Ish Kabbible

I'll never understand the logic of the above. I'm not picking on dolphinboy since I've read it from others. There are no guarentees in life (except death and taxes). You got what you paid for,no more or less. You weren't screwed-you just have a weird sense of entitlement. I too would love to see the TV shows I've bought all be completed, but I'm glad that I do possess whatever is available. Its not all or nothing to me. Besides, many of these shows lasted too long- those final years were just a fraction of how good they were originally. Plus these are situation comedies that are basically stand-alone episodes. The missing seasons should not detract from the enjoyment you get from watching what you own. Are you saying you refrain from watching a new
tv show because there is no guarentee that it will last as long as the creators want it to last?

dolphinboy

A television series is a story. Ever seen a book sold with only the first half in the store? I'm entitled because a company is releasing a STORY that has a beginning and an ending. Would anyone buy Lost if they could not get the final season? So, it's about sales, I got it. But there's no doubt that you need the rest of the story to really enjoy the series, even if you hated how it ended.

A very small minority of people, who hate the way a show might have closed out, choose to not buy the entire series. Do you really think the nice profit Shout! made from MSCL and Freaks and Geeks wouldn't have been made by the studios that initially owned the rights? Those show's fans were rabid and would have bought them no matter what. So, it WASN'T purely about profit, because the studios that owned them wanted money-they ALL want money/profit, they just chose to ignore the titles pure and simple and Shout! recognized that and made the money themselves.

As stated previously, maybe Shout! can't do it, but the major studio can afford to dial down their expectations for tv on dvd or they really shouldn't do it all. V.I. Warshawski just got a blu ray release, not to sh*t on anyone's taste, but is that going to make money? Or do the titles they do sell that make a LOT of money, allow them to release the smaller catalogs that won't?

Seems like this would apply to tv shows too. I want to see Alex walk out of his bedroom in the final scene of Family Ties. It's how the story ends. If you aren't going to finish the story, why begin telling it?

Trevor

I too wish that I lived in that fantasy world DolphinBoy, but, alas, we don't.

MTRodaba2468

A. A TV show can be one complete story, as plenty of shows the last few years have been, or it can be a collection of stories. Lost is an example of the former. While I'm not a fan of the show, the overall story arc is just as important as the individual episodes; without it, the show doesn't work. Shows like Mad About You and Family Ties fall in the latter category. While the show does progress over time, and things that happen later may make more sense with knowledge of events from previous episodes, they are designed mainly to be stand-alone stories that you can jump in and watch at any time during the show's run. Does this make the show less worthy of having a complete release? Not at all. But I will say that, at least in my experience, it doesn't seem to sting as much as it did a show like, say, Veronica Mars, a show from the former category, which did end on somewhat of a cliffhanger, or The Wonder Years, which we will likely NEVER see on DVD (or if we do, it will be without the music, which was integral to the show).

B. Yes, it certainly sucks when a studio or company decides not to release additional seasons of TV shows (I've been burned by this on multiple shows; American Dreams and Pete & Pete, for example). If I had my way, studios would release catalog TV shows with both a Complete Series and 1st Season release right out of the gate, that way if a show didn't sell well enough to continue individual season releases, the whole show would still be available. Unfortunately, most studios haven't gone this route (I know Ally McBeal was a notable release that followed this template, and I don't know how well that did), and at the end of the day, they are a business. They need to do what they can to make money, and continuing to put out product that doesn't sell well won't do it.

C. I would say both My So-Called Life and Freaks & Geeks are different scenarios compared to either Mad About You or Family Ties. Both of the former shows were single season sets, as opposed to multi-season releases where sales would drop with each release.

grundle

Based on many of my own life experiences, I can certainly understand the "all or nothing" mentality.

But I have also had enough experience with it to realize that letting it control me is dangerous. Its basic philosophy is one of fear, anger, and hatred - kind of like the dark side of the Force!

So, I have deliberately tried to avoid caving in to it. And as a result, I am happier, and I get to enjoy things that I would otherwise miss out on. Just because I can't get every item in a collection doesn't mean I should deprive myself of enjoying the items that I am able to get.

davidh777

Unfortunately there's a large contingent of buyers who are content with a season or two of a show, perhaps because it didn't hold up as well as they'd expected. I myself have picked up a season or two of a number of shows to sample that I still haven't opened.

For my favorite shows, yeah, I'd want the whole series. But I'd rather have some of them than nothing.

dolphinboy

The dark side of the force?

I get that what people are saying, I'm simply stating that I personally don't like it or agree with it. Seinfeld is on where I live like 4 times a day and, while I own the entire series, yes, I watch the show out of order and on television a lot, because it's easier and, no, I don't follow it that way from the very beginning to the very end.

I still think that even sitcoms like Married With Children are a complete story, even if they are also stand-alone episodes that you can completely enjoy out of order. I'm only saying that the customers get screwed, so that the studios won't "lose money" doesn't cut it with me. They know full well that we pay for something, they make whatever money the make, and then, if they stop putting out the show, they still have our cash, we then are the ones who "lose money" and we can't even watch the show from beginning to end. That certainly stings more with a drama, like Party of Five, than a sitcom, but I still think a show like Mad About You or Family Ties should get a full release.

Someone mentioned selling season one and the entire set at the same time like Ally. Ok, so why don't the studios just do that if that is something that can work both for the studios and the consumers? I bought the entire Ally set and I'd do that for the shows that I love, as would most the the people who've posted in this thread.

rmw650

Again, it's all attributed to the studios trying to make a quick buck on these items and if they don't sell, they won't continue to distribute the remaining seasons of stalled shows. I agree, I despise the practice as well but it would be nice they do offer to complete it or sell it in a complete series set like Fox did with McBeal, but again, it's up to the studios to decide what sells and doesn't and this applies to a lot of shows, not just Mad About You or Rhoda or Green Acres. hell, we're still waiting for the Mupets S4 to come out after the D23 announced it would come out in 2010 and here it is 2011 and we're still waiting word.

Quack

Sorry if I didn't see this in the thread, but did you notice on Netflix seasons 6 and 7 are on instant?

whotony

I noticed that the entire series is streaming on Netflix.

Indy24LA

For me it's pretty basic; All seasons of a fave shows > Some seasons of a fave shows > One season of a fave show > No seasons of a fave show.

The Monkees

Really?? This just made my day!!

Quack

Is it a dumb question to ask why something would be on instant but not even on DVD yet?

b2net

While I cannot claim to know the true answer, I believe it to be a licensing agreement with the studios to provide the content.

I have watched much material via NetFlix that is only available streaming and not commercially available at all.

In addition, NetFlix has a bunch of streaming content in higher quality than what is available commercially. I don't just mean High Definition, but better Standard Def versions as well. Basically the titles that have huge compression to fit on discs but are full quality streaming.

Not trying to sound like NetFlix commercial. Just noting that studios seem to be making their content more available via streaming, often in higher quality, than anything that is commercially available.

Of noting, Amazon Instant Video has this type content as well... You just have to pay per watch or episode...

davidh777

Cheaper to produce, nothing to ship or store

The Monkees

I don't mind it right now, I would like to own hard copies eventually, but for the time being I'm happy the material is at least available somewhere, I've been waiting a long time to watch the last 2 seasons and I am very happy I can now.

Mike86

To be honest I still have a hard time believing that Paramount/CBS wouldn't have had some idea how the show would sell. After all it's not like they released one season and it didn't sell that well so they ended with one. They put out five of them. It just seems odd to me that it sold well enough to put five out but they can't release the final two.

Ish Kabbible

Obviously sales were diminishing with each season set produced until the point of not being profitable enough. Every publically owned company would then divert their budget to another property with more potential. Thats the way it works

Mike86

Still five seasons is a lot. I guess I'd just be curious to know the sales for each season and how it was justifiable to be able to put five out but not the final two.

davidh777

I just did a quick check of release dates and these were coming out steadily every sixish months till season 5 in March 2009. We know that TV on DVD used to be huge so it would make sense if that's around when the market started to turn.

grundle

I watched Family Ties during its original run, and if I remember correctly, all of a sudden the baby became five years old. Perhaps people who bought the show on DVD considered this to be a "jump the shark" moment and decided not to buy any more seasons.

The Monkees

Growing Pains did that as well, though that never sold well on DVD anyway, because that show sucks!

Quack

Just starting the 4th season on Netflix.....Does anyone know the deal with orange juice in every episode?

bmasters1981

That's exactly the way I feel WRT (with regard to) "Hart to Hart." That's one of my favorite series of the past, and I thought that Sony would come out with all 5 of them, and the movies to boot. Unfortunately, only 2 seasons' worth are out; I'm not complaining though, because I'd rather have 2 than none at all.

k_lodge

All 7 seasons are available for streaming on NetFlix