In This Section
TV Guide Spotlight
Also on TVGuide.com
|
« Today's News: Our Take
Cop-out: Cagney & Lacey Arrested on the Way to DVD
A long-awaited and oft-postponed DVD release of the first season of Cagney & Lacey — hoped to fittingly hit stores in time for Mother's Day — has hit yet another roadblock. The problem: Music-rights clearance issues were overlooked by vid-distributor MGM, which, as executive producer Barney Rosenzweig chronicles in his blog, is in no hurry to set things right and stick to the schedule. "Much like in the past, this might be up to the fans," Rosenzweig says in a statement, alluding to the grassroots letter-writing campaign that saved the groundbreaking drama in 1983. "Last time, they brought the show back from cancellation. This time, we hope they can help us get the first season DVD released."
|
TVGuide Links:
|
|
|
|
Mar 23, 2007 1:28 PM
|
What a preposterous situation.
I'm so tired of DVD releases being held up by music clearance issues. I know it's been a problem on releases like WKRP in Cincinnati and Freaks & Geeks (whose creators stood firm and refused to use replacement music, I believe). Supposedly, that's why The Wonder Years is still unreleased.
In the case of Cagney & Lacey, MGM hasn't done the physical work of clearing the music -- so at this point it's unclear whether the artists will actually consent.
(As Rosenzweig says in his blog, there wasn't that much pop music or non-original music on the show, so the idea that music rights clearance is even an issue is kind of mind-boggling.)
For musical artists to withhold consent, thereby holding up a DVD release (or at least forcing unsatisfactory changes to be made) is just kind of an a**holey thing to do.
The people who end up being punished are the fans, not the companies.
|
|
Mar 23, 2007 2:26 PM
|
|
What can I do to get "Matlock" released on DVD? Seriously.
|
|
Mar 23, 2007 2:50 PM
|
|
Note to copy editor: your spell check missed something.
|
|
Mar 23, 2007 3:18 PM
|
Copout indeed!
And, of course, on visiting MGM's many websites, I have yet to find a place for customer feedback so I could tell them what I think of this...
wanna bet this non-decision was made by a 24-year-old? I'm so tired of people half my age deciding what I will or will not buy!
Cagney and Lacey was a groundbreaking series, and it is a dirty shame we can't revisit it anywhere... DVD or on TV.
|
|
Mar 23, 2007 4:09 PM
|
Yeah, this issue needs to be resolved as a whole... I don't know how it could be though. Music owners need to remember that the exposure is a good promotional device which is why they put them on the shows in the first place. There has to be some sort of big, overall compromise.
By the time shows like Ally McBeal end up on DVD the format might not even be relevant anymore.
|
|
Mar 23, 2007 6:17 PM
|
|
So why is Homefront not on DVD yet? Are there music rights issues with the 30s and 40s music?
|
|
Mar 23, 2007 7:30 PM
|
Oh my God!!!
Homefront! I loved that show. I would so buy DVD's of that.
It featured so many cast members who are still well-known TV faces -- Ken Jenkins (Scrubs), Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights), John Slattery (recently on Desperate Housewives), Mimi Kennedy (Dharma & Greg), Tammy Lauren (Martial Law and, more recently, The Young and the Restless) and Kelly Rutherford (Melrose Place, among many others), just to name a few.
What a great show that was!
|
|
Mar 23, 2007 7:41 PM
|
Chappy, I adored Homefront. I watched shows like Scrubs and Friday Night Lights (and Early Edition, for that matter) solely because they had an alumnus in the casts, although I ended up watching them because I enjoyed the shows. I've seriously considered getting digital cable just for the American Life Network, which is airing the show (or was, the last time I heard.)
I was so disappointed when Homefront was canceled, because I wanted to see Jeff and Ginger, and Al and Anne, deal with married life, and watch Gina and Charlie's relationship continue to blossom. It's been 14 years since the show was canceled, and I still miss it.
|
|
Mar 24, 2007 1:58 AM
|
It's been 14 years since the show was canceled, and I still miss it. - monkey65
You know, looking back, it was kind of a miracle that the show actually lasted two seasons. (I remember how happy I was that it got renewed -- I almost forgave ABC for cancelling China Beach the year before.)
I was going to say that nowadays, that show would last about three episodes, but truth be told, it would never even make it on the air.
Unfortunately, now in the TV world, edginess and "snarkiness" are increasingly becoming the only currency of the realm.
A quaint, earnest show like Homefront would be laughed at by the self-indulgent, suited embryos now occupying the network programming departments.
|
|
Mar 24, 2007 2:48 AM
|
I was going to say that nowadays, that show would last about three episodes, but truth be told, it would never even make it on the air.
Unfortunately, now in the TV world, edginess and "snarkiness" are increasingly becoming the only currency of the realm.
A quaint, earnest show like Homefront would be laughed at by the self-indulgent, suited embryos now occupying the network boardrooms.
Too true, Chappy. On too many of today's TV shows, parents are stupid and get no respect from their kids, couples snipe at each other, kids are smart-alecks and too cool for the room, and stories have to "push the envelope". Even Ugly Betty, which conveys generally good messages and depicts a close family, gets a TV-14 rating and contains plotlines not seen on 7 PM shows a decade ago.
|
|
Mar 24, 2007 3:03 PM
|
YAY!!!
Good news, Cagney & Lacey fans! TVShowsOnDVD.com is reporting the following updated blog entry from Barney Rosenzweig:
"The latest battle in the Cagney & Lacey narrative is over. Who won? We all did. Less than 19 hours after the posting of our last blog, MGM and I have reached a happy agreement that the DVD package, put together so diligently by the new FOX/MGM team, will be ready for release in the USA for Mothers’ Day 2007 as originally planned."
For a lot more details, go to the following:
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=7067
By the way, one slight clarification about this being a Season 1 release: This is actually Season 2, the first full-length season and the first episodes with Sharon Gless as Cagney. Hopefully, someday, FOX/MGM will put together a set that includes the original TV movie (which featured Loretta Swit as Cagney and a different Harvey Lacey), the six-episode first season (which features Meg Foster as Cagney) and the four TV-movie sequels which aired from 1994-96.
|
|
Mar 24, 2007 7:19 PM
|
|
|
