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Praise for CBS TV on DVD (1 Viewer)

Rick Thompson

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Having gone through a pair of new CBS releases (Bull and Blue Bloods), I have to put in a good word for how CBS handles menus. You get their quick logo, followed by the piracy warning and right to the episode list. No fuss, no feathers, no wading through previews of long-gone movies or promos of other TV releases. Would that other studios (I’m talking to you, ABC) followed that example.

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bmasters9

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Ben Masters
Having gone through a pair of new CBS releases (Bull and Blue Bloods), I have to put in a good word for how CBS handles menus. You get their quick logo, followed by the piracy warning and right to the episode list. No fuss, no feathers, no wading through previews of long-gone movies or promos of other TV releases. Would that other studios (I'm talking to you, ABC) followed that example.

Why is CBS so good with menus, compared to other outfits?
 

JC Riesenbeck

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Having gone through a pair of new CBS releases (Bull and Blue Bloods), I have to put in a good word for how CBS handles menus. You get their quick logo, followed by the piracy warning and right to the episode list. No fuss, no feathers, no wading through previews of long-gone movies or promos of other TV releases. Would that other studios (I'm talking to you, ABC) followed that example.

Speaking of ABC, I'll be ticked at ABC/Disney for a long time. My wife and I became big fans of Grey's Anatomy at the very beginning and started buying the seasons. I didn't expect the show to go on for so many years, but who knew? So I quit watching about the time they wiped out two of the main characters in a plane crash. The wife still watches and I figured since I had the DVD's I could always go back to it. Then for some reason, beginning with Season 14, with no explanation they quit releasing the series on DVD which pretty much shot my plans down and it appears my collection will remain incomplete unless I buy bootleg and there are plenty of those around. I hate to do that though, but as I've mentioned before, my streaming options are limited due to poor internet. It just sucks.
 

John*Wells

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Having gone through a pair of new CBS releases (Bull and Blue Bloods), I have to put in a good word for how CBS handles menus. You get their quick logo, followed by the piracy warning and right to the episode list. No fuss, no feathers, no wading through previews of long-gone movies or promos of other TV releases. Would that other studios (I'm talking to you, ABC) followed that example.

Honestly, I never understood why studios felt it necessary to Bog us down with Previews on Home releases. In a Theater setting, I get it. they want people to know whats coming or they are required to run previews per guild rules or contracts . but in a home release, why would you do that ? If people want to see trailers or know what is coming, there are any number of internet outlets for that
 

bmasters9

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Honestly, I never understood why studios felt it necessary to Bog us down with Previews on Home releases.

Especially those that are mandatory/cannot be skipped, as on Showtime's sixth-season Dexter release, and Netflix's first-season Stranger Things release!
 

Jeff*H

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They also deserve praise for completing several long-running series on DVD over a period of many years, including CHEERS, PERRY MASON, HAWAII FIVE-O, ANDY GRIFFITH, I LOVE LUCY, and most recently, GUNSMOKE.

However, there are several they still need to finish, including BONANZA, BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, MY THREE SONS, HAPPY DAYS, and others. Fingers crossed that at least a few of these get finished in the next few years!
 

bmasters9

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However, there are several they still need to finish, including BONANZA, BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, MY THREE SONS, HAPPY DAYS, and others. Fingers crossed that at least a few of these get finished in the next few years!

Especially Bonanza-- if Gunsmoke can be completed, so can that other influential Western.
 

John*Wells

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The Sad thing is CBS is currently being sued by the Hagan Estate regarding Music rights to The Andy Griffith Show. This could prevent further Blu Ray releases of The Andy Griffith show. It could also keep Warner Archive from completing Mayberry RFD
 

The Obsolete Man

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The Sad thing is CBS is currently being sued by the Hagan Estate regarding Music rights to The Andy Griffith Show. This could prevent further Blu Ray releases of The Andy Griffith show. It could also keep Warner Archive from completing Mayberry RFD

Sales likely killed Andy on Blu shortly after S1 was released.
 

Josh Steinberg

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CBS did overshoot the price but they were also between a rock and a hard place. At the time they put out the first set, it was already apparent that physical media was in decline, particularly for TV shows, even more so for TV on Blu-ray, and especially for non-genre content. And they put a ton of money into it, so they had above average costs due to the extensive extras. I’m guessing the thought was that they weren’t going to make it up in volume no matter what and hoping that those who did want it would be willing to pay a premium for it.

The sad thing is some of this stuff just isn’t viable financially because even with a widespread audience that likes the show, enough of them don’t have that kind of relationship with it where they need to purchase it. And I genuinely mean it is sad. Those two completed sets are great. They were way outside my budget and were tough to justify but now that I’m far away enough from buying them not to think about the money, they’re just wonderful.

On a quality level, I was always very happy with CBS Blus.
 

bmasters9

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If Ricky Ricardo could see what I Love Lucy cost on Blu-ray, he'd be the first to say "we can't afford it."

Now, he probably could-- just checked Amazon, and you can get all three of those Blu releases (the first and second gos of I Love Lucy, and the first and only go of Andy Griffith) for just a shade under $60 (and that's all three of them together).
 

ClassicTVMan1981X

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They also deserve praise for completing several long-running series on DVD over a period of many years, including CHEERS, PERRY MASON, HAWAII FIVE-O, ANDY GRIFFITH, I LOVE LUCY, and most recently, GUNSMOKE.

However, there are several they still need to finish, including BONANZA, BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, MY THREE SONS, HAPPY DAYS, and others. Fingers crossed that at least a few of these get finished in the next few years!
And I hope they will still release more short-lived series... many of those in my want list (including quite a few that were half-baked efforts done by Garry Marshall) have already been transferred to tape (TV Land reruns among them), or were already shot or edited on tape to start with, and - furthermore - some were even available on VHS in the 1980s-'90s, like...
1. Me and the Chimp
2. Blansky's Beauties
3. Out of the Blue (1979 TV series)
4. Working Stiffs
5. Struck by Lightning
6. The Associates (U.S. TV series)
7. Goodtime Girls
8. Foul Play (TV series)
9. Madame's Place
10. Star of the Family (1982 TV series)
11. The New Odd Couple
12. The Renegades
13. Ryan's Four
14. Mr. Smith (1983 TV series)
15. Mr. Sunshine (1986 TV series)
16. All is Forgiven
17. The Cavanaughs
18. Gung Ho (TV series)
19. The Tortellis
20. Bronx Zoo
21. Duet / Open House
22. Marblehead Manor
23. Day by Day
24. Dear John (U.S. TV series)

~Ben
 
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LouA

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Sales would have been better had the set cost half as much.
TRUE! I love TAGS but balked on the BD of season 1 because of the price , and because I already had the DVDs , and Columbia House VHS tapes . As soon as the price came down under $50 I bought it and both seasons of Lucy as well.
 

Josh Steinberg

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The whole show was selling for that little on DVD at the time the Season 1 Blu-ray came out; the product was dead on arrival. The only chance would have been to do a complete series at once, but given what the costs to master the entire show and produce the bonus features at the level they were doing them on, and I think that still would have been a product that lost a boatload. It’s not CBS’ fault, but there was never a viable market for classic sitcoms on Blu-ray produced with premium features and released at premium prices.

There may have, at one time, been a market for simply produced HD masters in a complete set at a budget price. But whatever market for that that might have existed was obliterated by the ascendence of subscription streaming.
 

ClassicTVMan1981X

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More stuff I hope will be out on DVD, even if VEI or Shout! Factory has to do it:
December Bride (1954-1959)
The Millionaire (1955-1960)
Trackdown (1957-1959)
Pete and Gladys (1960-1962)
Slattery's People (1964-1965)
The Cara Williams Show (1964-1965)
The Baileys of Balboa (1964-1965)
The Reporter (1964)

~Ben
 
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fdabbott

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And I hope they will still release more short-lived series... many of those in my want list (including quite a few that were half-baked efforts done by Garry Marshall) have already been transferred to tape (TV Land reruns among them), or were already shot or edited on tape to start with, and - furthermore - some were even available on VHS in the 1980s-'90s, like...
1. Me and the Chimp
2. Blansky's Beauties
3. Out of the Blue (1979 TV series)
4. Working Stiffs
5. Struck by Lightning
6. The Associates (U.S. TV series)
7. Goodtime Girls
8. Foul Play (TV series)
9. Madame's Place
10. Star of the Family (1982 TV series)
11. The New Odd Couple
12. The Renegades
13. Ryan's Four
14. Mr. Smith (1983 TV series)
15. Mr. Sunshine (1986 TV series)
16. All is Forgiven
17. The Cavanaughs
18. Gung Ho (TV series)
19. The Tortellis
20. Bronx Zoo
21. Duet / Open House
22. Marblehead Manor
23. Day by Day
24. Dear John (U.S. TV series)

~Ben
I'd love to see "Trackdown" released on DVD. It's not a short series having 71 episodes, it's being shown for 3 years now on ME TV and the episodes have been restored, so there is no excuse not to release it. Also another great 50s tv series I would love to see released on DVD would be Tales of The Texas Rangers with Willard Parker, a great series with a twist, one week the episode would take place in the 1950's, the next week in the 1880s. The same stars would play in the 1950s episodes and then play their grandfathers in the 1880s episodes with out the automobiles and technology of the 50s. It, like Have Gun Will Travel was originally a popular Radio program.
Doug
 

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