TV on DVD Buzz

Warner Home Video announced Tuesday that they will be including two downloadable digital files on the upcoming Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix DVD, which will hit shelves December 11. Buyers will be able to download the film to a PC or portable device, making Warner the first to offer customers that option.

Warner offered downloads to Wal-Mart customers on last year’s Superman Returns DVD, but this is the first time it has been widely offered. This is just the first step toward providing digital format for customers. Other studios are expected to follow suit.

In addition, major studios are planning to license their film libraries for DVD on-demand kiosks, which could be placed in retailers with limited space for DVDs, such as drug stores. The recent approval of CSS copyright protection for disc manufacturing-on-demand (MOD) has paved the way for these changes.

Studios will be able to offer thousands more film and TV library titles than are currently available. Drug stores could become significant new film and TV retailers since MOD can be done through small automated machines, utilizing existing high-end photo equipment for any DVD art needs.

In addition to the retail application, MOD could be offered directly to consumers’ via PCs and eventually on Web-connected hardware such as high-definition players. The MOD service is already available through Amazon.com’s CreateSpace. The selection is expected to rapidly expand due to the new CSS approval.

The only drawback to the at-home offering, is that DVD burners would need to be replaced and/or upgraded with firmware to handle the new CSS requirements.

TV on DVD, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Downloadable Files, DVD on Demand, Warner

Amazon is having a 50% off Sci-fi sale, and while many of the selections are theatrical releases, I found several classic TV shows on there as well.

Two of my all-time favorite mini-series are on the list: The Towering Inferno ($10.49) and The Martian Chronicles ($7.49). I watched both of these as a kid and, at these prices, I am seriously considering purchasing them for my collection. I also spotted The Outer Limits Season 1, Vol 1 and Season 1, Vol 2 as well as the pilot movie of Stargate Atlantis, “Rising”.

If Sci-fi’s not your thing, they have several other sales going on, like 50% off multi-season sets; 50% off sports movies; a sale on Halloween Horror flicks; and an “Edgy Romance” Sale (whatever that is).

TV on DVD, Amazon.com, Sale, Towering Inferno, Martian Chronicles, The Outer Limits, Stargate: Atlantis

A few of last week’s best-sellers have dropped off the list and, surprisingly, there are no newcomers. Heroes, Grey’s Anatomy and Family Guy are still going strong on the Top 20 DVD sales charts this week, though. Smallville, Charmed and The Office remain on the list as well. Here’s the list:

1. Knocked Up
2. Next
3. We Are Marshall
4. Barbie as The Island Princess
5. Bug
6. The Condemned
7. Family Guy: Volume 5
8. Wild Hogs
9. Death Proof
10. Heroes: Season 1
11. 300
12. Grey’s Anatomy: Season 3
13. Smallville: Season 6
14. Superman Doomsday
15. Office: Season 3
16. Blades Of Glory
17. Dora The Explorer: Dora Saves The Mermaids
18. Disney Princess: Follow Your Dreams
19. Delta Farce
20. Charmed: Final Season

Firefly was created by writer/director Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. It premiered on the Fox network in September of 2002. Fox cancelled the series after airing 11 episodes, leaving 3 episodes unaired. Firefly was honored with an Emmy in 2003 for “Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series.” 

The series is set in the year 2517, after humans have arrived at a new star system, and follows the adventures of the renegade crew of the Serenity, a Firefly-class spaceship. It’s kind of a sci-fi meets the old west adventure. Nathan Fillion starred as Malcolm Reynolds, the captain of Serenity. Also starring were Gina Torres as Zoe, Alan Tudyk as “Wash,” Morena Baccarin as Inarra Serra, Adam Baldwin as Jayne, Jewell Staite as Kaylee, Sean Maher as Dr. Simon Tam, Summer Glau as River, and Ron Glass as Derrial Book.

The show developed quite a fan following, especially after its release on DVD, leading Whedon and Universal Pictures to produce a movie based on the series. The film was titled Serenity. The film enjoyed success at the box office, opening on September 30, 2005 in the number 2 spot and spending 2 weeks in the top 10. 

It has been announced that Firefly will be returning in the format of a multi-player online game sometime in 2008.

The DVD includes all 14 episodes, including the 3 that never aired on television. It also has quite a few special features, including:

The DVD is a must-have for fans of the series!

There is a big list of titles releasing this week. Stargate SG-1’s complete series collection hits the shelves tomorrow, as well as the complete collection of Roots, which includes both the original mini-series and “The Next Generations” mini-series. The Captain and Tennille make several appearances on the list. I remember loving their show as a kid. Yes, I know I’m dating myself. And two classic British comedies, The Vicar of Dibley and Only Fools and Horses, will be available as well.

Agatha Christie’s Marple - Series 3
Alfred Hitchcock Presents-Season 3
Ben 10: Season 2
Bing Crosby - White Christmas Show
C.S.I. New York - The Third Season
Captain and Tennille in Hawaii
Captain and Tennille in New Orleans
Captain and Tennille Songbook
Captain and Tennille - The Christmas Show
Creature Comforts America - The Complete Season One
Degrassi High: The Complete Collection
Everybody Hates Chris - The Second Season
Family Ties - The Second Season
Ghost Hunters: Live From the Shining Hotel
Ghost Hunters: Season 3 - Part 1
Girlfriends - The Second Season
Hannah Montana - Life’s What You Make It
Jericho - Series 1 & 2
The Lair - Complete 1st Season
Meerkat Manor - Season 1
Michael Palin - Pole to Pole
Murder She Wrote Complete 7th Season
Only Fools and Horses: The Complete Collection
Robin of Sherwood Set 2
Roots - The Complete Collection
Roots - The Next Generations
Stargate SG-1 - The Complete Series Collection
The Vicar of Dibley - A Holy Wholly Happy Ending
The Vicar of Dibley - The Immaculate Collection
War & Peace
Whose Line Is It Anyway: Season 1, Vol 2

COMING SOON:

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (October 16)
The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 2 (October 23)
Scrubs - The Complete 6th Season (October 30)
Doctor Who - The Complete 3rd Series (November 6)
Gilmore Girls - The Complete Series (November 13)
Queer as Folk - The Complete Series (November 20)

It’s no secret How I Met Your Mother is one of my favorite shows. Season 2 saw Lily and Marshal go from broken up to married, Ted and Robin evolve from new love to realizing they weren’t right for each other, and Barney visiting his “father,” Bob Barker on The Price is Right….legendary! The Season 2 DVD released this week and includes one of the most memorable moments from last season, the revelation that Robin was once a Candian teen pop star, Robin Sparkles. One thing I love about this show is all the time they put into the extra content and this Robin Sparkles “Let’s Go To The Mall” full music video is a perfect example.

How I Met Your Mother - Season Two is a 3-disc set which includes all 22 episodes plus loads of special features, including this Robin Sparkles video. Also included are the web exclusive “How it Really Happened” featurettes which are hilarious.

Episodes:
1. Where Were We?
2. The Scorpion and the Toad
3. Brunch
4. Ted Mosby: Architect
5. World’s Greatest Couple
6. Aldrin Justice
7. Swarley
8. Atlantic City
9. Slap Bet
10. Single Stamina
11. How Lily Stole Christmas
12. First Time in New York
13. Columns
14. Monday Night Football
15. Lucky Penny
16. Stuff
17. Arrivederci, Fiero
18. Moving Day
19. Bachelor Party
20. Showdown
21. Something Borrowed
22. Something Blue

Special Features: 

• Audio Commentary on select episodes by cast & crew
• How We Make Your Mother featurette
• How It Really Happened: Moving Day featurette 
• How It Really Happened: Showdown featurette 
• How It Really Happened: Bachelor Party featurette 
• “Robin Sparkles” Video 
• “Hey Beautiful” Video 
• Gag Reel 
• Easter Egg

TV on DVD, How I Met Your Mother, Season 2 DVD, Robin Sparkles

Deep Discount is having a great sale on A&E titles this week. Some of the titles you’ll find are Dr. Quinn, Jeeves & Wooster (starring House’s Hugh Laurie), Highway to Heaven, Ellen (her original sitcom), and Kids in the Hall.

There are also tons of great titles for baseball fans including vintage World Series games and and collector’s DVDs. Of course there are many documentary titles available as well, most notably World at War and the History Channel Presents series.

To get the discount, add two or more titles to your cart, then enter BUYONEGETONEANE at checkout. The sale runs through October 16.

I love Deep Discount. It should almost be time for their enormous Buy 1, Get 1 Free Sale where you can find tons of TV box sets on sale. I always stock up for Christmas when that sale hits. I’ll be sure to alert you when the time comes!

Hewlett-Packard announced today that they have partnered with 30 content providers who will license more than 4,000 movie, television, documentary and other titles for production and distribution via HP Video Merchant Services.

The service, launched earlier this year, is designed for retailers and allow them to offer DVDs, either manufactured on demand or pre-packaged, as well as digital downloads.  They are targeting classic and older TV shows never before released on DVD; foreign movies; religious and educational programming; lifestyle, health and food programs; sports programming; specialty cable TV shows; independent movies; and recently broadcast TV shows and sporting events that have high relevancy in specific geographic markets or with specific consumer segments.

The content companies include Arts Alliance America, First Look Studios, Gaiam Americas Inc., Nelvana Enterprises, Venevision International Films LLC, Anthem Pictures, Azteca International Corporation, Bennett Media Worldwide, Cinequest Inc., Film Chest Inc., Inspired Studios, Janson Media, Lightworks Program Distribution, Media Blasters, Monarch Films Inc., Mukta Arts Limited, MVD Entertainment Group, Opper Sports Inc., Santa Fe Productions, Seedsman Group Inc., Smooth Motion Pictures Inc., Starlight Home Entertainment, Tai Seng Entertainment, TLA Releasing, UTV Communications, V.I.E.W. Video, Vanguard Cinema, Wink Inc. Productions, Wolfe Video LLC and World Events Products Ltd.

TV on DVD, Hewlett Packard, HP, video on demand

Well if you do, Amazon has a bundle for you. For that pawltry sum you can get a bundle of DVDs to keep you swimming in sci-fi favorites for years to come. The bundle includes all of the following:

• Buffy the Vampire Slayer- The Collector’s Set
• Angel - The Collector’s Set
• Stargate SG-1 - All 10 Season Sets
• Stargate: Atlantis - Season 1 through 3
• The Pretender - All 4 Seasons plus the TV Movie
• Firefly - The Complete Series
• Roswell - Seasons 1 through 3
• Dark Angel - Seasons 1 and 2 (complete series)
• The X-Files - The Complete Collector’s Edition

The set has a suggested price of $1,756.46, but Amazon is offering it up for a mere $899.99 right now. Some of these items are pre-orders, like the X-Files and Angel collectors sets, so the item won’t ship until November 6.  I’m sure this is an awesome deal if you’ve got the spare cash laying around, but I’m afraid my pockets are empty so I’ll have to pass.

TV on DVD, Amazon, Sci-fi Bundle, Buffy, Angel, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, The Pretender, Firefly, Roswell, Dark Angel, The X-Files

TV titles may not be ruling the charts this week like they were last week, but there are still 8 TV titles in the Top 20. Heroes and Grey’s Anatomy remain in the top 10 and are joined by Family Guy and Smallville. Heroes was also the top selling HD-DVD release for the week.

1. We Are Marshall
2. The Condemned
3. Grindhouse Presents: Death Proof
4. Family Guy: Volume 5
5. Barbie As The Island Princess
6. Smallville: Season 6
7. Superman Doomsday
8. Wild Hogs
9. Grey’s Anatomy: Season 3
10. Heroes: Season 1
11. 300
12. Blades of Glory
13. Charmed: Final Season
14. Stargate: Atlantis: Season 3
15. Disney Princess: Follow Your Dreams
16. The Office: Season 3
17. Georgia Rule
18. Delta Farce
19. Prison Break: Season 2
20. Lucky You

TV on DVD, Top 20 DVD Sales

Before he got Knocked Up, Judd Apatow, along with Paul Feig, created this critically praised, highly loved series about, well, Freaks and Geeks. It was cancelled after only 12 episodes but a fan-led campaign convinced NBC to broadcast three more episodes in July 2000. Three others would not be seen until September of that year when the cable channel Fox Family aired them in syndication.

Set in the early 1980’s, the show revolved around Lindsay Weir played by Linda Cardellini (Scooby Doo, ER) and her brother, Sam played by John Francis Daley (Waiting) and their life at McKinley High School.  The Geeks included Samm Levine as Neal Schweiber, and Martin Starr as Bill Haverchuck. The Freaks were James Franco (Spider-Man) as Daniel Desario, Busy Philipps as Kim Kelly, Jason Segel (How I Met Your Mother, Knocked Up) as Nick Andopolis, and Seth Rogen (Knocked Up, Superbad) as Ken Miller. Ironically enough, several of the freaks have ended up playing geeks in many of Apatow’s movies.

The show received Emmy nominations in 2000 and 2001 for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and took home the Emmy for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series in 2000.

The complete series is now available on DVD and includes:

• All 18 episodes on 6 DVDs
• The director’s cut of the pilot with never-before-seen footage
• Deleted scenes, behind-the-scenes footage, and outtakes
• 29 audio commentaries by the actors, writers, directors, network executives, parents of cast members, and obsessive fans
• 28-page booklet with an essay by “Freaks and Geeks” creator Paul Feig and a Q&A with producer/writer Judd Apatow

What a great week for TV on DVD. My favorite comedy, How I Met Your Mother, releases season 2 this week along with favorites Jericho, Entourage, Criminal Minds and Shark. If you’re looking for classics, check out Felix the Cat, The Paul Lynde Show Halloween Special or Star Trek: The Next Generation.

• Criminal Minds, The 2nd Season
• Entourage Season 3, Part 2
• Felix the Cat Golden Anniversary Edition (1958-1959)
• Galapagos
• Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour, Good Times Again
• Godzilla Power Hour, Volume 3
• A Salute To Hee Haw: Collector’s Edition
• How I Met Your Mother, Season 2
• I Love New York: The Complete 1st Season
• Inspector Lynley Mysteries Set 5
• Jericho: The 1st Season
• Little People, Big World, Season 1
• Metalocalypse, Season 1
• The The Paul Lynde Show Halloween Special
• The Sarah Silverman Program, Season 1
• The Secret World of Alex Mack: The Complete 1st Season
• Shark, Season 1
• Star Trek: The Next Generation The Complete Series
• The War (mini-series)

COMING SOON:

• The Vicar of Dibley - A Holy Wholly Happy Ending (October 9)
• Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip - The Complete Series (October 16)
• Veronica Mars - The Complete Third Season (October 23)
• Twin Peaks: Definitive Gold Box Edition (October 30)
• The X-Files: Complete Collectors Edition (November 6)
• Lost - The Complete Third Season (December 11)
• High School Musical 2 (Extended Edition) (December 11)