Sadly,
I doubt CBS feel they owe anyone anything, its unlikely to be the way they think!
DS9 on blu ray?
- Thread starter borgboy
- Start date
Sadly,
I doubt CBS feel they owe anyone anything, its unlikely to be the way they think!
Star Trek is found money to CBS. They've invested very little in it and reap the rewards of the decades of work behind it. Somewhere along the way, someone has figured out that from a profitability standpoint, continuing to sell DS9 in SD will be just as profitable as remastering it.
At the end of the day, TNG in HD will probably not be any more profitable for CBS when factoring in what they spent on the remastering process.
At the end of the day, TNG in HD will probably not be any more profitable for CBS when factoring in what they spent on the remastering process.
I don't think we have enough evidence either way, but you make a potentially good argument.
My guess, however, runs the other way. There's been a surge of revenue already for The Next Generation from this rebuild. And, more than that, TNG's new HD-clarity makes it seem fresh and relevant now, and that's likely to remain more or less true even a decade from now. Like TOS, it will seem more and more a product of its time, with quaint and even laughable details and manners, but that is even now a small part of its appeal, just as TOS has had for decades a campy appeal based on its 1960s vibe.
But the fact that TOS and TNG are HD is allowing them to survive over the decades.
If they aren't rebuilt, my guess is that DS9 and Voyager will drift must faster into irrelevancy. DS9 and Voyager each have strong fan bases, although I'm one of the few, apparently, who is an equal fan of both shows. And if they are rebuilt for HD, they'll continue to be accepted by new generations. In blurry SD the case is harder to make.
In the short run, you're probably right that the expenses of a rebuild won't be quickly recovered. But in the long run, I think they would be, and they would help keep Trek alive and fresh in the 21st century.
Even more important to all this would be a new show in the Prime universe, which I also think might be possible.
Anyway, we're likely to need to agree to disagree.
In terms of an op ed, I might well work on it. Possible title:
"Will All the Captains of Star Trek's High Definition Future Be White and Male?"
CBS may be thinking that those two shows drifted into irrelevancy long ago.
Which isn't true as you have Captain Varley of the Yamato ("Contagion"), Captain LaForge of the Hera ("Interface") and Captain Hernandez of the Columbia ("Home").
Which isn't true as you have Captain Varley of the Yamato ("Contagion"), Captain LaForge of the Hera ("Interface") and Captain Hernandez of the Columbia ("Home").
I don't believe that the captain of the Saratoga was a white male either, even after being remastered to HD. Ditto for Captain Joel Randolph of the Yorktown.
"Will All the Leading Captains of Star Trek's High Definition Future Be White and Male?"
More accurate, for sure. Does it make as good a sound bite?
TOS and TNG aren't on HD because their captains were white and male. They are on HD because the two shows remain quite popular.
ENT is on HD because it was cheap to put bluray.
That's it. There is no conspiracy.
And I'm not sure what the point would be since there are exactly three and they were made for TV series with primarily American audiences. Which are primarily white. Four of the five captains are white and three of the five are white and male. It is an unfortunate fact that demographics primarily drive these decisions. It is quite possible if these series hadn't been made on top of each other that all five would've been white.
Star Trek is a product designed to make money first and foremost.
Definitely not arguing the merits of an op-ed on a TV series that apparently nobody important cares about anymore, right Bill, Squiggy?
Fans on a Star Trek board discussing/arguing about Star Trek? Who'd have thunk it!
If DS9 came out on Blu-ray after receiving the same treatment as TNG, I'd buy it, I've already admitted to that. But five-hundred or five-thousand people on the internet isn't the whale CBS is trying to hook.
And Archer/Enterprise doesn't really count because it was HD from the start.
TOS was iconic and needed the updating the most, as it looked the worst when scaled up and probably has the most international demand and built in purchase power.
TNG was next in demand. It's also currently shown the most on Netflix (and the only one shown nationally in the US) so Paramount/CBS/Whoever-the-hell-makes-those-decisions made that call.
After TNG, the demand drops off the face of the Earth. It's unfortunate that the shows helmed by minorities aren't popular, but that's the fact of the matter. They're not unpopular today because they had the African-Terran or the woman captains...they're unpopular today because they weren't too terribly popular to begin with and they've been off the air for over a decade.
So you have a show that was maybe half as popular as TNG at it's peak, and hasn't been seen by anyone but those who were already fans watching on Netflix or DVDs since it hasn't been shown at all in the US (which, let's be honest...that's the only country that matters for syndication's purposes). They're targeting these blurays not only to fans, but the sort of fans willing to shell out 60 bucks every 6 months to see shows they've probably already seen dozens of times.
That's a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the original audience...which was small to begin with.
Don't get me wrong. I love Trek. All of it. Even the bad Trek. The wife and I are re-watching Voyager (God help us). I can tell you which episode of TNG it is without looking in about 3 seconds... but I haven't even bought any of the TNG DVDs.
Why?
I don't play the "'X' isn't Star Trek" game and never have.
I don't play the "'X' isn't Star Trek" game and never have.
Sorry to imply. I just never would have guessed you had any love at all for DS9, much less enough to purchase a blu-ray set! Just surprised is all! Pleasantly surprised! Carry on.
Larry Nemecek talks a lot about the possibility of DS9 on blu ray on a recent Ready Room podcast.
I don't say it's true or false; it's a non sequitur. The burden of proof is on the one making the claim. In this case the claims are 1) TNG BD sales fell below the studio's expectations, and 2) this is the reason DS9 is not being transferred at this time. The first is a claim that's been made a number of times with no source to back it up, the second is a non sequitur. Likewise, claim #1 does not logically follow claim #2.
Apologies if anyone has posted Roger Lay Jr's comments before:
"Deep Space Nine", we all want to do it. I’ll tell you that. I think it’ll be more difficult in the sense that by season 4 of DS9 you had digital elements, a lot of digital elements. By the Dominion War they were doing entire sequences that were digital, there were no models anymore. On TNG we’ve had all these plates and all these model motion-control shots to re-composite. You don’t have anything like that now. So you kind of have to recreate everything when it comes to that stage. I think the first three seasons will be fairly close to what has been done on Next Gen, but by season 4 and beyond it will get a lot more complicated. So all of that has to be factored in. And honestly they have to look at the sales of Next Gen and see how it did overall and what kind of a budget they could allot for Deep Space Nine. So will it happen immediately? I don’t know. Do we all want to go and bring Deep Space Nine back? Absolutely. I think the next couple of months will be crucial. It will also be crucial to fans who have been waiting for all seven seasons of TNG to be released. It sounds sad, but it’s a business decision when it should be a creative one. But you need sales in order to put out more product, it’s as simple as that. We’re hoping to get news within the next several months. But if fans want to do anything to make that happen, pick up these Blu-ray sets right now, because the entire Next Generation collection will be out.
"Deep Space Nine", we all want to do it. I’ll tell you that. I think it’ll be more difficult in the sense that by season 4 of DS9 you had digital elements, a lot of digital elements. By the Dominion War they were doing entire sequences that were digital, there were no models anymore. On TNG we’ve had all these plates and all these model motion-control shots to re-composite. You don’t have anything like that now. So you kind of have to recreate everything when it comes to that stage. I think the first three seasons will be fairly close to what has been done on Next Gen, but by season 4 and beyond it will get a lot more complicated. So all of that has to be factored in. And honestly they have to look at the sales of Next Gen and see how it did overall and what kind of a budget they could allot for Deep Space Nine. So will it happen immediately? I don’t know. Do we all want to go and bring Deep Space Nine back? Absolutely. I think the next couple of months will be crucial. It will also be crucial to fans who have been waiting for all seven seasons of TNG to be released. It sounds sad, but it’s a business decision when it should be a creative one. But you need sales in order to put out more product, it’s as simple as that. We’re hoping to get news within the next several months. But if fans want to do anything to make that happen, pick up these Blu-ray sets right now, because the entire Next Generation collection will be out.
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