Could The Defenders Be Released on DVD? (1 Viewer)

[jim_falconer]

Nice of Steven to write you back Sean. I will buy another set of season 1 to help with the cause. Just need to think of who I can give it to. I do have a friend who use to be a public defender. Bet he'd love the show!

 

[jperez]

Well, going only by the sales figures on Amazon, The Defenders don't seem to be doing that bad.

For example, season 2 of Lou Grant -with season 3 on the way-, has these numbers:

#3,422 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

• #1101 in Movies & TV > DVD > Drama

And The Defenders:

2,399 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

• #748 in Movies & TV > DVD > Drama

For what it's worth, those numbers on Amazon were from August 8th. Today, they are these:


Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,110 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

• #279 in Movies & TV > DVD > Drama

 

[Neil Brock]

The show is one third of the way in sales numbers for there to be a continuation of the series.

 

[FanCollector]

I asked him what kind of numbers are needed to pull the trigger on season two and it looks like we're almost halfway there.

The show is one third of the way in sales numbers for there to be a continuation of the series.

We're going backwards! (I feel like Ken Preston would be very outraged over the whole thing and Larry would explain that the system of DVD sales we have contains the wisdom of many generations and we need to work within it to get what's right.)

 

[Clay Forrester]

We're going backwards! (I feel like Ken Preston would be very outraged over the whole thing and Larry would explain that the system of DVD sales we have contains the wisdom of many generations and we need to work within it to get what's right.)

I'll see if I can find out the numbers. I'd heard there was going to be an LA Times piece but was hesitant to say anything, since the Wall Street Journal piece hasn't happened yet (at least, that I know of). Hoping it does.

My friend (another DEFENDERS fan) who knows Glenn Erickson/DVD Savant, sent him another query about it--hoping he reviews it. Onward!

 

[Clay Forrester]

Okay, my bad, Sean. The loud groan you hear is me letting out a loud groan. Yes, we're about a third of the way. My misinterpretation of the numbers and the nut.

Well, I'm still plugging away. Maybe harder now. This time it's personal... We will get those other seasons.

 

[Darby67]

Okay, my bad, Sean. The loud groan you hear is me letting out a loud groan. Yes, we're about a third of the way. My misinterpretation of the numbers and the nut.

Well, I'm still plugging away. Maybe harder now. This time it's personal... We will get those other seasons.

Not a problem, Larry. So we are third of the way there after having been released for almost 2 months now; this is still doable. Time to redouble our efforts. Anyone with a Facebook or Twitter account should definitely share Steve Battaglio's LA Times article. Hopefully the Wall Street Journal article will materialize and some more reviews of the set will pop up.

My last check on Amazon shows 32 reviews now and the following rank:

• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #832 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
  • #203 in Movies & TV > DVD > Drama

We have not yet begun to fight!

 

[Ian K McLachlan]

Disappointing to discover that we have only had one third of the sales so far that we need. Perhaps Shout might consider releasing season 2 in two volumes? Or perhaps if a British or an Australia company helped with the music costs and releases in these countries it might help... Obviously it would be better if there were more sales. I have now reached the episode The Last Six Months only to once again be amazed by the high standard of the episode. The beginning did not go the way I thought it would. However what I find strange about that episode is that the DA is played once more by J.D. Cannon but in this episode he has a different name to the one he had in The Attack/The Locked Room. He has now become Al Ashley. Does anyone know why the name was changed. I think that he is great as a DA but it is a shame that the continuity is not the same - but there may be a very good reason for this. I would be interested to know what it was. Many thanks.

 

[Stephen Bowie]

They just didn't pay attention to continuity at that level because they couldn't imagine anybody cared. All this work was done on manual typewriters and mimeograph machines. Nobody had the time or inclination to comb through a two month-old script to dig out a character name that might've been mentioned once in 60 pages. This is true of most shows from this period that used recurring characters. In three years no one bothered to give Sulu or Uhura a first name!

 

[Ian K McLachlan]

O.K. Stephen I accept that but at least Sulu and Uhura did not change their surnames. I thought that the Defenders' scripts were in the main rewritten quite a few times and I would have thought that J.D. Cannon would have commented on the fact that his name had changed from what it had been in previous episodes. I am curious to know if as you say it was a lack of continuity or if it was for other reasons. Of course it could have been that originally the role in The Last Six Months was written as a new character and because of his success as the DA they brought J.D. Cannon back. After having so much enjoyed this series I really would like to read a book about its making. From someone only a few months ago who had only very fleeting memories of the series I have become someone who is a huge fan of it and like all the TV programmes I am a fan of , I want to read (if possible) a book about how it came to be made and the decisions that were taken about its development as it unfolded. Like so many other people on this forum I want as many people as possible to know what a great, great series this was. Many old programmes have been released on DVD over the years but this one seems to have got lots of people talking about it. It is certainly not just another release.

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

Whoever the reviewer from the New York Times is, that person should be reviewing the series. The LAT piece was good.

 

[JamesSmith]

Did the USA Today do a story on the Defenders coming out on DVD? If not perhaps someone could write to them about it.

James

 

[Darby67]

James:

As per your suggestion, I sent a message to USA TODAY requesting a review of the set via the Contact Us page at http://marketing.usatoday.com/contact

 

[Darby67]

Whoever the reviewer from the New York Times is, that person should be reviewing the series. The LAT piece was good.

Susan:

I had previously emailed the New York Times at their general arts email address at [email protected] but I'm going to try to email Mike Hale, their television critic. His twitter account is https://twitter.com/mikehalenyt
I have emailed Mike at [email protected]

Here are the Twitter accounts for some other television critics at major media outlets:

James Poniewozik at the New York Times: https://twitter.com/poniewozik?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author
I have emailed James at [email protected]

Emily Nussbaum at The New Yorker: https://twitter.com/emilynussbaum
Emily Nussbaum's email address: [email protected]

Willa Paskin at Slate: https://twitter.com/willapaskin

Linda Holmes at NPR: https://twitter.com/nprmonkeysee
I have tried contacting Linda via the contact form for the Monkey See Blog at http://help.npr.org/customer/portal/emails/new?i=1&s=Monkey See

Maureen Ryan at Variety: https://twitter.com/moryan?lang=en

I don't have a Twitter account so hopefully some of you can reach out to them.

 

[JamesSmith]

James:

As per your suggestion, I sent a message to USA TODAY requesting a review of the set via the Contact Us page at http://marketing.usatoday.com/contact

While I haven't seen the Defenders, it did occur to me that the USA Today has done news releases on big television shows on DVD. And while I'm not exactly a fan of the Defenders, it does have a historical significance that many television and pop culture fans might want to be aware of.

James

 

[Flashgear]

I've now watched disc 6 of The Defenders and continue to find myself mostly in agreement with all of you who have posted reviews and observations concerning the episodes thus far...I continue to savor the experience of discovering this fine and entertaining series...pretty much for the first time, as I was far too young the first time around...

"The Locked Room"...for me, another rare low point...I guess you really need to buy into this one as a serio-comedic take on the juror's perceptions as molded by their particular prejudices...intentionally hilarious at times, and subconsciously more often...Viveca Lindfors gets to model several Haute Couture ensembles, prominent credits to the furs and gowns vendors...Zachary Scott hardly seems worth fighting over as depicted here between Lindfors and Inga Swenson...whose demise is dispensed with in a casual disregard as the courtroom empties...much overacting, both by design and ineptitude...the best thing by far is Albert Paulson as a Greenwich Village "Artist"...the Bohemian eccentric being very much against his usual typecasting...he's very enjoyable, with many sub currents left to the imagination...the same day this first aired, the U.S. and Soviet Union exchanged captured spies... Colonel Rudolf Abel and captured U-2 pilot Francis Gary Powers, at the Gleineke bridge in Berlin...as recreated in the recent Tom Hanks/Stephen Spielberg movie Bridge of Spies...

"The Empty Chute"...a very good episode...Ken gets to ride in the front seat of Dad's Chrysler New Yorker Town and Country station wagon...what happened to the Plymouth Valiant?...this is a classy and expensive ride...is Lawrence hoping for Ken to deliver on grand children? ha. ha...the Military Court Martial setting was used occasionally on Perry Mason as a change of pace...interesting, with it's different traditions and points of procedure...Chester Morris (Boston Blackie) is great here...many familiar faces, Michael Strong, Tim O'Connor, Jerry Stiller, Richard Mulligan...I really like Jack Smight as a director...feature films like Harper, No Way to Treat a Lady, Illustrated Man etc...the TV movie Remembrance of Love with Kirk Douglas...the landmark Route 66 episode "Goodnight Sweet Blues" , with Ethel Waters, Coleman Hawkins and nearly an all black cast...Waters won the first ever Emmy award for a black actress in 1962...I recently watched an Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "What Really Happened?", also directed by Jack Smight and featuring the same Michael Strong and Tim O'Connor in a court room setting...Jack Smight also directed many classic episodes of Twilight Zone, Dr. Kildare, Hitchcock Presents etc...just a great body of work from a favorite director...three days after this episode first aired, John Glenn became the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth...

"The Crusader"...good episode for Robert Reed as he carries the freight here...good to see old hand Roland Winters, Warren Stevens and a young Dana Elcar...well played and effective story... directed by Daniel Petrie, who gave us the landmark TV movie My Name is Bill W. with James Garner and James Woods...

"The Hickory Indian"...absolutely a terrific episode, one of the best so far...great cast and story...dynamic interplay between E.G. Marshall and Robert Reed, the genuine and brilliantly played relationship that is the hallmark and dramatic core of this show...Larry Gates is brilliant also, with several superb scenes with Marshall and Reed...George Voskovec is very good also...future director Leo Penn gets to learn from a master like Stuart Rosenberg, who gave us Cool Hand Luke, WUSA, Drowning Pool, etc...plot line features another reference to the Governor's State Senate Racketeering Commission, first seen in the excellent "The Point Shaver"...the week this first aired, an American Airlines 707 jetliner crashed in Jamaica Bay NY killing 95 people...and in more pleasant news, Basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a single game...

I am enjoying The Defenders tremendously...and like others have already mentioned, I both want to watch every episode post haste...but fear seeing the last of season one...it's that great of a show...to be savored as the landmark TV milestone it is...

 

[jperez]

The same review in the Los Angeles Times, repeated on a Canadian media... http://www.therecord.com/whatson-st...den-age-the-defenders-finally-arrives-on-dvd/

 

[Darby67]

The same review in the Los Angeles Times, repeated on a Canadian media... http://www.therecord.com/whatson-st...den-age-the-defenders-finally-arrives-on-dvd/

Terrific; thanks for posting the link, Jorge.

 

[Darby67]

I did get the following reply back from Mike Hale at the New York Times:

"Thanks for the note. Do you have a personal connection to the show or the DVD release?

While I do an annual DVD roundup for our holiday gift guide, which runs in November, the person most centrally involved in reviewing DVDs for the NYT is Jim Hoberman, a freelancer who has a weekly column. I'd suggest contacting him. Good luck."

While I am trying to track down an email address for Jim Hoberman, I did send him a message via his website located at http://j-hoberman.com/

 

[Buck Benny]

Oh, crud I'm so stupid! I was thinking, "How can I help out?" I run an Old Time Radio Podcast that get's 200,000 downloads a month. Why don't I just review the thing and post a direct link to the DVD's on Amazon? A lot of my listeners are into Old TV series as well.