The Gathering Commentary DVD to be released ?

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What's this ? -> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000255LMK/qid=1084133805/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-5092139-7866457?v=glance&s=dvd .
Amazon says it's going to be released on June 8th, and for some reason they have up the cover-art for the old US release of TG/ItB. There aren't any details up either. Perhaps they're releasing the pilot movie (redone with commentary) separately from the 4 telemovies ?

 

[Shaal Mayan]

Someone will just have to order it and see.I MIGHT just do that .

 

[Jan]

I've read that this *very* inexpensive release is part of a series of 'samplers' that WB is releasing to promote various series that are out on DVD. This is *not* going to be the one with the commentary from what I've heard.

BTW, JMS said at the con yesterday that he has done the interview/commentary for the movie set. There's a snag when it comes to the Crusade set, though. JMS wants to tell the truth about what happened to Crusade and this makes WB nervous. Bottom line is, if they won't allow it, JMS won't do them.

Jan

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

You'll notice that the listing says nothing anywhere about a commentary or any other extra features. This is, indeed, part of the Warner Bros. "loss leader" TV pilot release, which is seeing essentially free copies of the first two hours worth (one TV movie, 2 dramatic episodes or 4 comedy episodes) of several series being released for around $6 - with a coupon good for $5 off the purchase of any season set from the same series. This has nothing to do with the B5 movie set do later this year, or the upgraded TG that will be included in that set. (This is just the same barebones release as the earlier "double-feature" disc, without ItB)

I think it is time to start sending letters to Warner Bros. again - this time to let them know that the fans already know the broad outlines of the TNT story and that it is foolish to forbid JMS from trashing those at the network (many of whom are probably gone since they scrapped their TNT studio unit three or four years ago) who were responsible for the shoddy treatment accorded Crusade - and for ripping Warner Bros. off for several million dollars into the bargain. Maybe if they realize their "secret" is out they'll content themselves with a disclaimer (seen on the CSI and NYPD Blue sets, as well as many movies) to the effect that what is said in interveiws and commentaries represents only the views of the individuals concerned and not those of the studios.

I'm not sure if Doug Wadleigh still has the job, but this is definitely the address and the title we should be writing to:

Mr. Douglas Wadleigh
Vice-President, Marketing and Special Features
Warner Home Video
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522

Regards,

Joe

 

[A_M_Swallow]

A legal question. Could TNT have sold the rights to show Crusade to a second TV company? Possibly with permission from Warner Brothers.

This would have allowed TNT to buy and show something more appropriate to their viewers. They would not have got caught. They would not still be being punished 5 years later and they would not have annoyed Warner Brothers (for long).

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

A legal question. Could TNT have sold the rights to show Crusade to a second TV company? Possibly with permission from Warner Brothers.

The answer is a qualified yes. TNT could have sold its rights to Crusade, or another network could have picked up the show once the 13 episodes had aired over that summer. (Because TNT ran the show twice each week both its first run and single rerun exclusive would have been used up.) Indeed, the Sci-Fi Channel offered to buy the rights from TNT, despite the fact that their new show budget for 1999/2000 had already been allocated.

The deal-breaker was the B5 reruns. As I wrote at the time based on information I received from someone connected with the negotiations (and as JMS later confirmed) Sci-Fi would not take a chance on Crusade if it didn't also have Babylon 5 - a proven ratings winner that it had lost in a bidding war to TNT a year or two earlier. TNT demanded so much money to give up its rights to the B5 reruns early (my source described their proposal as "a ransom note") that Sci-Fi was unable to make the numbers work and had to withdraw its bid for Crusade - which was what TNT wanted all along. Not only didn't they want the show, they didn't want anyone else to pick it up, succeed with it, and make them look bad.

Nice bunch of folks. Very mature. Note that I'm using the term "TNT" to refer to a pretty small group of execs in their original programming department, many of whom are no longer there. (Which makes Warner Bros. position on the Crusade commentary doubly idiotic. JMS never named names in talking about these twits, some of them are gone anyway, and what happened between them and JMS is hardly a secret - it has been the stuff of internet gossip for five years now. Who exactly are they protecting? And from what?)

Regards,

Joe

 

[A_M_Swallow]

TNT demanded so much money to give up its rights to the B5 reruns early (my source described their proposal as "a ransom note") that Sci-Fi was unable to make the numbers work and had to withdraw its bid for Crusade - which was what TNT wanted all along. Not only didn't they want the show, they didn't want anyone else to pick it up, succeed with it, and make them look bad.

So TNT ended up with two TV programs it did not want and no money.

Get gun.
Load.
Aim at own foot.
Keep firing.

{snip}(Which makes Warner Bros. position on the Crusade commentary doubly idiotic. JMS never named names in talking about these twits, some of them are gone anyway, and what happened between them and JMS is hardly a secret - it has been the stuff of internet gossip for five years now. Who exactly are they protecting? And from what?)

It is not worth suing an individual for libel. Not even JMS can afford to pay. Some unemployed suits may however find a lawyer willing to sue Warner Brothers, even if they only have a 1% chance of winning.

 

[KoshN]

Some unemployed suits may however find a lawyer willing to sue Warner Brothers, even if they only have a 1% chance of winning.

How, if JMS didn't name names when talking about these twits?

 

[KoshN]

I think it is time to start sending letters to Warner Bros. again - this time to let them know that the fans already know the broad outlines of the TNT story and that it is foolish to forbid JMS from trashing those at the network (many of whom are probably gone since they scrapped their TNT studio unit three or four years ago) who were responsible for the shoddy treatment accorded Crusade - and for ripping Warner Bros. off for several million dollars into the bargain. Maybe if they realize their "secret" is out they'll content themselves with a disclaimer (seen on the CSI and NYPD Blue sets, as well as many movies) to the effect that what is said in interveiws and commentaries represents only the views of the individuals concerned and not those of the studios.

I'm not sure if Doug Wadleigh still has the job, but this is definitely the address and the title we should be writing to:

Mr. Douglas Wadleigh
Vice-President, Marketing and Special Features
Warner Home Video
4000 Warner Blvd.
Burbank, CA 91522

Regards,

Joe

Well, who wrote? Joe, did you follow through? I just saw this post of yours for the first time, today, and carefully composed a snail mail letter to Doug Wadleigh. It's going out today.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I wasn't able to confirm that Doug Wadleigh's still got the job (WHV changes DVD executives approximately as often as I change my socks...) but I sent him a letter on the subject on the 10th, and actually sent another on an unrelated topic today. (Some suggestions about the TV movie set - specifically getting Michael O'Hare - finally - involved for The Gathering and maybe In the Beginning, including Andreas Katsulas even if it means [gasp!] paying him, and including some S1 bloopers and the original cut of TG among the extras for the set.)

I tried to make the case that adding extras to TG and ItB, even if it means adding a buck to the cost of the set, will not only add value to the whole R1 movie release, but help WB overcome the resistance to "double-dipping" when they (inevitably) re-release the two films in the U.K. and elsewhere. (I also rather snarkily referred back to my long communication with Wadleigh and his predecessors at WHV, including in-person and on-line exchanges at the Home Theater Forum, and how often I've been right about TV on DVD and B5 in particular while they've been wrong, and how pretty much everything I called for an suggested beginning in 1997 and 1998 has, in fact, ended up happening with regard to the sets. Purely as a way to convince him that my advice would be worth taking now, mind you, not as a way of saying "I TOLD YOU SO!" in a very loud voice. OK, I actually did say "I told you so" in exactly those words - but not in boldface or ALL CAPS. )

Regards,

Joe

 

[KoshN]

I wasn't able to confirm that Doug Wadleigh's still got the job (WHV changes DVD executives approximately as often as I change my socks...) but I sent him a letter on the subject on the 10th,

Regardless of whether Wadleigh's in the job or someone else is, it'll probably be like we sent the letters to a black hole.

...and actually sent another on an unrelated topic today. (Some suggestions about the TV movie set - specifically getting Michael O'Hare - finally - involved for The Gathering and maybe In the Beginning, including Andreas Katsulas even if it means [gasp!] paying him, and including some S1 bloopers and the original cut of TG among the extras for the set.)

I did the same thing, suggesting compensation for the actors for doing commentaries. I didn't single out any particular actor, except to mention that I didn't think Gary Cole would do a commentary without compensation.

(I also rather snarkily referred back to my long communication with Wadleigh and his predecessors at WHV, including in-person and on-line exchanges at the Home Theater Forum, and how often I've been right about TV on DVD and B5 in particular while they've been wrong, and how pretty much everything I called for an suggested beginning in 1997 and 1998 has, in fact, ended up happening with regard to the sets. Purely as a way to convince him that my advice would be worth taking now, mind you, not as a way of saying "I TOLD YOU SO!" in a very loud voice. OK, I actually did say "I told you so" in exactly those words - but not in boldface or ALL CAPS. )

Careful, don't want to get 'em mad at us. Yeah, sometimes you do want to shake 'em and slap 'em across the face (Think "Airplane" and the hysterical passenger.), but we've got to be a little tactful.