R issue. I have run across a couple of DVD-R's in the past that wouldn't play on my Pioneer Std player but played ok on my backup JVC player. Since this is WB, I'm hoping that the media quality, etc, will give us reliable burns.

As most here are thinking the same thing as Gary & Bob, we'll have to see what their pricing structure is for their TV/DVD sets. Just for me, I'm not willing to pay much more than an average TV/DVD pressed set for these releases.

I'm sure that a lot of these concerns will be addressed in the online WB chat tonight.

Hopefully WB is considering doing full season sets of the shows mentioned. Given their history they're likely to do 1 disc tv favorites or best of sets first.

Considering the DVD-R nature of this, one would hope they'll offer some sort of warranty on such product. DVD-R is just too unstable compared to proper stamped discs.

Maybe this would be a good avenue for shows they have consistently pushed aside, like Logan's Run or Shazam!.

I was reading the VB Business article on this earlier this morning. If WB can put season sets for sale of the following shows I will buy them. I hope more studios follow suit with burn on demand.

Spenser: For Hire
Eight is Enough
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Falcon Crest

Per the FQA on the Warner Archive site, they will replace defective discs. They also say the discs might not play on computers that can copy discs due to the copy protection used and on some DVD players manufactured before the year 2000.

http://www.wbshop.com/Warner-Archive...efault,pg.html

Q: What makes an on-demand DVD Different than a Commercial DVD?

A: DVD’s produced on-demand are similar to, but not quite same as, DVD’s you’d buy at the local video store. DVD movies you buy at the local video outlet are manufactured from a mold via a stamping process whereas on-demand DVDs are "burned". Each carries information read by the DVD player, but the physical properties of the two are different.

Most DVD players are compatible with both commercial DVD-Video and one or more of the “recordable DVD formats. Our on-demand DVD’s are manufactured using the most widely accepted format, DVD-R.
The owner's manual of the DVD player usually lists which DVD recording formats it can play. Almost all DVD players can play DVD-R (except for some older models made before 2000)

Q: What do I do if my DVD doesn’t play?

A: First – check to see if your player is compatible with DVD-R media as noted in #1 above. If it is compatible, contact customer service at: 1-866-373-4389. We’ll arrange to replace the disc at no charge or refund your purchase.

Q: I’m trying to make a few extra copies of my DVD, for “safe keeping” and for a surprise present to my mom. When I copied the disc it was un-playable. Why is that? And what can I do about it?

A: This DVD on-demand disc was recorded using CSS encryption. CSS is designed to prevent unauthorized reproduction of the DVD. We’re delighted that you’d like to surprise your mother with the gift of a Warner Bros classic movie. May we suggest she’d like an officially produced and packaged DVD even more? As such we welcome your visit back to the Warner.com classic store at any time.

Q: My DVD behaves differently on my Blue-ray player vs. my other DVD players.

A: This is normal. While Blue Ray machines are mostly compatible with regular DVD’s, some variation in the way the player interprets the DVD software instructions may occur. As a general rule, the movie will still play. Certain menu functions may behave a bit differently, however.

Q: My DVD won’t play on my computer.

A: As noted on the DVD case wrap, DVD’s encrypted with CSS may not play on all computers or DVD player/recorders. This is normal. To address this, we recommend viewing the DVD on a DVD player that does not have recording capability.


Since these will only be available from Warners what we won't have is DVD bargains. These won't be available as a deal of the day at Amazon, they won't be a part of the Deep Discount semi annual sale, nor will they be in the Walmart $5 bin. Price is definitely a consideration. Per the thread on the movie forum, if these sell well they could be released commercially. Of course if this happens people will be angry about spending money on the DVD-Rs. Kind of like the TV season ver. TV series argument.

went to the warner website but could not find the shows mentioned. Must still be on the way. Perhaps we could all check regularly and went one of the tv seasons are available, we could let everyone else know it.

This is really monumental. I hope that Cheyenne Season 2 will be available soon.

If the pricing is high, I'll have to back off on implulse buys of shows that are second tier wants for me. The Warner Classic western and detective shows are the grail shows for me.

I hope these future TV releases have all the original teasers and bumpers, especially on Cheyenne, as sometimes the illustrations on the bumpers were specific to the individual episode's story.

The thing is, though for how long will they replace defectives? DVD-Rs can go bad "on the shelf": it could be months down the road, it could be a couple years. I wonder if they'd really replace a defective I bought today two or three years from now at no charge.

And since they're encrypted, you can't (generally) make your own backups to try to avoid the "DVD-R gone bad" problem.

I'd have to really, really want something bad to even consider purchasing it as a burnt disc.

i have had dvdr disks for 3 or 4 years and so far no problems on any of them.

Since they are making these as you order them it sounds as though these maybe treated as software purchases and once you have purchased said title you should be able to get a replacement for it down the line. No confirmation that this is how it works but if it does work like this I can see this model being very successful .

depending on the prices, I could see getting Cheyenne, Maverick, Bronco, Sugarfoot, 77 Sunset, and several other titles. Maybe Mama's Family will be one I could order.

TV Shows on DVD says that their contact at Warners says that this list of shows was just given as examples and no shows have been selected for release just yet. If they are considering Bronco, though, I hope they will also keep Sugarfoot in mind.

Just make S1 of "The FBI" available and I'd be very pleased.