Video Asylum

Posted by Steve Culton (A) on November 20, 2002 at 11:52:27

In Reply to: How about THIS: A TV series designed exclusively for DVD? posted by LogikReader on November 19, 2002 at 21:33:07:

There's an old TV production saying: "The beast must be fed." There are xx hours of programming a day, and it's gotta get filled somehow, which is why you see those awful infomercials at 4am.

The first problem is finding a new food to feed the beast that will sell. It's a long, labrynthine process getting a pilot filmed, let alone launching a new series. Then, there's no guarantee people will like it. (Which is why some truly excrable shows sometimes last only a few episodes.) Imagine a production company going through the trouble of writing, casting, filming and producing 13 episodes (a fair, common starting point), THEN getting it all transferred to DVD, THEN getting it distributed — only to find out no one liked it. That company would be out some serious coin, and my guess is many of the executives there would "never work in this town again."

TV also does not thrive on innovation and change — witness all the "Everybody Loves Raymond" clones, all the reality TV clones, all the "news" magazine clones, etc.

Shows like "The Sopranos" and "Sex In the City" have healthy DVD and video rentals because they're already broadcast hits.

And, traditionally, "Straight to Video" is reserved for dogs of movies and other gross studio miscalculations.

Having said that, it would be really cool if someone had the balls (and the talent) to make it work.