two reasons why i think Universal is committed to the L&O series on dvd (once the rights issues are resolved, of course)...

1. as someone already stated, the rebate packaged with S1. if they planned on using S1 to gauge later seasons they wouldn't have made this promise.

2. they've showed their commitment to the franchise with the simultaneous releases of SVU and CI. it doesn't make sense to me why they would release those two and leave the flagship series high and dry.

Unfortunately, all three of these shows are mutually exclusive of each other.

Just because they released the glorified spin-offs, does not mean that they are going to revert to continuing on their "promise" to bring a season 2 of the original.

Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge, their have been no announcements about future seasons of the spin-offs either (granted, they were released not long ago).

It is only when Season Two of any of the L&O series come out that it will be considered "newsworthy", as we have yet to season S2 of anything from that franchise.

--LVM

The nail has been firmly struck on its head here.

Agreed--accessibility for TV on DVD is a big benefit. I can watch an episode or two of MtM or Simpsons or even The Outer Limits [well, one episode of that] without investing a whole evening, or feeling guilty because i don't have the home theater cranked. And many TV on DVD sets are very reasonably priced, when you compare the dollars to the amount of content you get, not even counting any extras.
I think a couple of the barriers to TV on DVD being even bigger than it is, are:

* syndication. I love the Simpsons and Futurama, and have Simpsons S1-3, but not Futurama. I was going to get it, but then Cartoon Network played virtually every episode twice over three months. The commentaries and extras on the DVD release weren't enough to make me buy a series that I had just completely watched. I like syndication, but it can definitely cause a little 'Who Wants to Be A Millionaire' syndrome; that is, as much as I love the Simpsons, I don't want to watch it three times a day [yes, I know, no one's forcing me to watch it--but if it's available that easily/often, that lessens the urgency with which I would seek to purchase the DVD.] Red Dwarf, on the other hand--has only been shown 2ce in my area, both times on not-very-quality-picture public TV channel, at midnight and 0030 Saturday nights. That's a series I'm interested in continuing.

* DVR/PVR/TiVo. I was able to watch all of Futurama because I had my DVR set to record every episode. Same with the Simpsons; but luckily they aren't playing S3 right now, otherwise i'd feel like I'm kinda wasting the DVD.

What will save TV on DVD:

* Affordable prices. In general they're quite reasonably, especially buying online, but some cases, esp at B&M's, they're ridiculous. Best Buy wants like 70.00 for Outer Limits S1, and
there are some others like that. For the *true* cult or historical shows, yes, someone will buy it at almost any price, but for them to sell 'well', they need to be more accessible.

* More/better marketing. Many of the best selling TV DVD's are from HBO. A lot of people still don't have premium channels, but HBO and Showtime do create or publish or whatever a lot of very good original programming. People need to know that, and know about the programming--40-80 bucks is a lot to drop on a blind buy.

* This one could get me in trouble, but--quality releases. I mean, come on, Good Times Season 1? :wink:

I hope the publisher's don't pause releases to 'gauge' the public's reaction--I think a lot of TV on DVD is from the 'average consumer', and some of the purchases may even be almost spontaneous. Not everyone is going to, or has access to, come to a board like this and say 'Where's MTM S2?' If they see it in the store, they might pick it up--if they don't, they might forget about it, or think Hey, what happened, in the back of their head.

Good points, dtcarson, I agree with much of what you said. I have too been slightly dismayed to see the manner in which many studios have been handling release of their TV properties on DVD. I do believe that more studios may pick up the pace on releasing TV shows on DVD (previously unreleased series, as well as successive seasons of those already out) as they start to deplete their back catalogue of older films for release. After all, they will still need to generate new product for release, and TV shows will be a good resource for that. I think you will start seeing the effects of this within the next year or two.

Personally, I love TV on DVD and would purchase much more of it if I had the cash. Some are too expensive (i.e. X-Files) and I could never see myself spending the money for them, while others are very reasonably prices (Simsons, I got S2 and S3 for about $50).

I don't know how much money goes into producing them, but it seems like they would be money makers for the simple fact that the major costs have already been paid in producing the shows in the first place.

Right now, home video is the highest grossing entertainment business: more than music sales, box office sales, video games, etc.

You had me on all of your arguments except this one.

I can think of two major sucesses on HBO (Larry Sanders Show and Dream On) that either failed on the DVD release (the former) or is flat out non-existent (the latter).

While on the air, these two gems really defined HBO, but have gone the way of the buffalo as far as DVD.

We shall see!

the show I am most anxiously awaiting is Millennium. Fox has already stated that the 1st season will be out this year and the only way the 2nd and 3rd seasons will see the light of day is if season 1 sells what they want.

I do not like this. don't tease me. release the entire series, not just part of it. imagine if they just released the first 8 seasons of x-files and just said "well, season 8 didn't sell 1 mil. copies so tough."

My understanding is that DVD TV sets will come out with certain expectation of sales. If it doesn't make the grade with season 1 or 2, it will just fade into oblivion.

At my DVD hang outs, Mary Tyler Moore season 1 sat undisturbed in stacks for months before finally disappearing completely. That is probably why it hasn't continued.

Also DVD sets can be halted because of all things, music. That is what originally held up Wiseguy sea 1 pt. 1. The scene with Sonny and Vinnie at the arc climax originally had "Nights in White Satin" as the background music. Very powerfully it showed the cop loved the ganster like a brother and vice versa, but they were on opposite sides of the law and one of them was going down. In the DVD release, the company couldn't get permission to play the song and so intrumental filler music was played in the scene instead, completely losing emotional impact. But at least the DVD's were released overall.

Miami Vice is on hold due to music copyright type issues right now(at least from what I have read). Think about alllll the music.

So if you want a DVD to continue, pray for sales.

I'm just happy that I'll probably have my Buffy collection completed by the end of the year. Six months a season is very reasonable. Now if Fox could just apply this release schedule to The Simpsons. I don't give a crap about commentaries.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show season 1 DVD set was a good example of why TV show DVD sets sometimes shouldn't be released in order of production dates, but rather in order of popularity. I bought season 1, and I love it, but I am a big fan of the show. Now, looking at it from the perspective of the average viewer, I can understand why sales were below expectations. Like most popular TV shows, MTM didn't swing into high gear until season 3. My point being: How many shows become classics in the first season? I love Seinfeld, but I think the show got great around season 3. Does this mean sales for season 1 will bomb? Not at all, because Seinfeld is still in syndication, seen many times a day on many different stations nationwide. Older shows don't have this benefit. I just wish distributors would think twice before throwing all their money on a TV show Season 1 set. In the case of MTM, because of poor season 1 sales, 20th Century Fox has already stated they will not be releasing the rest of the series on DVD. In other words, we the fans are being punished because of 20th Century Fox's poor distribution decisions.

CP

The treatment of Law & Order and Larry Sanders is extremely frustrating.

Larry Sanders was way too good a show not to release the rest of the series. Why can't companies whose DVD sales didn't meet expectations simply sell the rights to some other company, instead of cancelling the rest of the series release altogether?

Hmm I dont think they are... I always see them in the top 10-20 DVDs...

Seriously!!! Season freakin' 4 starts in June.

Does anyone know how the first set of "Gilligan's Island" is doing? I loved it, and I really hope they two the next two seasons.

I too Love Gilligan's Island the first season DVD set and hope they'll release the 2nd and 3rd seasons as well!

I also hope Lost In Space season 1 sells well so the other 2 seasons can also come out. While the show may have had some bad episodes here and there, it's a classic, and along with Batman, had the best color of any TV show at the time.

Out of curiosity, I looked at Amazon's Top 100 sellers on DVD:

3. Angel - Season Three
4. Friends - The Complete Sixth Season
6. Curb Your Enthusiasm - The Complete First Season
15. Friends - The Complete Seventh Season
16. Queer as Folk - The Complete Third Season (Showtime)
17. West Wing:Complete Second Season
18. Stargate SG-1 Season 6 Boxed Set
19. Sex and the City - The Complete Fifth Season
20. Roswell - Season 1
24. Oz - The Complete Third Season
26. Chappelle's Show - Season 1
27. Buffy The Vampire Slayer - The Complete Sixth Season
28. Firefly - The Complete Series
34. The Office - The Complete First Series
35. Buffy the Vampire Slayer - The Complete Fifth Season
38. Stargate SG-1 Season 5 Boxed Set
45. Family Guy, Vol. 1 (Seasons 1 & 2)
48. Star Trek Voyager - The Complete First Season
50. Sex and the City - The Complete First Five Seasons (5-pack)
51. The West Wing - The Complete First Season
54. Red Dwarf - Series 3 & 4
56. Sex and the City - The Complete First Season
57. Family Guy, Vol. 2 (Season 3)
62. The Critic - The Complete Series
64. Angel - Season Two
71. Sex and the City - Season Six, Part 1
72. Little House on the Prairie - The Complete Season 4
75. Xena Warrior Princess - Season Three
76. Babylon 5 - The Complete Fourth Season
77. Friends - The Complete Fifth Season
81. Friends - The Complete First Season
82. Gilligan's Island - The Complete First Season
85. South Park - The Complete Third Season
87. Babylon 5 - The Complete Fifth Season
94. Angel - Season One
96. The Sopranos - The Complete Fourth Season
99. Futurama, Vol. 3
100. Green Acres - The Complete First Season

Looks like sales are pretty good to me. Some series certanly dominate though.