What's the biggest factor in TV DVD production speeds??

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William Smith

CAGiversary!
I mean all 9 X Files seasons came out at light speed... and yet some shows like Green Acres (which I like a lot) have taken 1 year and 2 months from season to season. Columbo which I love only took a couple of months to go from Season One to Season Two, while All in the Family, which won tons of Emmys is taking FOREVER to come up with Season 4. Do you think sales have anything to do with it??? Or is it a "production company" whim?
 
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Think about it from a money standpoint. You only put out whats hot, and it takes time to transfer older shows to the format.
 
Think about it. Read my post, your response is meaningless. The speeds are all over the map from Emmy winning shows with slow speeds to forgotten shows at light speeds.
 
umm money. dwsscs's post was right on. There may be a big demand for S1 and S2, but if S3 is slow, then S4 goes to the bottom of the pile.
 
Obviously the people responding do not buy much TV DVD. I suppose it's easier to lay a blanket popularity or hot factor but that goes against the reality of the situation. I see trends that absolutely defy any reason or popularity factors. *sigh*
 
There isnt just one reason. Sometimes its in the cost of producing it, sometimes its different licensing, sometimes the company just has a glut of titles to get out. I think FOX is really the only company on the ball as far as this goes.
 
Music license fees/negotiations.
Royalty licensing costs.
Syndication contracts.
Production schedules.
Estimated demand.
Deciding/finding/arranging extra content.
Upcoming competition.
Whims of Executives.
Not wanting to 'oversaturate' the market.

All/any of the above.
 
[quote name='dtcarson']Music license fees/negotiations.
[/quote]

Note that In Living Color and The Chappelle show, among others, are devoid of the musical guests. That kind of stuff depends on contracts with the show, which apparently only SNL is smart enough to do.
 
I don't think popularity of the show is the overriding factor in DVD releases - it's deciding whether or not the fan base is fanatical enough to purchase them. I think that's why widely popular shows like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Bonanza don't have DVD releases - while they may have been popular in prime-time and then syndication, the clamor for their release on DVD has been minimal. Look at the Mary Tyler Moore first season DVD sales as a key example of a popular series that didn't translate to DVD purchases. Yet shows that found no audience when they first aired - like Sledge Hammer, Buck Rogers - have a cult following that will purchase DVDs.
 
[quote name='Wshakspear'][quote name='dtcarson']Music license fees/negotiations.
[/quote]

Note that In Living Color and The Chappelle show, among others, are devoid of the musical guests. [/quote]

And the episodes are much better as a result.
 
[quote name='Spruce'][quote name='Wshakspear'][quote name='dtcarson']Music license fees/negotiations.
[/quote]

Note that In Living Color and The Chappelle show, among others, are devoid of the musical guests. [/quote]

And the episodes are much better as a result.[/quote]
Hey, i wanted that Jurrasic 5 Performance on DVD. Of course that stems from my JGR addiction...
 
[quote name='Wshakspear'][quote name='Spruce'][quote name='Wshakspear'][quote name='dtcarson']Music license fees/negotiations.
[/quote]

Note that In Living Color and The Chappelle show, among others, are devoid of the musical guests. [/quote]

And the episodes are much better as a result.[/quote]
Hey, i wanted that Jurrasic 5 Performance on DVD. Of course that stems from my JGR addiction...[/quote]

I'll admit on occasion he has some good performers on but 9 times out of 10 you've just finished watching a great sketch and he's all "Stay right there for more Chapelle's Show." Then it comes back on to some performer I have no interest in seeing. I guess my beef is he tries to hook you in making you think there's more funny at the end of the commercials. He oughta say "We'll be right back with (insert rapper's name here)."
 
MADTV did that too....I guess the Musical Guest is a staple of SNL, but I didn't like when Mad TV started having them. Unless they were actually sketches, or the music fitted the show--I loved Corky and the Juice Pigs.
 
[quote name='dtcarson']Music license fees/negotiations.
Royalty licensing costs.
Syndication contracts.
Production schedules.
Estimated demand.
Deciding/finding/arranging extra content.
Upcoming competition.
Whims of Executives.
Not wanting to 'oversaturate' the market.

All/any of the above.[/quote]

Each of these is correct. And music license fees include all music in a show. That 70's Show has a major headache to deal with when it comes to music (since all of it is from the 70s).
 
Bonanza is out on DVD. i think it was one of the first tv shows to be put on DVD, in those cheap cd case-type boxes.

On another note, anyone else purchase Quantum Leap season 2 and find that there isnt one bit of special features even though the box says there should be. Anyone have an idea ofhow i can complaing to the company? I already emailed them and the only response i got was "thank you for your purchase."
 
[quote name='sman113']On another note, anyone else purchase Quantum Leap season 2 and find that there isnt one bit of special features even though the box says there should be. Anyone have an idea ofhow i can complaing to the company? I already emailed them and the only response i got was "thank you for your purchase."[/quote]

Universal really effed up with that release. If you look at the Amazon reviews, I'm pretty sure everyone who purchased that set complained to Universal about their music butchering and lame DVD set production. I hope they're listening to those complaints and taking that into account before the next season.
 
[quote name='judyjudyjudy']Universal really effed up with that release. If you look at the Amazon reviews, I'm pretty sure everyone who purchased that set complained to Universal about their music butchering and lame DVD set production. I hope they're listening to those complaints and taking that into account before the next season.[/quote]

Thanks for the heads up on that.... they just lost my sale because of it too. [-X
 
I know for 24 they seem to try to release the DVD's about a month before the next season starts....thus why this year they came out in december in the us....they uk had them for months before we did.
 
[quote name='dtcarson']Music license fees/negotiations.
Royalty licensing costs.
Syndication contracts.
Production schedules.
Estimated demand.
Deciding/finding/arranging extra content.
Upcoming competition.
Whims of Executives.
Not wanting to 'oversaturate' the market.

All/any of the above.[/quote]

I would imagine all of the above also is required to get it on the air, so it's just more of the same for DVD.

I personally think it's the fanbase and how well the DVd sells.
 
[quote name='beerguy961'][quote name='dtcarson']Music license fees/negotiations.
Royalty licensing costs.
Syndication contracts.
Production schedules.
Estimated demand.
Deciding/finding/arranging extra content.
Upcoming competition.
Whims of Executives.
Not wanting to 'oversaturate' the market.

All/any of the above.[/quote]

Each of these is correct. And music license fees include all music in a show. That 70's Show has a major headache to deal with when it comes to music (since all of it is from the 70s).[/quote]

They had problems with music licensing before they broadcast the first episode. THe show went through several name changes, all of them drawn from well known 70's song. The working name of the series was 'THat 70's Show' because they didn't know it would end up being. For a while it was 'Feeling All Right' but the cost was too great, especially since this was an unknown as opposed to the major success it is now.

Eventually they just gave up, called it 'That 70's Show' and commisioned an original song in the desired style.
 
Availability of media properties in new formats is always a minefield. Sometimes it can come down to a single individual holding out for a better deal or leverage in a seemingly unrelated negotiation. For example, the way in which the release of 'Army of Darkness' was held up for many months because it was a pawn in the battle over the rights to 'Red Dragon.' The popularity of the Hannibal Lector character made the novel a suddenly hot property but it had alread been made into a movie almost nobody saw (Manhunter, with Chris Elliott in a rare serious role) and the rights were still tied up by De Laurentis.

For very old TV properties it doesn't matter if they were ratings leaders and showered with awards in their day. The critical question is whether there is a perceived substantial audience for the material on DVD. My 76 year old mother was a huge fan of the Mary Tyler Moore Show and we naturally got her the Season 1 box set when it appeared. But if it weren't for her children she might never buy herself a DVD player and still has trouble operating one. She isn't mentally deficient but a lot of things people my age and younger take for granted are terribly complicated for much of her generation.

So it isn't any mystery that the 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' sets do a great business while shows with a primary demographic in the age group least likely to own a DVD player must proceed more cautiously. They won't commit to a Season 2 set until the Season set proves there is a market.

One thing that doesn't help is many of the shows in question have been in syndication longer than many of the users here have been alive. For many of us there isn't any interest in these shows because we can no longer stand the sight of them.

Availability of some shows is also a problem. If you had told the head of NBC that repeats of talk shows like Letterman were doing a decent syndication business over a decade after their original broadcst, he'd think you were insane. The talk show was considered the most ephemeral of TV material. Thus most of Johhny Carson's first ten years doing the 'The Tonight Show' no longer exists except as memories. All of the musical performances, all of the stand-up comics making their first TV appearance, all gone.
 
I gave season 1 a pass for Quantum Leap. At least they had a short making-of and they sat down with Scott Bakula and had him do intros to each episode. But Season 2 has nothing! And what pisses me off even worse is that the box specifically says there is bonus content on the last disc (at least mine does), and there is nothing there! I have emailed a few DVD sites about this, but none have answered it.
 
[quote name='sman113']I gave season 1 a pass for Quantum Leap. At least they had a short making-of and they sat down with Scott Bakula and had him do intros to each episode. But Season 2 has nothing! And what pisses me off even worse is that the box specifically says there is bonus content on the last disc (at least mine does), and there is nothing there! I have emailed a few DVD sites about this, but none have answered it.[/quote]

Emailed them about what? There's no bonus content. The packaging says there is, but there isn't. Season 2 was obviously a rush job. Like I said before, if you look at the Amazon reviews, everyone else has the same complaint, along with the fact they didn't get some of the licenses to crucial music.

I loved the show, but I'm hoping to get this set used cheaper at some point.
 
[quote name='William Smith']Think about it. Read my post, your response is meaningless. The speeds are all over the map from Emmy winning shows with slow speeds to forgotten shows at light speeds.[/quote]

I wasn't trying to insult you(seriously). I was just saying to think about the money end of things (it rules all things). Yeah there are a lot of other factors, but money is the main one.

A emmy winning show doesn't mean it will make it to DVD fast, you have age of show, trends (dramas, comedies), current crossovers (Think Fat Albert Movie, the DVD of the shows will be out soon), or star power (if a certain star is hot, why not dig up his old TV shows). Not to forget if someone owns the rights to a show and needs money, they may pony it up cheap to get a quick buck.

Truth be told we don't know what the real reason behind it , but $ is the root of Hollywood (and they pretty much control what we watch).
 
I just want to say that everyone has valid pertinent information on the matter. You really can't pin point the reason why this set is made but this one isn't or why this show had its first season released but not the rest. The only thing that I wonder is why do the Simpsons dvds take so long to come out. I know I have read reports that it is because the creators of the series are very busy and want to load up the dvds with as much as they can (i.e. commentary,etc) and they just don't have the time. I have also read an interview with the creators (I think it was from IGn a while back) that also says this. Now the Simpsons dvd sets I know sell a lot and are some of the most widely wanted sets to come out so why don't they hurry up with these. I don't think it is an issue of money or the fanbase not wanting it so why have they take so long?
 
[quote name='hiccupleftovers']I just want to say that everyone has valid pertinent information on the matter. You really can't pin point the reason why this set is made but this one isn't or why this show had its first season released but not the rest. The only thing that I wonder is why do the Simpsons dvds take so long to come out. I know I have read reports that it is because the creators of the series are very busy and want to load up the dvds with as much as they can (i.e. commentary,etc) and they just don't have the time. I have also read an interview with the creators (I think it was from IGn a while back) that also says this. Now the Simpsons dvd sets I know sell a lot and are some of the most widely wanted sets to come out so why don't they hurry up with these. I don't think it is an issue of money or the fanbase not wanting it so why have they take so long?[/quote]

They seem to take about a year each. I figure this way they wont hit that point of people waiting for the DVD instead of watching the show because the DVD set will be out within a few months. Of course, thats what i go through with Comics and collected editions :)

And yeah, they do a damn good job of them, and do commentary on EVERY episode. Most of which actually have info!
 
simpsons goes slowly, because to a certain extent dvd seasons invalidate syndication. gotta get as much $$$ as possible. Shows that are still on the air like 24 and Alias release the way they do to build up fanbase for new seasons, since they aren't syndicated. Older shows like all in the family have their DVD sales monitored very closely, and they are timed to release with other genre or period shows, like Sanford & Son. So, yeah, lots of factors. But at least things are picking up steam now that they've found a price range that consumers seem to be happy with (anyone remember Xena S1 for $100 a couple of years ago?)
 
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