Why are they putting out all of these bombs? (1 Viewer)

[Rick P]

Linda Thompson
For what it's worth, this IS available from Columbia House 'TV Greats'. (You can also check NicheFlix for a rental)

 

[Joshua Lane]

I also find it hard to believe that people would actually buy Gigli or Catwoman on DVD, but that certainly didn't stop the studios from releasing them did it?

Say it with me... "to each his own"

 

[Deb Walsh]

One of the things that distinguish both Wonderfalls and Firefly from many other series is the fact that both series had vocal, organized, and incredibly dedicated fans pushing for the DVD releases. Why this hasn't worked for Miracles, Veritas, Birds of Prey, and Witchblade, I don't know, but in the case of Wonderfalls and Firefly, the pressure certainly came from both fans and the production team - Minear and Whedon both really, really wanted those shows released. It would appear that they've been enough of a commercial success to warrant more risks like that - maybe that means that some day some of these other short-run series will see shiny round discs ...

And I liked Ugliest Girl in Town. As well as My Mother the Car, My Living Doll, and Second Hundred Years. I'd buy any one of those in a heartbeat. :>

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Keep 'em coming, Mark - I love it! There's nothing wrong with keeping the drum beating right there in the open for any studio heads to read. The more it can be driven home, the better, IMO.

 

[LizH]

You can see both of THOSE shows in syndication just about ANYTIME.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for "Firefly", "Wonderfalls", or BOP. :frowning:

 

[Mark To]

Wow, Casey disagreeing with one of my posts. That only happens, what, every single time I post something.




Why, are people stupid? I can look at a schedule grid and pretty much tell you any show I watched at a given time from when I was 6. I can remember clearly any show that I liked that I watched on a regular basis, whether it's aired in syndication or not. I haven't really watched Top Cat since I was very small but I'm still buying it when it comes out this week. I will agree that a show's lack of exposure limits it's appeal to younger generations. But what about shows that had a second life, like all of the popular Nick at Nite shows? Why aren't we seeing them? Shows like Donna Reed, Dennis the Menace and My Three Sons, among others, got plenty of run in the 80s.

How about a nice solution? The crowd that thinks Wonderfalls and Firefly and girls' club and Skin are lost classics and I are never going to see eye to eye. So I won't post on the latest POS show to get released and I can do without people jumping down my throat for my views.

 

[Carlos Garcia]

Let's face it...If you are over 40 years of age (like I am), you are a dinosaur as far as the DVD distribution world is concerned. You think studio heads really care that we used to watch classics like the Danny Thomas Show or The Adventures of Superman? This is probably what they think: "Let's see, we have all these old shows, but most people who watched them (over 30 yrs ago) are either retired and living on a fixed income (and don't have money to burn on DVDs), too old to own a DVD player, too old to even care about these shows anymore, or are dead. Since such modern day classics as "The Anna Nicole Smith Show" was just out a few yrs ago, we can release that instead and make a fast buck. After all, it contains lots of T&A and the young working crowd of 18-25 will want to snap them up! Why bother to release an old show when no one will buy them? By the way, it's that same mentality that has flooded the TV market with every crappy reality show imaginable. Why? Because shooting these shows on video is a million times cheaper than hiring real writers to write some fictional stories and then shooting the shows on film. Once these reality shows finish their run, they can immediately put them out on DVD, which is a drop in the bucket in cost, as compared to releasing a real TV show with real stories. Bottom line, today's world belongs to the young. They can have it. Me? I live watching whatever old TV scrap bones the DVD industry decides to throw my way. They may not release the great old shows all at once, or even bother to restore the picture quality, but if you dig deep, and look everywhere, you may be able to find an old scratchy "Dragnet" DVD here and there every now and then.

 

[Lynda-Marie]

What I would like to point out, and yes, "To each his/her own" applies here as well, is that to some people, yes, the things coming out on DVD now ARE crap.

HOWEVER, once upon a time, when the "classic" shows first came out, even All in the Family was viewed as crap by many people in the day. Those saying "classic" are obviously being heard by the studios, more so than those saying "crap."

What some might view as the TV implosion, in terms of quality, others are viewing as a renaissance, in terms of "cool stuff." I think that those who like things I myself might term "crap" deserve to have their "classics" or "cool stuff" on DVD, just as much I deserve to have my "classics" or "cool stuff" on DVD as well.

To sum it up, if you don't like what is being released on DVD, don't buy it.

 

[Jonathan Carter]

Well, I don't think anyone here is begrudging you your classic DVD releases when and if they come. It's the fact that you seem to bash anything that isn't what you consider to be a classic and complain about it's release while your most requested releases haven't come to fruition yet.
I hope you get all the classic TV on DVD releases you can handle, but please don't rag all over shows that others enjoy just because you don't. It sounds like sour grapes and probably antagonizes a lot of people. That leads to people jumping down your throat real fast.

 

[Matt Stone]

You're right, we won't see eye to eye. Any time you start your argument by calling other people's favorite shows "POS," you're not doing your self any favors.

I don't bitch about the shows you like, please don't bitch about mine.

Quality is in the eye of the beholder. This, coming from a 22 year old that was raised on Nick at Night (Donna Reed, Leave it to Beaver, My Three Sons) and loves Firefly and Wonderfalls.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Well said, Mark I'm sorry if you think I was jumping down your throat. However, I will not change my stance that what you do is not the best way to get your message heard and is a frustration for others to see threads that continually bash more recent shows that people may enjoy simply to further their cause for older shows when it has been reasoned and explained over and over again why companies prefer more recent shows even those not considered popular to older shows some of which haven't been in sindication in years.

You may not like that the companies opporate the way they do but complaining about it once a month in the TV Software forum is not the best way to get your message heard. If you want the studios to hear you why not post in the studio feedback section instead?

That would certainly be a more constructive way to get them to hear your cry for classic TV, as opposed to coming in here to bash the release of a more recent show that you personally don't like.

I love classic TV, and can't wait to unwrap the Andy Griffith show and the Dick Van Dyke Show might be my all time favorite series that doesn't feature a character named Homer Simpson, and I personally never really got in to firefly but I'm certainly not going to start lementing every few months that the release of those shows are slowing up the releases of some of my favorites.

Again, I'm sorry for jumping down your throat, but if I or someone else started starting threads every few days talking about how studios shouldn't waste their time on older shows that bore us to death why do I find it difficult to believe that you wouldn't respond?

 

[Glenn Overholt]

I think everybody is missing something here. Personally, I haven't heard anybody say that Wonderfalls or Firefly was bad. Why? Because everybody thought it was good.

Then why did it get cancelled? Because the ratings were too low. Well duh - if you ask everybody in the US with an IQ of less than 50 they might not ever show up in the ratings.
IMO, the ratings being used today are just plain WRONG. I don't care what kind of sampling Nielson or any other company uses, but they are not getting the whole picture here. It may have worked 50 years ago, but I don't think that it is working today.

Supposedly (well, at least from what I have heard) some families get boxes that record/send out what is being watched. I can see them putting it on one channel, and then going off to another room to watch something else.

They should find a better way. They have to. I would like to get in on the sampling too, even if it was just once in a while. Heck, they could mail out postcards to a million households a week, and just have a few places for putting down yesterday's date, and what was watched. Totally random.

Glenn

 

[JoshuaB.]

I too was raised on 60s and 70s TV like Get Smart, The Fugitive and M*A*S*H (and I'm only 24) and would love to see more vintage TV shows on DVD, but I think DVD is the perfect medium for a lot of the short-lived contemporary shows. Most of the short-lived shows that are out or coming to DVD are programs with small but loyal followings and enjoyed critical accolades.

There are people like me don't have the luxury of watching a lot of TV and sometimes innovative shows like Firefly and Wonderfalls slip past us. While I don't think TV networks give shows much time to find audiences, at least DVD allows for the fans and the curious alike to check out these short-lived treasures. And DVD can help rekindle interest--The Family Guy is coming back to TV and Firefly is coming to the big screen in the Fall of 2005.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

Glenn
This I unquestionably agree with.

 

[RyanAn]

Timeslots. grr. Remember the whole "Women of Wednesday" thing they had... ehhh. I love FOX, they usually produce my favorite shows, but they honestly need to get on track with showcasing their shows.

Ryan

 

[Paul Miller]

I am sorry to tell you, but most people are not as into TV as you are and with time, their memories fade unless the shows really stood out their mind. That doesn't make people stupid, it just makes them selective in what they remember.

A lot of Nick and TV Land shows have found their way to TV already and it is only a matter of time before Donna Reed comes to DVD.

Mark, you need to calm down because all these angry tirads are only causing you to lose support for your cause. If people think there is a market for the older titles, they will eventually be released. Just be patient instead of ranting and raving about "how could so and so be on DVD before so so when it sucked?" If you don't have anything good to say about a show, just skip the thread. You wouldn't want someone trolling one of your favorite shows like Man From Uncle, would you?

Paul

 

[Steve_Smith]

I know that there are MANY older shows that are sitting in the vaults that many here would love to see released, while shows that are short and canceled due to low ratings but are recent come out every other week. I guess I have come to terms with the reality that shows that I love earlier then 1970 (Jack Benny for example) may take forever...if ever. It may not be "fair" but there is hope for older shows to be released...just at a slower rate. Shout! Factory releasing "You Bet Your Life" is a great example that old shows can come out. Think about that.....a talk/game show from 1950's is really selling good enough for a second and maybe a third volume and that comes with restored prints and Lots-o-extras

As much as I want all of Jack Benny released...and released this Tuesday....I am also one that is looking forward to one of those "so-called-bombs" The Lone Gunmen which only showed 8 out of 9 eps (I think)before getting canceled

 

[Mark To]

SACRILEDGE!

All kidding aside, I just have to vent my frustration every so often and these short-run shows are an easy target. The funny thing is, some of these short-run things I kind of liked but I don't see any sign of them being released. American Embassy? Now and Again? Thieves? How about Cupid? Grosse Pointe? Maybe its Me? I know, its mostly SciFi shows that seem to be coming out although I have no idea WTF Wonderfalls is. But then that's another frustration. Yes, SciFi is a popular genre and it does sell. So, where is The Invaders? Or the rest of the Irwin Allen shows. Or The Immortal (the real one with Christopher George). So, yeah, I kind of get a little mad when I see more unpopular new shows instead of popular old ones. When I see short run shows I couldn't stand instead of ones I liked. When I see SciFi but not MY SCIFI. Okay, deep breath. Feel better now. At least until the next release with syndication prints.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Really? Not the ALL IN THE FAMILY that I recall, with its many emmy awards and close to 10 seasons. Maybe some were turned off by its controversial subject matter at times, but this was a great show.

 

[Scott_F_S]

New thread, same ol' subject.