Sony's new "Fan Favorite" sitcom DVD line unveiled

[Cordy_Biddle]

You can read the full stories at www.tvshowsondvd.com. Sony has compiled budget-priced Best Of... discs for several of their flagship sitcoms. Useless for the collectors who bought the complete season sets but a cheap option for casual viewers.

Here's a look at the cover art (courtesy tvshowsondvd.com):

[DisneyFreak5282]

I like this idea but at the same time I don't. I mean, some of the episode selections for some of these releases are just so random! They should have made the episode selection to include the Pilot episode and a few episodes from other seasons. Like for the release for The King of Queens - it includes the complete second disc from the show's final season DVD set (INCLUDING the two-part series finale). How could that compilation possibly please a casual fan who is still on the fence about getting into the series? Why buy the second disc of the last season of the show, and watch the finale and spoil everything? On the other hand, I'll probably pick up the Married...With Children one. I watched the pilot on YouTube and sorta liked it, but I felt like I needed to see more to judge, and I don't feel like shelling out $25 for a show I'm not sure I'm even gonna wind up liking in the first place. Maybe I'll also pick up the one for The Jeff Foxworthy Show. I was a casual fan of Blue Collar TV when it aired, so maybe I'll like this. Those compilations make sense, because they contain season 1 episodes. I'll also probably get other ones, but we'll see.

[blackcauldron85]

I think that these would be fine to rent for free from the library, but if someone buys one of these (I can't find the article on TVonDVD.com- how much are they supposed to sell for?) and then decides that he or she loves the show, then he or she would have to pay for the season sets anyway, and so they'll have these episodes still. Sure, they could sell it, but would a used copy of these go for much?

I think that it's better to watch the show on TV, rent season sets from the library (or these, just to see what a show is like, I guess), or borrow season sets for a friend.

On the other hand, I'll probably pick up the Married...With Children one. I watched the pilot on YouTube and sorta liked it, but I felt like I needed to see more to judge, and I don't feel like shelling out $25 for a show I'm not sure I'm even gonna wind up liking in the first place.

I'm not saying this just to you, but to people with that mindset: Especially for a more modern show like "Married With Children", wouldn't it make more sense to check your local listings to see if it'll be on? You could watch random episodes for free on TV versus paying I don't know how much for a disc of I don't know how many episodes, that are also random. I just think that there are better things for people to spend money on. Especially if the shows are regularly on TV, or if used season sets are at a good price, or new ones at a good price.

It'd be one thing if these cost $1, but if they cost $9.99 or $14.95 or something, then people could just use that towards a season set if they find that they like the show. And Ryan mentioned YouTube- I bet a lot of shows are on YouTube, or at least clips of shows.

I'm just a price-conscious person, and these just seem to be money-eaters. I think they'd be a great buy if they had all your favorite episodes on them (if you're not a huge fan of the show and only have a few favorite episodes), and even the Christmas DVDs similar to these seem like a better value, since at least they're themed.

[Cordy_Biddle]

I think that these would be fine to rent for free from the library, but if someone buys one of these (I can't find the article on TVonDVD.com- how much are they supposed to sell for?) and then decides that he or she loves the show, then he or she would have to pay for the season sets anyway, and so they'll have these episodes still. Sure, they could sell it, but would a used copy of these go for much?

I think they are selling in the $10-15 bracket.

[blackcauldron85]

Thanks! Are there 4 episodes on each disc?

I own the Classic Cartoon Favorites and Funny Factory DVDs, but I got those cheaper than I would've gotten Treasures, and those shorts aren't shown on TV like many of these shows are. I just don't think they're a good value...

[Cordy_Biddle]

If I remember, there's actually six or seven episodes per disc. And if we believe Sony reps, they have been hand-picked by the fans (don't know of the voting system though).

[blackcauldron85]

Oh, so they're supposed to be Best-Of sets, then? That's not as bad, then!

[DisneyFreak5282]

Yeah the MSRP is $14.99 so it'll be cheaper in stores. Another reason I wanted to buy this was because I have tons of other DVDs to buy at the moment and I'm sort of low on cash at the moment. Plus, not all these discs have only 7 or 8 episodes. The best-of disc for The Jeff Foxworthy Show has 12 episodes!

[Cordy_Biddle]

I actually don't mind compilation things like this. In fact, the main reason why I fell in love with "Married with Children" is because my brother bought the 'Most Outrageous Episodes' best-of discs. I'm now in the process of buying the full season sets for myself!

And I also have the best-of discs for "Designing Women" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" which I love to pieces.

[PeterPanfan]

Married...With Children is on ABC Family. (:

[blackcauldron85]

Married...With Children is on ABC Family. (:

ABC Family is so weird and eclectic these days, huh? But you tell 'em, Dan!

[DisneyFreak5282]

Married...With Children is on ABC Family. (:

...Not where I live. Where I live it's on at all sorts of crazy hours on TV Land and TBS! And now that school's started it's going to be near impossible to catch reruns of these (butchered, syndicated) episodes.

[Escapay]

I wouldn't bother with these. Sony's just taken a disc from a random season for each show and calling it a "Fan Favorite". Plus, given how cheap you can find some of the season sets nowadays, asking $14.99 SRP for one disc is silly.

"All in the Family" - Season 2, Disc 2
"Barney Miller" - Season 3, Episode 1
"Bewitched" - Season 2, Disc 1
"Diff'rent Strokes" - Season 2, Disc 1
"Good Times" - Season 4, Disc 1
"I Dream of Jeannie" - Season 5, Disc 2
"The Jeff Foxworthy Show" - Season 2, Disc 1
"The Jeffersons" - Season 2, Disc 2
"The King of Queens" - Season 9, Disc 2
"Married...With Children" - Season 1, Disc 1
"Newsradio" - Season 3, Disc 2
"Sanford and Son" - Season 1, Disc 1

albert

[Cordy_Biddle]

I wouldn't bother with these. Sony's just taken a disc from a random season for each show and calling it a "Fan Favorite". Plus, given how cheap you can find some of the season sets nowadays, asking $14.99 SRP for one disc is silly.

"All in the Family" - Season 2, Disc 2
"Barney Miller" - Season 3, Episode 1
"Bewitched" - Season 2, Disc 1
"Diff'rent Strokes" - Season 2, Disc 1
"Good Times" - Season 4, Disc 1
"I Dream of Jeannie" - Season 5, Disc 2
"The Jeff Foxworthy Show" - Season 2, Disc 1
"The Jeffersons" - Season 2, Disc 2
"The King of Queens" - Season 9, Disc 2
"Married...With Children" - Season 1, Disc 1
"Newsradio" - Season 3, Disc 2
"Sanford and Son" - Season 1, Disc 1

albert

You mean the fans never actually picked the episodes for the "Fan Favorites" DVDs? What a roart!

[SpringHeelJack]

I too was hoping for a more democratic voting process for fan favorites. I demand a recount!

[Escapay]

What a roart!

I don't know what "roart" means, but I'm so using it now!

I too was hoping for a more democratic voting process for fan favorites. I demand a recount!

Even then, I don't think the votes would truly represent all the fans' favourite episodes. After all, if the voting were done online, only those with online access and awareness of the voting could vote.

So for Mary Jane Persky in Butte, Montana, if she is unaware of the voting and her favorite episode of "I Dream of Jeannie" is when she and Tony and Roger pretend to be hotel workers for Dr. Bellows and his wife on the 13th floor, she won't be able to cast her vote! And then when Fan Favorites for "I Dream of Jeannie" comes out, and that episode isn't on there, Mary Jane Persky will be upset! Sony will have lost a customer because Mary Jane Persky didn't know she could vote for her favorite episode to be included on a compilation DVD! We need to make these things aware to all the Mary Jane Persky's out there! I mean, if she can't count on Sony to include her favorite "I Dream of Jeannie" episode on a compilation DVD, she might stop watching DVDs and start taking up mall walking! And then she'll end up like this woman! The horror! The HORROR!!!

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MARY JANE PERSKY MUST NOT RESORT TO HAVING TO BUY A PITH HELMET! DO NOT LET MARY JANE BUY A PITH HELMET!

albert

[rsandcm1]

That is the funniest video I have seen all day.

'If you're a modern woman this is something you want to do for yourself.'

'So that I have enough oxygen that flows up into the brain.'

I promise not to let anybody buy a pith helmet:)