Originally Posted by Robert13
I used to buy quite a few Shout dvds but lately, to be honest, they haven't released much of anything. It's been a really slow year for them. Chaulk it up to a sign of the times or whatever... but I was hoping for more "Facts Of Life", "Marcus Welby" and their new acquisition of "Hazel" which seems to have also fallen by the wayside. Is classic tv on dvd a thing of the past?
I'm impressed so far with the progress on Dennis the Menace and Webster, and grateful for their completion of All in the Family.
I'm still waiting for more Facts of Life, Designing Women (at least Delta Burke's last season), and Mr. Belvedere (the Fox titles seem to be in limbo). But their resources are not infinite. Music rights do play a part, yet they're better than just about every studio with that; I wish they had made their CBS/Paramount deal five years ago. In the Police Story thread, they said Maude is a music rights nightmare which they won't touch.
The Shout Select program at least gives shows a chance to be completed.
Several things to keep in mind (and feel free to correct me if I'm wrong):
—Shout! may not have the resources to do big ad campaigns.
—The remaining big box stores are refusing to carry old movies and TV shows anymore unless they're Star Wars or Disney. I go to Best Buy about 5% as much as I used to. My main dealing with them now is paying off the lenses for my DSLR camera.
—The death of Tower Records had a huge effect on sales.
—I recently read an article saying to the effect of "downloading killed the TV show box set".
—You can't eat, live in, or wear a DVD, therefore it is a luxury, and luxuries are the first to go in a recession.