Shout! Factory TV Shows Thread (1 Viewer)

Thought it would be a good idea to start a thread for Shout! Factory's TV show titles, like the one for their film titles in the Film and Documentary folder.

It's been just over six months since Simon & Simon: Season Five was released as a Shout! Select title. Is there any chance of Season 6 (1986-87) being released by early summer 2011? If the price is the same as the one charged for Season 5, then that isn't too bad. But Season 7 (1987-88) only had 16 episodes, and Season 8 (1988-89) had 13 episodes. Shout! Factory could release them together and charge the same price as the Season 5 set, or release them separately at a lower price.

Also, if Shout! Factory plan to release Season 6 can they look into acquiring the 90 minute behind-the-scenes documentary which aired at the end of the sixth season of Simon & Simon? I read about this documentary on the Shout! Factory forum and it sounded interesting.

So far, the Shout Select titles that have had more than one release have had a span of about 8 or 9 months between releases.

They've stated on their boards that they like to let the titles "simmer" for a while to get the maximum amount of sales out of them before deciding on releasing the next volume.

So give it a couple more months, then start worrying. The Select titles usually aren't announced until around a month before release.

Ironside: Seasons Five & Six - possibly later this year (see the TVShowsOnDVD news article posted on it's website on 31st May).

Release dates for Shout! Factory TV on DVD titles coming soon (source: TVShowsOnDVD):

August:

MASK: The Complete Series & Volume 1 - Tuesday 9th August
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - XXI: MST3K Vs. Gamera - Tuesday 2nd August
Spin City: The Complete Fifth Season - Tuesday 16th August
Webster: Season Three - Tuesday 9th August




September:

Airwolf: The Movie - Tuesday 6th September
Kojak: Season Two (1974-75) - Tuesday 27th September
Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Manos the Hands of Fate - Tuesday 13th September
Police Story: Season One (1973-74) - Tuesday 6th September.

Dennis the Menace: Season 3 Tuesday, October 25th
Barner Miller: The Complete Series Tuesday, October 25th

I wish we knew what was going on with "Hazel". It's been almost 5 months since word got out that Shout was licensing the show. So far, it doesn't look good.

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Originally Posted by Robert13
I wish we knew what was going on with "Hazel". It's been almost 5 months since word got out that Shout was licensing the show. So far, it doesn't look good.

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I have to admit it is getting to be a little disconcerting. The last thing I read from Brian Ward at Shout said not to worry because the set was being worked on (by another producer there), but it does seem like we should be hearing a little bit more than we are.


Gary "I don't think it's time to panic, but if we don't hear something within the next couple of months then I'd have to believe there's some sort of problem" O.

I don't trust Brian Ward. He changes his story once too many times, and he's a liar. I'll never forgive him for the Rhoda S1 deception. He said that they had done a great job in getting the uncut season 1 episodes, and that there would occasional tape problems, but none that would hurt our enjoyment so much.
Fast forward to when early pre-release reviews were published. It was the exact polar opposite of what he said. It also doesn't help that the uncut versions of ALL the S1 episodes do exist.
It also appears that he didn't understand that videotaped shows in the 70's are supposed to have 29.976 fps, not 23.976 fps, like that DVD producer who worked on AITF S7 thought it had. To quote Neil Brock, people are so used to seeing internet videotape, that they automatically assume that's the proper presentation for videotape.
The sad part, he doesn't wanna come clean and admit to all of his lies and contradictions.

Instead of assuming he was lying, why not assume he was mistaken? I don't think you have much to gain by antagonizing him and the company he works for.

Well then explain to me this: How could he not know that there was something wrong with the framerate on AITF S7 until enough people pointed out to him that there was? The fact that the episodes on the set looked more like they were shot in kinescope form should have been a tell-tale sign that something was wrong.

On AITF S7 alas, part of the problem was that there were too many critics out there too dense to realize that something wasn't right with the end product, because there are too many modern day critics so prejudiced against the look of videotaped material that if it has a "film" look as AITF S7 did with its kinescopey quality, they think that's somehow an improvement!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joe Lugoff
Instead of assuming he was lying, why not assume he was mistaken? I don't think you have much to gain by antagonizing him and the company he works for.

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Exactly.


Gary "calling someone a liar is strong language and in this case I think it was inappropriate and uncalled for" O.

Release dates for Shout! Factory TV on DVD titles coming soon (source: Amazon.com):

November:

The Adventures of Tintin: Season One - Tuesday 22nd November
Transformers Beast Wars: The Complete Series - Tuesday 1st November.

Shout continues to hit home runs for me this year! I've pre-order Season 3 of Dennis the Menace as a show of support for the company that's done a phenomenal job in releasing classic TV on DVD over the last several years. And while other companies have been pulling back on their vintage releases, Shout continued to release series I'm very interested in. A+ job from them this year! Thank goodness for them and Timeless (and to a lesser extent, CBS) this year. Now if only WBA would start releasing things I'm interested in. So far they've struck out with me this year.


Gary "glad Shout has kinda fast-tracked Dennis this year" O.

Well Gary, we're a tale of two opposites because Shout not only struck out big time for me just now with their latest "Ironside" debacle, it's also earned them a suspension of sorts from me in that I'm not going to indulge in any more fence titles from them (Dennis The Menance, Hazel) for the sake of supporting the company. OTOH, Warner has hit the first two pitches out of the park in terms of what they decided to tackle in their first wave and while I'm not going to buy all of their titles right away (I won't be getting Man From Atlantis or Medical Center) they have more than supplanted Shout in terms of the studio where I can have some enthusiasm over upcoming titles. Shout alas, when I see a new title from them is starting to establish a trend (Barney Miller excepted) of "which will be the latest title they won't finish?"

I guess it all depends on which side of the fence your'e on here

Shout gets my vote vs WBA every time as of this date. Shout has released some of my best shows while WBA hasn't hit anything out of my park.

So for me, WBA hasn't come close to supplanting Shout .

That's true with regards to the fence. "The FBI" and "Girl From UNCLE" were my two remaining 60s Holy Grails, period. I'm ecstatic they went to those in the first wave rather than concentrate on the 50s titles first.
Shout's dithering with S6 of "Adam-12" hasn't sat well with me either because there should have been no issues to delay that.

Something that needs to be remembered when comparing Shout (or any small distributor) to the majors: Shout is not a studio and doesn't own any of their content. They can only release what the studios will license to them. Sure there have been a few missteps, but I'm much happier for their existence and what they've released so far (with justifiable criticism on occasion). Had Shout been M.I.A. on the TV-on-DVD scene, there would be some major holes in my collection. Without them, I'd most likely not have complete series sets of Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, The Larry Sanders Show, It's Garry Schandling's Show, and My So Called Life (at least not in such outstanding editions)—not to mention all the shows they've picked up after the studios abandoned them.

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Originally Posted by Jack P /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Well Gary, we're a tale of two opposites because Shout not only struck out big time for me just now with their latest "Ironside" debacle, it's also earned them a suspension of sorts from me in that I'm not going to indulge in any more fence titles from them (Dennis The Menance, Hazel) for the sake of supporting the company. OTOH, Warner has hit the first two pitches out of the park in terms of what they decided to tackle in their first wave and while I'm not going to buy all of their titles right away (I won't be getting Man From Atlantis or Medical Center) they have more than supplanted Shout in terms of the studio where I can have some enthusiasm over upcoming titles. Shout alas, when I see a new title from them is starting to establish a trend (Barney Miller excepted) of "which will be the latest title they won't finish?"

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We are definitely on the opposite ends of the spectrum in this one, Jack. When I think about all the shows that Shout has released just this past year (Dennis, Marcus Welby, Mister Ed, LITB, & FKB - the last two being holy grails for me) and what's still to come (more Dennis and Hazel), and then compare that with what WBA has released - its just no contest in my eyes. Warners just hasn't scratched any of my TV itches yet. They do own a few things I'd like to see, but they've yet to release them. And as for what's being finished and what isn't, I'd point out that we've not heard any more about Cheyenne up to this point either. So let's not act like WBA is going to be the gold standard on not abandoning shows in mid-release. They've done it before when the company was releasing pressed DVDs (Chips, for instance), so I don't think the "stalled series" argument is a good one in terms of a comparison between the two companies.

Originally Posted by Jeff Willis /img/forum/go_quote.gif



I guess it all depends on which side of the fence your'e on here



Shout gets my vote vs WBA every time as of this date. Shout has released some of my best shows while WBA hasn't hit anything out of my park.



So for me, WBA hasn't come close to supplanting Shout .

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I feel the exact same way, Jeff.

Originally Posted by MattHR /img/forum/go_quote.gif

Something that needs to be remembered when comparing Shout (or any small distributor) to the majors: Shout is not a studio and doesn't own any of their content. They can only release what the studios will license to them. Sure there have been a few missteps, but I'm much happier for their existence and what they've released so far (with justifiable criticism on occasion). Had Shout been M.I.A. on the TV-on-DVD scene, there would be some major holes in my collection. Without them, I'd most likely not have complete series sets of Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, The Larry Sanders Show, It's Garry Schandling's Show, and My So Called Life (at least not in such outstanding editions)—not to mention all the shows they've picked up after the studios abandoned them.

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Right, Matt. That's always been my argument as well. Warners owns all this stuff and they could release whatever they want to so there's no way they get the props that Shout does in my book on that point alone. And like you, my collection would have some serious holes but for Shout Factory. Things like Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best, Dennis the Menace, Mister Ed, McHale's Navy, That Girl, Patty Duke Show, Ozzie & Harriet, The Goldbergs, Dragnet, Adam 12, Tales of the Gold Monkey, and a great Christmas release that included a Yuletide episode from Window on Main Street give Shout the easy win in my book.




Gary "WBA needs to release shows like Dr. Kildare and Tarzan (Ron Ely) if they are to gain any points with me" O.

I think Gary, my complaints with Shout have a lot to do with the fact that there are things they have done that relate not to matters beyond their control but things in their control. Releasing cut episodes of certain titles ultimately falls on their shoulders, not the studio because they were too lazy to check and confirm beforehand. The AITF S7 encoding problem was also their fault entirely. But the "Ironside" situation is the thing that represents worse conduct than anything I've seen done by a major studio when it comes to raising expectations and then twice reversing course with explanations that blatantly contradict information that earlier came out from official sources. And too often, it does frustrate me when there's a tendency to give them a free pass for these matters (for instance if you're a fan of "Marcus Welby" don't you find it a little distressing that they weren't willing to give S3 a chance through Select if the first two seasons sold *retail* weren't doing a good enough job? The purpose of Select, I was told, was to give titles selling less well at retail another chance but Welby didn't even get that consideration!)
I have bought many of their titles that do interest me and I have nothing but praise for them on that point, but my view is that their road has had more than their share of bumps along the way that IMO makes it impossible for me to rate them on a higher plane from what other studios that are doing a fine job *at this moment* are doing. Are they better than Universal and Fox? Unquestionably. And I don't hold them responsible for Fox not making titles available any longer. But if I were to compared them alongside Timeless and Warner I wouldn't rate them ahead of either at this point. Equal perhaps, but ahead no. The good they've done also has its share of the bad too and the "Ironside" situation is a reminder of the bad they are capable of. So far, Warner hasn't dropped the ball in terms of anything with their TV releases this year that I can find fault with, and to their credit they don't make us wait three months from the time an announcement is made which is one of the most refreshing developments I have ever seen from *any* company.
I can't believe that we could have three releases of Dennis The Menace before we finally got S6 of "Adam-12" which from all accounts has been a good seller. If it turns out the delay was not the result of trying to secure some bonus content, then I'll be more at a loss to understand why we had to wait in excess of 16 months for S6.