With the second season of the Simpsons coming out on DVD in July, I was wondering if anyone knew if the episodes will be in their original forms, or edited as they sometimes are for syndication. I own the first season box set, but never saw the episodes in their original airing, so I don’t know if anything has been cut from the DVDs.
This was brought to mind after viewing a quote thread with the following quote from Richard Nixon:
I personally have no problem with the humour, but some people might, along with the entire New York episode featuring the WTC, and I worry that the only time I will be able to see that episode again is from a poor quality VHS taping.
I don’t own the DVDs, but I don’t see why they would sell them in an edited form.
I would think Fox would get creamed in the PR department if they sold them in an edited form since there are so many Simpsons fans who know exactly which scenes are edited for syndication.
I wouldn’t be too concerned about the WTC episode; I’ve seen it twice since.
Does it really take this much time to put together the DVD, or is the delay between releases a marketing ploy? Personally, I won’t be bothered buying any of them until I can get at least three or four seasons.
As far as releasing them, the first season was by far the shortest of them all. 13 episodes vs. over 20 for the subsequent ones. I think part of the reason for the delay is marketing and production. They wanted to see how the first set would sell before committing to a bunch. Sure, who wouldn’t want the Simpsons on DVD, but that’s not usally enough to satisfy marketers. Second, production. Those commentaries take time to arrange and record (they’re also easily the best thing about the DVDs so far).
The other things I could think of were price and syndication. Who would pay a couple hundred bucks for a couple seasons of the Simpsons at once? The hardcore fans would, but the more casual fans wouldn’t. They sell more copies by spacing them out. And two, Fox get’s big money selling the show in syndication. Is anyone going to watch those syndicated eps once they have them all on DVD? Not bloody likely.