What's coming from Sony in 2008? (1 Viewer)

[David Lambert]

The Jeffersons - Season 7 is NOT coming out in January.

Sorry, but Barney Miller is the only "classic" TV-on-DVD title coming from Sony in January.

 

[Jay_B!]

so I take it 2008 will be another half-assed year for Sony like 2007 was?

Why do they care so much about the format wars? Paramount sure doesn't, neither does any of the other major companies.

 

[Firebee]

Only thing I want from Sony:
Bewitched Seasons 6-8
I Dream Of Jeannie Season 5

I want these as well as the rest of ``Charlie's Angels''

 

[Lutz Koch]

My SONY wish list:
Further seasons of

- Charlie's Angels
- TJ Hooker
- Police Woman
- The Rookies
- Hart to Hart
- Bewitched
- I Dream of Jeannie

 

[Robert13]

Looks that way so far. I thought they would pick things up in the New Year. It really sucks that they won't release more tv-on-dvd.

 

[MatthewA]

The only reason they care about the format "war" is because they invented one of the formats.

They're not releasing much of merit on that format either. And this is coming from a PS3 owner.

 

[David Lambert]

Let's see...they have something like 7 Blu-ray Disc skus coming out in January (a format they invented, and so I'm shocked that it's so little), and 5 TV-on-DVD skus coming out the same month. Sounds pretty close to me.

Of course, those numbers can be misleading. "7" includes both Res. Evil 3 as a stand-alone BD, and the same film included in the R.E. Trilogy box on BD, so the number feels inflated a bit. By the same token, "5" is misleading because 2 of those are different single-disc releases of Cartoon Network's Storm Hawks, and 2 more are separate DVD and BD skus of the same TV title (not yet announced...but soon! )

(oh, and not "classic TV", either.)

 

[brett tolino]

Quoted for the truth.

That's why I have not and will not invest in any more of this Blu Ray, Hi Def stuff coming out from these greedy studios.

They couldn't give a rats @$$ about people, which is why so much tv on dvd product is being held hostage by them. If they can't get off their @$$ to release product on regular dvd due to high profit expectations, whatever makes people think they'll release anything but the big money makers on blu ray or hi def. There's even LESS people with hi def players than there are for regular dvd so the margin has to be that much wider.

And I don't care how great it looks in hi def either. I have a hi def tv, hi def cable box, yadda, yadda, yadda. I don't want to see anything any better than I already can.

As a matter of fact, these studios need to quit while they're ahead as many celebrities might be pretty on regular tv but end up being pretty scary in
hi def.

 

[Jay_B!]

Well, January has become standard as "All In The Family month" for Sony, and they can't even announce that? And then the Jeffersons rumor was dispelled? It's because Sony doesn't care, they finished Seinfeld, so who cares about anything else? I think now that Seinfeld is finished, it's time to devote attention to other shows, not abandon the genre as a whole.

Sony disappointed all around in 2007, outside of Seinfeld and King Of Queens, they didn't really announce anything for the fall schedule, a time when most companies are trying to get as much product out as possible. And now that those two shows are completed, they're not going to try and pick up the pace? Sony has at least 30 shows that are left in mid-air, and at least half of those could merit at least one season in 2008. A few years ago, Sony had something coming every other week, and now we're lucky to get one set per quarter.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Well, I guess Sony is just SO worried about making more money, that they'll end up in a higher tax bracket. Boo hoo for them.

 

[Robert13]

Yeah, I remember when they were releasing more. I wish they would get back to announcing continuing sets every other week.

 

[David Lambert]

I've said it elsewhere, but perhaps it wasn't noticed.

Sony's division for home entertainment had a small shake-up these past few months. To be specific, someone in a key position had a sudden opportunity for a job elsewhere and took it, with apparently very little notice.

As a result, scheduling decisions didn't get made as other people (both up and down the ladder from there) seemingly did not step in and fill the gap, each probably for different reasons.

I'm sure all Sony has to do to correct the problem is fill the position with someone willing and able to step into those shoes. I don't know if that's happened yet, but likely it has. But I think all you're seeing is the resulting gaps in the schedule resulting from the change.

I'm not here to exactly defend Sony, that's not my job. But let's just say I understand the problems that can be caused in a corporation by this kind of circumstance, having gone through it twice in my life. Once with devasting results for that division of the company I worked for, almost shredding it completely. After it was fixed, they company is not only better now, they're absolutely the best in their field and have practically obliterated the competition. I don't know if Sony will rise to that level of result; I guess it's up to them and how they handle this issue.

 

[Jay_B!]

well, thank you for bringing to light the reason why Sony has slacked off so badly lately. Hopefully someone will take charge with the company soon. With all the inner turmoil being mentioned, it's easier to understand. But without that knowledge, it makes people assume the companies have a "well, we've finished Seinfeld, isn't that enough? let's throw in the towel" and have a dart-throwing strategy about what show comes out next.

Hopefully things settle with Sony in 2008 and they wind up with three times the releases we saw in 2007. I just got really impatient hearing how well Facts Of Life sold, and kept waiting and waiting for another announcement that has yet to come.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Harrumph! I will volunteeer for the position. I know what people like and will buy. I know how to get the right number of interesting extras, and how to put out packaging that is appealing, and how to market the dvds so that people know about them and get excited about them.

Of course...no one ever listens to me.

 

[MatthewA]

I'll do the job for FREE just to get these shows out.

 

[Hank Dearborn]

You can't have the job. You're overqualified and you'll make the suits who are above you look bad by being more knowledgeable than they are. Can't let anyone too smart in the door, it's way too threatening.

 

[Derek Miner]

What, what, what?! Where can I find more about this?? I was going to post 'Cupid' myself, since it did well in that poll Sony ran...

 

[Mary_P]

Well, there's a bit about it here:

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news.aspx?id=7462

I've read elsewhere that it'll be re-cast -- a shame, that, but I understand Jeremy Piven's busy elsewhere these days! I hadn't heard about the move from Chicago to LA until I read the above article.

But yes, I'm hoping that the development of the new series, and the original series' high placement in the last Sony poll, means we might see it on DVD sooner rather than later.

 

[Jay_B!]

since Entourage is on HBO, couldn't Piven do both shows? Chris Meloni did OZ and Law And Order: SVU at the same time for three or four years before Oz ended it's run

 

[Matthew H]

Yeah but he's doing movies and stuff now, too. From someone that was basically a nobody (I remember him as the George in the "Jerry" show on Seinfeld), to close to stardom... he's done well for himself.