DVD Madness
07 / 14 /
03
Introduction
The DVD industry's latest
craze, which instead of dying down seems to be growing, is the release of
complete seasons from a popular television series. Best Of sets had been around
since the beginning of DVD, which brought back many famous classics, such as
"The Andy Griffith Show", "I Love Lucy", "Dragnet", "The Three Stooges", "The
Wonder Years", and "All in the Family"; and more modern shows, such as "Friends"
and "The Simpsons". The sets proclaimed to have the "golden" episodes from a
series contained on each release. These sets were ever so popular, but were not
the only way of buying your favorite show on DVD. Individual Episode sets began
appearing all over the place, a new craze vastly dominated by the cartoon
industry. One or two episodes would be contained on a DVD, usually following
each other in chronological order, such as a release which contained ep. 16 and
ep. 17. "Sponge Bob Square Pants" became an instant hit with a brand-new cult
following. Millions were spent on the promotion campaigns. As popular as these
releases were, they could never have matched what followed. Complete Season Box
Sets were put into production soon after. These sets preserved an entire season
of a television series on DVD. At an average suggested retail of $49.99, you
could purchase a complete season of your favorite show. A few shows released
this way, but none compared with the success of Warner Bros. first release.
"F-R-I-E-N-D-S: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON" was on the shelf at retail stores
nation wide by early 2002. The show's undying popularity and support was never
so apparent, as the release quickly became the fastest-selling televsion DVD on
the market. Although not the first, "Friends" gave birth to a new craze that
swept the nation two years ago and still has a tight grip on us today. You can
now find well over one hundred seasons of various shows released on DVD.
"Friends", "The Simpsons", "King of the Hill", "Mad About You", "Malcom in the
Middle", "Star Trek", "The Man Show", "Cheers", "Fraiser", "M*A*S*H",
"Futurama", "La Femme Nakita", "Will & Grace", "Saved by the Bell", "Sponge
Bob Square Pants", "Seinfeld", and "Sex and the City" all have been released or
have plans to be released.
"Boy Meets World" and Buena
Vista
So, now that you have a little background on the subject, lets
get to the reason this editorial is being written. The devoted fans of "Boy
Meets World" have been struggling to get the show onto DVD since it ceased
production in mid-2000. But, until recently, there wasn't much they could do.
Now, however, that has changed. Several fans have been in contact with Disney,
the parent company of Buena Vista who hold the publishing rights to the show.
There is a petition set up at "Boy Meets World Central" and voting base set up
at "TV Shows on DVD". Both of these resources have been a help in this project,
but a more direct way of contacting Disney that many fans have jumped at has
been through their forum set up at their video website. All of these things are
very good, but the most direct and effective way to contact Disney is by simply
clling them. By dialing this number: 1-800-723-4763. You will get to speak directly
with representitive employees at Disney and will get to give them your request
directly. By doing all of these things and never giving up we have achieved a
hope. On July 07, 2003 Buena Vista Home Entertainment said that they are indeed
"considering Boy Meets World for a DVD release in the future", when that will be
we do not know, but how it could be, we can speculate. Now that you have learned
something about the three release types, lets take a look at them, and which
would suit "Boy Meets World" the best.
"The Best Of: Boy Meets
World"
When you think of the best episodes of the show, if you're
like me, you'll think of more than just three, which is the norm for a release
of this type. So, how do they decide which one's would make the cut? Here lies
the problem. No matter which episodes are included, it just won't satisfy
everybody. So, the best they can hope for is a majority. This brings us to the
first option there is to pick the episodes, a poll. A website would be set up
for the DVD, something like "www.bmwdvd.com/vote", on which you could go cast
your vote on three or four of your favorite episodes out of the 150+ there are
to choose from. That would be one big poll! This is the most effective and
accurate way to create a Best Of set. Alrternatives to a website could include a
phone number or even a voting ballot in "Disney Adventures" magazine. The second
question we have to ask ourselves is how they would get people to vote. They
could put adds and soliciting banners on websites, but they have a much better
choice. Disney obviously owns a network called "Disney Channel" on which "Boy
Meets World" airs everyday. Obviously they would run commercials telling people
to go online and vote, similar to the "Kim Possible Kountdown" ran to promote a
marathon earlier this summer. So, besides a poll, how could they pick the
episodes? Well, there are a number of alternatives, each as bad as the next.
They could just have the DVD's producer pick his favorites. They could be
randomly selected. Or, if they wanted to get really creative, they could have a
member of the cast select his favorite episodes, which Will Friedle could easily
do, since he is under contract with Disney right now. This method was used for
the upcoming "Spin City" releases, for which the show's star, Michael J. Fox,
selected his favorites. If a Best Of set went over well, they may want to
consider a box setrelease. No matter what episodes are selected this is probably
the worst choice. So, lets look at the others.
"Boy Meets World:
Episodes A and B"
The individual episode releases are better for a
few of reasons. First, it shows a sense of organization, since they usually
follow each other. Episodes one and two from season one would be released first.
This incorporates the chronological order fans crave, which is essential to a
collection, and most often used in box sets. Second of all, this means that more
releases are probably going to come. Episodes three and four from season one
could come next, or perhaps episodes one and two from season two. In any case
they could release many of these sets in a short time span. The next reason is
of course that this would mean the episodes would not be nearly as hard to pick.
As with the Best Of release this would also leave a feeling of incompletion and
an even larger need for the box set to bring closure to the die-hard fans. Also,
as with the Best Of set these could be single disk sets, or double, or even
triple to account for the demand. But...
"BOY MEETS WORLD: THE
COMPLETE FIRST SEASON (1993-1994)"
The deffinitve collection and the
universal preferance among all "Boy Meets World" addicts. The largest, most
complete, and most comprehensive set possible for a television release. The
possibility of this happening is almost more than one can bare. It would put an
end to so many things, it's almost unfathomable. First, no one would be selling
recorded tapes off eBay, and there wouldn't be all these petitions and forums
full of desperate people wanting a DVD version of the show. And it would
eliminate any call for the ridiculous people that try to make home-made DVD's of
the show too. The complete first season would be yours on DVD. What's more, with
a box set release the season would be shown in it's complete form, un-cut! All
of the stuff Disney cut out would be included. The original picture, remastered,
the way it was meant to be seen. Also, once we got to later season releases, we
would see the three episodes that Disney has banned from their network because
of "thematic" elements. If we take a quick look at the possible production, we
would find that the complete first season would probably be a 3-disk set, with
the possibility of special features.
The Special Features and
Production
Special Features are one of the major things that makes a
DVD great and often help sell the DVD over the VHS version. Lets take a look at
some of the most common special features. Making Of Documentaries: These
documentaries, although short, have to have a whole crew to create, and often
require a lot of never-before-seen footage and several interviews from now and
during the show's run. This special feature will probably not be included. Gag
Reels: The gag reels contain funny bloopers, goofs, and outakes. These are not
hard to get ahold of and are easily put in, however, due to large amount of
different episodes per season, and not being able to tell which outake is from
which episode, gag reels are not often included. This special feature will
probably not be included. Trivia/Game/Quiz: These are fun for fans and great
with kids. These can me made in a mattter of hours and are quite effective for
entertainment purposes. This special feature could be included. Cast/Crew
Commentary: Commentary tracks take a while longer to create and it is sometimes
hard for a network to round up the original cast or crew, especially for the
first season. This special feature will probably not be included.
Interviews/FAQ/Q&A: There are plenty of these all over the place, both
documented and taped. ABC and Disney both have featured them on their websites
in the past. This special feature could be included. Cast Biography/Filmography:
Disney hosts bios and filmographies on their site and most fan sites include
them as well. This special feature could be included. Tours: A virtual tour of
the set is a feature that is becoming very popular, used in both the "Harry
Potter" films and in some of the "Friends" releases. The actual set from the
show, in the ABC studio, has been torn down, but the school, John Adams High,
was an actual school in California, and could be filmed for a tour, but due to
the large amount of time and money it would take to create such a thing, it is
very hard to do. This special feature will probably not be included. Easter
Eggs: These are quite fun but take creativity and extra planning. As easy as
they are to create, they are not often used in television releases. This special
feature will probably not be included. Interactive Menus: These are almost
universal now and are widely used. This special feature will be included.
Subtitles: These are also universal and are widely used. They would probably be
released in English, French, and Spanish. This special feature will be included.
Technical Junk, Formating, Copyright, and Marketing
The
"Boy Meets World" DVD, no matter how it is released will be a Dual-Layer format
in Standard Version, preserving the aspect ratio of it's original television
exhibition. It would probably be marketed in a keep-case for Best Of or for
Indivual Episode releases. For a box set release, it would obviously be a
cardboard box packaging deal. The artwork would be somewhat original, with no
new promotion photos. If the DVD was released in 2005, the credits and copyright
would look something like this:
"BOY MEETS WORLD" Starring WILLIAM DANIELS WILL FRIEDLE BETSY RANDLE
WILLIAM RUSS BEN SAVAGE RIDER STRONG Also Starring DANIELLE FISHEL LILY NICKSAY
LEE NORRIS
MICHAEL JACOBS PRODUCTIONS | TOUCHSTONE TELEVISION | BUENA VISTA
HOME ENTERTAINMENT
www.bmwtv.com/video
www.disney.com/video
Boy Meets World© 1993, 1994, 2005 & Photography ©
2005 Buena Vista Television. Supplementary Material, Package Artwork, Design
& Sumary © 2005 Buena Vista Television. © 2005 Buena Vista Home
Entertainment. Buena Vista Television is either a trademark or a registered
trademark of Buena Vista Home Entertainment. Buena Vista Home Entertainment is a
branch and registered trademark of the Disney Company.
Closing
Comments
All in all, any release of "Boy Meets World" would be
fabulous, but if this is going to happen, it won't be anytime soon, and Disney
obviously still needs some convincing. See the main page for details on how to
help out with this.
As always, I'd love to hear from you. Send me an e-mail with your questions or comments
and I'll be happy to respond.
Remember, if you don't have anything nice
to say, send it to me anyway and I'll be delighted to make fun of you on my
site!
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