Secret Revealed!!.. How studios pick the tv shows they release. (1 Viewer)

[todd s]

After reading about the recent tv shows announced on dvd. I have sent a crack team of spies to a "major" US studio. This is a transcript of what they found out...
"Exec A"- "Alright we want to release some of our tv shows on dvd. I want all of you to write down the names of the shows on slips of paper."
"Exec B"- "Ok, all done."
"Exec A"- "All right put the slips in the paper in this baseball cap and then pick one.
"Exec B"- "Excellent".

This is not a cut on studios. I am glad for this new policy of tv releases. It is more of a spoof of the odd selection of shows being releases. I mean Barretta. I don't even remember seeing that on anyone's want list. (Please Barretta fans don't yell at me. I am glad if your a fan that it is coming out.)

 

[David Lambert]

Todd, as I insinuated in other places, this is a function of Robert Blake's celebrity right now.
If someone dug up a film that Blake co-starred in with O.J. Simpson, it would hit the street tomorrow in a 2-disc Special Edition. That's just a fact of life.
Perhaps a sad commentary on our society, and what sells these days. But true nonetheless.
However, I *did* enjoy the series...just like I enjoyed the Naked Gun movies. I'll be glad to get Baretta. No, it wasn't on my wishlist of top shows I "demanded". But it's good to have available nonetheless.
I think there's a market for it. But I admit that I was surprised as you were when I first heard about it...a few weeks ago. I've just had longer to get used to the idea, that's all. :wink:

 

[LarryDavenport]

If it is true that Baretta is being released because of Robert Blake's new found celebrity, then I wish they (Warner or UA) would put out Busting with him and Elliot Gould, one of the most underated, and first, "buddy-cop" films. I have an old Japanese Laserdisc that is one of my prized possesions.

 

[Marc_Savoie]

But what is the explanation for Mad About You?

 

[Sarah S]

I favor the dart board theory myself.

 

[David Lambert]

But what is the explanation for Mad About You?

Propably all the Emmy Awards it won plus some blonde chick who starred in it got to be a REALLY big star these days. They thought all this would lead to money. Go figure.

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Sanford and Son?

I'm not knockin' the show, but....

Sanford and Son???

 

[Carl C]

Dave, in other words... we should wish for Ed O'Neill to become involved in some sort of outageous scandal that will take the media by storm?

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Cool, all we have to do now is frame John Ritter for some horrendous crime and we'll finally get Three's Company.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Would public nudity do? If so, Ritter has already done that on a now-censored episode of Three's Company.

 

[Greg_S_H]

Hey, now. This is one of my all-time favorites, and I am thrilled to have it on DVD. Don't jinx future releases of this fine show.

 

[Joseph S]

I hear OJ and Kato watch Alias every week in WS HDTV.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

"You big dummy!!"

 

[Peter M Fitzgerald]

Hmmmm, now let me get this straight--
THE FUGITIVE runs (literally!) for four very successful years (1963-67) on network tv. Its final episode becomes the single highest-rated American network program until the DALLAS "Who Shot J.R.?" episode almost 15 years later. Countless other series (RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, RUN BUDDY RUN, THE IMMORTAL, the Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno INCREDIBLE HULK, STARMAN, GOLDEN YEARS, etc) follow its formula. In the 1990s, an A-budget, big-screen remake with Harrison Ford is made, and earns hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide in theaters, tv broadcasts, and on home video (including two DVD editions in Region 1), and spawns a sequel, U.S. MARSHALS. An updated version of the series, starring Tim Daly, airs on CBS. Several episodes of the original series are legitimately released on VHS and laserdisc.
Number of original FUGITIVE episodes episodes currently available on DVD (or rumored to be in the works): 0
THE ADDAMS FAMILY runs for a brief-but-successful two years (1964-66) on network tv, and almost instantly becomes a TV icon (its theme song alone is among the all-time most-recognizable tv tunes ever), and a staple of TV syndication and cable broadcasts over the next thirty-odd years. It spawns a Hanna-Barbera cartoon series nearly a decade later, as well as a cast reunion special, HALLOWEEN WITH THE ADDAMS FAMILY, in 1977. In the 1990s, Paramount greenlights a big-screen version, starring Raoul Julia & Angelica Huston, which makes hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide in theaters, tv broadcasts, and on home video (including DVD), and spawns a sequel, ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES, as well as another cartoon series. An updated version of the series also airs on U.S. television. Several episodes of the original series are legitimately released on VHS and laserdisc (including a Criterion LD).
Number of original ADDAMS FAMILY episodes currently available on DVD (or rumored to be in the works): 0
MAVERICK, a unique comedy/western starring James Garner (and eventually Jack Kelly & Roger Moore), runs for five successful years (1957-62) on network tv. It makes Garner a big star, who leaves after the third season (due to a contract dispute) and is subsequently top-billed in many popular films, often in roles similar to his MAVERICK persona (THE GREAT ESCAPE, SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF). He returns to tv in the very successful ROCKFORD FILES series, essentially his "Bret Maverick" character reincarnated as a modern-day L.A. detective, as well as several official updates of MAVERICK on NBC (not to mention his long-running series of Polaroid camera ads with Mariette Hartley). He remains a popular star, in recent movies like SPACE COWBOYS. Meanwhile, MAVERICK alumnus Roger Moore is cast as THE SAINT on tv in the U.K. (and shown around the globe), and later as James Bond for seven films, making him one of the most famous people on earth, to this day. In the 1990s, Warner Bros okays a big-budget theatrical version of MAVERICK, starring Mel Gibson, Jodie Foster & Garner, which makes hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide in theaters, tv broadcasts, and on home video (including DVD). An episode or two of the original series is legitimately released on VHS in the USA.
Number of original MAVERICK episodes currently available on DVD (or rumored to be in the works): 1
(as a "Special Features" supplemental extra on the upcoming UNFORGIVEN:SE DVD, because the episode guest-stars Clint Eastwood)
BARETTA is one of many cookie-cutter urban cop shows of the mid-1970s, featuring a lawman who "doesn't play by the rules", yet gets the job done (see KOJAK, HARRY O, PETROCELLI, STARSKY & HUTCH, BRONK, et al). The series starred Robert Blake, a former (bad) child actor who managed to graduate to playing some impressive big-screen roles in adulthood (IN COLD BLOOD, ELECTRA GLIDE IN BLUE, etc). Reasonably successful in its time, the series is chiefly remembered today as "the one where the guy has a pet cockatoo", and for its theme song, sung by Sammy Davis, Jr. It has received some sporadic tv syndication over the years. As far as I know, no episodes were ever legitimately released on home video in North America. Blake has subsequently starred in some ill-fated tv series (HELL TOWN) and occasionally in films (David Lynch's LOST HIGHWAY). Looks as though he murdered his sleazy wife over a year ago, and is currently behind bars, awaiting trial, which is given much coverage on the E! channel.
Number of BARETTA episodes currently available on DVD (or rumored to be in the works): All of 'em (?)
--Okay, I think I know the drill: Barry "Lt. Gerard" Morse, here's an AK-47 for you... John Astin, take this crossbow, please... Garner, Moore, you both know what to do with these bottles of arsenic...

 

[Yee-Ming]

I guess sometimes it's a bit of a crapshoot as to what studio suits decide to release?

but to be fair, it may be that for bigger old TV shows, they're still "developing" the project, i.e. looking for the best source materials and potential extras. although the cynic in me thinks that continued profits from syndication might also delay release on DVD.

 

[David Lambert]

Thanks for that, John...I'm related to the man! Distant cousin through my great-grandmother Jenny Morris, I'm told.

 

[LennyP]

I'll be glad to pick up Mad About You, two great actors and as I remember, it's just as funny as Friends, that's the logic behind its release.

 

[todd s]

I am shocked that the studios are not releasing more scifi/fantasy stuff. They should realize the cult followings for these shows will guarentee sales.

 

[MatthewA]

If cast criminal records are now criteria for getting a show on DVD, when's Diff'rent Strokes: Season 1 due?

 

[David Lambert]

Matthew, it's gonna be the same week as The Partridge Family.