Straight to video TV
Since I couldn’t post this yesterday from home, as my home internet connection is down, I’m posting this quick from work.
When any movie is released "straight to video", it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that the movie is garbage. I can’t think of a single movie that was released "straight to video" that I have ever watched. In fact, I can only name one such movie: the fourth American Pie movie. I’m sure it was absolute trash.
While on a recent trip, I was enjoying watching the television show "Arrested Development" on DVD. "Arrested Development" was a critically acclaimed show that for some reason was never able to find an audience on air. It’s a great show, and during it’s two and one half season run, it was probably the best comedy out there. Alas, it’s now off the air.
Is it financially possible for a television series to be released straight to DVD, say ten episodes, promote it like a movie, and make money? Could the show be picked up by a network later? How much does it cost to film ten episodes? Would this open comedies to be more creative? Could low budget homemade series be possible.
I don’t know the answer to any of these questions, but I would like to know. I think if the economics were right, we could see a lot of good tv again.
