Airline season 1 on Approach!!!!!!! (1 Viewer)

[Joe*R]

Just curious as to what people think of this release. I caught a few episodes when it was on and I think what I like about it is the realness. I fly SWA alot and am a collector of airline magazines so this series immediately caught my eye as a great show. Any thoughts?

 

[Joshua Lane]

I've never seen the show, but I'm seriously considering picking it up as a blind buy. I like documentary-style shows and this seems right up my alley.

Besides that, I'm curious to see what sort of weird things some of these passengers do.

 

[LanieParker]

I enjoy this show. I don't watch it regularly, but I catch it every now and again.

Sometimes it just amazes what passengers try to get away with. I also have a lot more respect for the jobs these people who work for airlines do. I hate dealing with people and frankly I could never do what they do on a daily basis.

I am not sure it is a dvd I would purchase though.

 

[David Von Pein]

This show ("Airline") is very similar to the BBC-TV program, "Airport", which I like very much.

Placing a camera around an airport seems to me just perfect for a "Reality"-type TV show.

Nice artwork, too (IMO), for the upcoming DVD set (18 eps. on 2 Discs)...........

http://tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=2702

 

[David Von Pein]

The upcoming "AIRLINE" DVD collection from A&E, coupled with a few Digital Disc programs
from JUST PLANES VIDEOS, INC., should yield a fine overview of airport/airline proceedings,
both on the ground and in the air.

http://www.worldairroutes.com/Polar.html

 

[David Williams]

It's supposed to be the American version of the original British series by the same name following the adventures of the people who work for EasyJet at Luton Airport. I tried watching 'Airport' but didn't find it as easy to get into as 'Airline UK'.

The American show is pretty good, although sometimes I root for the passengers because of something that's SWA's fault (like in controversial practices such as buying two seats for the overweight, etc). Most of the time, though, the customer is never right!

99% of problems on Airline fall into 3 categories:

a) Drunks
b) People who smell too bad to fly
c) People who don't understand the word 'standby'

 

[Bill>Moore]

I watched the show a couple of times, but since I work for a major airline, it was too much like being at work. The show was amusing enough at times, but I can't imagine wanting to watch any of the eps more than once.

 

[Adam*M]

TVshowsonDVD.com says that this release will be missing the theme song. What kind of boneheads don't get proper licensing for the only song used for the entire series?

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=3001

 

[Joshua Lane]

The ones who were trying to save money on production costs. Getting the song for TV broadcasts was probably all they could afford at the time. Any subsequent rights were (obviously) just too expensive.

 

[Adam*M]

All they could afford? We're talking about a show that doesn't have to pay any actors, build any sets, or do any special effects. What does it cost to make an episode of this show? How much do BetaCam tapes cost these days?

I'm sick of these cheapskate DVD releases, and I won't be buying any of them.

 

[Joshua Lane]

It's not really as simple as you think it is. Shows are given a certain sized budget and just because one show doesn't have a lot of overhead (actors, sets, etc), it doesn't mean they have all this extra money to do with as they please. They get enough to make the show... and that's it. If the studio doesn't approve a larg enough budget to include home video licensing (for the song), then they have to negotiate that later. Or perhaps the owners of the song would ONLY give them the license for TV airings... knowing that they could then charge even more for the DVD release.

And sometimes, the artist/record label/etc want too much money for the song. So much, sometimes, that it makes the resultant DVD release actually lose money instead of make money. And then what's the point?

Look, I don't know whether it's the studio being cheap or the record label being greedy. The thing is, you don't know either... so saying it's the studio's fault is a bit presumptious.

 

[David Lambert]

Adam, Joshua's last post is dead-on. I think what's also being overlooked here is that A&E isn't the studio that produced the show for television or anything.

If I recall right, it's Granada that produced that show in the UK, following the EasyJet airline, and they had their "Granada USA" division produce the show for the USA to follow Southwest. A&E airs the show, but isn't responsible for production. Just like The WB (Warner) and UPN (Paramount) aired Buffy The Vampire Slayer, even though Fox produced and owned it.

So when A&E's Home Video division got the call to produce the DVDs, they couldn't help it if Granada hadn't licensed the song rights for DVD, but instead for broadcast-only. I take it (this is my assumption only, giving everyone on each side the benefit of the doubt), with the last-minute delay and song removal, that A&E was negotiating to get the song, thought they had it no problem, announced the release, and then things broke down after that and couldn't be resolved for whatever reason.

I haven't seen the show myself; what I know about it is due to my research for writing up the news posts about it. But I wonder just how important the song is to the show? As you say, it's one song. And I assume only heard during the opening and closing credits, like "For The Love Of Money" on The Apprentice. That one also had a theme song change for the DVD, and while I hate the new song compare to hearing "Money Money Money Money....MONEY!", it honestly didn't lessen my enjoyment of the DVDs. I suspect Airline will be the same.