Any word on a seperate Complete Season 4 release

[Fluffets]

Wait which henson show is everyone talking about? The Muppet Show or Fraggle Rock? Or something else?

 

[Traveling Matt]

HIT distributed Henson-owned content up until April, when their agreement expired. Muppets and Sesame are not included.

 

[Davina]

to be specific... this whole thread is about fraggle rock


hit has sadly shown themselves to be disappointing yet again.. it will certainly have to be something spectactular for me to really wnat to deal with them again

 

[Drtooth]

I hate to be that guy, but in all honesty.... why must you all act like Hit is the worst company out there ever, and this is the worst way anything has ever been handled?

Sure, I don't like the fact they didn't release season 4 seperately when all they had to do was package disks that were printed to begin with (maybe slap a new label on them). And yes, I dislike the fact Kermit was edited out of the 2 Christmas videos as well, but that was just as much Disney's fault as it was Hit's.

Fact of the matter is, if it wasn't for them, Henson would probably never have released FR on DVD at all... or if anything some shoddy single disks with 3 episodes, no features, probably not remastered, and priced ridiculously high at 15 bucks each... and that would have been it. Sure, we started with some test the waters 3 episodes, 4th unlockable episode disks with some fun features (including episodes of the animated series)... but we got season sets after we asked nicely. And look at all the details and bonuses we got from them. Not only a bunch of special features on the disk, but we got those great reproduction booklets as well. Do you think any other company would have had that vision? We'd be lucky to have seen a single extra disk per volume with crummy computer games on it.

And even though they made the stupid decision to release S4 in the complete set... hey! At least we got a complete set and the series was finished off. I'm staring right at my The Tick vs the Incomplete seasons 1 and 2 only, and my Darkwing Duck "about half the series in 2 sets" collection. And let's not forget the Rocky and Bullwinkle Season 3 box set with a preview of Season 4 that never got released ever. If anything, the lack of S4 was probably the fault of Lionsgate, the company that released ALF in Syndication only cuts, and TMNT episodes off of terrible source tapes that look like you bought an unlicensed set.

And let's not forget, while it was incomplete, we all this Fraggle Rock merchandising. Sesame Street has always been around, The Muppet Show characters always resurface as something every so often... but we're talking about a show that ended about 20 years ago, with not so much as a T-shirt until Hit! took the reigns. I think it's crazy we're automatically thinking that Brandsolutions or whatever new company they have will do better. I've seen this sort of thing happen before, moving to another licensing company.... and a lot of the times, you won't even see a shirt or baseball cap, and they're thrown into the locker never to be seen again. Do you really think a Fraggle Rock movie wouldn't have been possible if Hit didn't bring back the interest in the property?

 

[JJandJanice]

I totally agree with you on that 100% DrTooth. If it wasn't for Hit entertainment, we wouldn't even have Fraggle DVDs.

Being upset over not over not getting the fourth season by itself is totally understandable. But now at least we're able to get the whole series or just the first three seasons. Considering it's not on the air anymore people should be totally thankful for that really.

Sure it's lame that Kermit was edited out of those specials, but that's really Disney to blame and heck what are you going to do, Kermit is now owned by Disney and if they don't want their character on these specials anymore, well that's the bottom line.

But there isn't anyway Henson would even consider a Fraggle movie, if it wasn't for Hit. I'm with you on that DrTooth, man, why are people hating on Hit so much? There are tons of shows that don't have a finished up series or even worse not even released. We don't have the whole Muppet show yet. And the bonus features Hit gave was top notch. As DrTooth mention Darkwing Duck which I own the DVDs as well, it's only like have finished, no bonus material, and the picture really wasn't too great. Hit did all that with the Fraggle dvds, so why be so upset with Hit?

 

[Fluffets]

It's not on the air anymore

Actually I've seen at least 2 channels that do show it. One is a sky+ channel called boomerang and the other is pop j.r or something, which I've seen fraggle rock on. Come to think of it I might check when it's on next!

 

[Drtooth]

As DrTooth mention Darkwing Duck which I own the DVDs as well, it's only like have finished, no bonus material, and the picture really wasn't too great. Hit did all that with the Fraggle dvds, so why be so upset with Hit?

A) is it really so hard to get Jim Cummings up there to talk about performing Darkwing Duck? I mean, he is their voices of Pooh and Tigger. They coulda just payed him to say a couple things during breaks.

and B) It's not so much the lack of bonus features as the fact they don't want the commitment of releasing the rest of any of those series... not even 11 episodes to go Talespin and Rescue Rangers. The same crap they apparently pulled with Gargoyles that got everyone upset.

And then I take a look at what Warner Bros did with the Smurfs. We had these nice 20 dollar half season sets for the first season. And then, to help people out during the tough economy, they release season 2 as 14 dollar 4 episode DVD's in no production order.

Again, it's stupid that they couldn't just release both S4 and the complete series at the same time, but it sure beats only releasing a small portion of the series, leaving us to fill in the blanks with illegal bootlegs or poor quality Youtube videos.

 

[a_Mickey_Muppet]

i was gunna pop in and say HIT! deal with Henson was ONLY for 5 years anyways..

 

[Traveling Matt]

Henson's licensing contract with HIT ends in April, and it appears they will not renew:

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?t=40985

Distribution was between HIT and Lionsgate (previously Fox). If they release Season 4, Brandolution will likely seek a bigger company for distribution as well.

Henson is indeed looking for a big distributor for their properties, Fraggle being most prominent.

http://forum.muppetcentral.com/showthread.php?p=751302

If there's something you're interested in, such as Season 4, send them a Tweet. It's a really great way to speak to them directly and they encourage comments from fans regarding what they'd like to see. And it may be especially appropriate now, since they're actively seeking a distributor and may be able to better prioritize themselves if they know what people want.

http://www.twitter.com/hensoncompany

 

[zakima2]

as for me I opted to get season 4 from australia, and the complete animated series. I have a region free player so I am not really missing anything, however since the box set is so low in price I believe I will purchase that tonight for myself. nite everyone.