CBS Half Season DVD Sets

[McGillicuddy]

:confused: Why are some CBS Home Ent. DVD releases of tv series released by complete season (Hawaii 5-O) and others are split into volumes (Bonanza, The Love Boat, Dynasty, My 3 Sons, Vegas, Gunsmoke, The Fugitive)? :(

I am so grateful for the way I Love Lucy and The Lucy Show have been handled, but so many other shows have been treated shabbily.

:( :( :(

[JayTN]

It's probably a mixture of two things: 1) low sales, and 2) greed.

Those series you mentioned ("Dynasty", "Gunsmoke", etc.) are probably not as popular with consumers as the more recent series that have also been released. Plus, these series went off the air years ago, further diminishing their fan base. (I believe "Dynasty" is the most recent series to end from that list, and its final episode aired in 1989 - almost 22 years ago.)

Another - perhaps more important - reason is simple greed. CBS DVD can make more money by splitting a single season into two, while simultaneously not reducing the price. For the most part, these half-season sets are typically just as expensive as full season sets. For example, CBS DVD released the second season of "Dynasty" in just one set. Seasons 3 and 4 were split into two volumes each, but the price of the individual volumes were just as much as the full second season set.

Season 5 of "Dynasty" is supposed to be released in the coming months by CBS DVD, but there has been no word on whether they will continue with the half-season releases or restore the full season sets for this particular title.

[Marvo301]

There are two issues here and both relate to the amount of material in these shows. Due to the number of episodes per season these older shows produced and the fact that most of them are hour long episodes full season sets would contain more disks and larger packaging than say a single season of How I Met Your Mother. This leads to two problems. The first is the price CBS would have to charge for a set this size would negatively affect sales and make it unprofitable. Second Retailers would be reticent to allot shelf space for larger, bulkier releases because it would reduce the overall number of titles they could display. This would also negatively affect sales. So splitting the seasons of these shows into two volumes is the only way CBS can make the financial equation work out. It all comes down to dollars and cents.

[JayTN]

^^
A valid point, but CBS DVD could also do what Warner Bros. has done with its releases of the series "Dallas". While I believe that the final season, being released next week, will have one-sided discs, the previous seasons have all seen double sided discs. This allows each side of the disc to have episodes and cut down on the size of the packaging.

While the packaging for "Dallas" has evolved over the years (the first two seasons were released back in 2004), the most recent seasons packaging are no larger than a typical DVD movie package.

I still tend to think that greed is the primary reason, otherwise CBS DVD would not be charging full season set prices for half-season releases. Examples (based on suggested retail price)...

Gunsmoke: Season One - $39.98
Gunsmoke: Season 2, Vol. 1 - $36.98
Gunsmoke: Season 2, Vol. 2 - $36.98

Dynasty: Season Two - $39.98
Dynasty: Season 3, Vol. 1 - $35.98
Dynasty: Season 3, Vol. 2 - $35.98

So, if bought together (and I realize that many retailers discount the prices of DVDs), the second season of "Gunsmoke" would cost $73.96 compared to just $39.98 for the first full season. The full third season of "Dynasty" would cost $71.96, while the full second season cost just $39.98.

At the end of the day, CBS DVD could easily find creative and inventive ways to package their DVD releases in way that is both space saving and cost effective. For whatever reason, they have not chosen to do so...which is why I consider CBS DVD to be one of the worst home entertainment companies out there right now.