Buena Vista giving TV-DVDs a bit of CPR
By Thomas K. Arnold

May 31, 2007

Buena Vista Home Entertainment wants to breathe some excitement into the TV-DVD business, which after several years of explosive growth is beginning to lose some of its luster.

The studio is taking the unusual step of announcing all its upcoming marquee TV-DVD releases at once and packing into them a wealth of novel extras, from Spanish-language audio tracks to a virtual fashion show, extended and bonus episodes and unaired story lines.

The highlight: Season 3 sets of top-rated shows "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy." Breaking tradition, each set gets a special name, similar to special editions of movies.

Lori MacPherson, GM North America at Buena Vista Home Entertainment, said the studio wants to create "the biggest TV-DVD event this fall." She and her team also are cognizant of the growing popularity of single-episode downloads and want to differentiate complete-season TV-DVD sets as much as possible.

"Sure, fans want DVDs to catch up on missed episodes, but it's our goal to include so much collectible bonus materials that the DVDs themselves become something not to be missed," she said.


"Desperate Housewives: The Complete Third Season -- The Dirty Laundry Edition" will arrive in stores Sept. 4. The six-disc set includes all 23 episodes along with such extras as a behind-the-scenes look at the season finale, a Spanish audio track, a conversation with series star Eva Longoria in which she shares stories from some of her favorite bloopers, a collection of creator Marc Cherry's favorite scenes and several unaired story lines, deleted scenes and outtakes.

A week later, on Sept. 11, comes "Grey's Anatomy: The Complete Third Season -- Seriously Extended Edition," a seven-disc set with all 25 episodes, four of them extended exclusively for the DVD release. Other bonus features include a one-on-one with series star Ellen Pompeo, a visit to the race track with star (and race-car enthusiast) Patrick Dempsey, cast and crew members' favorite scenes and audio commentaries.

"Lost: The Complete Third Season -- The Unexplored Experience" follows Dec. 11 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. The 23-episode, seven-disc set comes with a one-on-one with star Matthew Fox, a featurette on "The Others," a documentary chronicling 24 hours in production and a selection of never-before-seen flashbacks. Also included are behind-the-scenes looks at 10 episodes, audio commentaries, deleted scenes and bloopers.

Also in the pipeline are three new series that never before have been available on DVD.

"Ugly Betty: The Complete First Season -- Bettyfied Edition" will be out Aug. 21. The six-disc set contains all 23 episodes as well as an exhibit of some of the first season's best and worst fashions, a Spanish audio track, a discussion with the cast on the show's origins and a behind-the-scenes documentary with the show's production, costume and set designers.

"Brothers & Sisters: The Complete First Season," also a six-disc set, is scheduled for a Sept. 18 release. On Sept. 25 comes "What About Brian? -- Seasons 1 & 2," a five-disc set.

The Disney announcement comes at a time when the pace of TV-DVD releases is slowing. Just 158 multi-disc TV-DVD season sets came to market in the first four months of this year, according to the DVD Release Report, down 12.2% from the same period last year.


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It is ironic that Buena Vista is leading the charge to revitalize the TV-on-DVD genre when it has contributed to its slowed pace.

Among the offenses that Buena Vista has committed against consumers:

1.) They continue to pass off sets as “complete seasons” when in actuality they contain syndicated or edited versions of the original episodes. I realize that this is sometimes done for legal reasons (i.e. replacing music that is too costly to include), but the least that Buena Vista and others could do is be upfront with consumers and mention that on either the box or the packaging. Warner Bros. caused a stir last year when it released “Mama’s Family: The Complete First Season” on DVD. This set was hardly complete and contained the syndicated episodes that are shown – usually for free – on various locations on the TV dial. Warner Bros. only fessed up that they didn’t even hold the rights to the original un-cut episodes after they had released the so-called "complete" set. (Joe Hamilton Productions, the company founded by Carol Burnett’s ex-husband owns those rights.)

2.) They pass of inferior products. Buena Vista completed the seven season run of “The Golden Girls” on DVD earlier this year. However, several episodes on the set contain black bars on the bottom and top of the screen, giving it a faux-letterbox appearance (although letterbox for TV programs wasn’t practiced in the early 1990s when the “Girls” wrapped). Also, these bars have been superimposed on the screen, blocking out images that would normally appear. What is Buena Vista’s response to the problem? Ignore it and hope it goes away. Buena Vista says that they are “looking into the problem”, but haven’t offered any solutions.

3.) Consumers are tired of buying sets only to see them “orphaned”. We all realize that the TV-on-DVD genre is a business, and all businesses need to make money. However, Buena Vista and others are asking consumers to buy the first season set on good faith that future seasons will follow. Buena Vista released “Once & Again: Season 2” in August 2005, nearly two years after releasing the first season. “Once & Again: Season 3” was slated to release in January 2006, but more than a year and a half later, that final season is not forthcoming – despite the fact that cover art images have been created and commentary has been recorded by star Sela Ward and others. Now, even though two-thirds of “Once & Again” have been released, the series appears to have once again been “orphaned” by Buena Vista, angering fans in the process.

Now, Buena Vista isn’t the only company guilty of these abuses, but they, along with Sony (in my opinion) seem to be the worst offenders. Also, personally, I have found CBS/Paramount and Warner Bros. to be among the least offending distributors.

I find it humorous that all these TV-on-DVD producers express concern about the slowing of the once red-hot genre and grouse about what they can do differently. The way that the various distributors have played fast-and-loose with consumers over the past several years, I’m surprised it has taken this long for the slow-down to begin.

I have never had a problem with DVD sets, but I usually only get those series with mass appeal (Star Trek:TNG, CSI, Quantum Leap, X-files) Getting series that lasted on 30-40 episodes usually isn't very desireable, to me.