Two weeks ago today we
posted a story discussing the confusion surrounding a lot of online retailer listings for a Feb. 5th release in the USA of
My Favorite Martian - The Complete 3rd Season. All listings said that this item was coming either from Rhino (which released the first two seasons of the show in 2004 and 2005), or from Rhino's distribution company WEA (Warner/Elektra/Atlantic, which - like Rhino and alternate distributor RykoDisc - is part of the Warner Music Group, and no longer affiliated with Time/Warner or Warner Brothers).
As we said, we had been trying to get in touch with both companies, and we did eventually reach Rhino's National Manager of Media Relations, Christoph Buerger. He informed us that they don't know anything about a release of such a set. And we REALLY thank Christoph for talking to us about this; we admittedly give Rhino a bit of a hard time here at the site, based on our disappointment that they've pretty much moved away from the TV-DVD genre to focus on other areas. So we are grateful that we could talk to them about this confusing situation. We're not really surprised to find out that they're as much in the dark about this as we have been!
And, well, the release date marked on retailer sites - 2/5/08 - has now come and gone, of course. And not a single consumer has reported to us about receiving a pre-ordered copy of this set (if you've got one and can somehow prove it, please let us know). What's more, most of the online retailers have now simply removed their listings for the product! The few who still have a listing up, including BestBuy.com and Amazon.com, hint at a weeks-long delay if you order it. We suspect that such an order would never be filled, though.
That suspicion is supported by our discussions with the license-holder. In our previous report, we told you that we had spoken to a representative of Jack Chertok Productions, who own
My Favorite Martian, and that they were unaware of any USA release of the 3rd and final season. The only release authorized by them, which could work in standard North American DVD players, is an Australian import from Umbrella Entertainment (which we've
provided the details on last November). We have also been told that Umbrella will be moving forward with new bonus-laden releases of the first two seasons! These will similarly be released in Australia, but able to be played if imported to North America. Umbrella's website
lists a March 1st release of the first season, but doesn't specify whether this is the above-discussed NTSC (North American compatible) version of the release.
In the meantime, huge die-hard fans of
My Favorite Martian will be pleased to know that Jack Chertok Productions have helped to get a CD release made of a soundtrack from the show! Yes, this is already out and about...but difficult to find!. We've been informed, though, that the CD may be bought
directly from La La Land Records. Get it while you can, and if sales of this CD justify it, then Jack Cherktok Productions would love to get a second soundtrack album put out.
We hope this info has helped to clarify a confusing situation. Nobody - not us, not Chertok Productions, and not Rhino - seems to have figured out what occurred to make all these different retailers suddenly list this vaporware. If you're reading this and have some inside knowledge of the situation, we would LOVE to hear from you! For the rest of you, stay tuned and we'll let you know what happens from here. Don't forget that Rhino's license to the show ends this coming August, so hopefully after that we'll see a new company, which focuses on the TV-DVDs we all love here so much, will get that license and put out some terrific releases in North America. We'd love to think that it could be Umbrella, with their terrific releases in Australia, but we're not sure if they intend to stretch their canvas to this part of the world in terms of that kind of retail. Whatever happens, stay tuned and we'll report on it!
