Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Everything ever made on DVD?

Within the last month or two, my local Costco has STTNG seasons 4 and 5 for $44 each. Originally they were upwards of $80 each. Not sure if this is a national thing or just a clear-out locally.

They did the same thing with Six Feet Under, which was originally $80+ per season (For 13 episodes, that's pretty pricey!) but then was $40 or so. I would have gotten them at that price, but I'm thinking that they were filmed in HD and eventually will be available in that format, and I can wait so as not to have to pay twice.

That's right guys;....I remember now.

It's the rediculously prohibitive high price of The Next Gen. that kept us from buying the sets in the first place!!

Shucks, that's like what I paid for my speakers!!

Um,...I may spring for the old fashoned format if they get cheap enough. Our TV is HD but my eyes are ageing into NTSC.
Rich.

It the natural progression of the business. I've been a consultant for home video releases for over 20yrs - starting with Beta/VHS to Laser and now DVD. Companies just throw out these releases and when they fall into a lower realm in purchase they re-issue them at a lower price. Another reason for lower prices now is that many companies are planning to get into HD (either Blue-Ray or HDDVD) so they are trying to get rid of stock on the current non-HD format. This not only true for TV shows but for films as well. Notice your Best Buy and Circuit City ads, many film that sold for $20 are now available for $9 or less! The amazing thing here is that there are shows with elements that simply won't stand up to the new HD format. STTNG is one - the first few seasons were done on video and transfered to film which is why they look soft and have muddy color. There are quite a few shows produced in the 80s that were done this way to save money. If anyone has seen the DVD release of FOREVER KNIGHT it almost un viewable due to this.
TV on DVD has also taken off due to lack of studio product. With so much already available studios are scrambling for product. They shut their doors to smallr companies who used to release product the majors didn't want to be connected with. It's harder and harder for smaller compnies to get studio "B" and "C" ttles, and it has been for a fews years now. The studios turned to TV shows to fill the gap in their release schedules. Also, with more and more cable stations sprouting specializing in wacky and extremem interests the demand for product opned the flood gates for the studio to reach back into their vaults. Mastering entire series, some of which need restoration, is a costly endenver. To aid in that releasing them on DVD is a natural step in regaining that money. To the consumer it may seem weird at how much product is available and even why it would be - for the studios it just business as usual.

One of the things that I find encouraging in the reduction of DVD costs for standard quality DVDs is the fact that cable costs are rising to the point that cable costs can exceed even car payment levels!!

Gads!!.....but then again, that includes high-speed internet and local phone line.

But what makes us older folks angry is the broken promise of cable.

When cable, or "pay-per-view," came out, the concept was that when paying for the content, that comercials would be eliminated!

The choice was to be comercial TV where we paid by watching comercials; or pay per view, where we paid with our bucks to see the shows.

Now we find we're stuck paying both ways!! And cable has more comercials than ever!! It's neigh unwatchable without some kind of DVR to zip past the trash!

Soapbox! Soapbox!!

At least with cheap DVDs we old folks with our 480P eyes will have something to watch on our 1080 TVs when cable gets out of reach of fixed incomes.

.....then again, I suppose we could cut back from 1324 channels with nothing to watch to only 300....still with nothing to watch.

But then we'd lose our HD channels! Arrrrrrrgh!!

DVRs are cool, though! The Wife and our Son watch the NASCAR races every Sunday and they typically run for, oh, I dunno, 'bout six to eight hours when you include all the prerace stuff.(which they do!)That's a long haul!! That would be almost intollerable without the ability to zap over all the ads, and often bunches of laps of a 600 mile race that just goes on forever!

.....kinda like standing on an Atlanta freeway overpass and watching rush-hour traffic without all the trucks.....

Anyway the next step is to begin filling a second 400 disc DVD player, as the first one is almost full!!

Gotta plan for the future!!
Rich.

I've got Moonlighting, I can put in the episode with the Dr Suess lines and it cracks me up still. I think Serenity(Firefly) is on my list someday also. Sledgehammer is a good idea also, might have to consider it. Also waiting on Muppets show,I think season one is finally out. Guy

When Magnum PI comes out on DVD I may buy all 7 seasons. Higgin's war stories always cracked me up. Also, tv is so PC nowadays it is nice to think back on the days when Thomas Magnum wasn't afraid to duke it out with a bad guy or fire a gun once in a while. After all, it is entertainment. Magnum PI was kind of a modern Western to me.

Greg

Magnum PI is on DVD ... they're up to Season 4. DVD PLANET has them for about $37 ea.

...and Cheers, and Nightcourt, and.....and.....

Believe I'll rethink this whole situation!!

Here's an article about Netflix, which has "almost every title available on DVD in stock."