Spenser for hire

Skybird · 02-06-15, 07:19 PM

Look what I just found at Amazon, DVD production year 2014:

http://www.amazon.de/Spenser-Season-...ywords=spenser

Is my most favourite crime series finally coming to DVD, and later maybe as German version as well? And the 2nd and 3rd season as well?

The hope dies last!

u crank · 02-06-15, 08:09 PM

I used to love that show...back when I used to watch TV.

Skybird · 02-06-15, 08:39 PM

I am waiting since almost 30 years for them to come out on DVD. Must have been some copyright thing that kept them so long.

However, I have them all on VHS cassettes, in LP, and unsorted - go figure...

I love that series still today. Beats the mass-produced crap they do today easily, hands down.

August · 02-06-15, 09:33 PM

I got to watch them film a scene of that show when I worked in Boston back in the late 80's. Robert Urich was a lot taller than he looked on TV.

Eichhörnchen · 02-07-15, 03:58 AM

Just be careful not to order this by mistake...

Eichhörnchen · 02-07-15, 04:04 AM

Frank Spencer is hired for a Pixie in a Christmas grotto...

Skybird · 02-07-15, 06:08 AM

The novels by Robert Parker are fun to read, too, btw. I am not into crime novels, reading only Chandler - and Parker.

Tango589 · 02-07-15, 07:03 AM

50 Euro? I've just looked on Amazon.co.uk and found the same region 1 version from the same supplier for £30 (approx. 40 euro.) I don't know how mech shipping would work out to, but this may be the cheaper option.

Skybird · 02-07-15, 07:35 AM

It seems I am not alone with my love:

(from the US Amazon website)

Jimbuna · 02-08-15, 06:46 AM

I'm still awaiting the release of Hill Street Blues.

vienna · 02-09-15, 01:18 PM

Hill Street has been available here in the US for some time. In fact, there is a box set of the entire series for sale on Amazon. My guess is there is some sort of rights hassle if the series is not available in the UK...

Some TV series are not available for a number of reasons: the source material is gone or is not in good condition, the series was produced on videotape and the quality/resolution is very dodgy, the original producers or production companies are no longer around and there is a question of who has the rights, the series may have used published music and did not secure the rights for all media (past, present, future), etc. The number of possibilities is large and usually involves lawyers and we all know how convoluted and drawn out anything involving lawyers can be...

<O>

Eichhörnchen · 02-09-15, 01:36 PM

Maybe it just hasn't been released in Region 2 format so far. I've got caught out before, finding a DVD that won't play, then a closer look at the box reveals "Region 1"... don't know how they turn up in the UK though...

Sailor Steve · 02-09-15, 02:03 PM

This says region 2.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hill-Street-...l+street+blues

vienna · 02-09-15, 02:05 PM

The region issue is not the main reason for TV series not being released in countries outside of the US. Rights is the really big issue. When some of the most loved or wished for series were originally created, there was not an internet or DVDs; in some cases, there was not even VHS. When a series is made, the main objective of the producers is to make the series as cheaply as possible and pocket the savings. Since there was no sales of series on the open market to consumers at the time, producers looked to syndication (reruns) as a source of continuing revenue from series that had concluded their 'first run'. In order to keep costs down, they went cheap on rights securement. For example, if it cost extra to secure song rights in perpetuity across all media, past present or future, then the producer was most likely to settle for only paying for rights for the 'first run' and the broadcast of the series in syndication on TV. When VHS, DVDs, and the internet came along, they were not contingencies imagined or prepared for by the producers at the time of the series creation, Thus, when the new media came up, all manner of players popped up to claim a piece of the new pie. Songwriters demanded royalties (usually at a rate far higher than paid for the original production), writers, directors, and almost any other personnel involved in the production were there with hands out. Actors also chimed in with claims their original contracts only covered 'first run' and syndication, not any new media. Producers also started to battle over their cut since a lot of the series had been made by production companies no longer in existence or subsumed by larger , newer entities. All in all, it can be a huge mess and the more successful a series is, the more likely it will be bound up in legal tussles. There are some series not yet released or released in modified form because satisfying all the rights claims would push the final price to the consumers to a level they would not want to pay. In fact, some of the claims exceed the cost of the total for the original production...

<O>

Eichhörnchen · 02-09-15, 03:40 PM

02-06-15, 07:19 PM	#1
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,620 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	Spenser for hire Look what I just found at Amazon, DVD production year 2014: http://www.amazon.de/Spenser-Season-...ywords=spenser Is my most favourite crime series finally coming to DVD, and later maybe as German version as well? And the 2nd and 3rd season as well? The hope dies last! __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

02-06-15, 08:09 PM	#2
u crank Old enough to know better Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Prince Edward Island Posts: 11,744 Downloads: 136 Uploads: 0	I used to love that show...back when I used to watch TV. __________________ “Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.” ― Arthur C. Clarke

02-06-15, 08:39 PM	#3
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,620 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	I am waiting since almost 30 years for them to come out on DVD. Must have been some copyright thing that kept them so long. However, I have them all on VHS cassettes, in LP, and unsorted - go figure... I love that series still today. Beats the mass-produced crap they do today easily, hands down. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

02-06-15, 09:33 PM	#4
August Wayfaring Stranger Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Massachusetts Posts: 23,197 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	I got to watch them film a scene of that show when I worked in Boston back in the late 80's. Robert Urich was a lot taller than he looked on TV. __________________ Flanked by life and the funeral pyre. Putting on a show for you to see.

02-07-15, 03:58 AM	#5
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 17,384 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Frank Spencer: Just be careful not to order this by mistake...

02-07-15, 04:04 AM	#6
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 17,384 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em Frank Spencer is hired for a Pixie in a Christmas grotto...

02-07-15, 06:08 AM	#7
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,620 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	The novels by Robert Parker are fun to read, too, btw. I am not into crime novels, reading only Chandler - and Parker. __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

02-07-15, 07:03 AM	#8
Tango589 Still crazy as ever! Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: A little south of sanity Posts: 3,375 Downloads: 180 Uploads: 1	50 Euro? I've just looked on Amazon.co.uk and found the same region 1 version from the same supplier for £30 (approx. 40 euro.) I don't know how mech shipping would work out to, but this may be the cheaper option. __________________ Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way...

02-07-15, 07:35 AM	#9
Skybird Soaring Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: the mental asylum named Germany Posts: 42,620 Downloads: 10 Uploads: 0	It seems I am not alone with my love: (from the US Amazon website) __________________ If you feel nuts, consult an expert.

02-08-15, 06:46 AM	#10
Jimbuna Chief of the Boat Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: 250 metres below the surface Posts: 190,525 Downloads: 63 Uploads: 13	I'm still awaiting the release of Hill Street Blues. __________________ Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something. Oh my God, not again!!

02-09-15, 01:18 PM	#11
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,711 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Hill Street has been available here in the US for some time. In fact, there is a box set of the entire series for sale on Amazon. My guess is there is some sort of rights hassle if the series is not available in the UK... Some TV series are not available for a number of reasons: the source material is gone or is not in good condition, the series was produced on videotape and the quality/resolution is very dodgy, the original producers or production companies are no longer around and there is a question of who has the rights, the series may have used published music and did not secure the rights for all media (past, present, future), etc. The number of possibilities is large and usually involves lawyers and we all know how convoluted and drawn out anything involving lawyers can be... <O> __________________ __________________________________________________ __

02-09-15, 01:36 PM	#12
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 17,384 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	Maybe it just hasn't been released in Region 2 format so far. I've got caught out before, finding a DVD that won't play, then a closer look at the box reveals "Region 1"... don't know how they turn up in the UK though...

02-09-15, 02:03 PM	#13
Sailor Steve Eternal Patrol Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: High in the mountains of Utah Posts: 50,369 Downloads: 745 Uploads: 249	This says region 2. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hill-Street-...l+street+blues __________________ “Never do anything you can't take back.” —Rocky Russo

02-09-15, 02:05 PM	#14
vienna Navy Seal Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Anywhere but the here & now... Posts: 7,711 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	The region issue is not the main reason for TV series not being released in countries outside of the US. Rights is the really big issue. When some of the most loved or wished for series were originally created, there was not an internet or DVDs; in some cases, there was not even VHS. When a series is made, the main objective of the producers is to make the series as cheaply as possible and pocket the savings. Since there was no sales of series on the open market to consumers at the time, producers looked to syndication (reruns) as a source of continuing revenue from series that had concluded their 'first run'. In order to keep costs down, they went cheap on rights securement. For example, if it cost extra to secure song rights in perpetuity across all media, past present or future, then the producer was most likely to settle for only paying for rights for the 'first run' and the broadcast of the series in syndication on TV. When VHS, DVDs, and the internet came along, they were not contingencies imagined or prepared for by the producers at the time of the series creation, Thus, when the new media came up, all manner of players popped up to claim a piece of the new pie. Songwriters demanded royalties (usually at a rate far higher than paid for the original production), writers, directors, and almost any other personnel involved in the production were there with hands out. Actors also chimed in with claims their original contracts only covered 'first run' and syndication, not any new media. Producers also started to battle over their cut since a lot of the series had been made by production companies no longer in existence or subsumed by larger , newer entities. All in all, it can be a huge mess and the more successful a series is, the more likely it will be bound up in legal tussles. There are some series not yet released or released in modified form because satisfying all the rights claims would push the final price to the consumers to a level they would not want to pay. In fact, some of the claims exceed the cost of the total for the original production... <O> __________________ __________________________________________________ __

02-09-15, 03:40 PM	#15
Eichhörnchen Starte das Auto Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: The Fens Posts: 17,384 Downloads: 5 Uploads: 0	So the moral of this story is: