Not too long ago we
had the scoop that DVD releases of
The Shield, the award-winning F/X series, would be moving from Fox Home Entertainment over to Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Even more recently we
reported on Sony's re-releases of the first five season sets, all in slimmer packaging but with the same contents and outer package artwork. Those arrive on March 25th, and it was hinted that
The Shield - Season 6 would be announced for release very soon afterward.
In fact, some retailers were given advance word of that info. A retailer called Video Products Distributors (VPD for short) even posted a Sony-sponsored trade ad in a recent catalog/periodical, showing an April release for the product. It was side by side with an ad promoting the re-releases of the first five seasons, and at the time Sony was probably very certain they would make the scheduled date.
However, as we've
mentioned elsewhere -
twice - Sony has told us that there will be no TV-DVD releases in April. Production delays have pushed titles out on the schedule, and apparently
The Shield - Season 6 was one of the affected packages. It will not be out in April, and a new date has not yet been finalized to our knowledge.
Still, we have to thank reader Brantley Palmer for scanning the ad from VPD and sending it on to us. It gives us our first look at the box art that Sony is considering to use for this release. It also tells us that this is planned to be a 4-DVD set with 10 episodes that include guest stars Forest Whitaker (
The Last King of Scotland and Katey Sagal (
Married...with Children, Futurama). Running time is shown to be 440 minutes, plus "Exclusive Bonus Features" (no details were given), at a projected cost of $59.95 SRP.
Of course, all of that info is up in the air now, since the title was delayed. During the wait, anything can of course change. But in case it doesn't, here's a look at the package art shown in the ad:
