To the studios: STOP HOLDING TV ON DVD HOSTAGE! (1 Viewer)

[MatthewA]

The biggest mistake the FCC made, besides existing, was relaxing the amount of commercials allowed in prime-time.

I also believe the new HD discs have stretched studios' resources, and TV is getting the short end of the stick. It always got the short end of the stick, but now it's glaringly obvious.

 

[Regulus]

It wasn't all the FCC's Fault. In the Early 1980s The Supreme Court Ruled that the National Association of Broadcasters "Television Code" (Which "Suggested" that the number of Commercials be limited to Nine Minutes per Hour) was "Unconstitutional". Within weeks not only did the number of Commercials increase (To about 12 Minutes per Hour) but we saw the Beginning of Program-Length Commercials (A.K.A. "Infomercials") which have TOTALLY RUINED Late-Night and Early Morning Television! Now in the last 5 Years I have seen the Number of Commercials go from 12 Minutes per Hour to 20 Minutes per Hour! As the Number of Commercials Increase their Quality also Decreased! I cannot figure why, for the love of Heaven, must someone believe that Insulting my Intelligence is the best way to sell their Product! (In fact, if someone puts out an Ad I find offensive, it will be a Cold Day in H-E-(Double Hockey Sticks) before I Patronise them!

 

[brett tolino]

This is a prime example of what I'm talking about. The reason for this show not being released is nothing more than the simple greed and pig-headedness of the studios. Fox and Warners are each claiming 'rights'! yet the two studios are doing NOTHING to get this long demanded show on dvd.

The Adam West Batman is a show that would sell so much, BOTH studios would profit if they would just come to ANY agreement. People have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this for years but do the studios care about the people waiting? Nope. They only care about their 'rights' and how much they are 'entitled' to make off the show.

Well, newsflash: Everyone is suffering because of the studios inept-ness. Consumers who don't get it released and the studios, who in their greed won't come to an agreement, now have nothing.

So while the studios sit on their collective butts doing nothing to help the consumers who want it, maybe those consumers are tired of waiting and will go elsewhere.

Also, someone mentioned Baa Baa Black Sheep and Knots. I didn't even know Baa Baa Black Sheep was out and I'm an enthusiast. Real good promoting there. And don't even get me started on Warners Knots debacle: 39.99 for 13 episodes over 5 disks was just a waste. They could have put those 13 episodes over two disks and charged cheaper or packaged Season 1 & 2 together since everyone knows, the 1st season of Knots blew big time, that's why Donna Mills, Bill Devane and Kevin Dobson were added to the cast in Seasons 3 & 4. You want the series to sell? Manufacture cost effectively and get the seasons out that people WANT! Don't put out a series that was failing in the first season because it wasn't very good then charge a high price. That's common sense 101.

 

[brett tolino]

You know what's funny Matt, again, I'm an enthusiast and I had no idea Facts of Life Season 3 was out.

 

[brett tolino]

Absolutely Matt and that was the point of my original post. Studios do little for the older shows dvds in terms of extras, charge a high price which then leaves little incentive for people to buy (those who know its out). Then, for the average joes, they have no idea the product is out because the studio did little to no promotion to let them KNOW its out, then the studios state, 'Well, it didn't perform to expectations so no plans for season X'

Many, many people I know are beginning to say: 'Well, its not my fault it didn't sell so why should I suffer? You're not going to release Season X? I'll go elsewhere. Really, I would love to buy it from YOU (studio) but you're not releasing it so you leave me with no choice.

And the thing is, when I heard Warner wasn't releasing Knots, I did a little research and found, getting the entire series isn't all that difficult. And that doesn't mean always going to a bootleg site (although that is becoming the option for most). Fan sites are all over the place. All you have to do is connect with them and many fans are more than willing to share.

 

[Corey3rd]

I've yet to see a baseball game where they cut away in the middle of an inning to run an ad. They go to ads during pitcher changes during an inning. But after the second ad? Who was running this game? I enjoy the drama shows on HBO and Showtime. Which are run without any pesky breaks.

Cutting the cable is going to have zero impact on the industry. Unless you can get 100 million homes to go back to their rabbit ears, they don't care. a 100,000 people cut their cable, they don't care. These channels deal in niche ratings anyhow.

30 years ago, a channel could get away with showing old black and white shows and pull in OK ratings. But the game has changed. Instead of running a low cost syndicated show at odd hours, your local channel would rather run an infomercial. They'd rather get a judge show for free. They just expand the news. Does anyone in TV programming care about entertaining or just keeping the bean counters happy? The networks would rather just run more reality crud that would barely qualify filler on a local telethon than develop talent. Do we really need two shows featuring people trying to remember lyrics as they sing off-key?

The whole business of TV shows on DVD is Syndication For One. The studios know that the days of being able to book Honeymooners and That Girl on your local ABC channel are dead. But they're hoping just enough fans of the show are willing to pay for the experience of watching the shows. You are the person responsible for programming your TV. Of course if not enough of you desire a show, it just isn't worth their effort to transfer the show, master the DVDs, design the boxes and finally ship them out.

Perhaps the biggest hope for shows that don't have the major following is not downloading them off iTunes, but the various studios setting up internet only stations that can be delivered to your TV - think of Universal's Sleuth and Chiller channels. This way they can run the shows without having to redo all the music rights.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I would hope also that the appearance of classic tv shows on tv helps to preserve those shows for future generations. Because believe me--the broadcast tv landscape is a very bleak thing. I was born in 1965 and yet was introduced, in my childhood, to all kinds of shows that had been broadcast before I was born. Now the only one that seems to still run is Lucy. Today's kids are getting almost no classic tv (except Lucy, still). All today's kids get are feeble-minded cartoons and shows about rebuilding your home. That's...about...it.

Tv on dvd has the potential to reach all those kids and introduce them to quality television at its best. I recently put on a dvd of "H.R. Pufnstuf" for my three-year-old niece; she was bouncing off the walls she loved it so much. And yet--where else was she ever going to see it unless somebody went out and bought it for her? Again--broadcast tv sucks big time, and I suppose it's up to consumers to take control of their tvs and show what should be shown. Can't leave up it to the programmers anymore. You can't even flip channels in the middle of the night; hoping to find old movies. All they have is stupid infomercials about hair loss tonics and secret ways of making 100K per month. That's not tv; that's bullshit. Dvd is the way to go. Only--we need the product. Every classic release that comes out is a major victory, in my book.

 

[Corey3rd]

The death of HR Pufnstuf can be blamed on all those morons that wanted to clean up Children's Television. They want all that Informational and Educational programming for kids. But amazingly enough, all this "smart" TV is cranking out packs of morons. My friend's kids are hooked on Pufnstuf and Lancelot Link and the Banana Splits. And let's face the simple fact - it's better for kids because they don't sell Pufnstuf stuff at Target. Your kids want to have Pufnstuf stuff, they better learn to be crafty instead of just coming down with a case of the Gimmes

But the same is true about Disney Channel. They dumped all the vintage Vault Disney programming. But at least a lot of it is popping up on DVD.

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

This has been brought up in this thread but I want to say it again. It is extremely frustrating when the first season or maybe a few more are started and than just abandoned. Everyday I go to TV Shows On DVD saying to myself, today more Cheers, Leave It To Beaver, Growing Pains, etc. will be announced. It is hard sometimes for me to be excited that a new show will be released when I am thinking, will it go beyond the first season. I have basically just been buying shows that are complete at this point.

I was wondering if studios could start selling them directly like how they did with Get Smart. That way they would produce the amount that were ordered. I don't know if that would work but anything to get some of my favorite shows finished would be great.

 

[MatthewA]

If even Cheers has trouble getting to the end, we know things need to change.

I agree with what everyone has said about TV. It is truly pitiful.


We have the one-two punch of groups like Action for Children's Television and Parents' Television Council and religious groups to thank for watering down kids' TV. Even Sesame Street has slid downhill largely in part due to "all Elmo, all the time," which makes me wonder about the credibility of the supposed educational experts they use. It was them who got Bugs Bunny bowdlerized as well.

The educational system in this country has huge problems of its own to begin with, even those that get enough money. But I don't want to derail this thread.

 

[David Levine]

That change would have to be with the consumers because the later seasons of Cheers have sold pretty horribly.

 

[MatthewA]

Considering the crummy way it's been treated in relation to its importance and popularity, not to mention ZERO ads, no wonder they sold horribly.

WB foolishly tried to sell Knots Landing as a 1980s proto-Desperate Housewives, a rather desperate move. Why not tie it in with, say, gee I don't know, Dallas, the show off of which it was spun?

 

[JohnMor]

KL actually had very little in common with Dallas. Completely different in tone and character development. The (mercifully) few crossover episodes were among the worst of either series, especially Knots.

KL is much more akin to Desperate Housewives, although I hate trying to tie an older show into a current show. It does smack of desperation, as you said.

 

[tjguitar85]

This doesn't really fly with me---what gives you the right to own said property? Maybe you are giving the STUDIOS no choice, but to not bother with titles because they get pirated so easily?

You can do what you want with bootlegs, but its still 100% illegal (even if money's not involved, yes trading is illegal too.) and you can't really justify that it's O.K. "just cause they won't release what I want." I guess you can but I'm speaking about laws here, not ethics/morals.


As far as e-mailing when stuff is released, DUH!!! You'd think this isn't rocket science. I am so excited when I get an email from TVShowsonDVD regarding one of the shows I said I would buy has news. Especially when I wasn't expecting it. Especially when said news is about an impending release. I check the website practically every day, but its still fun to get those e-mails.


On the flip side, I signed up for BCI's Ink & Paint DVD "Newsletter" mailing list and they never even bother to ever send anything out. Not even the generic press releases.

 

[HenryDuBrow]

What I find especially irritating with TV shows on DVD, is the lack of subtitles. AFAIK, only Universal and Fox now have subs on their TV releases, all other major studios have abandoned it which seems idiotic, to say the least. Why are TV releases being treated differently than movies?

 

[Heathen]

God! I know what you mean... It also makes matters so much worse because the damn studios are blasting the background music so loud that you can't tell what the characters are saying when they speak. Background music should be just that... IN THE BACKGROUND, and used to enhance the mood of the scene, not to overwhelm and drown out the action and dialog going on. Fox's 24 is the worst, but there are SEVERAL other recent high profile TV shows that are also guilty, such as CSI, etc...

 

[HenryDuBrow]

There are many deaf and HOH people in America, it's not fair to exclude so many people. I'm not one myself, but I'd still like there to be subs that may come handy. This fact leaves a lot of people wanting it. It also renders a release somewhat 'incomplete' and gives it a certain 'cheapness', when subs are left out. At least the big studios should provide this service, smaller companies may be excused.

 

[TravisR]

You might want to check your speaker set up because I've never noticed that on 24 before. And it was nominated for the Sound Mixing Emmy five years straight and it won in 2005.

 

[Jonathan Peterson]

Yeah but Paramount is pretty good about completing a series. They zipped through Hogan's Heroes and I would question if the later seasons of it would sell more than Cheers. Besides, they only need to release three more seasons. They can't quit the race now after making it this far.

 

[MatthewA]

Hogan's Heroes has no music issues to speak of and only six seasons, plus they had already been restored and remastered.