Wow, the situation with
Hardcastle and McCormick - The Complete 3rd Season on DVD has been confusing for the past couple of weeks...to say the least! Most of you probably don't know what I'm talking about, so let me sum it up: in mid-September we
reported info from the DVD producers, VEI of Toronto, that this Canadian-only release had some technical issues, and didn't look like it would make it out until the Christmas timeframe.
Then, earlier this month, various people at discussion websites and message boards around the 'net (such as the Home Theatre Forum) started noticing (and posting about) the title's
Amazon.ca (Canada) listing showed that it had a release day of "Sep 20 2007," and that the item's stock status indicated that it was sold out, but could ship within 1 to 2 weeks if the customer placed an order. At the same time, it was noticed that
Amazon.com (USA) has a listing for the title as well, for a Canadian-only release, and showing an October 23rd release date.
September? October? Christmas? What's the real release date for this package? We contacted VEI immediately, but we had trouble getting to the correct people at first, because they were attending the MIPCOM conference going on in France at the time. They're back, and they've looked into the matter, and they have an official verdict for us!
It turns out that the Amazon.com listing for the USA branch should not be there at all (except possibly as an "import"), because this DVD release is only licensed for sale in Canada, per VEI's contract with Cannell Studios. The date shown at Amazon.ca is incorrect; it obviously was not released in September and hasn't shipped to anybody yet. On the other hand, VEI recognized the consumer demand for this product, prioritized the resolution of the problem and have managed to overcome it. As a result, the
Hardcastle and McCormick - The Complete 3rd Season will begin shipping on
October 30th (the same day VEI is shipping
Riptide - The Complete 2nd Season, incidentally).
The 5-DVD set will have all 22 episodes, featuring great guest stars like Rosemary Clooney, Jonathan Banks, Faith Ford, Robert Picardo, and Terry Bradshaw, among others. List price is CA$47.99, but you'll be able to get it at a discount through Amazon.ca at the link above (no matter where you live in North America). A photo gallery is included as an extra, and fans will be happy to note that the back of the box specifies that "This DVD release contains all the music as originally aired." Our thanks to longtime reader Aryn Leroux for his help in being the very first to bring the wrong Amazon dates to our attention. Here's a look at the front box art, in 3-D, and the back of the box, too:
