Muppet Show Season 4 coming in 2013

[Drtooth]

I'm very disappointed in the fact that they're dragging their feet so long for the release date. Unless they're "strategically holding" the release over to coincide with the movie (it's not even filming yet), there's no real call for the long wait for even a rough estimate. If this is another sign of "We're afraid to be committed to anything because it won't sell a trillion copies on the first day" or "we're REALLY afraid of any risks as the economy is so bad that our profits are slightly smaller than we think they should be" that's been plaguing DVD collections and prospects, I'm gonna lose all hope for this one.

However, I still wonder if there's some annoying and idiotic hanky panky with John Denver's estate (I'm too lazy to look up the thread) or something like that that's beyond their control, then I can't really complain about that. I just hope we get SOME estimate this time, since waiting 2 years for a release (and if it doesn't come out by may, OVER two years) seems WAYYY too ridiculous. And season 5 really should follow as closely as possible to it.

 

[Katzi428]

We know that Season 4 is coming out this year: YAAAAYYY!waving arms excitedly And we know that will be on the cover. Season 5 hasn't even been mentioned about being put on DVD yet (but I'm sure they will.) Many have mentioned being put on the cover of Season 5's DVDs.I agree! If you get the fuzzy cover,you'll feel Rowlf's fuzzy ears & face!

 

[matleo]

I'm not worried about the release date and i really can';t get annoyed at them for 'dragging their feet" We're barely a1/4 of the way into the year and DVDs specific dates usually aren't announced until 3-4 mos. in advance. A quick search on the Muppet Newsflash sows them announcing the August 9th release of Season 1 in June of 2005. The August 11th release of Season 2 was announced in May 2007. And the May 22nd release of Season 3 was announced in late Jan. of 2008.

Remember Disney is a corporation and they have their plan to get the discs out to us and information out to us. For all we know they may not have an exact date set for any number of reasons. So be cool, be calm. Information will come. The DVDs will come. And we'll all enjoy them when it happens.

--Matt

 

[frogboy4]

Well, the Halloween special is due this fall, so I imagine that they'll try to tie the promotions together somehow. I'd expect a summer or fall release for the TMS S4 DVD. Just my guess.

DVD sales are way down and Disney is being very cautious these days. DVD releases must be carefully crafted considering Hulu, itunes and so many other distributing methods around now taking business away from the home video market.

I still want my Muppet Shows and to have them released on a hard copy DVD set, but non-fanatics are filling up on the free, single episode charged or more accessible non-Muppet stuff first before getting around to the season set DVD sales on Amazon. There are very few brick and mortar stores that sell DVDs these days and its more challenging than ever to get things out to the marketplace in that format. Disney still likes to have DVDs so the Muppets are safe. It's just going to take some time...and the Muppets are certainly worth the wait. Let’s just hope no cuts.

On another note…speaking of cuts. I wonder if Disney could run episodes online uncut without running into the same rights issues they did with the first season of the TMS DVDs? Does anyone know if such programs can be run on a Hulu or a Disney site with residuals working like they would if aired on TV rather than distributed on DVD? It’s an interesting question. Anybody know for sure?

 

[Drtooth]

DVD sales are way down and Disney is being very cautious these days. DVD releases must be carefully crafted considering Hulu, itunes and so many other distributing methods around now taking business away from the home video market.

Let's not forget the way they keep junking up and cluttering the market with shows that aren't even finished with their run seasons before the announcements are made and the occasional "WHY?" series with NO measurable fanbase whatsoever or that's so obscure that no one would even have heard of it. I've been saying this for a couple years now, but every time I check out TVshowsondvd I always get bombarded with some idiotic reality cable show that just came out that no one's ever heard of, some Food or Travel channel thing that no one cares about, or some weird 1970's sitcom that lasted 3 episodes that has some sort of connection to something. And of course, shows that aren't finished with their broadcast seasons.

I can respect and admire the strategic waiting periods due to iTunes and Hulu... but when was the last time you saw any Muppet TV shows, nostalgic cartoons with a gigundo huge fanbase, or anything like that online... unless it was put up "illegally" on Youtube or Veoh or something before it was unceremoniously yanked down by the companies that dread losing money if they release it anywhere, but adamantly refuse to let people share their dusty old VHS's online?

I'm sure we're gonna hear something soon. Some companies, mind you, give you notice WELL in advance (sometimes a year or over) of when a rough estimate for a release date is. Last time we got at barely 2 months notice...

But I'm sure everyone agrees that we want to get the last 2 seasons of the show out ASAP so we can have prospects of other Muppet programs, Muppets Tonight at least, so we don't have to scrounge around online for some poor, taped off of broadcast video clip that could be taken down whenever.

I know that sounds kinda impatient... but at the rate this is going, DVD's will be obsolete by the time we get the last season.

 

[GonzoLeaper]

or some weird 1970's sitcom that lasted 3 episodes that has some sort of connection to something.

Hey- I happen to like some of those shows. LOL!
(Depends on which ones though- ha ha)
But yeah- I am also anxiously anticipating the release of Season 4 of The Muppet Show on DVD (hopefully with some really cool bonus features- like say the "Of Muppets and Men" special or maybe "The Muppets Go to the Movies"- I don't care so much which season they go on, but both these specials need to be on DVD in conjunction with these releases because they make the most sense to be on there. And they're awesome!)
And I hope Season 5 will soon follow- and I also definitely vote for Rowlf on the cover now that we know we've got Gonzofor Season 4.

 

[Drtooth]

Hey- I happen to like some of those shows. LOL!
(Depends on which ones though- ha ha)

I wouldn't mind those, but they usually are part of the market clutter that drag down DVD sales, causing us to not hear anything about shows with a large fan base, or having them delayed eternally or just canceled. Shout factory got the right idea after a while, sell the under performing at retail sets as online exclusives. Too bad they thought of that well after they lost the license to Inspector Gadget to Fox, who has absolutely no idea what they're doing with it, and have no real reason to hang onto the rights... That way, everyone's happy.

I've never been too thrilled with the way DVD's are released. There's so much insane red tape, and a whole lot of crap with licensing and sub-licensing (which can be a good thing, but often is refused because companies don't want to share profits, nor do they want to release things themselves at the risk of not making profits they think are sufficient). And then of course, the companies that own the rights to something and sit on them, and refuse to sell the rights even if they don't want to use them. That's why it took so long to get the first 13 episodes of Dragon Ball uncut on DVD.

I'm sure there's no major problem with The Muppet Show (aside from annoying celebrity and music rights... which are even harder to negotiate when someone's dead), and they do seem to sell steadily. I'm sure this is all some strategic relaunch tactic for them to release everything at once... but face it, they could have done the same with TMS season 5.

 

[minor muppetz]

On another note…speaking of cuts. I wonder if Disney could run episodes online uncut without running into the same rights issues they did with the first season of the TMS DVDs? Does anyone know if such programs can be run on a Hulu or a Disney site with residuals working like they would if aired on TV rather than distributed on DVD? It’s an interesting question. Anybody know for sure?

You know, it would be cool if Hulu could at least show clips from The Muppet Show, much like how it has clips from Sesame Street.

 

[themuffinman]

Actually they are puting Gonzo on the cover!

 

[uppitymuppity]

What about the fact that DVD's are a dying media? Everything is switching to Blu-Ray.