The era of TV shows on DVD is coming to an end (2 Viewers)

[oldtvshowbuff]

I've just sent for "Tallahassee 7000", starring Walter Matthau from Thomas Film Classics, not a complete series, just a dozen episodes or so, would be of subpar quality!

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

I don't think it's just the end of TV on DVD... but also classic TV on streaming/digital is coming to an end.

I hope I am wrong, though!

~Ben

 

[jcroy]

I don't think it's just the end of TV on DVD... but also classic TV on streaming/digital is coming to an end.

Why would this also be the case?

ie. Besides not enough subscribers to pay for the operational costs of running such a streaming/digital service (ie. data pipes, worker salaries, etc ...).

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

Why would this also be the case?

ie. Besides not enough subscribers to pay for the operational costs of running such a streaming/digital service (ie. data pipes, worker salaries, etc ...).

Yes, all that you mention, and the limited availability of anything pre-1980.

~Ben

 

[jcroy]

Then one wonders how exactly did old classic tv shows actually have a viable off-network syndication reruns market for many decades, after the shows have already went off the air?

(ie. Besides TVLand).

What is different in 2021, compared to decades past? (ie. Besides too many boomers and older folks dying off).

 

[ClassicTVMan1981X]

Then one wonders how exactly did old classic tv shows actually have a viable off-network syndication reruns market for many decades, after the shows have already went off the air?

(ie. Besides TVLand).

What is different in 2021, compared to decades past? (ie. Besides too many boomers and older folks dying off).

My concerns are more about what has not been released (and not digitized) yet, as opposed to what has been.

~Ben

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Then one wonders how exactly did old classic tv shows actually have a viable off-network syndication reruns market for many decades, after the shows have already went off the air?

(ie. Besides TVLand).

What is different in 2021, compared to decades past? (ie. Besides too many boomers and older folks dying off).

Technology has changed the way we consume media, and the increasing distance between when those shows were made and the present date make them less relevant to new audiences today.

We’ve shifted from a system that was largely linear, where the vast majority of the viewing audience would sit down and choose between what was on the channels they had at that given moment, to one where a viewer can sit down and with the touch of a button, choose from more content than anyone could ever view in a lifetime, all of which can be seen in its entirety at any time of their choosing.

I could go on for pages and probably have too many times before. But the entire model of television has changed, from how people view content to how that content is paid for, and the whole landscape has evolved into something different than it once was, in ways that are both good and bad.

 

[oldtvshowbuff]

May I add that George Fergus has been colorizing episodes of those B&W shows for uploading to YouTube, that would be something you guys could check out.

 

[jcroy]

We’ve shifted from a system that was largely linear, where the vast majority of the viewing audience would sit down and choose between what was on the channels they had at that given moment, to one where a viewer can sit down and with the touch of a button, choose from more content than anyone could ever view in a lifetime, all of which can be seen in its entirety at any time of their choosing.

(Thinking about it more).

I was thinking more along the lines of how a channel like TVLand was able to survive for so long, regardless of whether anybody was ever watching consistently.

Of the places I have lived over the past 20+ years, TVLand was frequently a part of the basic cable package. If Viacom offered TVLand as a part of a bundled package deal (along with mtv, vh1, etc ...) to cable providers, then this might possibly explain why TVLand didn't die an abrupt painful death over the past 15+ years. (ie. Cable subscribers were paying for the entire bundle as a part of the basic cable package).

It remains to be seen what might happen if there are too many "cord cutters" affecting the economics of basic cable packages (ie. carriage fees, etc ...).

 

[Jack P]

Our ability to teach future generations about the glories of older, classic programming has in a way been impacted by the very technology that allows us to enjoy classic programming at our own leisure. Before there were VCR's our exposure to current programming was a once a week event. We didn't spend endless time revisiting the episode that just aired because we couldn't. It was a one time thing where we waited a week and in the interim we could watch other things. Today, when you can go over and over your favorite episode that just aired right away before the next one airs, you remove the element of *time* that made it possible for all of us in an older generation to watch classic reruns and old movies etc. on television. Today's generation would just rather obsess over and over on their current or very recent fare then take time out to experience older material from even twenty years ago, let alone our era the 50s to the 70s.

 

[MatthewA]

It's hard for shows to make new fans when they are difficult to find.

 

[bmasters9]

Today's generation would just rather obsess over and over on their current or very recent fare then take time out to experience older material from even twenty years ago, let alone our era the 50s to the 70s.

Why does everyone today want it new, now, short and streaming as it is these days?

 

[jcroy]

Why does everyone today want it new, now, short and streaming as it is these days?

The simplest explanation is that "new, now, short and streaming" is easily available, and enough people are aware of it.

If something is not easily available and/or people are not aware of it, then nobody (or very few) will look at it.

The closest analogy from the past I can think of, is how non-mainstream music records were not easily available back in the day. If you wanted to buy the then-current latest top-40 vinyl album (or 45rpm single), frequently it was on the record racks displays at the front of the record store. In contrast if you wanted to buy something which was not played a lot on the radio (ie. such as an extreme heavy metal band), then you either had to go through the record bins or make a special order. (Sometimes go to another record store).

With older catalog tv shows and movies, the younger folks might not know anything about their existence. Almost impossible to get people to watch/listen something which they don't know even exists, other than coming across it by chance.

 

[jcroy]

Today's generation would just rather obsess over and over on their current or very recent fare then take time out to experience older material from even twenty years ago, let alone our era the 50s to the 70s.

(On a tangential note).

When I was younger, I had a lot of unstructured free time where I ended up wasting a lot of it on watching tv or playing video games (ie. atari 2600, etc ...). I was one of those "latchkey" kids, where both of my parents worked during the day and I was at home a lot with a lot of free time with no supervision.

I was watching a lot of tv during non-primetime hours, which was where I came across a lot of old reruns and movies of yesteryear. Such as the few hours between coming home from school and suppertime, two hours before breakfast, and during weekends.


I have noticed with my younger relatives, the kids' time was a lot more "structured" with activities arranged by the parents. (ie. Sports, playdates, day care, summer camp, tons of "busywork" homework, etc ...). Very few to zero opportunities to be watching tv at all, during non-primetime slots when old reruns of tv shows and movies of yesteryear would be on.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

"New, now, serialized, short, and streaming" also means no show will ever have the impact of even a Network failure ever again.

Manimal, Supertrain, Cop Rock, those are still referenced for being huge failures. But the majority of even successful "prestige" TV shows of the streaming era won't be remembered, because the audience is too fragmented.

When was the last time you heard about Orange is the New Black? Seen any Mad Men references lately? Justified? Russian Doll?

TV shows are more disposable than ever. They're binged once and then forgotten and the hive is off to the next new shiny thing. Lack of reruns means lack of exposure, and lack of staying power. The new crop of shows will likely never be remembered or rewatched the way shows like MASH or The Honeymooners were. And their soap opera serialized nature just compounds the lack of rewatchability, as does the mystery box format.

It's funny, TV was treated as disposable entertainment when it would be seen for decades in reruns, and now that it's treated as legitimate and "pressteege", it's disposable.

 

[jcroy]

"New, now, serialized, short, and streaming" also means no show will ever have the impact of even a Network failure ever again.

Manimal, Supertrain, Cop Rock, those are still referenced for being huge failures. But the majority of even successful "prestige" TV shows of the streaming era won't be remembered, because the audience is too fragmented.

When was the last time you heard about Orange is the New Black? Seen any Mad Men references lately? Justified? Russian Doll?

TV shows are more disposable than ever. They're binged once and then forgotten and the hive is off to the next new shiny thing. Lack of reruns means lack of exposure, and lack of staying power. The new crop of shows will likely never be remembered or rewatched the way shows like MASH or The Honeymooners were. And their soap opera serialized nature just compounds the lack of rewatchability, as does the mystery box format.

It's funny, TV was treated as disposable entertainment when it would be seen for decades in reruns, and now that it's treated as legitimate and "pressteege", it's disposable.

Not much different than all those second or third rate disposable forgettable movies, which played at the local movie theaters for a week or two. They were never heard of again, until they eventually showed up on basic cable channels or network tv after midnight. (Sometimes they showed up as a vhs rental).

The way I view all those "prestige" shows nowadays, they more or less moved into the vacuum of second/third rate movies and/or non-superhero movies.

 

[MartinP.]

The lament of shows being impactful is also because there is a ton more content and things to watch than just what is on three networks once a week. There's an overload of choices. And people are not all watching things at the same time as once was the case. My mother said once, "The more channels you have the less there is to watch." How many times have I spent just flipping through choices and channels.

Seen any Mad Men references lately?

Although I can't be specific, I did hear a Mad Men reference recently, I believe it was on one of the nightly talk shows. Maybe Kimmel. Don Draper reference.

the mystery box format.

I looked this up because I didn't exactly know what you meant by that, so now I do. It's a show like Manifest, that just started it's 3rd season last night. The problem with mystery shows is that if someone else asks you if its good, you really don't know the answer until the series is over. Because if you're unsatisfied with how it finishes, you're going to say something different than if you're very satisfied. You might even like a series as you're watching it, but end up not liking it because of it's conclusion.

I've watched all the episodes of DEBRIS so far which is a mystery box show. What I like about this one, especially, is that, yes, there's an encompassing mystery as the premise, but each episode begins with a certain mystery within the context of the premise, but solves that particular mystery by the end of the episode. That's what makes this one somewhat different and better, IMO.

 

[MatthewA]

When it comes to new stuff to watch that's actually new as in made in the present day, I'm mainly watching user-generated content because I find it more entertaining than what Hollywood is putting out now.

 

[The Obsolete Man]

I looked this up because I didn't exactly know what you meant by that, so now I do. It's a show like Manifest, that just started it's 3rd season last night. The problem with mystery shows is that if someone else asks you if its good, you really don't know the answer until the series is over. Because if you're unsatisfied with how it finishes, you're going to say something different than if you're very satisfied. You might even like a series as you're watching it, but end up not liking it because of it's conclusion.

I've watched all the episodes of DEBRIS so far which is a mystery box show. What I like about this one, especially, is that, yes, there's an encompassing mystery as the premise, but each episode begins with a certain mystery within the context of the premise, but solves that particular mystery by the end of the episode. That's what makes this one somewhat different and better, IMO.

Lost.

Lost went from being probably one of the last big appointment shows for a lot of people, to virtually forgotten because the ending made it clear they were just making this crap up as they went along and didn't deliver a satisfying conclusion to the mystery.

Personally, my example is Life on Mars US. It was a very good show, probably because it was a near-total remake of the UK version. But they messed with the ending. They made the ending so bad, I wanted to throw my TV out the window. I've never rewatched the show because the ending was just so horrible. I nearly never watched Life on Mars UK for a first time, because US's ending was so gawdawful horrible. But, I did, and discovered the UK version was done right, without using models from casting as the leads, and I enjoy the UK version fairly regularly.

But man, the ending to LoMUS was just unspeakably bad.

 

[jcroy]

Lost.

Lost went from being probably one of the last big appointment shows for a lot of people, to virtually forgotten because the ending made it clear they were just making this crap up as they went along and didn't deliver a satisfying conclusion to the mystery.

Personally, my example is Life on Mars US. It was a very good show, probably because it was a near-total remake of the UK version. But they messed with the ending. They made the ending so bad, I wanted to throw my TV out the window. I've never rewatched the show because the ending was just so horrible. I nearly never watched Life on Mars UK for a first time, because US's ending was so gawdawful horrible. But, I did, and discovered the UK version was done right, without using models from casting as the leads, and I enjoy the UK version fairly regularly.

But man, the ending to LoMUS was just unspeakably bad.

Nowadays shows like this would probably work better as a Netflix show, where all the episodes of a season are dropped on the same day.