Sitcoms

[Blu n Gold]

Personally, if the show isn't in HD, I don't want it on blu-ray. I am a huge Friends fan, but I don't need it on blu-ray. Arrested Development I NEED on blu-ray. Shows like Battlestar Galactica, 24, Lost, The Office (HD sound would suit Dunder Mifflin well, given the vacuum like feel of any office. The echos and slight sound of actual work would complete the illusion.) I could do without The Simpsons, South Park, or any non-HD TV show on blu-ray.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by Scripture

Three that come to mind, would be 'Happy Days', 'The Honeymooners', and 'The Wonder Years'.

The Wonder Years may never see DVD or BD due to the music rights.

[savage1984]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

The Wonder Years may never see DVD or BD due to the music rights.

speaking of music rights... Don't kill me... is that why the original Transformers song didn't play in the movie, not even in the credits?

[WickyWoo]

I have no evidence but i personally think that was simply because they had no idea it would make as much money as it does.

Seinfeld? They knew exactly how well it would sell on DVD

The question is how many people are willing to rebuy it on Blu-ray

Sitcoms simply do not carry the zazz that get people excited about spending all that money to upgrade

That makes Fonzie happy once more. In all seriousness though, I can't imagine spending an exorbitant amount of money on sitcoms in a Blu-variety. It would have to be something that I truly loved, and would watch over and over again. Those three that I mentioned above would qualify, but it's few and far between (I didn't look up the other two yet).

Given how poor the DVD sales have been, and how much Paramount spent buying all the music, don't hold your breath on Happy Days...pretty much ever.

The Wonder Years may never see DVD or BD due to the music rights.

Fox has been working on it for years. Happy Days may have given them pause though

speaking of music rights... Don't kill me... is that why the original Transformers song didn't play in the movie, not even in the credits?

My guess would be that like so many "re-imagined" (aka "We steal the proper nouns and barest of outlines and go make whatever we want and call it Transformers/Galactica etc) properties, they wanted to seperate themselves from the original as much as possible. It was a horrible glaring oversight, and I'm sure there were a pile of groups chomping at the bit to be the ones to do the cover. Stan Bush even wrote a new TF song for it that was rejected

[Blu n Gold]

Originally Posted by savage1984

speaking of music rights... Don't kill me... is that why the original Transformers song didn't play in the movie, not even in the credits?

That and the original Transformers song was kind of lame, catchy, but lame. The movie updated the original Transformers series. The soundtrack had a Mute Math cover of the song.

[savage1984]

Originally Posted by Blu n Gold

That and the original Transformers song was kind of lame, catchy, but lame. The movie updated the original Transformers series. The soundtrack had a Mute Math cover of the song.

kinda lame
Dude... come on... Kinda lame...
I've never heard of Mute Math but IMO they're kinda lame if they think their 'cover' was anything but annoying...
kinda lame... sheesh.

[Blu n Gold]

Originally Posted by savage1984

kinda lame
Dude... come on... Kinda lame...
I've never heard of Mute Math but IMO they're kinda lame if they think their 'cover' was anything but annoying...
kinda lame... sheesh.

I didn't say Mute Math was badass. The original song just wouldn't go with the feel of the movie. If Bay wanted to use the original theme in the film, it should have been rocked out with heavy guitars and bass. Not keyboards.

[WickyWoo]

I didn't say Mute Math was badass. The original song just wouldn't go with the feel of the movie. If Bay wanted to use the original theme in the film, it should have been rocked out with heavy guitars and bass. Not keyboards

You mean like the original Transformers The Movie theme that rocked the planet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xmso...eature=related

or a more modern take

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1koKpf2kZA

[DutchBoy]

*cries for the Wonder Years*

I hate bootleggers, but every time I'm at a trade-show or toy fair or something, it's all I can do not to buy the whole series from someone...

[savage1984]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

You mean like the original Transformers The Movie theme that rocked the planet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xmso...eature=related

or a more modern take

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1koKpf2kZA

I much prefer this one to both of those

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEXJBwPdxJA

It would have been perfect at the end of the credits, or playing on the radio or something... they could have made it work... It was a huge blemish on the film IMO.

[Blu n Gold]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

You mean like the original Transformers The Movie theme that rocked the planet?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Xmso...eature=related

or a more modern take

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1koKpf2kZA

*I have not listened to those links because I am at work and the boss may not appreciate the theme music.

The original theme worked great for the 80's tv show and 86 movie. But the new live action movie which featured AC-130s destroying everything, and Peterbilt semis and Cameros (not VW Bugs) would have seemed a little laughable with the keyboard style original theme.

The Mute Math version is not my favorite. Get Metallica to do the theme and it would fit. (I watched Some Kind of Monster last night on TV, give me that on blu).

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

Firefly will be.

While "Firefly" certainly had it's comedic moments, it's not really a "Situational Comedy" (AKA, Sitcom).

Seriously though... most of DVD's first TV releases were, if I remember correctly, mostly "genre" titles like "Buffy" and "X-Files", with "The Simpsons" and "Friends" being two exceptions. If I remember correctly, it was a few years before sitcoms really took off...

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

Sitcoms simply do not carry the zazz that get people excited about spending all that money to upgrade

I disagree with the above as I have simply stopped buying (HD) sitcoms on DVD due to the fact that I am simply not interested in buying an SD version of something I watched in HD the first time... and I see no reason why comedies benefit less from HD than "genre" shows. I do however feel it has more to do with the studios targeting the "early adopters" who (as a general rule) tend to be the types who are more interested in "genre" shows... which again goes back to the path that DVD followed there for a while.

"Friends" made great sense for DVD due to it's popularity at the time... but the problem is that (and I admit, I don't follow Nielsen ratings much... and don't intend to anytime soon) there simply isn't a sitcom on TV right now with the same amount of popularity. If you look at the top 20 (total viewers) for the week of April 7 - April 13, only "Samantha Who" is in the Top 20 at #15. If you look at for the season (since I don't believe some series had returned post-strike by April 13), "Two And A Half Men" is in the Top 20 as well at #19 (SW at #18)... but none of them reach the popularity of "Friends" in it's heyday.

Muddying the works is of course the (very important) 18-49 demographic, which adds "The Office", "The Simpsons", and "Scrubs". "Scrubs" and "The Simpsons" aren't in HD, but "The Office" has been since the beginning.

Syndication has "Two And A Half Men", "Seinfeld", "Friends", "Family Guy", "Everybody Loves Raymond", "George Lopez", and "The King Of Queens" in the top rated (from several weeks back), and "Everybody Loves Raymond" would be a great choice for Blu-ray (were it not for the fact that it didn't go HD until the 3rd or 4th season) and "The King Of Queens" (to my knowledge) didn't start in HD until a season or two in.

As for "Friends", "The Simpsons", and "Seinfeld", I would prefer studios start with 16x9 HD sitcoms... whether it be newer series like "The Office" (Universal) or "How I Met Your Mother" (Fox), or going back to series like ELR or TKoQ and releasing them beginning with the first HD seasons.

Until then, I'm boycotting their releases altogether on DVD (HIMYM in 4x3? Travesty!)...

~Alan

[WickyWoo]

I disagree with the above as I have simply stopped buying (HD) sitcoms on DVD due to the fact that I am simply not interested in buying an SD version of something I watched in HD the first time... and I see no reason why comedies benefit less from HD than "genre" shows. I do however feel it has more to do with the studios targeting the "early adopters" who (as a general rule) tend to be the types who are more interested in "genre" shows... which again goes back to the path that DVD followed there for a while.

I see where you're coming from. The general public is still going to be less motivated, especially with the large difference in price to upgrade, and therefore needs to wait for a much larger installed base to achieve satsifactory numbers.

Genre shows also lend themselves to season boxes far more, because they're more likely to have an enduring mythology. Sitcoms by their very nature are standalone. They wre very careful in choosing X-files as the first major studio TV box

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by WickyWoo

I see where you're coming from. The general public is still going to be less motivated, especially with the large difference in price to upgrade, and therefore needs to wait for a much larger installed base to achieve satsifactory numbers.

Genre shows also lend themselves to season boxes far more, because they're more likely to have an enduring mythology. Sitcoms by their very nature are standalone. They wre very careful in choosing X-files as the first major studio TV box

... and I see where you're coming from... especially the first paragraph. As for the second paragraph:

I totally agree that genre shows lend themselves more to collections, but I've found that sitcom DVD sets get the most viewings in my house. In fact, of the people that I know, the majority of their TV-on-DVD collections are sitcoms.

My genre shows however are seldom watched more than once... with the occasional viewing here and there due to their "mythology", but with sitcoms, I can just pop in an episode whenever I want to just enjoy something real quick.

I'm not trying to imply that just because it's that way with me and the people that I know, that everybody else is the same... just speaking from my own personal experience.

~Alan

[WickyWoo]

It's 2 different styles of viewing . Sitcoms are in the syndication dinnertime block for a reason. Theyre something great while you're eating dinner

Genre shows are an engaged mind, concious viewing investment

I've got my share on the shelf, almost 20 seasons of MASH and Married with children and at least a dozen other sitcom-esque boxes on my shelf

[Nemesis]

I own all 9 seasons of Seinfeld. I love them! I watch at least two episodes a week. Somtimes I watch half a season in a day. I also love Blu ray. I know for fact that I would not pay for the 9 seasons again if they were to come to Blu Ray. It is not worth it in my opinion. Eventhough I'm a huge Seinfeld fan.

I am also a Back to the Future and Indiana Jones trilogy owner. I know for a fact I will buy both on Blu Ray when they come out. So I have to agree about the movies having more of an appeal when it comes to Blu-Ray releases of movies/tv shows I already own.

[Alan Gordon]

Originally Posted by Nemesis

I am also a Back to the Future and Indiana Jones trilogy owner. I know for a fact I will buy both on Blu Ray when they come out. So I have to agree about the movies having more of an appeal when it comes to Blu-Ray releases of movies/tv shows I already own.

And I'm the complete opposite. I'm generally more excited by news of TV on Blu-ray announcement than I am movies.... though I'm not sure I'll be rushing out to buy "Seinfeld" or "Friends" on Blu-ray... I will be rushing out to buy "Mad Men", "Robin Hood", "Heroes" and (hopefully) more!

~Alan

[Scooby Blu]

Freaks and Geeks Came out in the 90's great stoner/geek show and the new Big Bang Theory Imagine, both geek type shows ! And I am an early adopter

[Scripture]

Originally Posted by Marcusarilius

What if the format becomes obsolete before all shows and movies can make it to the existing format.

Don't we start all over again without ever getting what we were hoping or waiting for on each format with that Studio mentality? They can take that carrot and...

I just don't see the Blu-ray format becoming obsolete any time soon. I'm not saying that I agree with the corporate bottom line, only that it exists, and unfortunately we're at their mercy.

Beggars can't be choosers, so the saying goes.