Home Media Magazine - April 20-26, 2008 - (Page 11)

Edited by John Latchem TV DVD A&E adds to its baseball line-up with ‘Essential Games’ By John Latchem &E Home Video and Major League Baseball are ready to play ball with a new addition to their series of complete-game boxed sets. Having pioneered the market for presenting complete broadcasts of championship series on DVD, A&E June 3 (prebook May 13) debuts its “Essential Games” line. Initial releases include The Boston Red Sox: Essential Games of Fenway Park and The New York Mets: Essential Games of Shea Stadium. Each six-DVD set contains six games for $59.95. A&E also will continue with its bread and butter MLB releases, complete collections of World Series games. Due April 29 is The Arizona Diamondbacks 2001 World Series Collector’s Edition, a $69.95 set featuring all seven games of Arizona’s dramatic victory over the New York Yankees. These releases bring to 17 the total number of game sets jointly produced by MLB and A&E, which four years ago started putting complete games on DVD for collectors. Traditionally, championship teams are commemorated with a highlight film of their season. MLB had completed a deal with Shout! Factory to distribute the highlight films, as well as original documentaries, when A&E Home Video made a proposal to mine the MLB cata- GAME ON log and release complete games on DVD. “When people are passionate about something, they want to own everything,” said Kate Winn, VP of sales and marketing for A&E Home Video. “They want those whole games.” The first year of the agreement, A&E lucked out when the Boston Red Sox won the 2004 World Series and captured the team’s first title since 1918. It resulted in the release of an 11-DVD set containing not only the four World Series games, but also the seven American League Championship Series games in which the Red Sox came back from a 3-0 deficit to defeat the New York Yankees. “It was incredibly successful,” Winn said. Under the agreement, A&E releases five MLB sets each year, including the most recent World Series. A variety of factors determine which teams are represented with a release of historic games. “The first thing to look at is what club or stadium is celebrating a major anniversary,” said Elizabeth Scott, VP of programming and business affairs for MLB. “That creates wonderful marketing platforms to leverage the sale of the product.” For example, the recently released boxed set of the 1988 World Series, won by the Los Angeles Dodgers, coincides with not only the 20th anniversary of that series, but also the 50th anniversary of the Dodgers’ first season in Los Angeles (the team moved from Brooklyn in 1958). “We try to spread the wealth,” Scott said. “We try to find the right moment to do this for every club.” A&E has plenty of games from which to choose. According to Scott, MLB has saved every regular- A season game broadcast since 1999. MLB has footage dating back 100 years, but the earliest complete World Series games in the archives, according to Scott, are games six and seven from 1952. As far as having every game in a World Series, MLB’s archives go back to only the late 1960s. Winn sees the “Essential Games” sets as a good opportunity to supplement the World Series line. “As much as people love their teams, people love their ballparks,” Winn said. Distinguishing the new “Essential Games” releases are slimmer steelbook packaging and, in the case of the Red Sox set, the chance for fans to choose the games. Scott found it interesting that Red Sox Nation didn’t choose any games from 2004. “We think the fans already own the 2004 set, and they didn’t want to waste one of the games on something they already had,” Scott said. In contrast, games in the Shea Stadium set were chosen by MLB experts. The set includes the pivotal sixth game of the 1986 World Series that was previously released two years ago in a 1986 World Series boxed set. Warner Home Video, which distributes all DVDs for the NFL, NBA and NHL, now offers its own line of complete-game boxed sets. The studio most recently released a seven-disc set containing all the games from the 1985-86 NBA finals, won by the Boston Celtics. For a complete list of the Essential Games, visit AgentDVD.com SHOUT PITCHES RED SOX AND YANKEE DVDS By John Latchem T he latest Major League Baseball titles from Shout! Factory include Red Sox Memories: The Greatest Moments in Boston Red Sox History and Yankee Stadium: Baseball’s Cathedral. Red Sox Memories streets May 6 at $19.99 and promises a comprehensive retrospective of the 107-year history of the Boston baseball franchise. Extras include Carl Yastrzemski’s Hall of Fame speech, Pedro Martinez’s 1999 All-Star Game performance, tributes to Ted Williams and a Dick Radatz feature. Elizabeth Scott, VP of programming and business affairs for MLB, said the Red Sox will telecast the program in segments over the course of the season. Yankee Stadium: Baseball’s Cathedral is slated for July 1 as a two-DVD set at $26.99. “This is the story of one of the most iconic structures in sports,” Scott said. “Everyone within 100 miles of Yankee Stadium will want to own this.” The DVD takes a look back at the House that Ruth Built from its opening day in 1923, to opening day 2008. The Yankees move into a new ballpark for 2009. Scott said the July street date is timed with this year’s All-Star Game, to be played July 15 at Yankee Stadium. The DVD set includes a commemorative ticket with a medallion. Extras include a tour of Yankee Stadium, Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech, the George Brett pine tar incident, Aaron Boone’s home run in the seventh game of the 2003 American League Champion Series, and more memorable highlights. MORE REMASTERED ‘TREK’ ON DVD By John Latchem eleases of remastered episodes of the original “Star Trek” will continue without HD DVD. Paramount Home Entertainment and CBS Home Entertainment Aug. 5 (prebook June 24) will release Star Trek: The Original Series — Season Two Remastered as an eight-DVD set at $99.99. All 26 episodes have been remastered for high-definition R and upgraded with new visual effects. Paramount released the first season this past November in the HD DVD/DVD combo format. According to reports, the remastering effort was funded in part by HD DVD backer Toshiba. With the demise of the HD DVD format, there was some question as to whether the releases would continue. The answer is an emphatic yes, albeit only in DVD form for now. “Feeding the fans’ enthusiasm for the series, we are releasing the second season now so fans won’t have to wait to complete their collection,” said a spokesperson for CBS Home Entertainment. Extras include new footage from “Billy Blackburn’s Treasure Chest”; a season overview; the featurette “Kirk, Spock & Bones: Star Trek’s Great Trio”; a profile of Nichelle Nicols, who played Lt. Uhura; a look at Leonard Nimoy’s life after “Star Trek”; and a “Writer’s Notebook” with D.C. Fontana. Of particular note, the fifth disc is devoted exclusively to the fan-favorite episode “The Trouble With Tribbles” and includes not only the original-series episode, but also a sequel from the “Star Trek” animated series, a special tribute episode from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” and two featurettes about the making of the “DS9” episode. Plans for an eventual Blu-ray release were not announced. Original Remastered April 20–26, 2008 Home Media Magazine 11 http://AgentDVD.com

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Home Media Magazine - April 20-26, 2008

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