Sex and the City

[SanDeE*]

starbug that would be great! I will pm you...

[Natasha (candygirl)]

Info from tvshowsondvd:

Sex and the City - HBO plans super-premium release
Posted by Gord Lacey 2/17/2005
 
David Bianculli at the New York Daily News has some very, very interesting news for fans of Sex and the City. Here's the quote taken from the article:

Rhea said HBO is planning a "super-premium" set of "Sex and the City" to hit stores before Christmas.

"I think there is absolutely a super-premium collector's market," she said about "Sex and the City."

Though all seasons have been released in separate installments, Rhea said the complete collection, including additional content and DVD extras not available on the originals, is being developed with "an eye for the collector," including new disc art and lavish packaging.

"It'll be kind of showpiece that you might want to own and preserve, and not use as your everyday set," Rhea said. "I guess it would be kind of like the good china. Or the good shoes."

Gord's Editorial: Wait...hold on...HBO is putting together a super-premium collector's set for a series that already carries an SRP of $339.92?? I think this will either be a huge success for HBO, or a colossal failure. Here's why:

Sex and The City was HBO's first season set, released back in May, 2000. It's been available on DVD for nearly 5 years, giving people who like the show more than ample time to start buying it. They've also bundled the various seasons together, making it easy for someone to order all the currently released sets at one time, though not with any special packaging. I have friends, all female, that were excited to "finally" finish their Sex and the City collection when Season 6, Part 2 was released in December. They've already forked over a significant amount of money to collect the series on DVD, and I doubt any of them will be interested in buying a "super-premium" set.

This leads me to another issue; the cost of the new set. HBO simply can't win in this situation. If they price it too high then people that own the current sets won't justify spending the money, and won't buy it. If they price it too low then people that own the current sets are upset because they've spent money collecting the sets, but now there's something better and cheaper than what they own.

Movie-on-DVD buyers have faced the "Collector's Edition" upgrade choice for years, but this is fairly new for a TV-on-DVD. We've only seen a few instances of upgraded TV show sets, but they've been a bit different from what HBO is proposing for Sex and the City. An obvious example is Star Trek (the original series), which was released in 2-episode-per-disc volumes starting back in 1999, and was recently re-issued as season sets complete with extras. So Paramount reconfigured their releases from single-volumes to season sets, and included extras. Image Entertainment did a similar thing with The Twilight Zone (original series); random episodes on individual volumes, replaced with the recent release of the first of a series of season sets. But the proposed Sex and the City premium set would replace an entire run of season box sets with a single boxed set, and at significant cost.

If current owners of the series aren't likely to buy it, then who is? I called Dave Lambert (TVShowsOnDVD's News Director) and we spoke about the Sex and the City set for a few minutes, and he brought up a good point. TBS is airing reruns of the show, which are heavily edited for content, which could bring new fans into the mix who didn't see it on cable. The new fans may be interested in seeing the series as it originally aired, so they might look at buying the new premium set when it's released. But will they be willing to drop hundreds of dollars on the boxed set?

Many of us are collectors, and of course we want the biggest and best of anything that's released. But where do we draw the line? Are we willing to replace a series that has cost us hundreds of dollars with a new set that costs more, just so we can get some interviews and other bonus features we haven't seen yet? Should we start budgeting for the 2007 release of The Sopranos collectors set?


David's additional 2 Cents:

"It'll be kind of showpiece that you might want to own and preserve, and not use as your everyday set," Rhea said. "I guess it would be kind of like the good china. Or the good shoes."

So HBO's plan isn't even to try to get fans to get it for the new extras (c'mon, how often would you watch them?). The plan is to get people to buy it...just for the sake of buying it. Just to have it as a "showpiece". Are TV-on-DVD fans really into that level of "collectors' mentality"? I guess we'll find out! Stay tuned...

[SanDeE*]

I wouldn't. I am one of those women:

... that were excited to "finally" finish their Sex and the City collection when Season 6, Part 2 was released in December.

But you know what? I have had these sets for at least two years now (since I started collecting them, I mean) and I haven't even watched any of the special features, and I never seem to get around to it. Honestly, I don't really care. Just having the episodes is enough for me, same with MSCL, actually! And besides, I don't exactly have an extra $400 to toss around on dvds in one shot, let alone dvds I already own! As Carrie would say, "it would cost me a month's rent."

[Natasha (candygirl)]

There are now pictures of the complete Sex and the City boxset at tvshowsondvd!

[Jody Barsch*]

I should probably post this in the Movie section ... But, what did you guys think?

[Tish]

[/color I love SC so much bought dvds for the whole series. I liked the movie too. I liked Aidan (John Corbett) the best for Carrie. Aidan Shaw rocked.

[Natasha (candygirl)]

I hated the movie. I don't know how Carrie could forgive Big. Do you think he pulled that crap when he married Natasha? Or his first wife? Probably not. He and Carrie just never did it for me. They were so dysfunctional and she kept going back for more, which made it hard for me to sympathize with her at all.

The movie also destroyed what I thought was the best relationship on the entire show: Samantha and Smith. I can't believe they are making ANOTHER movie too. I really did not need to see Carrie moping for what seemed like forever. Yes, that's what happens in real life, but that doesn't mean I want to pay $10 to sit and watch it minute by minute.

[emmie]

it's funny, but I just saw the movie over the weekend! yeah I was surprised at how depressing the movie was. it was like all the women were moping about aging. plus the whole Big thing was really ridiculous. the man is clearly older and he's suddenly having commitment issues simply because the wedding got out of hand? it's not like he's 20 or anything. he knew who Carrie was when he proposed, obviously she's going to want a big deal kind of wedding. it's not her fault he'd already done that twice!

Overall I was glad that the movie had some depth to it and it wasn't all about martinis and fashion. but I thought the women were just a little overly fixated on aging. and then Charlotte hardly even had a plotline at all, she was just the comic relief every so often. I definitely thought it had its moments, but it didn't have the same feel of the show. and I hear that Aidan is coming back for the sequel which probably means more love drama. aren't over all of that by now?

[Tish]

i lllllove sex and the city...i never saw when it was in it's original run on tv but i got into it in 2005...and yeah aidan was wa-hayyy to good for carrie...i didn,t like big at first but he kind of grew on me...what are all of you? carrie, miranda, charlotte or samantha...apparently i'm carrie mixed with miranda, now that i have all seasons i can't get enough of sex...i guess i like sex and life as in my so-called...i'm kinda happy she ended up with ooooops gotta go...