2nd Annual TV DVD Confrence Next Week on the 19th (1 Viewer)

[Jim Beaver]

I don't know about the rest of you but i'm really excited about this. For one I think the idea is great and i'm just itching to find out kinds of things are being talked about. This year was so incredible with the amount of shows that came out and wondering what 2005 will bring to DVDs.

I'm hoping that maybe some of these might be addressed.

I hope Casey-Werner is just gearing up because they have a whole library of shows to be opened out of the safe and brought to dvd

I hope Fox continues to release their short lived shows.

Wonder what Disney's plans for more of their shows in Season Sets (DuckTales, Darkwing, Chip N Dale, TailSpin) and if they finally plan on releasing X-Men and Spidey which is long over due. I'm hoping Batman heled with that.

If Nick/Paramount plans on releasing more of Nick's old shows ?

And also all the shows that haven't been released yet but i'll save that for anoather wish thread.

 

[David*P]

The only thing I'm hoping to see come out of this conference is information about the upcoming Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie DVDS....specifically I want to know if the original sponsor openings are going to be used and if they black and white episodes will be colorized and if there are any extras. And hopefully some cover art....

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Ah yes, the TV on DVD conference.

A lot of what I learned from Gord and Randy's posts about last year's event, I used in discussions about all manner of issues. I think it gave a lot of us a better understanding of how this works.

I don't expect there to be a lot of announcements out of this year's event, I could be wrong but other than Paramount last year how many studios really announced anything?

Issues I hope are discussed don't have hardly anything to do with what will/won't be released. I don't know how likely any of these are to be discussed, but this is more of a wishlist.

The topic of using sindication episodes is one that I hope is addressed.
Personally, and I speak only for myself, I would appreciate something on the packaging letting me know what I'm getting. I'd have less of a problem buying sets that contained sindicated episodes, if I knew before I opened the box that's what I had purchaset. I'd rather know about it before hand than have to watch an episode before the discovery was made. In that case, I don't care for surprises. The studios wouldn't even have to use the word "cut" or "edited" just use the phrase "sindicated episodes" and those of us that know the difference will just know what that means, and those that don't know the difference probably won't care.
That doesn't mean that I'd be thrilled that sindicated episodes are what is found on a DVD set, just appreciative of the fact that I was warned before hand.

Other topics...

The strategy of splitting up season sets is one I hope gets some discussion if for no other reason than I think fans are over reacting...assuming that because it has happened for one show or a couple shows that it is now the rule not the acception.

The benefits of establishing some sort of a pattern for release, E.G. every six months as opposed to the more random 5 months between season 1 and 2, 7 months between season 2 and 3, 9 months between 3 and 4, and 4 months between 4 and 5.
I think as far as consumer confidence goes, a pattern can help inspire consumer confidence. Using M*A*S*H, given what has happened with previous releases, I can probably expect season 8 in the summer of 2005. Whereas, I haven't the foggiest idea when or if the Jeffersons third season will be released.

I also suspect that music clearance will come up again...

I also hope that the topic of how to release older shows on to DVD in a quality way and yet still profitable is at least broached.

I also wonder if any studio has ever even considered starting a release with something other than the first season? Perhaps starting with a stronger season quality wise, that might just appeal to more people and then going back. I realize that this could cause some confusion among purchasers who buy season 2 and wonder where season 1 is, but I always here fans talk about how most first seasons are not the shows at their peak that's why I wonder about it. For me personally, I don't mind starting with season 1, even if I like other seasons better.

I'd also like to see in the cases of shows that have short first seasons to combine the first couple of seasons. Or if the show only ran for 2 years, like Jeff Foxworthy, how about just releasing the whole thing all at once in one package?

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

I agree that a DVD set containing edited episodes should be required to be labeled. I also think that they SHOULD have to use the words "edited" or "cut". Simply saying they are "syndicated episodes" would be confusing. Don't forget that many series (such as Star Trek: The Next Generation) had their original runs in syndication, so "syndicated" does not always equal "edited".
Simply saying "syndicated episodes" would be the equivalent of when studios use "full screen" or "full frame" instead of "pan-and-scanned".
Unfortunately, I don't think most studios will actually label edited episodes unless their is a class action lawsuit that scares them into doing so.
(Of course, what I would prefer is for studios to just always release the unedited versions!)

I also had an idea for situations when studios absolutely can't get the rights to a song. If they can't use a certain song and have to replace it, they should also include an audio track that just has NO music in that spot. Then you could get a CD of that song and play it during the scene where the song used to be.

 

[Daniel Kikin]

It would be great if Buena Vista announced The Amazing Race on DVD at the conference, it would be perfect timing with TAR6 premiering soon.

 

[Gord Lacey]

Labeling packaging for edited episodes: I think most of the time one or two edited episodes on a set is a mistake, and the company thinks they are releasing an unedited version. Someone grabbed the wrong master, or it was labeled incorrectly, and the company didn't realize they had an edited episode on the set.

Gord