Firefly Lands Fridays At 8

POSTED BY: FilmCritic3000
UPDATED: Sunday, May 19, 2002 18:15
VIEWED: 6953
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RATZCRACKERS

Friday, May 17, 2002 2:50 AM

Originally posted by bar:
Does it bug anyone that he had to redo the "epic" pilot he had laready done to please the network? I remember reading thats how we got the original buffy movie .

It bothers me a little... I hate it when network executives toy around with shows.

Still... trust in Joss.

BAR

Friday, May 17, 2002 3:37 AM

Yes trust in Joss, I am just having a crisis I want this show to be good. I want his vision and not a changed by the network bosses version. So much crappy Tv available already.

MERCURY

Friday, May 17, 2002 3:16 PM

To bad about DA..But great about Firefly!!!!!:D

SHUGGIE

Sunday, May 19, 2002 6:15 PM

Originally posted by Hjermsted:

Sadly, the US networks are not as enlightened as Europe when it comes to releasing TV seasons on DVD (HBO and Showtime being the exceptions). Over there, you wait a couple months after a season ends and then buy your DVD package. This is mainly because they don't televise repeats of American shows in Europe once they've been shown.

Here in the States there is a strict pattern that must be followed: The main network gets to present each episode at least twice (guaranteed). Once a show has produced close to 100 episodes, it gets syndicated. It's only after all episodes available for syndication have been shown that a DVD set gets released and usually the seasons are brought out painfully slow to ensure the syndicated channels can maximize their ad revenues.

This is why first two seasons of Angel are already available on DVD in Europe and won't be for sale in the States for several more years.

Mattro

You're mostly right but we do actually get US shows repeated here.

It's not so much about being enlightened as it is about economics. We don't have the same Network/Syndication set-up here in the UK. What normally happens is that we get a first run on satellite/cable TV, a second on a terestrial channel and subsequent repeats on both. After the initial runs any money earned is usually seen as a bonus and so they sell off repeats rights cheap - meaning they're not tied into protecting their value by not releasing DVDs.

I think there's also evidence that we buy more DVDs of TV shows. But that could be a chicken-and-egg thing - we buy more because they are available. Either way there is a significant market that's definitely worth more than the repeats rights.

By the way it's not just S1&2 of Angel it's also S1-4 of Buffy, with S4 in full anamorphic widescreen.

(again widescreen very big over here, not so much in the US)

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