Many of you have already seen the stories we've posted about various Universal television properties and their mention by the studio as being looked at for DVD release. Among the properties we've already mentioned are
Miami Vice,
Bionic Woman,
Dream On,
Leave It To Beaver, and
Amazing Stories. Where is all this info coming from?
Universal has sent out a very nicely crafted book, approximately 35-40 glossy pages long and in full color. The outer cover and first couple of pages is stark black, with silver lettering, that says "Great Television on DVD is Universal. Universal Studios Home Video is Proud To Present Some of the Most Dynamic and Influential Television Shows of the Past 40 Years. The Shows That Defined Generations, Influenced Popular Culture and Set the Standard for Television's Most Groundbreaking Programming are Coming to DVD."
It seems obvious what the studio is saying with this booklet: hello, here are the shows we intend to bring out on DVD! It doesn't list anything else in there, though, like street dates or extras or whether it will be season sets or best-of's. Nothing like that. It just names the titles and shows pretty pictures taken from the show, with a few quotes and trivia about the show itself (like how many Emmy awards it was nominated for). Here's a good example:
Murder, She Wrote, as it says in the graphic above, was one of the longest-running drama series in television history, receiving 41 Emmy nominations. Star Angela Lansbury received an astonishing 12 consecutive Emmy nominations for her performances (one for each season, apparently).
Bear in mind that just because it's in the booklet now, doesn't mean that plans can't change and the release get put off, or cancelled entirely. These are long-range plans, and there's no guarantees that these will all see the light of day. Also, not all known upcoming DVD releases from NBC-Universal are included in the booklet.
Be that as it may, it looks like
Murder, She Wrote is under the magnifying glass, and that Jessica Fletcher will join us in our living rooms again in the not-too-distant future. Stay tuned, and we'll let you know when that will be, plus anything else we find out in our investigation.
