Sunday, August 12, 2007

Rhetorical Pop Quiz

On Tuesday, Paramount releases "Season 1, Volume 1" of one of the most acclaimed TV dramas of all time, "The Fugitive."

Why on Earth is the company splitting this show into two releases per season on DVD?

A) It's loading up the discs with so many great extras that in order to preserve technical quality on the actual episodes, Paramount decided to go for less overall discs per set.

B) Overwhelming positive response from fans who bought such Paramount sets as "Perry Mason Season One Volume One" and "Streets of San Francisco Season One Volume One" convinced the studio that fans don't like to be inundated with too much content at once.

C) By doing it this way, they can make fans buy two sets instead of one and thereby pump more money into Paramount's coffers for the same basic product.

I'm not going to share my answer, but let me just say that this Fugitive set has no extras, and the only reaction I've seen to the "split-season" approach is frustration that buyers have to wait longer to get a full season. Draw your own conclusion.

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