Is Shout! Factory almost defunct? - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

tlc38tlc38 · 10-08-2018, 05:07 AM

Just wondering cause they haven't released anything good in a long time. They used to release at least 2-3 big name titles a year, now it's nothing.

Now it seems like Warner Archive is our only hope for releases.

Svenfan1234 · 10-08-2018, 09:14 AM

I don't think they are. We got a lot of good releases last year, and they did re-release Saved by the Bell and release Good Morning Miss Bliss to DVD for the very first time. I wouldn't be surprised if we continued to see them release complete series sets from Sony like Silver Spoons, Benson, Who's the Boss, My Two Dads, What's Happening Now, and Archie Bunker's Place.

Kasey · 10-08-2018, 09:16 AM

They are concentrating more on Blurays and films now rather than TV show sets. I doubt we will see many more from them.

1960'sTVfan · 10-08-2018, 10:31 AM

Shout Factory's DVD releases of classic TV shows (1950's to 70's) are indeed slowing down, but I don't think they're completely done. Many of the classics have already been released, there just isn't that much left anymore.

I would like to see them release Forever Fernwood, the sequel series to Mary Hartman. At this time it seems unlikely to be released but I hope eventually they'll release it.

Archie Bunker's Place would make sense for Shout Factory since they finished off All In The Family, taking over from Sony starting with season 7 and then later issuing a complete series set.

Svenfan1234 · 10-08-2018, 12:26 PM

As long as Shout! works with Sony and 20th Fox like they have been, I don't think they'll be slowing down. Right now they may just be looking at the shows they've abandoned to see if they'd sell again, but that's just my speculation, but that's what I feel might be happening. After all, we saw shows like Diff'rent Strokes, Rhoda, and The Paper Chase finally completed on DVD by them after they were stalled for a very long time.

stevea · 10-09-2018, 07:46 AM

Whenever I get an email from them, it's always a bunch of junk cartoons they're pushing. I think they're about over the hill.

They ought to make a deal with CBS Television Prods and Sony. There's still plenty of stuff to release, and they're not doing much.

TKMetal · 10-09-2018, 10:56 AM

They just put in a 3 million dollar bid to buy a bankrupt studio, so I think they are doing fine.

Horror and Cult films are big sellers on Blu-ray right now and that seems to be where they've put most of their focus lately.

1960'sTVfan · 10-09-2018, 12:07 PM

There is always something that could be released on DVD, but as far as the classic sitcoms go (1950's to 70's) the majority of the most popular ones have already been released.

There had been some talk going on about a Ozzie And Harriet complete series DVD with all uncut episodes, but I haven't heard anything about it for awhile so I assume the idea has been scrapped.

My Three Sons is another long runner that needs more DVD's, but with all the music replacement mess that went on with the season 1 and 2 DVD's, I imagine that might have put the kabosh on any more DVD's.

One cool thing that just got released by Classic Flix is the Blondie TV sitcom from 1957. This mostly forgotten, one season sitcom is something I didn't expect to be released on DVD, so maybe there's hope for some of these other one season wonders of yesteryear. Classic Flix might be a studio to keep an eye on for shows like this. Classic Flix previously released a DVD set of the one season 1960's sitcom It's About Time, now Blondie, so maybe they'll release a few more.

Svenfan1234 · 10-18-2018, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by retroTVfan4ever

There is always something that could be released on DVD, but as far as the classic sitcoms go (1950's to 70's) the majority of the most popular ones have already been released.

There had been some talk going on about a Ozzie And Harriet complete series DVD with all uncut episodes, but I haven't heard anything about it for awhile so I assume the idea has been scrapped.

My Three Sons is another long runner that needs more DVD's, but with all the music replacement mess that went on with the season 1 and 2 DVD's, I imagine that might have put the kabosh on any more DVD's.

One cool thing that just got released by Classic Flix is the Blondie TV sitcom from 1957. This mostly forgotten, one season sitcom is something I didn't expect to be released on DVD, so maybe there's hope for some of these other one season wonders of yesteryear. Classic Flix might be a studio to keep an eye on for shows like this. Classic Flix previously released a DVD set of the one season 1960's sitcom It's About Time, now Blondie, so maybe they'll release a few more.

I think that the companies like Shout! and Time Life have the distributors that they work with almost exclusively. Shout! has Sony and 20th Fox on an inconsistent basis, idk who Time Life usually deals with, seems usually Warner Brothers, and VEI has old CBS/Paramount shows. Shout! will probably keep on releasing old Sony shows that Sony will be willing to license to them.

stevea · 10-18-2018, 01:07 PM

Time Life is releasing more Lucy (like we don't have enough Lucy on DVD already), so they must also now be dealing with CBS/Paramount.

Svenfan1234 · 10-18-2018, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stevea

Time Life is releasing more Lucy (like we don't have enough Lucy on DVD already), so they must also now be dealing with CBS/Paramount.

Hopefully, if they are maybe they'll get the rights to fully restored complete series releases of Happy Days and My Three Sons.

Svenfan1234 · 10-18-2018, 01:11 PM

Shout! could still release from Sony:
227
Archie Bunker's Place
Benson
The Rookies
Silver Spoons
What's Happening Now!!
Who's the Boss?
And there are others I probably forgot. Also, there's St. Elsewhere from 20th Fox, along with shows like Julia, Room 222, and Phyllis that they could release/complete from Fox.

stevea · 10-18-2018, 01:30 PM

Amen to all of those. I think Shout was doing Marcus Welby, and if so, they need to finish that.

I sent a contact to Time Life with a My Three Sons suggestion (normally, no one pays attention to those, but it doesn't hurt to try...you never know...if I don't hear anything from them, I'll try VEI). With Lucy they did a Best Of, which they could do with Sons, also. They wouldn't run into many music issues with the color episodes, since by then the music score was done exclusively for the show. A few individual episodes had music performances.

tlc38tlc38 · 11-03-2018, 09:01 AM

What floors me is that they haven’t released “Archie Bunker’s Place”. I thought for sure they’d hop on the chance to release another Norman Lear show.

Videoranger007 · 11-03-2018, 10:49 AM

Shout Factory is nowhere near done. Maybe they are not focusing on older TV shows anymore (honestly they are not that profitable) but their sub label Scream Factory is rated one of the top bluray labels for horror films. They have been cranking out the Super Sentai releases and still have the occassional tv shows, animated series, and TONS of other film genres coming out every month!

10-08-2018, 05:07 AM	#1
tlc38tlc38 Member Forum Star Join Date: May 02, 2008 Posts: 19,285	Is Shout! Factory almost defunct? Just wondering cause they haven't released anything good in a long time. They used to release at least 2-3 big name titles a year, now it's nothing. Now it seems like Warner Archive is our only hope for releases.
	__________________ Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. Deuteronomy 15:10 In loving memory of my best friend, my Mama.

10-08-2018, 09:14 AM	#2
Svenfan1234 Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 12, 2015 Posts: 11,200	I don't think they are. We got a lot of good releases last year, and they did re-release Saved by the Bell and release Good Morning Miss Bliss to DVD for the very first time. I wouldn't be surprised if we continued to see them release complete series sets from Sony like Silver Spoons, Benson, Who's the Boss, My Two Dads, What's Happening Now, and Archie Bunker's Place.
	__________________ [

10-08-2018, 10:31 AM	#4
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,145	Shout Factory's DVD releases of classic TV shows (1950's to 70's) are indeed slowing down, but I don't think they're completely done. Many of the classics have already been released, there just isn't that much left anymore. I would like to see them release Forever Fernwood, the sequel series to Mary Hartman. At this time it seems unlikely to be released but I hope eventually they'll release it. Archie Bunker's Place would make sense for Shout Factory since they finished off All In The Family, taking over from Sony starting with season 7 and then later issuing a complete series set.
	Last edited by 1960'sTVfan; 10-08-2018 at 11:04 AM.

11-03-2018, 10:49 AM	#15
Videoranger007 Member Forum Regular Join Date: May 02, 2016 Location: USA Posts: 606	Shout Factory is nowhere near done. Maybe they are not focusing on older TV shows anymore (honestly they are not that profitable) but their sub label Scream Factory is rated one of the top bluray labels for horror films. They have been cranking out the Super Sentai releases and still have the occassional tv shows, animated series, and TONS of other film genres coming out every month!
	__________________ King of Cartoons. Love Superhero and Sci-Fi live action series. Vintage Anime fan and collector of rare English dubbed anime!

10-08-2018, 09:16 AM	#3
Kasey Member Senior Member Join Date: Aug 22, 2004 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,143	They are concentrating more on Blurays and films now rather than TV show sets. I doubt we will see many more from them.

10-08-2018, 12:26 PM	#5
Svenfan1234 Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 12, 2015 Posts: 11,200	As long as Shout! works with Sony and 20th Fox like they have been, I don't think they'll be slowing down. Right now they may just be looking at the shows they've abandoned to see if they'd sell again, but that's just my speculation, but that's what I feel might be happening. After all, we saw shows like Diff'rent Strokes, Rhoda, and The Paper Chase finally completed on DVD by them after they were stalled for a very long time.

10-09-2018, 07:46 AM	#6
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 45,077	Whenever I get an email from them, it's always a bunch of junk cartoons they're pushing. I think they're about over the hill. They ought to make a deal with CBS Television Prods and Sony. There's still plenty of stuff to release, and they're not doing much.

10-09-2018, 10:56 AM	#7
TKMetal Millennial Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 12, 2006 Posts: 280	They just put in a 3 million dollar bid to buy a bankrupt studio, so I think they are doing fine. Horror and Cult films are big sellers on Blu-ray right now and that seems to be where they've put most of their focus lately.

10-09-2018, 12:07 PM	#8
1960'sTVfan Member Forum Veteran Join Date: Sep 30, 2009 Posts: 6,145	There is always something that could be released on DVD, but as far as the classic sitcoms go (1950's to 70's) the majority of the most popular ones have already been released. There had been some talk going on about a Ozzie And Harriet complete series DVD with all uncut episodes, but I haven't heard anything about it for awhile so I assume the idea has been scrapped. My Three Sons is another long runner that needs more DVD's, but with all the music replacement mess that went on with the season 1 and 2 DVD's, I imagine that might have put the kabosh on any more DVD's. One cool thing that just got released by Classic Flix is the Blondie TV sitcom from 1957. This mostly forgotten, one season sitcom is something I didn't expect to be released on DVD, so maybe there's hope for some of these other one season wonders of yesteryear. Classic Flix might be a studio to keep an eye on for shows like this. Classic Flix previously released a DVD set of the one season 1960's sitcom It's About Time, now Blondie, so maybe they'll release a few more.

10-18-2018, 01:07 PM	#10
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 45,077	Time Life is releasing more Lucy (like we don't have enough Lucy on DVD already), so they must also now be dealing with CBS/Paramount.

10-18-2018, 01:11 PM	#12
Svenfan1234 Member Forum Star Join Date: Dec 12, 2015 Posts: 11,200	Shout! could still release from Sony: 227 Archie Bunker's Place Benson The Rookies Silver Spoons What's Happening Now!! Who's the Boss? And there are others I probably forgot. Also, there's St. Elsewhere from 20th Fox, along with shows like Julia, Room 222, and Phyllis that they could release/complete from Fox.

10-18-2018, 01:30 PM	#13
stevea 22 Years On Sitcoms Moderator Forum Legend Join Date: Aug 13, 2003 Location: Indy Posts: 45,077	Amen to all of those. I think Shout was doing Marcus Welby, and if so, they need to finish that. I sent a contact to Time Life with a My Three Sons suggestion (normally, no one pays attention to those, but it doesn't hurt to try...you never know...if I don't hear anything from them, I'll try VEI). With Lucy they did a Best Of, which they could do with Sons, also. They wouldn't run into many music issues with the color episodes, since by then the music score was done exclusively for the show. A few individual episodes had music performances.

11-03-2018, 09:01 AM	#14
tlc38tlc38 Member Forum Star Join Date: May 02, 2008 Posts: 19,285	What floors me is that they haven’t released “Archie Bunker’s Place”. I thought for sure they’d hop on the chance to release another Norman Lear show.