Best/Worst Studio for TV on DVD?

[FatTony]

Just curious what everyone considers to be the best and worst studios as far as TV product on DVD is concerned and why they are the best/worst.

Best: Probably have to go with Fox for this one. They've consistently delivered quality product over the years and if I'm not mistaken, they were one of the first studios to commit to releasing TV shows on DVD.

Worst: HBO, hands down. Their prices are always way too high for the amount of programming you get, even if the quality is top-shelf. Aside from Mr. Show (which I was a huge fan of before DVD existed), the only other HBO show I own is Oz, and that's only after the DDD sale. $70 should only be a deal on a 24-episode season of hour-long programming, and even THAT is often beat by other studios.

Honorable Mention: While I'm not sure they necessarily constitute a DVD studio, Comedy Central has been putting out quite a bit of quality product recently. From South Park to Chappelle's Show to Reno 911!, they've shown they know what they're doing. And in the case of the latter two, they release their seasons within less than a year of their original airing. Gold star!

[PalmerJoss]

I would have to rank 20'th Century Fox as the best as well. When I look at my collection I see a lot of Fox TV shows that all have been given the deluxe treatment.

Also, I would rank Warner Bros right up there, especially with their releases of Babylon 5, Smallville, Gilmore Girls, etc.

The worst? I would have to go with Sony. They put out shows with little or no extra material, and sometimes the a/v quality is shoddy as well. While I do agree with you about HBO's ridiculous pricing, I would have to rank some of their sets among the best that I have. Remember, Fox also has been putting out the X-Files which are some of the most expensive tv sets out there, and the price has not gone down on them.

[Simpson Purist]

Best - Fox, yeah their X-Files sets are only worth $80 now, but they're still a bit too overpriced (especially seasons 8 and 9, ugh). However, I must give them credit for giving Family Guy a second chance. And their Simpsons sets, while slowly released, cannot be beat.

Worst - Sony indeed, their pricing tends to fluctuate with every release. Also, their video/audio quality leaves a lot to be desired (especially when you cram more than 8 episodes onto a disc).

Honorable Mention - HBO, their prices are extremely high. But they deserve it for their superb treatment on the Band of Brothers DVD. Also, their packaging choices are really creative, if not always successful.

[Falc04]

Best ==> FOX / MGM

WORST ==> PARAMOUNT

Fox get's the nod because of the surplus of TV they put out. MGM get's special mention because of their low prices.

Paramount because they still have a ton of classic TV that show no sign of getting released (Get Smart, The Brady Bunch, etc...) any time soon.

[jough]

Yeah, Fox and Warner are great with DVD season boxed sets.

Paramount is just insane with their pricing. I would own all of the Star Trek sets by now, but I'm holding off because they're all way way too expensive.

Seasons of 24 and Alias are around $45 retail. That's about right.

Star Trek seasons: $90-120.

Twice the price for not as good discs? No thanks.

Admittedly, Warner's pricing on the Babylon 5 sets is insane too, but at least I could get the first three seasons through a CH deal.

[Walter Neff]

I know it's not a movie studio, but Shout Factory has been putting out some great TV-on-DVD sets. If I remember correctly, You Bet Your Life, Kids in the Hall, SCTV and maybe Freaks and Geeks (please correct me if I'm wrong on that last one) were all done by Shout Factory. (The guys who started Shout Factory are some of the original founders of Rhino Records -- I remember reading an article about them a while back...)

[asianxcore]

20th Century Fox is great with their releases, and they are all priced well. The only complaint I have with them, is their packaging. It looks great outside, but I am not a fan of that giant fold out packaging, especially when there is a large number of discs.

the company that put out the Alias sets (touchstone/buena vista?) did a solid job as well, having the discs in their own keepcase is a great idea.

[Mod-Mod-World]

I'd also like to put in a vote for Shout Factory, the Freaks & Geeks box set is just a great presentation overall. It's one of the nicest I have. I hope they get the opportunity to release more of the less mainstream stuff.

[Admiral7]

I'd have to go with Columbia Tri-Star for absolute worst studio for TV on DVD. The first two seasons of All in the Family looked like I was watching the show through a screen door. They did a lousy job with Barney Miller, which I had really been looking forward to until it came out and now I probably won't buy any of them at all. While "King of Queens" picture quality looks pretty darn good, it's still an absolute crime to cram 10 shows on 2 of the DVDs and then only 4 or 5 on the third disc, to make room for a 10-15 extra feature. That just makes no sense at all. I like the Cheers and Frasier model wtih four discs, 6 22-minute episodes per dual-layered disc. That's the way to do it.

[Dazed]

Yep, the prices of anything Star Trek related is an absolute crime.

[g]

Paramount did put out a ton of "have gun will travel" episodes for a fair price.

[Doughboy]

If my DVD collection is any indication, the best studios are Fox and WB. With the exception of The X-Files and Babylon 5, their prices are reasonable. The quality of the video/audio is usually stellar, and they almost always provide at least some extras.

The worst by far is Sony. I could be wrong, but I don't think I own any of their TV shows on DVD. Granted, they don't have too many series I'm dying to add to my collection, but there have a been a few that I've passed on due to their poor quality. Specifically, Married With Children which has a bunch of episodes crammed on a few discs and the first few seasons of Dawson's Crack which not only stuffs too many episodes on each disc, but also replaces most of the original music(from Season 2 onward at least).

[Sunday Morning]

best:
fox (consistency, cheap catalogs titles, OAR, although their packaging for box sets like alien quadtrilogy & x-files annoyed the hell out of me)
blue underground (rare titles, good extras, original artwork)
anchor bay (ditto)
MgM most catalogue titles out there. Cult/horror lines.
Unfortunate mixed bag in the transfer 16X9 dept.

worst:
paramount (overpriced, no trailers)
universal (too many repackagings, bunglings on catalog titles-hopefully re-do's like the thing are a good sign of things to come)
columbia/tristar (more extras on catalog titles dammit!-- and shame on you for releasing full screen!)

mediocre:
disney (their catalogues are a mixed batch of full screens, proper OAR and non-anamorphics, although they seem to be getting better at it)
hbo (overpriced. It's not TV it's a gold brick!)
warner (gettingg much better with catalog titles--no snappers. yay!, they just need to go back and re-do their full screen hack jobs)

[Bugg]

Fox also has been putting out the X-Files which are some of the most expensive tv sets out there, and the price has not gone down on them.

Actually the price has come down, Seasons 1-8 where released with a retail of $150 each, With the release of season 9 which was priced at $100, they marked the previous 8 seasons down to a retail of $100 each.

[areacode212]

Yeah, I'll also go with Shout! Factory, Fox and Buena Vista for best. The Freaks and Geeks DVDs (Shout) are the best TV-on-DVD set I've seen, with the insane number of extras & the care that went into this set. Fox gets points for putting out stuff like Buffy the Vampire Slayer for a decent price, as well as their huge catalog. And I love the packaging & extras on the Alias sets (Buena Vista).

20th Century Fox is great with their releases, and they are all priced well. The only complaint I have with them, is their packaging. It looks great outside, but I am not a fan of that giant fold out packaging, especially when there is a large number of discs.

I agree with this...a lot of the Fox sets are unwieldy.

Worst: Paramount, for the overpriced Star Trek titles.

[mzupeman2]

For best, I'm going with Fox.

Worst... image-entertainment. That lovely company that brings us such releases as The Twilight Zone and Dick Van Dyke. Now... don't get me wrong. Their sets are great. But their customer service is absolutely horrid. I searched frantically for a phone # to call the company about a replacement disc. There was none. So I e-mailed them asking for assistance... they wrote back saying they wanted my phone #.... after I specifically asked for theirs in my e-mail. So I wrote back and finally got a phone number out of them. This took about two weeks. Then, I talked to the gentleman who deals with returns of damaged discs, and sent it out the next day. One month, two weeks later, I still hadn't recieved anything.... I called and they didn't even ship it out yet. What a bunch of bull to go through... seems their staff is highly un-motivated.