SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 1 (I'm ticked off at Paramount) (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

Damn it all - After releasing (and me buying) 7 different DVD's with 10 random episodes on them, Paramount decides on releasing them as season sets

SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 1

Why do they keep doing this to us? Why put out these "Best of's" (and 7 to boot) and then decide on a Season Series??? I would have LOVED to start buying these DVD's as series sets, but I've just spent $15.00/each on 7 DVD's and I really don't feel like buying the series sets now.

Why don't they release the season sets first and THEN come out with "Best of's"? You know the people who would be interested in the season sets are going to buy the "Best of's" (as long as there's no season set out), so why tempt them with 7 "Best of" releases (which you know they'll buy) and then slam them with a Season set????

Thanks a lot Paramount :rolleyes


p.s. Look at some of the reviews on Amazons site to seem the same anger that I have about this. There are a few epsiodes in the season 1 set that you can't get on the "Best of's", so in order for me to get it on DVD, I have to buy the damn set now

 

[Chet_F]

"Why do they keep doing this to us? Why put out these "Best of's" (and 7 to boot) and then decide on a Season Series???"

How else would they decide if they are going to sell? At least that is there thinking. They want to see how well it sells, which at best is archaic and PISSES off the consumer to no end.

I NEVER buy "best of's" for this specific reason. The studios need to design a better way of "testing the waters" than actually SCREWING OVER the consumer. Or at the very least givr the consumer a bone, 10 rebate, or something when he upgrades. Will that happen......NO. That would mess with their precious little bottom line and you know it's all about the greenbacks.

CF

 

[David Lambert]

Um, slow down a sec. Noone forced you to buy the best-of discs.

Now put yourself in Paramount's (or maybe it's Nick's, since Paramount is just distributing it for Nick) position: they have no way of knowing how well this is gonna sell. They put it out. They get sales. So they put out more and get more sales.

Sales are so darn good, in fact, that someone steps us and says "let's stop gyping the consumers with these best-of releases and finally give them season sets!"

Now they are villified for stepping up and doing the right thing, however belatedly in your mind.


Should they just keep on doing the individual releases instead? It doesn't make sense to criticize the studio for doing the right thing!


I fear that I Love Lucy fans are going to be the same way, and I just don't think it's justified. Bravo to Paramount for making the switch!

 

[TonyTone]

I assume that when you say that you bought "seven" of the Spongebob DVDs, you're including the soon-to-be-released Xmas one, no? Just confused, since only six have actually been released...unless you managed to already get your hands on the Xmas one!

And yeah, Paramount coming out with the Complete 1st Season set is pretty lame on their part...

 

[TonyTone]

Um, slow down a sec. Noone forced you to buy the best-of discs.

True, but honestly (and in all fairness to those of us who apparently didn't have the forsight to assume that a season set might be in the works)--do you think that a typical consumer like myself could have forseen the possibility that Paramount would have done so (release season sets), especially considering that they had released six "Best of" DVD titles (not including others available only on VHS) over the past couple of years or so?

FWIW--I personally am not that upset that Paramount has decided to release a season set. Hopefully they will still continue to release "Best of" discs--note that the S1 set is to be released 10/28, roughly one month after the Xmas disc is released (9/28). Surely Paramount didn't just decide at the last minute that they were gonna do a season set, so I reckon they could have had plenty of time to cancel the Xmas disc...assuming that it (the Xmas disc) contains at least one S1 episode.

 

[MarkHastings]

Noone forced you to buy the best-of discs.

I never understood this line of logic. Should the gas companies be allowed to raise gas prices to $5 a gallon - I mean, you aren't FORCED into buying a car.

I know, that was a bit of a stretch, but it's just to prove how crazy that line of logic is. Yes, no one is FORCING me to, but when you dangle them out in front of my face, you know we're going to buy them (especially when there's no other alternative).

 

[dpippel]

No offense Dave, but in my opinion if the marketing people involved had to wonder whether or not full season DVD sets of Spongebob Squarepants (arguably the most popular program on Nickelodeon for the last 2 seasons and CERTAINLY the most popular animated childrens show on cable/satellite) would sell, they should be fired.

By now most of the major studios can say that season sets of popular television programming on DVD is a proven success story. We have The Simpsons, Futurama, Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends, The Sopranos, Babylon 5, Friends, The Outer Limits, etc., just to name a few. More TV programming is being released in this format every month. I think they have it figured out.

In the case of Spongebob, I think a decision was made to rush some product to market in the short term because the production lag on the full season set would have meant lost revenue. It's just the way the system seems to work in some cases. As consumers we may not like it, but there isn't a whole lot we can do.

 

[David Lambert]

note that the S1 set is to be released 10/28, roughly one month after the Xmas disc is released (9/28). Surely Paramount didn't just decide at the last minute that they were gonna do a season set, so I reckon they could have had plenty of time to cancel the Xmas disc...

Yeah, and THAT is what I'd want to try to justify to my bosses and accountants! "Yeah, I know we've mostly produced this Christmas release and spent money to do that, but let's just through that away because we're gonna release a Season Set instead". Nah, never fly in a million years. Esp. since the Christmas-theme disc will sell quite well on its own to folks who JUST REALLY DON'T WANT TO SPEND THE MONEY ON A BOX SET!

And Regis, that really IS my final answer. All those other releases are out there for folks who just don't want to spend the money on box sets. There are a LOT of them out there, and I meet them every day via TVShowsOnDVD. Fine, the guys in this thread aren't among them, but Paramount doesn't want to alienate them or ignore them either. Nor does Fox, who is releasing single-disc Simpsons episodes. Nor does Warner, who is releasing Looney Tunes in both large and small versions.


Yeah, it hurts our feelings and our wallets when this happens. How do you think I feel as a Married...with Children fan?

Hey, at least WE are getting our box set. Many shows still aren't represented in a box set, nor will they ever be. I feel worse for a fan of THOSE shows than I do for us Spongebob fans!

 

[Malcolm R]

One or two "best of" collections is testing the waters (i.e. "Married with Children," "Designing Women"); seven smells strongly of forced double-dipping (especially when there's new/different material or episodes on the season set).

 

[MarkHastings]

After all, the Bullwinkle set that you name is a very new release, and they had no similar Season Sets of kid shows to compare to at the time they started releasing Spongebob.

It's not the consumers job to analyze "bit for bit" every company and every marketing strategy these studios go through. I'm just not privy to that kind of info. I base my decisions on what I read from sites like these, trends in the past, and the way material is marketed. I feel I am more informed than your average consumer and I still got stuck paying for 6 DVD's that I would have gladly held off on if I knew a Season release was a remote possibility in the near future.

I guess it kind of bugs me like those mega collector CD packs where they put practically every CD from a particular artist in one big boxed set and then add a never before released song in the pack, and then they market it for the "Fans". Wouldn't a "Fan" of this artist already have all of his/her CD's? Why does this "Fan" have to now pay over $100 just to get that one song he doesn't have in his collection.

Only a semi-fan of SpongeBob (or someone just getting into the show) would have the glory of this set, but for the "True/Die Hard" fans who fell in love with the show when it first came out, we were given "Best of's" and after the 4th or 5th, you have to believe that this is the way they are doing things so we bought them. It's kind of hard to be a huge fan of the show and keep passing them up for some hope (or small glimpse) that they may release a Season set in the future.

Yes, I might just have to bite the bullet and buy this set (and give the ones I own away), but this kind of marketing causes some damage to the consumers (like myself) who will be even more cautious in the future. I have now vowed to never buy a "Best of" anything. If more people start feeling this way, we may not see as many TV show seasons released on DVD because the "Market Research" will show that people aren't interested in the "Best of's" so they obviously won't be interested in Season sets.

Like right now I am wondering about the episodes that are only available in the Season sets. Will they ever come out in the "Best of's"? If I knew that I could eventually get all the episodes by continuing to buy the "Best of's", then I'd ignore the Season sets and continue to do what I've been doing, but there is no guarantee of this, so now I'm faced with the decision on wether or not to buy the Season set. It would be great if they could provide a supplemental DVD which only has the missing episodes to complete my collection, but I doubt it.

Right now, I am considering not buying the season sets or any more "Best of's" until they are all out. I may even wait a while for the Season 1 sets to either come down in price or buy them used. Either way Paramount has just lost my continuing SpongeBob support.

But I guess their market research is providing them with enough money so they don't need to worry about my measly views. It's people like me who spend the original money to help get the ball rolling to prove it's popularity. All I'm asking for is some kind of thanks from Paramount. Just throw me a bone and I'll take it all back. It's my money that aided them in their research. If it weren't for my support (along with others), they wouldn't be issuing a Season set.

Sorry about the rant

 

[Jason Seaver]

The internet is WONDERFUL for market research,

It's good when you've got a specific question that corresponds to the audience you're likely to attract on the internet. However, the parents who would buy this package might not be well-represented, and casting a vote on the internet is so easy that bad data abounds. Just look at the "FOX TV DVD poll" thread; how many entries say "but I'd probably only buy..."? It certainly implies that Fox's poll isn't showing the actual demand.

 

[MarkHastings]

the parents who would buy this package might not be well-represented

But I can't see the key demographic of a season set of SpongeBob being parents of small children. I see it as an older group. I can see the "Best of's" being more suited for the parents (i.e. the price) over the 3 disc ($35) Season Sets.

From my research, the VHS tapes have been out for over a year. The earliest date I can find is March 12, 2002 and there are 3 others that came out before that one. So it's almost fair enough to say they've been out for a few years now.

As someone mentioned, there should have already been enough market research to justify a season set. It definitely sounds like a case of the VHS were already produced and cleared so they could easily transform them over to DVD (and make as much money as possible) while they waited for the Season set to be finished.

EDIT: As popular as SpongeBob is, I just can't imagine it (or any other successful TV show) as being a "Risk" to put out a season set.

 

[Ryan Wishton]

Come on... This is Paramount we are talking about here... They love over charging and double dipping...

They didnt do this to test the waters... They did this so people get to double dip and give them more money...

I agree with the other person... Any marketer who doesnt think a very popular franchise and a number 1 childrens show (which has a large appeal towards teenagers and adults as well) isnt going to sell shouldnt have the marketing job...

Remember Star Trek??? Didnt they release all barbones, then release a box set with one directors cut and all the others barebones again??? Didnt they do this each time another directors cut came out???

They are about to do the same thing again with the Friday the 13th series after charging insane barebones disc prices for the last 4 years...

Isnt this the same company who charges ridiculous $29.95 and $39.95 retail prices for barebones older discs???

Come on... Paramount loves it...

 

[Chet_F]

I would have loved a Season Set of Married With Children but when they came out with the "best of's" I was PISSED OFF!! It was season sets or nothing at all. Shit I can buy season sets of anything......have you looked at EBAY lately? Sure the quality isn't there but it's better than nothing at all. That's the sad fact of it all. People will purhase an "ebay tv set" regardless of quality because they want the show. I know I almost did. Fortunately someone got off their A$$ and has decided(due to the Best of's) that they would release Season sets.

And for those that say Best Ofs are the only way. Your dead wrong. I have participated in MANY MANY focus groups. Those focus groups could easily determine the abilty to market these sets. Marketing firms develop a questionaire to get their demographic, i.e. DVD buyers. They then use these people as thier "test waters" rather than USING the fans $$$. Gues which one costs more? There's your answer. And that is why they USE their fans to determine whether DVD SET A will sell.

Mark I suggest you use the same mentality. BOYCOTT best of's and hope for Season sets down the road.

CF

 

[MarkHastings]

Mark I suggest you use the same mentality. BOYCOTT best of's and hope for Season sets down the road.

Usually I don't buy Best of's right away (for fear of season sets), but when a show comes out with their 7th "Best of", it gets me thinking. I mean, each SpongeBob DVD has like 10 episodes on each disc and 7 discs makes 70 episodes. I just couldn't fathom a season set coming out after putting out 70 episodes already.

My big fear is to wait for a season set (i.e. ignoring the Best of's) and then to find out that a season set isn't being planned, then all the early Best of's are now OOP (which I believe the 3 SB ones are).

 

[Dane Marvin]

Why do they keep doing this to us? Why put out these "Best of's" (and 7 to boot) and then decide on a Season Series???

I never go for "Best of" releases and this is why. Don't blame Paramount for testing the waters, it's only natural for studios to do so. The only time I indulge is when a studio decides to test the waters with a full-season release. Otherwise, I know I'll be shooting myself in the foot when a better release comes along at a later date.

 

[Rob Lutter]

Uh, I knew this would happen so I didn't buy the "best of" discs. Really... no need to get bent out-of-shape at Paramount, I am sure they saw sales of the single-discs and decided that a full season set would be viable as a product. I am sure there isn't some underlying X-Files conspiracy here

 

[Mickey P]

Paramount is screwing people over plain and simple because they can! I agree with some of the other posters that one or two...maybe three best ofs I could see! (Ive got four myself), but seven, AND THEN COME OUT WITH SEASON SETS!!!! Thats just plain and simple screwing over the customer no matter how you look at it. No one forced us to buy it, thats correct, but after the third and fourth came out I figured this was the way they were going to do it, and no season sets would be forthcoming, so I continued to buy.Most people would come to the same logical conclusion. Even if you think that maybe someday they might come out with a season set, you would never know for sure and if you dont buy these now, you might wind up waiting for 2,3, 4 years,(who knows how long) and maybe never get the season sets! I think Paramount should issue an apoligy to Spongebob fans for pulling this stunt, and offer some kind of refund or savings if we have purchased the other discs.Thast just my opinion and Im sticking to it!!

 

[Ryan Wishton]

Mickey,

Excellent point!!! You test the waters as they so call it with one or two DVD's (Married with children did this), not 7...

I can even see doing the Christmas and Halloween discs for the people who only buy and want holiday episodes...

But, 7 best of's before getting to seasons???

I can completely understand why people would think that this was the only way to get the episodes after 7 best of DVD's were released...

 

[Dome Vongvises]

If you were to add up all the episodes from the best of series and subtract that from the episodes in a season/seasons, how many actual episodes have actually not made it to DVD?