Mister Ed: Season 4 ... where is it? (1 Viewer)

[Theodore J. Mooney]

OK, Shout! Factory released season one in Oct. '09, season two in Feb. '10, season three in June '10, and one would think season four would be released in Oct. '10 given the pattern. However, this doesn't seem to be the case anymore as there has been no announcement of season four yet and we are already in the month of September. You would have thought that an announcement would have been made, at least, in August or in the later part of July. So the question going through my head now is ... what is going on? I can only make speculations at this point as to why season four is being "delayed" or even stalled! I hope this isn't about low (or lack of) sales of the show.

 

[LeoA]

I see no reasons to get alarmed. Shout Factory doesn't always follow logical patterns with their releases like other studios. Perhaps they want season 2 and 3 to have this holiday season to themselves before releasing season 4 in the new year. Or perhaps it's the natural decline of sales with each season release and they're adjusting their initial 4 month of so gap between releases to give each release a larger window of sales before being superseded by a new season.

 

They've already paid for the show, they aren't doing the transfers themselves, and there aren't any new incremental cost for Shout Factory for each subsequent release other then creating the boxart and menus for each release and such items as marketing. The worst case would be they become Shout Select titles.

 

They've already spent over 99% of the cost of releasing all six seasons by licensing the show and are getting the transfers from MGM, there's no reason not to continue as long as there are enough customers that would buy them direct from Shout to justify doing a production run of a season release (Which has to be a safe bet if the series was selling so well initially to be on a 4 month schedule for the first three seasons).

 

I don't know what their plans are, but unless there is a major shift at Shout Factory away from classic content or major financial issues, I can't imagine season 4 not being in the works. I suspect they're just widening the window between releases because they probably realized they were releasing a bit too much of the series in too short of time and weren't giving each release enough time to realize it's full sales potential. Or perhaps they feel they have enough out there for 2010 already and are using their limited manpower to get some other releases out there for the remaining 4 months of the year.

 

I think we'll see this one to the end. It's just too bad we got the all too common Shout Factory screwup of season 1, which we're stuck with and which they've clearly indicated they won't ever fix. They didn't even have to release replacement disc, many of us thought releasing the full versions of a episode of two with each subsquent release after the uproar over season 1 (Such as hiding them as "Easter eggs" like we've seen some releases handle extra content) would've pleased the diehard fans by getting the full episodes out there, while adding virtually no cost to Shout.

 

But it made too much sense I suppose.

 

[Marvin]

I see this is listed at tvshowsondvd.com:


http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Mister-Ed-Season-4/14585


It says that it's exclusively available from Shout (39.99) as part of "shout select". Does this mean it will never be sold anywhere else or will it be generally available later on?

 

[cajunhillbilly]

They have a Amazon retailer they work through, but it still comes from Shout Select.

 

[Duane Alford]

Why go that route? Did the first 3 seasons not sell that well?

 

[The Obsolete Man]

Law of diminishing returns.


S1 sold well enough to get us S2. S2 sold well enough to get us S3, but sold less than S1. S3 sold okay, but less than S2, and not well enough to release it in stores, or perhaps the stores weren't interested in carrying season 4 of a 50 year old TV show.


So, there we are.

 

[smithb]

I wonder if it might also have something to do with the change over from the Addison's as neighbors to the Kirkwoods. I much prefer the seasons with the Addison's myself, so with $'s competing with other releases, season 4 of Mister Ed is lower down on my purchase list then the earlier seasons were. Not disputing the diminishing returns theory at all because that is the most logical and I'm sure biggest culprit, but just saying this might have added to the decison process as well.


Edited: I always wondered why they switched neighbors, just thought it might have been a cost cutting measure in later seasons. Wow...I did not realize until now it was because Larry Keating was seriously sick and died after season 3 filming.

 

[Duane Alford]

Originally Posted by The Obsolete Man

Law of diminishing returns.


S1 sold well enough to get us S2. S2 sold well enough to get us S3, but sold less than S1. S3 sold okay, but less than S2, and not well enough to release it in stores, or perhaps the stores weren't interested in carrying season 4 of a 50 year old TV show.


So, there we are.

That sucks, but I've always wanted this show on DVD, so I'll continue buying the season sets. I just hope we get the last two seasons, however they're released.

 

[Corey3rd]

Would be nice if they combined seasons 5 & 6 since 6 is a half season. They often combine the first two seasons if the show started as a mid-season replacement.

 

[LeoA]

I'd rather see them throw in the full versions of the cut episodes from their season 1 release to round out their season 6 set.

 

[Theodore J. Mooney]

Originally Posted by Corey3rd

Would be nice if they combined seasons 5 & 6 since 6 is a half season. They often combine the first two seasons if the show started as a mid-season replacement.

I agree 100%. Seasons 5 and 6 of Mister Ed combined equals thirty-nine episodes which equates to ONE season of Leave it to Beaver (a 39 episode season). Shout! Factory has been releasing FULL seasons of Leave it to Beaver, so if they could do that then they could definitely release seasons 5 and 6 of Mister Ed as ONE box set.

 

[dooscoop32]

[SIZE= 10px][COLOR= #000080]That same retailer who sells on Amazon.com is also selling them on eBay. So, you have three options of where to purchase season four but you have only one price~$39.99 plus shipping/handling.[/COLOR][/SIZE]

 

[Theodore J. Mooney]

Originally Posted by dooscoop32 [/b]

That price is a bit high for an old TV show. I guess I will be waiting for the price to go down like I did for the last three seasons of this show.

 

[Theodore J. Mooney]

Shout! Factory is currently charging (as of 12/12/10) ...

... $28.99 for season 1 (26 episodes)

 

[Theodore J. Mooney]

Originally Posted by Theodore J. Mooney



... $39.99 for season 4 (26 episodes) + shipping & handling (added cost there)

Well Shout! Factory ... I just bought FOUR DVD box sets and guess what ... it cost me the same amount of money you are charging for your Mister Ed - Season 4 DVD. So riddle me this ... why would anyone want to buy your product when they get MORE with their money SOMEWHERE ELSE? Think about it, please.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

...because they want to see Mister Ed, season 4 and not another show?

 

[Theodore J. Mooney]

Originally Posted by The Obsolete Man

...because they want to see Mister Ed, season 4 and not another show?

I am sure consumers have MORE than one favorite show.

 

[Theodore J. Mooney]

Originally Posted by Theodore J. Mooney

Shout! Factory is currently charging (as of 12/12/10) ...

... $28.99 for season 1 (26 episodes)

 

[LeoA]

I assume it's because it's a Shout Select title?


It's probably pay the higher price to help justify the smaller production run, or leave the show incomplete. I'm sure most fans will choose to bite the bullet and just pay the cost to help see the show through to the end. It's not too terribly unreasonable since it's only around $5-$10 more than I remember the other sets being when they were first released.

 

[Ian K McLachlan]

I know that it is disappointing that season 4 was released as a Shout Select title. It means it is not only more expensive but it is also more difficult for us outside America to buy. However it is better than an ' on demand' title which is impossible to get outside America. I do hope that Shout decide to release the remaining episodes of Mr. Ed. It is one of my alltime favourite comedy shows and I am delighted to see it on DVD. I would alsolike to see My World and Welcome to it, He and She, Nanny and the Professor and the Ghost and Mrs. Muir released by some company someday! If they end up as being Shout Select titles then I don't mind too much paying slightly more. When you think how much we used to have to pay for a couple of episodes of old TV on VHS tape these Select titles are a good bargain!