We broke this to you on Monday and now it is official!


WELCOME BACK KOTTER,

THE DREW CAREY SHOWAND NIGHT COURT

AVAILABLE ON DVD FEBRUARY 28, 2006

FROM WARNER HOME VIDEO



Value-priced TV Compilations will be Released in the Second Wave of

Warner Home Video’s ‘TV Favorites’ Series


DVDs Feature Some of Today’s Hottest Stars Including

John Travolta, Drew Carey and Others



BURBANK, CA (December 14, 2005) – TV viewers will soon become reacquainted with the “Sweathogs,” find out why “Cleveland rocks” and experience Manhattan’s craziest courtroom when Warner Home Video releases the second wave of its compilation series, ‘TV Favorites,’ on February 28, 2006. Featured titles include Welcome Back Kotter, The Drew Carey Show and Night Court. Each DVD will be competitively priced at $9.97 (SRP) and will feature a collection of six of the best episodes from a given series.

“We think ‘TV Favorites’ is a terrific way to sample some of the best programming television has to offer. The DVDs offer consumers a quick, simple and economical way to enjoy some of television’s most outstanding shows,” commented Rosemary Markson, WHV Executive Director TV Marketing. She added, “Whether you’ve missed a certain show during its original run or you’re a diehard fan of another one, you can’t go wrong with these DVDs. They are wonderful collectibles because they feature the series’ best and most popular episodes, which were carefully chosen to comprise these compilations.”

‘TV Favorites’ is a collection of classic and contemporary television compilations, showcasing many episodes that are on DVD for the first time. Each ‘TV Favorites’ featured title will include approximately 150 minutes of content consisting of six fan favorite and/or pivotal episodes from multiple seasons of each program. Fans can look forward to a third wave of ‘TV Favorites’ in June 2006 that will include a mix of genres from both new and vintage titles at the same value price of $9.97.

Fans will recall such memorable catchphrases as “up your nose with a rubber hose” and “I said, ba-ba-ba-ba-Barino…” when they take a time-trip back to the wide lapels and bell bottoms of the ‘70s in one of that decade’s biggest comedy hits, Welcome Back Kotter. Available for the first time ever on DVD, Welcome Back Kotter: TV Favorites follows the life of teacher and former “Sweathog” Gabe Kotter (Gabriel Kaplan). Kotter returns to his former high school to teach the same remedial class in which he had been a student himself as a teenager. Still referred to as the “Sweathogs,” the lovable losers and delinquents of Buchanan High accept their new teacher as they provide a nonstop string of laughs. Welcome Back Kotter is an Emmy-nominated series, which originally aired on ABC from September 1975 to May 1979. The show launched the career of John Travolta, who portrayed the role of heartthrob Vinnie Barbarino. The series also starred Lawrence Washington as the always cool Freddie “Boom-Boom” Washington, Robert Hegyes as the tough Juan (Luis Pedro Phillipo de Huevos) Epstein, Ron Pallilo as the sheepish Arnold Dingfelder Horshak, Marcia Strassman as Julie Kotter and John Sylvester White as Mr. Michael Woodman.


Episodes featured on Welcome Back Kotter: TV Favorites include:

One Flu Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – Season 1 (aired April 5, 1976)
Father Vinnie – Season 1 (aired April 26, 1976)
Sweatside Story – Season 2 (aired October 7, 1976)
I’m Having Their Baby – Season 2 (aired February 24, 1977)
The De-Programming of Arnold Horshack – Season 3 (aired October 20, 1977)
Goodbye, Mr. Kripps – Season 3 (aired March 9, 1978)



Available for the first time ever on DVD, Drew Carey: TV Favorites focuses on Drew Carey, your everyday blue-collar guy who’s struggling through life’s ups and downs with his closest friends, Oswald, Lewis and Kate. Stuck in the same job for ten years, Drew performs a balancing act between sucking up to his boss and doing his best to irritate his annoying co-worker Mimi. When he’s not at work, he’s trying to have some success in the romance department and indulging in a few of his own beers he brews in his garage with his friends. The series which originally aired on ABC from September 1995 to September 2004, starred Drew Carey, Ryan Stiles, Diedrich Bader, Kathy Kinney, Craig Ferguson, Christa Miller Lawrence and Kevin Pollak. Episodes featured on the DVD include guest appearances by Jamie Lee Curtis and model Brandy Ledford.


Episodes featured on Drew Carey: TV Favorites include:

Pilot – Season 1 (aired September 13, 1995)
Playing a Unified Field – Season 1 (aired February 14, 1996)
We’ll Remember Always, Evaluation Day – Season 2 (aired September 18, 1996)
Drew Blows His Promotion – Season 2 (aired February 15, 1997)
My Best Friend’s Wedding – Season 3 (aired May 20, 1998)
DrugCo – Season 4 (aired March 3, 1999)



Night Court: TV Favorites follows the exploits of Judge Harry T. Stone who presides over the New York City night court. The cases that come before Judge Stone are always a little bit silly, but it’s up for debate whether his motley crew of staff or the criminals for whom he dispenses justice are more bizarre. Viewers will enjoy the chaos that made this hilarious 80’s sitcom one of the top shows of its time. The series, which originally aired on NBC January 1984 to May 1992 was nominated for an Emmy in the Outstanding Comedy Series category. Night Court starred Harry Anderson, John Larroquette, Richard Moll, Karen Austin, Paula Kelly, Selma Diamond, Charles Robinson, Markie Post and Marsha Warfield. Teri Hatcher (Desperate Housewives) makes a guest appearance in an episode entitled Who Was that Mashed Man?.



Episodes featured on Night Court: TV Favorites include:

All You Need is Love – Season 1 (aired January 4, 1984)
Her Honor, Part 1 – Season 4 (aired April 29, 1987)
Her Honor, Part 2 – Season 4 (aired May 6, 1987)
Death of a Bailiff – Season 5 (aired October 15, 1987)
Who Was that Mashed Man? – Season five (aired November 19, 1987)
Fire – Season 6 (aired November 2, 1988)


A comprehensive online campaign will support the second wave of ‘TV Favorites.’ targeting the TV viewer enthusiasts with websites such as TVGuide.com and ClassicTVHits.com. In addition, merchandisers will be provided to retailers for multiple display options, including A-frames and counter displays.

A comprehensive online campaign will support the second wave of ‘TV Favorites.’ targeting the TV viewer enthusiasts with websites such as TVGuide.com and ClassicTVHits.com.


I was about to say something really negative about this TV Favorites stuff, but maybe I'd better keep my mouth shut.

“We think ‘TV Favorites’ is a terrific way to sample some of the best programming television has to offer. The DVDs offer consumers a quick, simple and economical way to enjoy some of television’s most outstanding shows,” commented Rosemary Markson, WHV Executive Director TV Marketing.

I'll say this, when you think of the fact that I'll be able to see more than 6 episodes of Welcome Back Kotter for free online next month, why would I want to buy that collection? Seeing them online sounds like a better way to sample the show than buying these collections. Yes, I want to own episodes on dvd, but I'm not buying some random collection with no guarantee that I'll get more. Using these compilations to see how much interest there is in season sets is lame. There may be people fine with these collections who have no interest in commiting to season sets anyway. Use season sets as an indicator of how season sets will do.

:thumbsdow to these "best of" collections.

I know many people are not happy with this, but please do understand that they are doing this for caution. I have explained it in this thread at HTF:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=247462

I've learned first hand how bad it is at Warner right now. So many job cuts and money loss. A single disc release of course would not be a lot to produce like season sets would.

Please read that thread if anyone is unhappy and it'll I hope make everyone understand why they are doing this.

if things are THAT bad over at Warner, why dont they consider licensing out the rights to some of these shows and let someone ELSE take the risk of releasing them?

I'm sure that someone like Shout! Factory could make money off of a WBK full-season release.

I still am not sold, because companies like Universal, Sony and the sort are frustrating enough as it is without them releasing these sort of collections and if the Warner sets take off, you know that the other companies will sacrifice season sets for everything in favor.

I find the blame with Warner, they're the ones who treat every sitcom who doesn't begin with the letter F (Friends, Full House, Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air) like crap. Those three shows are played out and yet they'd rather release those than ones that people actually would like to revisit.

if things are THAT bad over at Warner, why dont they consider licensing out the rights to some of these shows and let someone ELSE take the risk of releasing them?

I'm sure that someone like Shout! Factory could make money off of a WBK full-season release.

perfect idea, Rhino (which is a Time Warner company as well) could take over the distribution rights for shows like Alice, Night Court, etc.... Warner might be anal and treat every show like crap that isn't overplayed like Friends and Fresh Prince, but I'm sure Rhino would be more than happy with the sales. Kinda like how Anchor Bay has two "blockbusters" (Three's Company and Roseanne) yet at the same time don't get stingy and realize that shows like Silk Stalkings have a following as well.

Please read that thread if anyone is unhappy and it'll I hope make everyone understand why they are doing this.

I understand. I read your post at HTF before I made my post here. I just don't agree with testing the waters with these compilations. I would rather not see anything released if it's dependant on me buying something with just 6 episodes. I'd gladly pay for at least the first two full seasons of Welcome Back Kotter. I realize there may not be enough other fans who would do that for Warner to feel it would be profitable to release them. I don't have a good solution to guarantee they'll make money, but I don't feel these compilations are a good solution either. I'd rather show my interest by purchasing a full season set.

I don't know why WB is being so cautious with a show like Perfect Strangers. There's obviously demand for it, it's even been mentioned in online and magazine articles for not having a DVD release. Also tvshowsondvd just announced that WB said there was enough of a demand for Cheyenne from the best of set. Everytime I was in a Best Buy I looked at these sets and the only ones that weren't stacked full was F Troop. Also I think F Troop always had a higher rank on Amazon. So why aren't they releasing F Troop intead of Cheyenne. I'm really thinking this will backfire on them. Those who buy the best ofs won't necessarily buy the season set. I bought F Troop but doubt I'll buy the season set if it's ever released. If Perfect Stranges best of comes out in June, we most likely won't see a season set until at least 2007.

well, about Kotter....

if Warner trusts releasing a season of Living Single because Queen Latifah is a movie star now, and Growing Pains because Leonardo DiCaprio was on the show in it's last season (don't forget how there were "no immediate plans" to release Lois And Clark, but then as soon as Desperate Housewives took off, they couldn't release it soon enough), so it'll pay dividends, what about the John Travolta angle from Kotter? I heard the Pulp Fiction prequel will be coming out before too long, what better time than to release season 1 of Kotter because I am sure there are a lot of younger JT fans who have never seen Welcome Back Kotter that would check out a season set, much like a lot of younger 007 fans who probably never watched Remington Steele bought it for Brosnan, and same with a lot of Bruce Willis fans and Moonlighting, and so on and so on for pretty much any show from the 70's and 80's that had an actor who went onto superstardom.

perfect idea, Rhino (which is a Time Warner company as well) could take over the distribution rights for shows like Alice, Night Court, etc.....

I like what Rhino did with the My Favorite Martian discs (though I'm a tad unhappy that season 3 just sort of disappeared), so I'd go for give the rights to them.

Anything is better than this. Call me cheap, but I don't exactly have the money to be wasting on these sets of episodes 'they' think are the best, only to later have a season set released, which is what I wanted in the first place. Then I'd have this $10 coaster sitting around.

Call me cheap, but I don't exactly have the money to be wasting on these sets of episodes 'they' think are the best

Hope you know Alice and Perfect Stranger's episodes were "hand-picked by fans" right here at SitcomsOnline.com! I hope to get that on the packaging for both!

Hope you know Alice and Perfect Stranger's episodes were "hand-picked by fans" right here at SitcomsOnline.com! I hope to get that on the packaging for both!

true, but no shows out there are universally agreed upon by fans. For example, I know Seinfeld fans who not only dislike "The Contest" and "The Chinese Restaurant", but consider them among the weakest episodes of those seasons. Hell, I think "The Mango" is overrated and far from the best episode of season 5, and that's considered one of the top episodes.

I think Warner should try this instead:

Instead of "Best Episodes", start with the first six episodes of season 1 (or season 2 in Night Court's case) complete with a $10 coupon for a rebate in case sales lead to an entire season 1 release.

I think people might be more interested in a set like that since like it or not, fans are chronologically anal, they don't really want a season 1 episode followed by something in season 3, etc

I hope everyone here at least picks up Alice and PS just to support SO!

...Each DVD will be competitively priced at $9.97 (SRP) and will feature a collection of six of the best episodes from a given series.....
i would rather spend $20-$30 on a complete set with 20+ episodes; it just doesn't seem like you are getting your money's worth for just 6 episodes - especially if they aren't YOUR favorite episodes :(

if they at least put a rebate coupon in there for the potential future season set, that would make it less of a risk.

I hope everyone here at least picks up Alice and PS just to support SO!
I would if I liked those shows.

I hope everyone here at least picks up Alice and PS just to support SO!

I'm against these "TV Favorites" releases but I have every intention of picking up those two DVDs.

I bought "Welcome Back, Kotter" (from Best Buy), "Chico and the Man" and "F Troop". I didn't buy, nor will I buy "Cheyenne" and that's the one to make a full season set. Is there still a chance that CATM and FT will make season sets. And why in the world would they include the first episode of "Night Court"? We already have the first episode in the season 1 set! To me, if you're a fan, you'll buy a season set. I understand not everyone can afford to buy season sets the way I do.

Why doesn't Warner Bros. just have an online poll like the other companies? Thanks to Sony's poll a couple years ago, "NewsRadio" made it to DVD. (remember the four winners were NewsRadio, The Tick, Soap and Dilbert?)
And polls don't cost us anything. I'm gonna have to spend money to get Warner Bros to release a season set of "Perfect Strangers" and even then, they might not.

I'm gonna have to spend money to get Warner Bros to release a season set of "Perfect Strangers" and even then, they might not.

while I personally wouldn't buy a season of Perfect Strangers, I heard season 1 was all of six episodes itself. Wouldn't Warner just do a better job by just releasing the six episode from season 1 instead and sales of that determine future plans? I think a six episode disc of the short first season would bring in more numbers than a "best of" set