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R. Dittmar
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
420 Posts |
 Posted - 10/14/2005 : 11:34:56 PM
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The long awaited release of "Kolchak" on DVD and my recent buying and renting habits have me wondering whether or not DVD will have its biggest impact on the world of television rather than theatrical movie releases.
I may be a totally unrepresentative consumer, but the only DVD's I find myself buying or renting recently have been full season releases of TV shows. TV is ideal for DVD release as it allows one to watch a succession of favorite stories at your leisure for a very modest cash outlay. In the old days to buy an entire season of the "X-Files" for instance, you would have had to purchase upwards of 10 bulky video cassettes. Now you can buy just a handful of discs featuring the same material. And DVD is perfect at allowing one to stop and go between the short story vignettes that TV is based around.
I'm wondering if DVD will actually lead to a TV renaissance of sorts. The studios can drop millions into some bloated blockbuster with a gaggle of pampered stars but all they get is two hours of heavily padded entertainment for the one-time DVD release. Invest in a good TV show, however, and you can film hour upon hour of shows at a fraction of the cost and release them all on a 30-plus dollar set (90-plus in the case of the "X-Files"). In addition, a release of a TV series on DVD can entice fans into tuning in immediately to a new season week after week. At best a movie release on DVD can cause interest in one project that will possibly be months if not years in the making. |
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hbrennan
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
Philippines
1455 Posts |
Posted - 10/15/2005 : 12:16:38 AM
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You have an interesting point. In my opinion, there is tremendous validity in what you say for an interesting reason. The memories that we experience are directly related, of course, to sensory input. The two greatest media sensory input catalysts that define our experiences are music and television (especially for those who grew up in a time when TV defined a huge chunk of their childhood - 60's thru 80's). Theater experiences are not nearly as ubiquitous and lack the sit-at-home easy comfort and familiarity of the tube. For myself, I enjoy a good (or bad) film every so often. But a series like "Night Stalker" or "Night Gallery" actually means something to me in terms of my past.
"...yet it hadn't destroyed his brain."
re: Charles "The Butcher" Benton (1956)
http://henrybrennan.blogspot.com/ |
Edited by - hbrennan on 10/15/2005 12:17:17 AM |
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thepanteduffin
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
Canada
74 Posts |
Posted - 10/15/2005 : 10:33:42 AM
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There is the obvious evidence of the recent return of Family Guy, a series that was cancelled and then brought back due to the success of its DVD sales.
"You weren't being thick after all - you were showing moral fiber! "
- Ronald Weasley |
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John Nowak
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
1017 Posts |
Posted - 10/16/2005 : 12:40:03 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by hbrennan
But a series like "Night Stalker" or "Night Gallery" actually means something to me in terms of my past.
I've been watching "Night Stalker" on DVD and it's extraordinary how strange the world feels. Kolchak uses a typewriter, his camera uses film, he doesn't have a cell phone... heck, the cell phone alone has affected every "modern day" action film made in the last ten years.
Heck, Kolchak hasn't even entered "Tezcatlipocha" into Google yet.
At the same time, it's incredibly familiar -- painfully so.
"victim"
"he came at me."
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We've always been united in stupidity. That's why there is no hope. But, then again, when has that ever stopped us?
-- hbrennan |
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Max Torque
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
USA
61 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 08:45:36 AM
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I've read that TV studios are starting to delay further production on TV series if DVD sales of the series are below expectations. That's some powerful influence, there.
My prediction for the future: TV studios will start to produce a few series with an eye toward a DVD-only future. That is, if the series does well in season one, they will pull it from the airwaves, freeing up space for a new series to have a go, and release future episodes directly to DVD without airing them first. Doing so will free up the schedule, and production costs can be lowered. Some nut will think that it's at least worth a try. |
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CobraCmdr
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
70 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 09:41:13 AM
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Another reason series on DVD work so well is that more and more popular series feature ongoing plots these days, with storylines often taking the entire season to play out. Even half hour comedy shows (Family Guy, Arrested Development) are crammed full of inside jokes and references to past episodes, so that it would be difficult for someone to just watch a random episode and understand what is going on. It's very different from older shows, that were essentially self contained mini movies with the same characters (each week the hero solves another murder/helps another person/defeats another monster and the status quo is restored). There are execeptions like the various CSIs and and Law and Orders, but I think this is becoming more and more true.
I convinced some of my friends to start watching Lost this season, but first they all watched the first season on DVD so they could catch up.
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R. Dittmar
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
420 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 8:13:44 PM
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quote:
Originally posted by Max Torque
My prediction for the future: TV studios will start to produce a few series with an eye toward a DVD-only future. That is, if the series does well in season one, they will pull it from the airwaves, freeing up space for a new series to have a go, and release future episodes directly to DVD without airing them first. Doing so will free up the schedule, and production costs can be lowered. Some nut will think that it's at least worth a try.
Max,
I don't mean to be contrarian, but I think the exact opposite might be the case. My recent experience finds me watching TV expressly because I was intrigued by the DVD release. My wife and I started watching "Monk" faithfully because we became hooked from watching the DVD's. Now I find myself tuning in to "House, M.D." every week on Fox because I was looking for a diversion recently at Blockbuster and found myself renting the first season.
The TV folks have to be basing their success on commercial sales which must be dependent on people tuning it. Rather than releasing subsequent seasons to DVD, I'm pretty sure that the TV folks want to release further seasons to TV for advertising revenues once they've hooked small-minded men like myself on their product. |
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Juniper
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
616 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2005 : 11:56:18 PM
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The only downside I can see is execs getting the wrong idea about good but low rated shows and pulling the plug. When in reality a whole group of viewers just want to wait for the dvd. For example I like what I've seen of Prison Break, but I hate commercials so for me it's no trouble to wait until the season 1 box set comes out. On the other hand I see a future where certain shows with a demonstrated cult appeal coming out on dvd only as mentioned. I heard rumors they were considering doing this with Angel.
"The Devil Made this Movie for You!" |
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Victoria Silverwolf
Diocesan Ecclesiarch of the Sacred Order of Jabootu
USA
80 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2005 : 01:06:21 AM
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I can say that the only reason we bought a DVD player was to get Kung Fu and Land of the Lost. We still own more VHS tapes than DVD's. (Not a lot of either -- maybe twenty VHS tapes and a handful of DVD's. I don't feel the need to own lots of movies.) For home viewing, we usually tape old movies off one of the cable networks (usually good old Turner Classic Movies.)
Reality is a crutch for people who can't face up to science fiction. |
Edited by - Victoria Silverwolf on 10/19/2005 01:06:48 AM |
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Bobby-G
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
904 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2005 : 03:30:31 AM
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When I do find myself watching broadcast tube, I often see irritating promos popping up on screen RIGHT DURING THE SHOW -- it's as if the networks are saying: "You want to watch this show without distractions? -- buy the DVD!"
Rob |
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RVHorror
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
532 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2005 : 09:48:48 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Max Torque
I've read that TV studios are starting to delay further production on TV series if DVD sales of the series are below expectations. That's some powerful influence, there.
My prediction for the future: TV studios will start to produce a few series with an eye toward a DVD-only future. That is, if the series does well in season one, they will pull it from the airwaves, freeing up space for a new series to have a go, and release future episodes directly to DVD without airing them first. Doing so will free up the schedule, and production costs can be lowered. Some nut will think that it's at least worth a try.
I think this is pretty prescient, though I would imagine the future episodes would be downloads rather than single DVD releases. The DVDs would probably come out as complete seasons.
Then again, few studios seem to think double dipping is a bad idea, so it may come to pass with individual DVDs. Fox is currently repackaging all its X-Files in various "theme" boxes, after all. |
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Ken HPoJ
Supreme Potentate
USA
1530 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2005 : 10:51:30 AM
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I've actually been meaning to blog on some of this. Now I have:
http://Jabootu.blogspot.com/2005/10/impact-of-dvd-on-tv.html
PEGGY: I don't see how having a girl on the team would ruin it. Did a woman judge ruin the Supreme Court?
HANK: Yes, and that woman's name was Earl Warren.
--King of the Hill |
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MikeC
Holy Cardinal and Five Star General of the Righteous Knighthood of Jabootu
USA
749 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2005 : 1:53:04 PM
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I thinkg it is inevitable that there will be
sequel series released directly to DVD, as
prefigured by OAV's (Original Animated Videos) in
Japan from the late 80's.
MikeC |
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