August 15, 2010

News: Alliance Home Entertainment TV-on-DVD Releases, October 2010

You know the drill by now.  Tags are here and here.  Here are the new season sets of shows from the Alliance vaults, ’cause capitalism is as subtle as Kevin Thompson’s acting.

Andromeda: Season 4 (October 19, 2010)
Earth: Final Conflict: Season 5 (October 26, 2010)
F/X: The Series: Season 2 (October 26, 2010)
Les Invincibles: Complete Series (October 19, 2010)
Mutant X: Season 3 (October 26, 2010)
The Adventures of Sinbad: Season 1 (October 19, 2010)
The Adventures of the Black Stallion: Season 1 (October 19, 2010)
The Outer Limits (1995): Season 7 (October 5, 2010)

Koch Canada gave The Adventures of Sinbad a first-season release in 2004, then abandoned the title.  Not surprisingly, The Adventures of Sinbad will be quickly ground through the Alliance video mill, as the show only lasted two seasons.  I forget if the first season is the one where Sinbad and Doubar fight toilet paper in one episode.

The Alliance releases are finally showing signs of slowing down.  Earth: Final Conflict, Mutant X, F/X: The Series and The Outer Limits (1995) have been exhausted.  Andromeda has one more season to go.

The Adventures of the Black Stallion already has a complete series set out, through Echo Bridge Home Entertainment.  Echo Bridge Entertainment bought Alliance Atlantis’ international distribution arm after Alliance Atlantis was dismantled in 2007.

To be honest, The Adventures of the Black Stallion is the first redundant title Alliance has released in a while.  Echo Bridge is rereleasing the series in season volume sets right now.  Not a good move, for either Echo Bridge or Alliance.

My prediction: you’re going to see Neon Rider and Bordertown very soon.  Mark my words.  These rush releases have their problems, but better this than letting the titles rot in archive hell.  I still want Night Heat.

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July 13, 2010

News: Durham County, Being Erica Season 2 DVDs to be released

Durham County‘s second season will come out July 27, 2010 through Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada.  The TMN/Movie Central series’ second season sees forensic psychiatrist Pen Verrity (Michelle Forbes) join newly-appointed homicide detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon) as they solve crimes.

This being Durham County, both characters are weighed down by heavy emotional baggage.  Verrity is coming to terms with the drowning death of her daughter.  Sweeney’s family has pulled apart, due to the aftereffects of his dealings with serial killer Ray Prager.

The second season, like the first, is six episodes long.  Somehow, Anchor Bay has pulled a two-disc set out of this.  Go figure.

The amazon.ca sales rank for Durham County‘s second season is very high.  As of the time I write this, Durham County‘s second season ranks #19 in DVD sales.  Earlier today, it was #15.  Granted, this is amazon.ca and not amazon.com, but I am referring to the mainstream DVD sales chart.  A top 20 ranking there is impressive.


TVShowsonDVD.com mentions Being Erica‘s second-season set, available on DVD September 14, 2010 through E1 Entertainment.  The three-disc set will contain the standard set of extras – bloopers, deleted scenes, audio commentaries and webisodes.  Of note, the webisodes are termed “Erica’s Weblogs.”

I apologize for not going into as much detail with Being Erica‘s format, like I have with Durham County.  Ostensibly, Erica Strange (Erin Karpluk) continues to delve into her past to find out the points where her life has gone pear-shaped, but the writers are smart enough to skew the format so that it doesn’t grow stale.

Granted, I’m going by what I’ve read, since I don’t watch the show.  Being Erica has a sizable fanbase, helped by its American run on the soon-to-be-shitcanned SOAPnet.  The general consensus is that Being Erica is the only realistic series about a woman in her thirties.  Basically, Being Erica is to older women what the Degrassi franchise is to high school.  Odd how Canada needs compare-and-contrast to succeed overseas, but I don’t pretend to understand cultural attitudes.

 
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News: Alliance Home Entertainment TV-on-DVD Releases, September 2010

Alliance Home Entertainment’s TV-on-DVD schedule is beginning to make me sick.  Among the new titles announced since my last post on this topic, six days ago:

Andromeda: Season 3 (September 14, 2010)
BeastMaster: Season 3 (September 21, 2010)
Earth: Final Conflict: Season 4 (September 28, 2010)
F/X: The Series: Season 1 (September 28, 2010)
Lexx: Season 4 (September 21, 2010)
Mutant X: Season 2 (September 28, 2010)

That’s six titles announced in a week.  The syndicated programming well is being drained faster than The Flash on heroin.

I knew F/X: The Series would soon come out.  To be honest, I tolerate that series more than the others mentioned in this post.  F/X: The Series is a cut-rate Mission: Impossible, but one gets sick of Kevin Sorbo and Daniel Goddard after a while.  Hell, I’m amazed I remember the name Cameron Daddo.

I’m curious to know where Alliance goes from here.  What’s next?  The Crow: Stairway to Heaven?  North of 60?  Night Heat?  Ray Bradbury Theater?  All signs point towards drama, the 1980s, comedies…anything beyond the fare Alliance is currently offering.

Seriously, Alliance, put Night Heat on DVD.  That show has a good reputation and a solid, if aging, fanbase.  Hey, Alliance Home Entertainment thinks TekWar will sell, so why not Night Heat?  That said, I expect The Adventures of Sinbad to come out by November.

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