Dick Van Dyke On DVD.....Waiting Patiently (1 Viewer)

[Randy A Salas]

Nice work, Dave.

Mary Tyler Moore is conspicuously absent from the commentary participants listed. I hope that changes. It would be nice to hear her on the commentary tracks. Then again, she didn't participate in the commentaries on the first-season DVD set of her own show, so it seems unlikely.

 

[David Von Pein]

Thanks, David L., for your last post (and valuable info)!
Sounds great...but I'm still leery about buying them just one at a time when www.dvdondvd.com is still supposedly going to make all 5 seasons available in one fell swoop (which, I would assume, will save us some $$$, even without having to re-decorate our living rooms with foot-resting articles ).
I didn't really expect this on the Van Dyke discs, but it's nice there will be some included .......
>> "Selected episodes in each box will also include exclusive audio commentaries by Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke, Rose Marie, Ann Morgan Guilbert, Larry Mathews and possibly others."

 

[David Lambert]

[rant]DELAY![/rant]
Bad news: October 21st is the new street date
Good news: Season 2 will be out the same day!

 

[Kajs]

They also tell us:

Each of the remaining three seasons are planned to be released separately in boxed sets, in order, over the course of 2004.

 

[Bill Burns]

October clears up September for a number of big purchases, so I'm not dismayed by the delay (just so long as there isn't another). Two seasons on the same day, replete with commentaries, should keep us busy into the new year ... just in time for Season Three.

 

[David Von Pein]

I see where Amazon & DVD Empire have hiked the price by $8. It still says Season 1 only will be this very high price of $52-$55.
But I'd be willing to wager that this increase means that BOTH Seasons 1 and 2 will be offered for this price of $50+. Otherwise, this set is going to suffer the same fate as the MTM set, because a $50 price tag per season is not going to = tons of sales!
Amazon Season 1
DVD Empire Season 1

 

[David Von Pein]

I see from the Season Two box that we'll be getting (if I read the microscopic printing accurately) a "Making of 'It May Look Like A Walnut' Behind-the-Scenes Featurette".
I love that packaging! Right down to the vent holes on the back of the simulated 1960s television set! Very nice!
From the looks of it, Mary Tyler Moore can soon boast of being part of the cast of the two best TV DVD products on the market -- her own show's Season 1 release and what looks to be its equal, these upcoming Van Dyke Show sets! Big

 

[David Lambert]

I'm wondering, though, why the price of Season 1 alone (evidently alone anyhow) has now shot up by about $8 on both Amazon and DVD Empire. Did Image raise the MSRP just yesterday?? :frowning:
I'm now wondering if this $8 hike in price just might be the re-pricing for a set that includes BOTH Seasons 1 and 2 (although neither website reflects this multi-season speculation). It would still average out to about $26-$28 per Van Dyke season, which sounds about right to me (and quite within reason). I'm curious as to what our resident HTF TV DVD expert, David L., makes of this sudden price increase. ??

You want *MY* opinion? Okay :
1) I'm 100% positive in my own mind - with no proof whatsoever, mind you - that Season 1 and Season 2 will be sold SEPARATELY.
2) The reason for the price hike is, I'm sure, because they realized that they weren't going to earn an adequate profit using the price point they originally put out. So they adjusted accordingly.
3) Mind you, don't forget that there has never been an *official* announcement from Image for this release. The "TVClassics" website had their unofficial say. Various e-tailers posted info based on plans at the time they set up pre-orders (withOUT without Image's blessing, I'm sure. Want a hint as to HOW unofficial that was? Image's own e-tailer, DVDPlanet, never listed the set...even though Amazon and DVDEmpire did! I had wondered about that.). And an Image publicity person even gave me the information about their plans, for posting at TVShowsOnDVD. But none of that was ever "announced" or "final". It was all based on plans at the time. So, as far as I'm concerned, date changes and price changes are well within their pervue.

 

[David Von Pein]

The reason for the price hike is, I'm sure, because they realized that they weren't going to earn an adequate profit using the price point they originally put out. So they adjusted accordingly.

You may very well be correct here, David.
However, if MTM didn't sell at a $38-$40 price point, how the heck is D.Van Dyke going to do any better with a $52-$55 take-home price?!
IF the re-pricing is for BOTH Seasons 1 AND 2, it still averages to about $27 per season set, which is just about at the consumer tolerance level these days.
I was comparing this V.Dyke pricing to the super-low price structure placed on the upcoming "Little House On The Prairie" sets. DDD has Little House for $29.99 for over 1,100 minutes(!) of material, on six discs!
How is it that those sets can be profitable at such a low price, but the Image sets for TDVDS can't make money unless priced above $50 (for about 900 or so minutes on 5 discs)? Doesn't seem to make sense.

 

[Rodney]

Well, this makes September 9 a somewhat easier day for purchasing, but both seasons on the same day? Ouch! I could use a break for the rest of this year. This is the largest buying year for me since I started collecting in 1997. I am going to need a second job just to purchase DVD's.

That being said, I am glad these are coming out. Some of the finest stuff on TV.

 

[Randy A Salas]

How is it that those sets can be profitable at such a low price, but the Image sets for TDVDS can't make money unless priced above $50 (for about 900 or so minutes on 5 discs)?

It probably has a lot to do with the distributor. Little House is distributed by a no-name company (Goldhil) that specializes in no-budget exercise programming and generic discount-bin fare. Dick Van Dyke is being put out by the biggest independent U.S. DVD distributor (Image), which specializes in foreign and esoteric fare whose catalog costs a lot to maintain and produce.

I'm also guessing that there's a lot more involved in producing the Dick Van Dyke Show on DVD. Some restoration must be involved, and it will have extras that Little House doesn't. Thus it's production costs are higher.

 

[John KB]

How long do you think it might be before amazon.com has season 2 listed to purchase? I'd like to pre order it asap!

 

[David Von Pein]

John ..... You might keep an eye out for a "2-Season Set" also, which is supposedly to be offered by some e-tailers wishing to combine both seasons of TDVDS into one package. (Hopefully, too, this shall provide us with a decent price break, by buying multi seasons in one set.)

 

[John KB]

David, that would be nice if e-tailers did in fact do this. Although I did already pre-order the first season before the $8 price increase. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what our ordering options will be.
Since I live in Canada, I was hoping that amazon.ca would have these available to order, but so far, nothing is mentioned on their site.

 

[David Von Pein]

News blurb courtesy www.thewalnuttimes.com:
"The Alan Brady Show Animated Pilot! ....
TV Land will present The Alan Brady Show animated series pilot on Sunday, August 17, 2003 at 10:00 PM. Produced and written by Carl Reiner, the show picks up 40 years later in the career of Alan Brady to give us an idea of what Brady is up to today.
Along with Mr. Reiner, additional voices for the production are performed by former Dick Van Dyke Show co-stars Dick Van Dyke and Rose Marie."

 

[R. Kay]

Image is making a big mistake. $59 retail for a 40 year old TV series is nuts!

I love the show, but the price is way too high. This show will have the same fate as the MTM set because of its price point.

Why cant they take a page from Paramount's 'Soap' which retails for $29?

 

[David Lambert]

Why cant they take a page from Paramount's 'Soap' which retails for $29?

Columbia! :rolleyes

 

[David Von Pein]

Quote:

Bingo! Given the current climate of pricing TV shows on DVD, you're probably correct on this (unfortunately). :frowning:
I, too, just cannot see how V.Dyke is gonna sell at a high price point if MTM didn't (and at $10 MORE for TDVDS too! ... Albeit for 1 more Van Dyke disc and 6 more episodes, based on Season One). The two shows, I would surmise, have the exact same fan base.
Although: While I agree that the $50-plus take-home price IS indeed too high, I personally would pay twice that price for this TV series in season sets on DVD. The Van Dyke series is head and shoulders above 95% of all other TV programs ever made.

 

[Bill Burns]

I'm happy with the price, so long as all seasons are released. I believe David Lambert has reported earlier that they've remastered these from original camera negative sources, and supplements are set to include select commentaries by cast members, among other material. These two facts alone suggest, at least to me, that a significant amount of effort is going into Dick Van Dyke on DVD, unlike some of the shows that have hit, bare bones and (according to reviews; I haven't seen them myself) from unrestored video sources. If a show was shot on video, there isn't much to be done (though video itself can be restored if it has faded/deteriorated), but with a film-sourced show mastered from original negative materials, featuring the full episode cuts (snipets of film left out for broadcast time restrictions have been mentioned as another bonus to be found in these remasters) and select commentaries by surviving members of one of the best loved casts in television history ... I think $70 a season is fine with the standard 25-35% on-line discount. If they were mastering from existing prints and offering no meaningful supplements, I'd expect a lower price, but happily, this isn't the case. When the quality is high, I don't mind a price that reflects the level of care and value invested in the release.
I'm very eager for these sets (and hopefully, one day soon, Amazon and other e-tailers will begin listing both of the sets due in 2003! ).

 

[John KB]

I just got an email from amazon.com stating that I will not get the set for the original price of $44.99 that I ordered it for, but for the new $52.99 price. I have an option to except the new pricing, or cancel the order completely.