freudguy

The Star Trek fans (I USED to be one) had it great with the ST:TNG box sets and are now reaping in the DS9 sets with only a few weeks separating each new seaon set.

Why oh why can't Fox and other studios follow that model?

I received the first 3 M*A*S*H season sets for my birthday over the weekend (love 'em, BTW) and can't wait for the others but there are at least 6 months between releases. At this point, it will be 2006 before all seasons will be released. That's just plain horsecrap.

I don't collect the Angel, X-Files or Buffy sets but the season sets for those shows are also spread over many months/years.

I realize that it takes time to compile the extras such as commentaries but how could Paramount crank out great Star Trek sets with nice extras every few weeks while it takes 6 months or more between M*A*S*H sets WITHOUT any extras?

TheHistorian

Because most other TV shows don't have the rabid following of Star Trek.

Or, said slightly differently: $$$

If enough could be sold at an accelerated pace, other properties would be coming out that fast too.

Red Dog

No rhyme or reason it seems. Look at Futurama and Simpsons - same creator, producer, rights holder but Futurama sets are coming out at a much faster rate.

pagansoul

Sometimes people can not keep up with instant releases and can't handle the monthly bills. I still have to get my last STNG and X-files 7. I didn't even start DS9 and I want them. I'm dying for B5 but I can wait a couple months for season 3. SG1-S3 is due this month and we have another 3 to go before the current season 7. Stores are not going to keep too many of them on their shelves.

Singhal

I think that everytime the introduce a new set the old set falls off sales, so they calculate a release schedule to maximize sales overall while taking advantage of existing product distribution lines and production (ie. why introduce a new product, new manufacturing, new SKU, if it will not increase the total picture profitibility) Futurama probably has a smaller following than Simpsons and need to come out quicker to maintain an optimal amount of profitibility. I think they probably underestimated Family Guy's value and I am sure they wish now they had split it up into 4 groups and spread it out over a longer period.

calhoun07

I would dread a world where all season sets came out at the same rate as Star Trek sets, sometimes with two in the same month! I think studios don't want to flood the market and in turn actually hurt their sales rather than encourage them, because they have flooded the market to such a point that people will soon opt to not buy season sets that would have sold other wise because they are coming out too close together and too fast. But I agree that for the most part, two per year sucks. At least bump up the release schedule to every four months so we can get three a year!

lisadoris

Who knows... Since these are studios we're talking about the reason probably has a lot to do with $$$. Maybe they figure if they release them too quickly people won't be able to buy them right away. Maybe they think stores will get upset about having to set aside all that shelf space. Maybe it does just take awhile to compile all those extras especially commentaries. If you look at the TNG and DS9 sets, they don't have any commentaries (which really sucks) and not all of those interviews they included took place this year or last - some they just snapped up from the archives somewhere.

Though I have managed to keep up, I'd actually prefer it if Paramount slowed down the releases. Granted it's too late now but I think every three or four months would do just fine. Every other month is too fast and too much of a strain on the wallet while every six months is just slow (especially if the show ran for a long time).

Buck Turgidson

I'm glad you guys think this is an "accelerated" pace for DS9. I can tell you right now that August seems like it's years away, and I also am not too crazy about wishing most of the summer to hurry by so I can get my hands on Season 4 (and Babylon 5 S3...)

MartyMcSuperfly

The Star Trek sets come out WAY too fast. I thank god that I'm not a Star Trek fan, cause there's no way I can sink 700 bucks a year for the next 4 years into a TV show.

The relaxed pace of the Babylon 5 sets is much more reasonable. One set every 5 or 6 months, at a lower price point. In between B-5 sets, I can watch Transformers, or Monkees, or my Doctor Who discs every 2 months.

Think this is too slow? Just think of this as the breaks between seasons, and you're in re-runs.

purplechoe

Because I don't have the $ to buy all of them at once. Now if they want to release all of the Seinfeld season sets at once I won't be complaining.

SCHMEGGA

Keep dreamin'!

Buck Turgidson

My general attitude is that I'm going to get one season (and probably one only) from all three shows. I have the TNG fourth season, and I'm thinking about waiting on the 3rd season of B5 (which is the best one, along w/ the 4th, IMHO.)

All DS9 seasons from 3 on are really excellent, and I have to pick just one...

I don't care if I have to turn tricks, I'm getting all the Homicide they can throw at me.

purplechoe

I doubt it would happen, I'm just saying I wouldn't complain if it did.

Jackskeleton

Syndication.

Studio's who produce said shows need to gain profit from syndication selling of said shows before they decide to sell it on dvd because once they do put it for sale on dvd, syndication rights will lower in price.

I will agree with those who say the Star Trek series comes out WAAAAY to fast. so fast that it eats up it's own shelf space for B&M's. online shops can handle this since they are warehouses, B&M's need time to clear out amounts of packages at such a high price and still keep a good inventory on the shelf of other new releases.

Adam Tyner

That was their logic a couple of years ago, but the success of a number of box sets for series that have yet to hit syndication prove that to be incorrect. I haven't heard that statement touted by a studio in a pretty good while. There may still be cases where certain contracts specify that a DVD release can't precede syndication, but even a casual glance at release lists show that syndication has substantially less of an influence than it once had. Syndication doesn't even have anything to do with the topic at hand, since the subject refers to the time between releases, not the time before <small>(aside from rare cases like Buffy)</small>.

Jackskeleton

Well it was a factor in the direction of many things:

Syndication
Shelf space on B&M's stores
Flooding of the market

Syndication does factor in this in cases where the other seasons are bumped around. The whole Shelf Space factor comes in because if you flood the market with a product, the B&M doesn't have enough shelf space stock your products if you are rushing them out and they aren't moving as fast as they should, or they are still around in full force when the next set comes out. They have a limited amount of room to display all these titles and if the studio floods the market then they might also eat into there own profits. They realize that a person has only a set amount of income. They know if they pump the titles out, that the consumer's income might not be replenished in time to be able to buy both. So the best answer so far..

Studio's know you aren't made of money and that extended time from one release to another allows the buyer time to be able to afford the dvd. and syndication.. yup.

Drexl

I remember reading somewhere that someone involved with The Simpsons (probably Matt Groening) said that Fox would like to have them done quicker but he wants to do commentaries. I think it was in a newspaper like USA Today. Can anyone elaborate or confirm this?

BTW, I think that shelf space factor is a reason why studios are releasing 2-disc sets in single-sized cases or, in some cases, switching to one-disc versions.

Imodium

As I recall reading, the Simpsons crew had already completed comentaries for the next 3 seasons long ago.

turborobb

I guess if you only liked one show, it would seem like a long time between DVD Season releases, but I'm glad they are released at a slow pase because I'm a big fan of sci fi and cult TV in general and buy almost every set that comes out. If they all came out at the same time I dont' know what I would do. I just got Farscape Season 3 Vol 2, Buffy Season 4 comes out this week, Stargate Season 3 comes out the week after that and 2 more Doctor Who (the greatest sci fi TV series of all time) disks comes out the week after that. plus I still haven't gotten the Futurama, B5, Planet of the Apes or Space 1999 sets that I wanted to buy.

Holly E. Ordway

I think a few months between seasons is pretty reasonable, as with shows like Stargate. Personally, I find the pace of the Star Trek releases to be much too hurried - even if they just spaced them out once every other month, it would be more reasonable.

Buck Turgidson

Isn't that how they're coming out now? DS9 Season 3 just came out a few days ago, and Season 4 is due in early August.

Wag The Frog

I love hearing the back and forth speculation about The Simpsons DVDs...

It's Commentaries!
It's Fox!
It's Syndication!
It's Gracie Films!
It'd Matt Groening!
It's Music Rights!
It's Apu!

The Simpsons snail-pace DVD release schedule = One of the greatest unsolved mysteries of our time.

calhoun07

They are putting out 7 seasons in 12 months, so I am sure there will be some pretty close releases the closer we get to the end of the year.

postpunk

At least the Twin Peaks seasons 1 and 2 came out in quick succession. Oh, wait. Never mind.

Holly E. Ordway

Looking back, I can see that the first 3 seasons have come out about every 1 1/2 months, and you're right, we get about 2 months before Season 4. I haven't been specifically watching the release dates, because I'm not buying them, I'm getting them sent to me to review. (No complaints there!) It still feels quite rushed, especially considering that these are lengthy sets (26 episodes). I bet that the pace gets cranked up toward the end of the year, as the same thing happened with TNG.

But as they're nice sets and the show is great fun, I'm not going to complain too hard!