2012 trends/guestimates/ predictions. (1 Viewer)

Well guys. I know it's three and a half months till 2012, but I was wondering if any of us have any guesses, predictions, or feeling on how next year will go when it comes to TV DVD releases? More or less when it comes to "classic" tv releases. You know the ones we moan and gripe about not coming out on DVD. The first thing I'm surprised about is that Time-Life hasn't released a big tv release this upcoming fourth quarter. TL has released one big series every October/November for the past four years (or it seems to be). This may be indicative of the economy, or the fact the company overspent on some of it's past releases, but . . . . . We are getting huge DVD box releases of Law and Order, It Takes a Thief, Little House on the Prairie, The Fugitive. . . . . and there was a story that there was going to be a huge collection of Dark Shadows before next years film comes out. I do think WB Archives will be releasing most of the "obscure" tv stuff next year such as Wizards and Warriors, more HB tv, more Ruby-Spears stuff, etc. Continuation of the FBI, Medical Center, Night Court, etc. Shout will also continue on with some select titles like they did in 2010 with Streethawk, Tales of the Gold Monkey, Max Headroom, etc. Our Canadian neighbors (VEI?) have surprised us with Universal releases such as The Snoop Sisters, and the David McCallum version of the Invisible Man. I wouldn 't be surprises if the rest of McCloud , Hec Ramsey, Gemini Man, and Fantastic Journey were in the works somehow. With the depressed economy, some choices will be more limited, but I think some shorter lived series might still come out. What do you think? James

For 2012, I really wish Shout! Factory would rekindle their relationship with 20th Century Fox Television. Of all the major TV Production Companies I've been more mad at Fox more than any of the others. They need to drop their stupid little game of playing hardball with the indies this instant. The worst thing about it is that play hardball with them EVEN when the title does well for Fox (the best example being VCI's Burke's Law). In other words, it's a no-win situation. It doesn't matter if whatever title an indie label licenses from Fox does well or not. Fox WILL play hardball with them. They WILL make the indies look like s*** in their eyes. I hate Fox so much that I wish a five-letter-word called "K-A-R-M-A" would come to bite them in the rear. That will teach the a lesson they'll never forget.

For 2012, the only trends that I see guaranteed at this point are completion at long last of both Hawaii Five-O and Adam-12, both of which should have happened this year but for the delays that set in. CBS/Paramount we know won't turn off the spigot completely in a reduced year. I figure we'll likely get another year of Gunsmoke and Perry Mason. Beyond that, I'll let Gary do the Crystal Ball readings for that company! With Shout! I'm not predicting anything beyond S3 of Kojak. Warner Archive I think will be a much bigger year for classic TV in 2012. We'll see S3 of Cheyenne and The FBI for sure. Probably we'll get through S4 of The FBI and I think we'll see Tarzan (Ely) for certain as well by then.

A few other comments. Possibly, Possibly, since another company got the Sid and Marty Kroft library, we might see more of their classic 70's stuff, and hopefully not more of stuff already put out. Perhaps Far Out Space Nuts, Lost Saucer, Electrowoman and Dynagirl. Maybe Sigmund and the Sea Monsters seasons 2+ 3, Again these are guesses on my part. With the new Spider-Man movie coming out next May, it might be a good idea for Disney or whoever owns the rights to the seventies live action Spider man and the ninties animated version to rethink putting those properties out. James

Maybe i'm just being optimistic, but I do really hope that the complete box set is a trend that studios have discovered is a way to make the more enthusiastic fans of their shows happy. These days, it seems the falling sales of subsequent seasons continue as shows get older and the later seasons prove to be less popular with the impulse buy or casual fans. The studios should realize that the real fans will pay for a complete series of a show they love, especially done right. Come on LOVE BOAT !!!!!

I see other companies beginning to release TV shows as BOD products. Not necessarily rarities as Warner promises, but maybe continuations of shows that have stalled. At least those that have existing tape elements.

I think 2012 will be another year with very little substance to it, as far as classic TV releases go. There might be some surprises along the way but for the most part studios will just focus on those titles that are big sellers. Here is my guesses (whatever they are worth), organized by studio:


20th Century Fox- Seasons 5 & 6 of The Bob Newhart Show (These are rumoured to be released by the end of 2011 but they might get pushed into next year- if they are still a go?!)


Sony- Nothing


Universal- Murder, She Wrote Movies Collection, Final Columbo collection, season set releases of Six Million Dollar Man


Paramount- Hawaii Five-O Season 12, Have Gun Will Travel Season 6, The Lucy Show Season 6, The Untouchables Season4, Gunsmoke Season 6, Perry Mason Season 7


Warner Bros.- Scarecrow & Mrs. King Season 3 (retail), various titles via Warner Archive


Shout! Factory- Adam-12 Seasons 6 & 7, Dennis the Menace Season 4, Mister Ed Season 6, Webster Season 4, Kojak Season 3

I don't know if S6 of Mister Ed will be released. I fear that Fox (god I hate them so much!) could be the main culprit in the hold-up, considering that this show is distributed by MGM VIA Fox. I mean did anyone not find it the least-bit suspicious that Shout! released season 5, but not seasons 5 and 6 in one set (as season 6 was a short 13-episode season)?

I believe that the #1 trend for 2012 will be that the studios finally dip (cautiously) into blu-ray sets of older shows that have already been released on dvd. I believe that I Love Lucy will be among the first of these. Shows that follow will generally be filmed series that are major fan favorites, and that have some current movie or tie-in. There will not be, however, a huge amount of classic shows on bluray. The irony is that while bluray is largely considered to be the "final format" for physical media, a lot of tv shows and movies will never benefit from the format because of increasing lack of interest in physical media. I think this year's trends will continue into next year. I believe that Warner Archives will continue to surprise us with both short-lived series sets and continuations of ongoing sets like Medical Center and Falcon Crest. I believe the HB cartoons will continue. I believe that Paramount will soldier on with its annoying half-season sets. I think they'll definitely move on with the more popular shows like Gunsmoke, Dynasty and so on. And I believe that shows nearing completion like Melrose Place and Hawaii 5-0 will get wrapped up sooner rather than later. I believe that Shout will proceed cautiously; they will continue their offerings but they might be more careful with their choice of shows. A lot of their offerings didn't sell well, while others ran into the ground due to red tape. I have a funny feeling, however, and hope dearly that Sony might ink deals with them that will allow continuations of some of their long-stalled Norman Lear shows (and maybe some other shows as well), after Shout's success of All in the Family. I believe that Fox and Sony will do basically nothing, because they're Fox and Sony and they're scared of losing their jobs by putting out dvds that won't sell one millions units each. I believe that Disney will never understand that interested fans enjoy complete season sets, and that yes, this includes shows that Disney owns and controls. They'll continue to offer "best ofs" of popular current shows and ignore their vast libraries of favorites like "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" and cartoons series like "Lilo and Stitch." At least Fox and Sony have, in the past, produced season sets of older shows--Disney never even tried. I believe that amazon, Shout, VEI and other entities will surprise us will sudden licensed season sets of popular shows. I believe that the trend will veer away from the major studios and onto licensing and other means of distribution. I believe that vanity dvd producers will continue to distribute pet project dvds of older, under-the-radar shows. All of that being said, there was a huge article in the Los Angeles Times over the weekend explaining and analyzing the ongoing dearth of physical dvd product. The article mostly blamed this on the rapid adoption of digital distribution, streaming and so on. This certainly does not bode well for those of us who do--and will always--prefer physical product. But what it does mean is that increasingly, the physical dvd format will become a niche market. We are that niche market, and need to identify ourselves as such. We need to continue to lobby the studios for physical product. Such dvds will increasingly be available only through online sites such as the Warner Archives. Forget about mass releases in B&M stores. That marketing model is phasing itself out of existence. But as a niche market, we can and should continue to support physical product purchase through the Archives, Shout, amazon, and other similar sites. My personal wish is that if all of this becomes the case, that the dvd producers will avoid burned dvds and stick to pressed dvds that supposedly are more reliable and last longer. If we are a niche market, and there's not a lot of us, and we're the ones buying those products, we must convince them to do so.

I predict that TMG will continue to delight classic TV fans with releases of many more rare shows such as Stoney Burke, Saints and Sinners, the Gallant Men, and Hennesey. Then again I could be wrong. BTW, I just pulled those shows outta my behind. I don't have any info that those shows will ever actually see the light of day.

The Gallant Men is a Warner title that they in fact once indicated would be an Archive release. I'm not singling anyone out here, but I think it would be helpful if people would first look up the matter of who produced a title or owns it before assuming its a candidate for some certain Indie label. If the title is CBS/Paramount or Warner then it's an absolute waste of time to think that it's going to ever get licensed out to another label and if it's Fox we all know how things stand regarding that studio.

Jack P said:

The Gallant Men is a Warner title that they in fact once indicated would be an Archive release. I'm not singling anyone out here, but I think it would be helpful if people would first look up the matter of who produced a title or owns it before assuming its a candidate for some certain Indie label. If the title is CBS/Paramount or Warner then it's an absolute waste of time to think that it's going to ever get licensed out to another label and if it's Fox we all know how things stand regarding that studio.

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If you find this annoying, then I apologize, but sometimes it is difficult to figure out who owns the rights to certain shows. I post to this board as a fan of old tv, and I am not up to speed on who bought what show, and what studio owns what catalog. Even after Googling or other searches, I'm left scratching my head as to who really owns the show's rights. I hope that TMG is able to get the rights to obscure shows from studios that are willing to sell the rights to, whomever they might be.

Originally Posted by vnisanian2001

I don't know if S6 of Mister Ed will be released. I fear that Fox (god I hate them so much!) could be the main culprit in the hold-up, considering that this show is distributed by MGM VIA Fox. I mean did anyone not find it the least-bit suspicious that Shout! released season 5, but not seasons 5 and 6 in one set (as season 6 was a short 13-episode season)?

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I am confident that it will be released, Mister Ed is an MGM show, FOX only distributes MGM series they have no control over them. Season 5 was a full season with 26 episodes so their is no way that they would have released the two seasons together as that is just too many episodes and would have made the set too costly. Its also possible that Fox is not involved at all and Shout! has been dealing with MGM directly on this title since previous best-of releases of the show have come from MGM Home Entertainment not Fox.

I'm away on vacation and trying to type anything on this netbook is like pulling teeth. I have some definite thoughts about next year, but they'll have to wait another couple of days till I can get back to a real computer.



Gary "good stuff by many thus far" O.

Ethan Riley said:

I believe that Paramount will soldier on with its annoying half-season sets. I think they'll definitely move on with the more popular shows like Gunsmoke, Dynasty and so on. And I believe that shows nearing completion like Melrose Place and Hawaii 5-0 will get wrapped up sooner rather than later.

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Not to sound like I'm being combative,but why will Paramount continue releasing Dynasty if it's not selling? The same for Melrose Place. I think it has only a season left before it's completed,but there have been other shows that Paramount have abandonded with only a season to go until completion.

I'm hoping that when season 2 of Covert Affairs is released on DVD, they might release season 1+2 on BluRay. I'd also like to see HBO continue to release its shows on BluRay -- especially Carnivale. And I still wonder why Journeyman never made it to BluRay (nor even to DVD!). I expect all earlier seasons of 24 to be released in HD on BluRay, as well as House.

Some good posts here. I believe we'll see the (unfortunate in my opinion) trend toward burned on demand discs continuing among the majors while the indies like Shout and Timeless will still be offering pressed discs of desired titles at reasonable prices.


CBS/P will likely finish off the original Five-0 and continue Perry Mason and Gunsmoke releases but I'm not sure what else to realistically expect from them. I've bought all the Mannix releases but with the Connors lawsuit pending I don't see that continuing. If the Untouchables hasn't finished by now, will it ever? Rawhide and Have Gun are still in limbo land.


Time LIfe, per posts here by Danny and others, got burned financially on the $6mm Man set so there may not be another complete series release on the horizon from them (hopes of their deep pockets clearing Batman diminishing by the day).


Fox will still aggrevate fans of their shows by sitting on their properties not named "The Bob Newhart Show"


Complete series sets may still come from the indies. There's still some properties out there that are viable possibilities provided there are no rights issues.

If Fox doesn't unstall "The Big Valley" to tie in with the big screen movie that should be out next year, then that's the ultimate proof of how worthless a studio they are.

Jack P said:

If Fox doesn't unstall "The Big Valley" to tie in with the big screen movie that should be out next year, then that's the ultimate proof of how worthless a studio they are.

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Fox did it to themselves. First, fans complained about the double-sided discs, and instead of addressing the complains, Fox pissed them often even more by releasing the second season in split-volume sets (only volume 1 was released), kept the double-sided discs, AND charge them the same price as the first season set. Also, it has recently been brought to my attention that Fox is lousy at remastering from original elements. When Fox was remastering the fourth season of Rhoda from the original elements, they cut off the last 10 or 15 seconds of "Five for the Money: Part 2" (the season finale), assuming that was the end of the episode, when in reality, it wasn't. I hate Fox so much. I'd never thought I'd say this, but they make Sony look angelic by comparison, and that's saying a lot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jack P

If Fox doesn't unstall "The Big Valley" to tie in with the big screen movie that should be out next year, then that's the ultimate proof of how worthless a studio they are.

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That's for sure. BV is a big favorite of mine. Had to resort to other means for that one.


Quote:

Originally Posted by vnisanian2001 [url=/t/315069/2012-trends-guestimates-predictions#post_3855337]

Fox did it to themselves. First, fans complained about the double-sided discs, and instead of addressing the complains, Fox pissed them often even more by releasing the second season in split-volume sets (only volume 1 was released), kept the double-sided discs, AND charge them the same price as the first season set.
Also, it has recently been brought to my attention that Fox is lousy at remastering from original elements. When Fox was remastering the fourth season of Rhoda from the original elements, they cut off the last 10 or 15 seconds of "Five for the Money: Part 2" (the season finale), assuming that was the end of the episode, when in reality, it wasn't.
I hate Fox so much. I'd never thought I'd say this, but they make Sony look angelic by comparison, and that's saying a lot.

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"Ain't it the truth". Sony's on a pedestal compared to them.


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Originally Posted by Steve...O [url=/t/315069/2012-trends-guestimates-predictions#post_3855328]
Some good posts here. I believe we'll see the (unfortunate in my opinion) trend toward burned on demand discs continuing among the majors while the indies like Shout and Timeless will still be offering pressed discs of desired titles at reasonable prices.


CBS/P will likely finish off the original Five-0 and continue Perry Mason and Gunsmoke releases but I'm not sure what else to realistically expect from them. I've bought all the Mannix releases but with the Connors lawsuit pending I don't see that continuing. If the Untouchables hasn't finished by now, will it ever? Rawhide and Have Gun are still in limbo land.


Time LIfe, per posts here by Danny and others, got burned financially on the $6mm Man set so there may not be another complete series release on the horizon from them (hopes of their deep pockets clearing Batman diminishing by the day).


Fox will still aggrevate fans of their shows by sitting on their properties not named "The Bob Newhart Show"


Complete series sets may still come from the indies. There's still some properties out there that are viable possibilities provided there are no rights issues.

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I agree about the MOD opinion, but maybe for different reasons. They're not releasing much that I'm interested in buying, not at the everyday prices at WBA. Correct me if this isn't accurate: WBA's coupons and sales don't include TV/DVD sets? I might have missed that but I've looked occasionally during some of their sales and I haven't seen their sales to include TV sets, or not the 1 or 2 that I'm somewhat interested in at some point.


I'd probably see it otherwise if WBA had released my grail show but that hasn't happened for me. For the guys on this forum that have seen that, I'm glad for them but I don't share their enthusiasm for the MOD program as yet and will offer an aternate pov on occasion about it. I see their reasons for WBA kudos but I can't agree with various comparisons to Shout, pricepoint pov's, or, their pov but not mine, long delays from Shout for a particular show.


That's a bummer about the 6M$M info. I'd have bet Steve A's right arm that T.L. would be in the chips with that release considering the years of buzz about the legal issue holdups.

I sure liked Shout's complete LITB release. I hope we'll see more series' released like that one.