DVD Frustration (1 Viewer)

Hi All,

Few things frustrate me more than to know that an awesome TV series is sitting on a shelf gathering dust while lesser quality shows (IMHO) are being released to DVD. Such is the case with Ben Casey.
I respect each individual's tastes in TV shows, but...That 70's Show getting released before Ben Casey...really ?? It can't be a case of B/W being less popular than color as many B/W shows have been released and have done quite well.
Ben Casey had 13 Emmy nominations and 2 Emmy wins and countless well known stars performed on this series, so what gives ?
Who presently owns the Ben Casey series and more importantly, what the hell is wrong with them ??

John

Owned by cbs. They have said there are numerous music clearance issues plus new transfers would need to be done.

What music clearances would be needed ? Soundtrack issues ?
Also, I last saw this show on CBN in the 80's and back then, although it wasn't of Blu ray quality, the transfers didn't look bad.

Sky King said:

Also, I last saw this show on CBN in the 80's and back then, although it wasn't of Blu ray quality, the transfers didn't look bad.

Click to expand...

CBS would be crucified if they considered putting out those horrid Worldvision time-sped 1" transfers from the 80's, so new transfers are the only solution that would meet CBS's current level of quality.

Sky King said:

Hi All,

Few things frustrate me more than to know that an awesome TV series is sitting on a shelf gathering dust while lesser quality shows (IMHO) are being released to DVD. Such is the case with Ben Casey.
I respect each individual's tastes in TV shows, but...That 70's Show getting released before Ben Casey...really ?? It can't be a case of B/W being less popular than color as many B/W shows have been released and have done quite well.
Ben Casey had 13 Emmy nominations and 2 Emmy wins and countless well known stars performed on this series, so what gives ?
Who presently owns the Ben Casey series and more importantly, what the hell is wrong with them ??

John

Click to expand...

There's nothing wrong. They are wise.

Think about this. If you stood in the DVD/Blu section of any major store (BB, WM. Target etc) and asked all shoppers if they wanted to see Ben Casey on DVD, my guess would be that 99.999999% of those asked would stare at you with the deer in headlights look of "WTF are you talking about?" Ask the same crowd if they would like to watch "That 70's Show" I'd bet at least 90%++ would know that show, and many would like to re-watch that show. Hence that's where the money is.

BC is just WAY too obscure and out of date in todays world and like I said, odds are 99.99999% of folks these days probably have no CLUE who or what that show is. Would be just the oppposite with the 70's show.

We're in a different time folks and just because you enjoy your old school time capsule shows, that doesn't alwasy mean the rest of the world is scrambling to sell or buy it.

Alf S said:

There's nothing wrong. They are wise.

Think about this. If you stood in the DVD/Blu section of any major store (BB, WM. Target etc) and asked all shoppers if they wanted to see Ben Casey on DVD, my guess would be that 99.999999% of those asked would stare at you with the deer in headlights look of "WTF are you talking about?" Ask the same crowd if they would like to watch "That 70's Show" I'd bet at least 90%++ would know that show, and many would like to re-watch that show. Hence that's where the money is.

BC is just WAY too obscure and out of date in todays world and like I said, odds are 99.99999% of folks these days probably have no CLUE who or what that show is. Would be just the oppposite with the 70's show.

We're in a different time folks and just because you enjoy your old school time capsule shows, that doesn't alwasy mean the rest of the world is scrambling to sell or buy it.

Click to expand...

I feel the same way about the Defenders. An award-winning but out-of-date program that I would love to see. Since there is no chance this will be released, I don't think about it much.

Alf S said:

There's nothing wrong. They are wise.

Think about this. If you stood in the DVD/Blu section of any major store (BB, WM. Target etc) and asked all shoppers if they wanted to see Ben Casey on DVD, my guess would be that 99.999999% of those asked would stare at you with the deer in headlights look of "WTF are you talking about?" Ask the same crowd if they would like to watch "That 70's Show" I'd bet at least 90%++ would know that show, and many would like to re-watch that show. Hence that's where the money is.

BC is just WAY too obscure and out of date in todays world and like I said, odds are 99.99999% of folks these days probably have no CLUE who or what that show is. Would be just the oppposite with the 70's show.

We're in a different time folks and just because you enjoy your old school time capsule shows, that doesn't alwasy mean the rest of the world is scrambling to sell or buy it.

Click to expand...

I beg to differ...It depends who you ask.
If you asked most baby boomers (the ones with the most money to spend) they would choose Ben Casey.
Check out DVD wish lists on other sites. Ben Casey is right up there.
That 70's Show is more of a show for the under 30 crowd.

I'm still of the opinion that if you put a bunch of Ben Casey DVD's on any DVD shelf at BB, WM, target or any other local seller shop, they would sit and collect dust, the store would be lucky if they sold one disc a year. The interest just isn't there.

Go ask a bunch of your friends, co-workers, work acquaintances how excited they would be to finally have BC on DVD. You would be met with blank stares all around IMO.

Take a look at Amazon. BC DVD Vol 1 and 2 ranks 212,588 in their DVD selling list. Now look at That 70's Show ranking for the COMPLETE Series...it's at a ranking around 4,000. So yeah, BC is blazing a trail for sure...not.

There are my share of titles that frustrate me over their lack of availability on DVD, but mostly in the case of stalled titles that IMO should not be stalled (Burke's Law, Ironside, Love Boat, Fantasy Island). That said, there is little point spending more of one's life as a TV buff bitching about what isn't available because when I tally up what I do have, it's still a treasure of riches and enough to satisfy my watching habit (other than sports, news and weather I NEVER watch anything live on TV any longer). We need to take more of a glass half-full approach with this hobby IMO.

Alf S said:

I'm still of the opinion that if you put a bunch of Ben Casey DVD's on any DVD shelf at BB, WM, target or any other local seller shop, they would sit and collect dust, the store would be lucky if they sold one disc a year. The interest just isn't there.

Go ask a bunch of your friends, co-workers, work acquaintances how excited they would be to finally have BC on DVD. You would be met with blank stares all around IMO.

Take a look at Amazon. BC DVD Vol 1 and 2 ranks 212,588 in their DVD selling list. Now look at That 70's Show ranking for the COMPLETE Series...it's at a ranking around 4,000. So yeah, BC is blazing a trail for sure...not.

Click to expand...

Very poor comparison Alfie.
The Ben Casey DVDs for sale on Amazon are bootlegs and most people are smart enough to spot a poor product. The reviews for the quality of these DVDs haven't been stellar either, leading to low purchases and a poor ranking.
Given a proper restoration, decent packaging and promotion, I'm sure old Ben would give That 70's Show a run for its money.

Jack,

Its okay to bitch once in a while...it clears the conscience.
Your right however, there's more good DVDs out there than bad.
Its just when I see crappy shows, again IMHO, getting releases over more deserving shows, it frustrates me.

John

I know what you mean, John, I think I had that feeling most back in 2007-08 at a time when Universal infamously had their eleven classic titles that were "one and done" for so long yet they were also putting out every recent short-lived piece of junk they could. As time has gone by and the volume level of classic titles has increased (to the point where "McCloud" is the only one of that group of eleven that was never restarted in R1) it makes it easier to have a sense of perspective. Case in point is how in 08 I thought I'd never see "The FBI" on DVD because Warner's contribution to classic DVD then consisted of "Gilligan's Island", "F-Troop", "Wonder Woman" and one season of "Cheyenne". Now last week, I finally got that title completed with all nine seasons. And in the next couple months with "Big Valley" and "Batman" to be finished at long last too along with "Hart To Hart" restarted, it's looking better and better overall from my perspective.Probably the best cure for the conscience is to find the episode of the show you like most that's your favorite of that series and give it a new play.

Sky King said:

Its just when I see crappy shows, again IMHO, getting releases over more deserving shows, it frustrates me.

Click to expand...

Especially seeing really silly stuff like "Under The Dome" being released on bluray.

I share your frustration. I see shows that are so much better written and acted, shows that don't rely on potty humor or sexual innuendo to be entertaining, that can't even get a crack on DVD, or if they do, it's only a few seasons out of many. I wound up being banned from CBS's Facebook when I went on a rant about Californication being released, but nothing on their stalled classics. A friend of mine who is a huge fan of Petticoat Junction wound up being banned as well for his constant pointing out of how bad CBS's classic shows were represented on DVD.

I still believe there's a hunger for the classic television shows. I have to believe if a company came along to cater to those of us who like stuff from the 50's-70's, they would do well. They might not be overnight millionaires, but there's market for classic TV in my mind. How many classic TV networks have sprang up in the wake of TV Bland and Nick-at-Nite no longer representing the classic market? We have ME-TV, Antenna TV, Cozi, and other niche networks being talked about. I've noticed some station on DirecTV picked up Starsky and Hutch recently. Netflix has a whole host of classic programming to choose from.

No, classic TV is not dead, but it's simply not being given the representation it needs or deserves. You have 30 something executives who've never heard of Ben Casey or The Defenders, and they have no clue what's going on. I sincerely hope someone does something before these classic shows go the way of The Alamo, or worse yet, dumped like DuMont's programming.

Sky King said:

Very poor comparison Alfie.
The Ben Casey DVDs for sale on Amazon are bootlegs and most people are smart enough to spot a poor product. The reviews for the quality of these DVDs haven't been stellar either, leading to low purchases and a poor ranking.
Given a proper restoration, decent packaging and promotion, I'm sure old Ben would give That 70's Show a run for its money.

Click to expand...

Not in a million years....

I like that people are using a show that ended almost a decade ago as an example of a popular modern show.

TravisR said:

I like that people are using a show that ended almost a decade ago as an example of a popular modern show.

Click to expand...

True, but that 70's show would still out sell Ben Casey (Never heard of it).

I vaguely remember Ben Casey as it was on when I was a kid. While I would be curious to see it, I wouldn't buy the DVD. I do remember the show was spoofed many times by different shows (The Flintstones, for one).

However, I understand the frustration because there are other shows I want that stalled or never were released. My number one want is to finish the release of Dream On. Really pissed me off it was cut short. Others are The Magician and the Green Hornet. All you can say is 'Oh well'.

Warner has had success with Dr. Kildare thru the Warner Archive. Since that aired during the same years as Ben Casey it would seem people buying Kildare would also be interested in Ben Casey or would at the very least be familiar with the show. Otherwise why would Warner have bothered with Kildare?

Warner has had success with Dr. Kildare thru the Warner Archive. Since that aired during the same years as Ben Casey it would seem people buying Kildare would also be interested in Ben Casey or would at the very least be familiar with the show. Otherwise why would Warner have bothered with Kildare?

Click to expand...

Well give Warner credit for finding an intelligent compromise between full-fledged releases which require a large sales number and niche properties which will only sell in the thousands. Unfortunately, the other major studios (CBS, Fox, Sony, Universal & MGM) are not interested or not equiped for such an endeavor. We can all name 50-100 shows from the above studios which we would love to see put out in the same fashion as Warner Archive is doing with their properties. Hell, there's quite a number of Warner shows I'm still hoping to see one day. But until such time as the other studios can figure it out in the same fashion that Warner has, there's little chance of obscure 40 and 50 year old shows seeing the light of day.