Blu-Ray of the complete series coming in October

[spunkygirl]

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dic...e-Series/17188

I am soooo getting this

[AKA]

I'd love, love, love to own this. Does anyone have $349.98 I can borrow?

[ajgenard]

Great news. I wish more classic sitcoms would get Bluray releases. But $350 for 15 discs? At $23+ per disc, that's really out of line with 2012 BR prices. That's like $70 per season. The first season of Game of Thrones comes out on Tuesday with 5 discs for $52 on Amazon. MSRPs are notoriously high but that's pretty unreasonable. Something closer to $200 is much more appropriate.

Even at $200 I'll wait for a price drop. The DVDs are so great that I'm not gonna be rushing out to upgrade.

[gilligan fanatic]

Here is an update

Earlier this month we reported that Blu-ray Disc versions of all 5 seasons of the legendary sitcom are on-the-way this fall in a single large set, but we didn't have the full details at the time. Now, however, David Van Deusen, the editor of The Dick Van Dyke Show Newsletter "The Walnut Times" has the scoop on the upcoming BD version of The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series which Image Entertainment is releasing on October 30th. Here's a quote from what Van Deusen has put into the most recent issue of his newsletter:

• Breaking News! The Walnut Times is pleased to announce that all five seasons of The Dick Van Dyke Show will be available in a Blu-ray boxed set this coming October 30th. This long awaited release is sure to please fans of the show as it includes the remastering of the episodes from the original 35mm negatives, resulting in phenomenal detail and clarity. So put that in your Meershatz pipe and smoke it!
  
  We have also learned exclusively that there will be some fabulous new bonus footage in the set. New content will feature video footage of Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke, and Garry Marshall at the DVDS 50th Anniversary event held at the American Cinemateque Egyptian Theatre, footage from the Television Academy's October 2011 tribute to Carl Reiner (including George Clooney's presentation of the Academy's award to Carl), and finally, select scenes from "It May Look Like a Walnut" which have been colorized. I wonder what "no thumbs" will look like in color? Stay tuned for more details.

Our deepest gratitude goes to The Walnut Times for this great info! Fans should, of course, visit the link above and sign up to get the regular publication of Van Deusen's newsletter. We're still waiting on Image to finalize package art for this Blu version of the sitcom's complete run and send it out to us; stay tuned for that, and any other updates which might come along.


Taken from: http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dick-Va...#ixzz21UQSObvw

I don't think i'll upgrade. The DVD's of DVD look great and have plenty of bonus features to begin with. I just bought the Twilight Zone on bluray from Image. I never owned the DVDs so I really wasn't upgrading. Those looked excellent so I am sure Dick Van Dyke will look good too. The Twilight Zone ran 5 seasons as well and I ended up paying $180 for the Complete Series so I bet DVD ends up that price too.

[ajgenard]

Select colorized scenes of "It May Look Like a Walnut"? Definitely sounds interesting. Newer colorization efforts are actually quite pleasing and I look forward to seeing that. Although I'd prefer one whole episode instead of a few minutes. But the process don't come cheap so that decision is understandable.

Despite this announcement of more worthwhile bonus features I'm still gonna wait for a price drop. Even though the DVDs are older releases they are still to this day among the best productions the medium has ever produced.

[spunkygirl]

it won't be that high on amazon....

[ajgenard]

Unless this is coming with some super nice physical packaging/extras then even a typical Amazon discount at something like $250 is outrageous for only 15 discs. It really irks me that production costs of bluray have been down to the level of DVD for a couple years now but consumers are still paying more. Especially for multi-disc sets where for instance 5 DVDs would be required to fit an entire season and only 3 BRs are needed (because the format can hold more per disc). So in reality it's actually cheaper to produce BR sets instead of DVD sets assuming the packaging is similar.

With the outlandish MSRP this release carries I'm hoping it's a numbered limited edition complete with a real ottoman and hand-signed by Dick Van Dyke or Carl Reiner. $350 is a car payment for cryin' out loud.

[gilligan fanatic]

Date moved back

We told you early this month that Image Entertainment is planning a high-def Blu-ray Disc release of The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series this fall, and last week we brought you an update about the contents of this set, including new extras. Originally the release date we were informed about for this $349.98 SRP gift set was said to be October 30th, and so far the studio itself hasn't officially made us aware of any revised schedule information. However, a brand-new Amazon.com pre-order listing for this 15-BD title shows that the street date seems to have moved back a couple of weeks, to November 13th. That's the only new info at their entry; we're still waiting on official artwork and so forth. But stay tuned and we'll bring that to you just as soon as we can!


Taken from: http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dick-Va...#ixzz22FQezw6k

[ajgenard]

The artwork and packaging details have been released. In addition to coming with standard packaging, I find it pretty bland and uninspired. This certainly doesn't help justify the outrageous $315 pricetag currently on Amazon. The DVD release looks much classier and appropriate with the vintage TV set theme.

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dick-Va...e-Series/17477

[gilligan fanatic]

I really do like the artwork, very classy like you said

[ajgenard]

Originally Posted by gilligan fanatic

I really do like the artwork, very classy like you said

The packaging for the original DVD seasons & complete series release was an absolute perfect reflection of the show: straightforward, very classy, and extremely functional. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that's part of the reason it won a DVD Exclusive Award that year. A lot of people really could care less about media housing and artwork. But I view it as a whole separate form of art. Especially for older shows and films which quite often get the shaft when it comes to effort spent on the packaging.

I look at this and see the same 5 or 6 publicity shots they keep recycling for releases, only they are artificially colored (colorized B&W stills never look right) and they've chosen a generic baby-blue background pattern with stock banners and tags. I myself could have created all 6 pieces of the art seen here in Photoshop in less than a day. I find that unacceptable given the hefty sticker price. Really, this is what they want millions of people to see staring back at them from computer screens and the shelves of Best Buy for years to come?

[gilligan fanatic]

Originally Posted by ajgenard

The packaging for the original DVD seasons & complete series release was an absolute perfect reflection of the show: straightforward, very classy, and extremely functional. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that's part of the reason it won a DVD Exclusive Award that year. A lot of people really could care less about media housing and artwork. But I view it as a whole separate form of art. Especially for older shows and films which quite often get the shaft when it comes to effort spent on the packaging.

I look at this and see the same 5 or 6 publicity shots they keep recycling for releases, only they are artificially colored (colorized B&W stills never look right) and they've chosen a generic baby-blue background pattern with stock banners and tags. I myself could have created all 6 pieces of the art seen here in Photoshop in less than a day. I find that unacceptable given the hefty sticker price. Really, this is what they want millions of people to see staring back at them from computer screens and the shelves of Best Buy for years to come?

One of my favorite things about the DVD set is how each case has it's own artwork that reflect the content on the disc. It is cool seeing other pictures than the same publicity shots. I still like the colorized look on the bluray set though.

Here is another update.

Early this week we brought you the package art for Image Entertainment's high-def Blu-ray Disc release of The Dick Van Dyke Show - The Complete Series, scheduled for November 13th. As a follow-up to that, the studio has distributed a new list of bonus material which will be found on this 15-disc set, above and beyond the info we previously passed along. This gives us some new insights into what's new to the package, so we wanted to share it with our readers. Check it out:

• TV Academy Tribute to Carl Reiner featuring Dick Van Dyke, George Clooney & more
• 50th Anniversary Q & A with Dick Van Dyke, Carl Reiner and Garry Marshall
• "It May Look Like a Walnut" Color Test
• Dick Van Dyke Appearance on The Danny Kaye Show
• Mary Tyler Moore Appearances on The Danny Kaye Show and The Danny Thomas Show
• "Kick the Habit" Radio Spot featuring Dick Van Dyke
• Safety Council Reel
• Audio Commentaries with Carl Reiner, Dick Van Dyke and many more!
• "Head of the Family" (Original Series Pilot Episode)
• The Making of "It May Look Like a Walnut"
• Rare Rehearsal Footage
• Interviews with the Cast and Producers
• Original Commercials with the Cast
• Original Network Promo Spots
• Photo Galleries
• And much, much more!

Taken from: http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Dick-Va...#ixzz26NRgjnNx

[AKA]

That artwork is terrible. They really should have just ported over the artwork they used for the DVDs.

[gilligan fanatic]

Did anyone get it?

[ajgenard]

Originally Posted by gilligan fanatic

Did anyone get it?

Unfortunately I'm starting to think this would-be landmark release is not selling well. It's been out nearly a week now and I haven't found a single review of it yet. Most media outlets, notably Best Buy, are not even carrying it in stores. On the bluray.com forums only minimal interest has been expressed in the set. What little interest there is, most are rightfully scared away by the sticker price. Consensus says the artwork is just too boring to grab any eyes (it truly has the appearance of a cheap public domain release). And of course there is the standard public misconception of "this was made a million years ago so HD/bluray is worthless" - only amplified once people start connecting their own dots and realize it was made a million years ago for television. As if that isn't enough to steer consumers away, the phenomenal DVD complete series is now down to $92 on Amazon and will likely stay in that ballpark in addition to being readily available on the instant streaming services for quite a while now.

If this release turns out to be a flop it will be a black mark in an already shrinking market. It certainly wouldn't bode well for the future of classic sitcoms on bluray. It could wind up being a long time until we see another.