Why didn't Warner do this? (1 Viewer)

[bmasters9]

As it has been said in a previous thread concerning the lack of sales for the first season's worth of "KL," Warner Bros. put trailers for "Dallas" on "Knots," but did not do the latter-- i.e. put trailers for "Knots" on "Dallas." Now, considering that "Dallas" would be the flaming-hot DVD product that it is (it's almost to the #9 release) because it had a number of classic moments-- the foremost of which is "Who Shot J.R."-- why didn't Warner Bros. include trailer ads that attempted to sell viewers of the hot product-- that being "Dallas"-- on a series that, it has been said, was the original "Desperate Housewives" before "DH" ever came into fruition, instead of trying to sell "KL" viewers on the series that it came from, that being "Dallas"?

 

[Ethan Riley]

I don't think what killed Knots was a lack of promotion; I think it was because they should have put the first two seasons on that set, like Dallas did. At this point in time it's been so long that they should probably do the smart thing and rerelease it intact and on blu-ray. It's time to move forward with these suspended tv shows, and not look back. I have a funny feeling the industry has learned its lessons and won't make those same mistakes going forward with the new format.

 

[MatthewA]

Considering that Knots Landing is practically DOA on DVD, I assume Warner will blame the show itself for its poor sales. But if they did miraculously do a Blu-Ray, what route would they take:

—14 seasons remastered in HD (OAR, I hope)
—Remastered in HD up to the switch to tape-based post production? (Late 1985 in the case of Knots Landing)
—throw existing SD masters onto as few discs as possible (I heard Pioneer was working on a 400 GB disc)

Considering that Warner has some really high in-house telecine costs, and that later seasons would involve not only remastering but recreating EDLs and credits (unless the negatives were conformed to the edits, then only the credits would have to be recreated), I can't see them doing this any time soon.

It's all academic, but at this point I'd settle for getting the rest of the show on DVD.

 

[bmasters9]

You're probably right about combining the first two seasons into one set. That is, I think, the major reason why "Dallas" is the hot seller that it has been through 8 seasons and into #9. "KL"'s first season's worth had only 13 outings, and, like you said, if they had combined that with the second season's worth (which is famous as the season that brought forth the character of Abby Fairgate Cunningham Ewing Sumner), it probably would have sold more. A lot of series that have combined two seasons into one set ("Dallas" and "Moonlighting," for examples) have done pretty well, it seems. That said, thanks for your response.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Oh yeah--I love when they put those mini-seasons with season two. When Dallas set one came out, it just seemed like a great bargain. Of course people bought it. And I think Matthew's 400gb discs are the wave of the future in terms of tv-on-dvd. Think of the space-saving aspect of that. That's the greatest selling point of all. Those discs are gonna be expensive, but it'll be worth it if they can get 20 episodes onto one disc, (or whatever they'll be like). Then maybe we can get some daytime soaps on dvd, as well. Passions would be high on my list...

 

[JohnMor]

Yep. I loved Knots and I wouldn't buy that first release. (I would have if it had S2 with it, as did Dallas.) Frankly, it took a while to reach it's zenith and WB really should have included S2 to help kick off the KL series. KL (and dramas in general) changed, and I just don't think S1 was good enough to hook new people and a lot of fans (like me) didn't want to spend $ for that season alone.

 

[MatthewA]

That's if they get it working and if it is compatible with current players. I don't know what the replication situation is with 50GB discs, let alone these if they come to fruition. Here's where I got the info: Blu-ray.com - Pioneer Reveals 400GB Blu-ray Disc

But for daytime shows other than Dark Shadows, those are a little more dicey. For stuff that still exists, if, for example, Sony decided to release all 35 years of The Young and the Restless on as few BDs as possible, who would watch them all?