Where the frak is GALACTICA S3? (1 Viewer)

[Ted Todorov]

According to DVD Times UK S3 will be out in the UK on Sept. 3. What the frell...I mean frak? Where is the R1 release??? What is holding it up?

Speaking of SF expletives -- I noticed frak crept into S3 of Veronica Mars -- any other sightings?

 

[Katherine_K]

The going theory is now sometime between December 3rd when Razor comes out on DVD and the air date for season four in January

 

[joshEH]

Yup...but worry not, as the "Resistance" webisodes have been confirmed for inclusion in the Season 3 DVD set, expanded and uncut, in fact.

Read the article here:

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/batt...odes-5536.aspx

There was so much material shot that they're effectively putting them all together as one single episode -- it's going to be designated "Episode Zero" of S3 on the DVD episode playlist.

 

[BillBR]

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7944

Yup, I knew this was gonna happen. I been sayin' it!
The third season will not only NOT be released on DVD before Razor airs, it won't be released before Razor itself is on DVD!!!

And yes, I realize the whole point of Razor was a fast DVD turnaround, but come on. How stupid is it to have a DVD release that chronologically jumps forward from the last DVD release? Why not release S3 and Razor on the same day, in a super collector's 2 pack?

But most of all, why the heck are we getting press releases about choosing Razor's cover art when there is still no official word about S3? Universal, are you trying to drive me to downloading!!?? (Notice I didn't say illegal downloading)

 

[TravisR]

They're doing it that way so the S3 DVD release and the S4 premiere cross promote each other. The movie running on TV is its own commercial for the DVD release (since the release is only a week later).

The majority of fans have seen S3 so it's not really all that odd to release the movie before the S3 DVDs. That way, they have a BSG release for the holidays and they still can sell the S3 DVDs in conjunction with the S4 premiere.

 

[Katherine_K]

Razor doesn't take place after season three. It takes place in flashbacks with the bracketing story taking place during the New Caprica period between seasons 2 and 3. So if you are looking for a chronological arguement... it's the right release order.

 

[BillBR]

Okay, all I'm really getting at is that it seems strange that Universal has not yet made an official announcement about when S3 will be released. Does the S4 premiere have an airdate yet? Because that will, as Travis said, be the date that Universal plans to release around. However, and this is a big however, it would be terrible of them to release S3 on the same day or the week before the S4 premiere. What most currently running tv shows are doing are releasing the season sets about a month before the premiere date so people can get caught up. If the S4 premiere has a date, we should have a S3 DVD date. The continual lack of word is what disturbs me.

And in response to Katherine, Razor will most likely be in the right chronological order to the series as Episodes I-III were to Star Wars and Fire Walk With Me was to Twin Peaks. Any and all S3 spoilers are fair game for Razor, so it is not likely I can watch it first unscathed. Heck, just from reading the recent Dynamite comic book series I know some stuff about the Cylon Basestars that I shouldn't yet. I am deliberately staying off message boards and not reading magazine articles to save me from spoilers, and the longer I have to wait, the more annoying it is.

 

[Aryn Leroux]

Sure you would like to know the release date for S3. But, it really is nothing to get concerned about, it's not like you don't know if it will be released or not. It's coming so just have a little patience. I love the show to!

 

[Will_B]

This is asinine! The people who buy the show on DVD are the people who don't have cable!!! (I appreciate that there are also some folks -- perhaps a majority* -- who already saw the show on cable and want the DVDs as souvenirs).

By delaying the DVD release of Season 3 of Battlestar until Spring of 2008, they're all but ensuring that a percentage of people will lose interest. It will be, what, a year or longer between the release of the last season on DVD? How can they expect fans to wait that long?

I’ve been really patient. Seems like everyone else has already watched downloads of season 3, but for many months I’ve told myself "just wait until the Fall, season 3 will be on DVD, do the right thing, wait for the DVDs". And I succeeded in being patient. But there are limits. As Baltar once said:

"There are limits. To the human body, to the human mind. Tolerances that you can't push beyond. Well, those are facts. Provable facts! Everybody has their limit."

And I've reached mine.

Why would they sabotage the DVDs like this?

This doesn't help Galactica at all. It means lower sales of Season 3. It would have sold great for Christmas.

(And on a related note, as everyone has noted already, the tv movie "Razor" can't be watched until after you watch Season 3, so that doesn't serve as a holdover at all!)


*I added the words "perhaps a majority" on 2007.09.20. Honestly we do not know the proportions of how many of the DVDs go to people who also watch the show as it airs, and how many go to people who watch it when it is released.

 

[florence franks]

Plus folks are stating something that they are going delay half eps for season four for a full year as well I may as well just wash my hands of this. I check back in few years then when everything is said and done, watch it on digital distribution or whatever they have then if they are going treat fans like this.

 

[TravisR]

I would imagine that most people who buy this series have already seen it. Especially a sci-fi show where the fanbase is much more rabid and want to own and rewatch the show.

 

[Chris Roberts]

Just a quick note for multi-region folks like myself. Season 3 of Galactica is in stock at Amazon.co.uk.

 

[BillBR]

See below...sorry.

 

[BillBR]

TravisR, I would agree/argue that the majority of people buying the show on DVD are big fans and have already seen the show on cable or otherwise. However, I think Will_B and I have a point that there is also a large number of people who for one reason or another only watch the show on DVD, and the continual lack of word about a release is that much more infuriating to us. I don't watch the show on cable simply because I don't have cable...I literally own a small television and a pair of rabbit ear antennae. This is because I am a struggling actor in NYC who is being financially supported by temp work and my parents, and would much rather spend any money I get on DVDs then a large cable bill that I would use only to watch one show. So any arguement of "watch it on demand" or "watch it in reruns" is moot.
But, as florence franks mentions in his last post, the Sci Fi Channel execs seem to be the ones primarily responsible for much of this excellent series' mishandling. As he says, it has just been announced that Sci Fi is most likely going to split season 4 into two parts, in January 2008 with 8 episodes and then January 2009 with the final ten. This is one of the most absurd and audience insulting decisions a network has made, and is totally in step with the way the Sci Fi execs do business with their viewers. I was a huge fan of the channel in its early days, up until about 2002. Their programming was, if not top notch, then consistently enjoyable, showing many classic 70s/80s sci fi and horror shows in addition to lots of other great stuff. They were a young and experimental channel, and even though their early attempts at original programming were often failures ("Mission Critical" anyone? Anyone?), there were still shows like "Exposure" (the short film showcase) that had a lot of integrity. Then, of course, came "Farscape": the last great work of the old Sci Fi Channel. But during Farscape's third season, the regime began to change, and the show began to be incredibly mishandled. Seeing that the show had a huge and rabid fanbase, Sci Fi pandered to it, releasing a statement that the show had been renewed for two seasons instead of just one. Then, wanting to milk all they could out of such large (for them) critical and audience acclaim, they held back the final 4 episodes of season 3 for eight months. 4 episodes. 8 months. After that, the audience dwindled, the expense needed to finance the show became unjustifiable, and the show was cancelled. (The ending miniseries, "The Peacekeeper Wars", came about entirely due to the efforts of Brian Henson and the Jim Henson Company, and had nothing to do with Sci Fi).
Notice a pattern? Sci Fi is doing the exact same thing to Galactica here. In fact, and this is just speculation, I'll bet Ron Moore and David Eick were offered a similar "two season" contract. (Remember how it was announced by Edward James Olmos that S4 would be the last, followed by a hasty denial of that statement by Eick?) However, Eick and Moore cared about their show too much to let Sci Fi spread 2 seasons out over 4 years, knowing that the possibilty of losing audience members was great and the probability of cancellation before the series was able to finish was certain. Again, none of that is officially true, but I would be willing to bet on it.
Simply because, in my case, losing an audience member has already happened. I was seriously considering asking my parents to give me cable for Christmas so I could watch S4 as it aired, and now with this new announcement I have no intention of doing so.
I appreciate the fact that all my posts in this thread may make folks think of me as some impatient whiner. I apologize for this post being so long, but I am trying to explain my position: if all I was was impatient to see S3, I'd keep it to myself. I am merely voicing my frustration at how poorly the fans are being treated. If a release date had been set/announced for the S3 DVD, I would easily shut up and be patient. Instead, all we've gotten is the chance to vote on Razor cover art and the release announcement of the almost universally reviled Galactica 1980. Not even a "announcement soon" or "we're working on it" word about the S3 DVD. It is, in a word, pathetic.

 

[Ted Todorov]

OK, I'm totally confused. When is the R1 S3 DVD set coming out -- January 2008 or "Spring 2008"? Anyone know anything more concrete?

And yes, I am one of the many who watch Galactica on DVD only and are very upset by the delay. There are more of us than you think.

Ted

 

[BillBR]

To try and clear up confusion, here is the link to the article about the plan to split up the airing of S4:

http://www.tvweek.com/blogs/james-hi...igh_battle.php

Ted, what Will said about the release of R1 S3 being in the spring of 2008 was just speculation and conjecture by him, because, as I have pointed out numerous times, any official date or timeframe has yet to be announced. Hopefully that helps.

 

[Jason_V]

Not entirely. TVGuide.com reported spring 2008 yesterday morning. Now, where they got their information, I have no idea.

 

[Ted Todorov]

So if DVD is released in Spring of '08 it will be after the start of S4?!? This is making less sense by the minute. I may just end up buying the UK DVDs...

 

[TravisR]

Yeah, there's definitely people who wait to see the show on DVD (for a myriad of reasons) but Will's post made it sound like the majority of people buying the DVDs are people who have never seen it.

 

[Will_B]

I may have been exaggerating what percentage of people who buy the seasons of Galactica on DVD do not have cable. My guess is that it is more than 50%, but that is only speculation.

I could not find actual sales figures for the DVDs (maybe they're confidential) to compare to the low Neilsen ratings -- but many news articles describe the DVD sales as exceptional and higher than expected given the low ratings for the actual broadcasts.

As Ted said, there are more of us than you think. And we'll be checking the exchange rate with England if the US distributor doesn't hurry the f'up.