I know SHOUT! has a good relationship with MGM so this is not meant negative towards MGM, SHOUT! please rescue FLIPPER from MOD dvd-r hell!    The series looks pristine with clarity and color in season 1 on dvd and for MGM to put season 2 on MOD is sad.  Please SHOUT! rescue FLIPPER!

And a lot of people are perfectly happy if a film is pan & scan, interlaced, bad color timed, or edited. I'm not one of these people.  If Shout Factory can offer exclusive factory pressed DVDs through their website, I see absolutely no reason a major studio they license titles from not to do at least something of equal value.

Oh, and I bought THE GROUP from this MGM MOD program and it was not anamorphic widescreen but just letterboxed. For almost $25, I expect more, not less.

It is not "naive" to think things can change, street dates change, disc specs change, bonus content change etc.  A great recent example of change is the TCM set CARY GRANT THE EARLY YEARS was to be a MOD release but due to the larger than expected orders the set was made as pressed discs and only the single releases of the individual films in the set were going to be MOD dvd'r's - so epaddon because you are happy with Warner Archive discs does not mean the rest of us are, this is the shame of any forum that posters knock other peoples opinion.  I have not supported any MOD release because DVD'RS are not pressed discs, sure fans of DVDR's will say "they play fine" but for any product to come with a warning that "discs might not play in all players" plus the fact that they are not high quailty in durability as compared to their pressed disc countrerparts leaves much to be desired.   MGM is a special case, all industry insiders will tell you the studio is on the brink of financial distress and again will be sold, they have taken dvd's off their main website and are really moving towards digital downloads - to even think of buying a DVD R that might rot out in two years should make any one shudder - what happens if you disc is unplayable in two years and MGM is now in different hands - will they be able to replace a set that was sold two years earlier? 

The really amazing point of the whole thing is that on other forums for years collectors would rag on a studio if the film had a speckle on it and berated sub par transfers - now these same collectors LOVE these DVD R's which at $20 a disc are severely overpriced, feature VHS quality transfers - a lot of them have interlaced transfers and many people are complaining the discs lock or freeze etc and these same fans now use the line "well if not for DVD R's I wouldn't have the film or tv show" if collectors did not support the product studios would think twice about dvd'rs.

Hey I will not criticize other collectors though or question them as it is their choice to buy this type of product.  Funny thing though VCI has been selling DVD R's for a few years and at prices in the range of $6.99 or so compare this to $20 for Warners!  It is being done to maximize the profit via the cheapest quality disc and no expense of any restoration.

SHOUT! has done wonderful work, they continue to sell pressed disc and I will wholeheartedly support them and other studios that release pressed discs - so anything is possible - maybe they can rescue FLIPPER - by the way go to MGM site there is no link that I can find to write to them as you suggest - so I guess they really care about consumers - the lion is in severe trouble and especially now I would not support any of their product because of the numerous questions about their future and their support on any defective or sub par product issues that might happen when they are under new ownership! 

Very good post, again I guess that what makes the world go around different tastes, I will not though support any dvd'r release.  On recordable CD's, as an author I had to work closely with my publisher on my first book regarding images.  The book used tons of images and many had to be scanned by myself and my co-author a lot of the images were done by a pro at that kind of stuff and this is going back 6 years.  Many of the discs have lost images because the discs are rotting - so on these discs that have 40 images I am finding 5 or 6 images corrupted and gone.  I do not trust any burned media to have a long life.  And on the flip side to your no probelems with the discs many people are complaining of problems with the WB Archive discs.

To use WB argument that discs are not being given shelf space - whatever -  most major e-tailers are selling the WB titles and at a premium besides - OLDIES lists them at $24.95 I think AMAZON for $28 - so you cannot tell me Warners cannot put these titles on a low pressed disc run.  If CARY GRANT THE EARLY can be done as a pressed set so can other titles.  This is being done for simple reason of GREED - maximize profits for little expenditure that is it in a nutshell.   Hey look at Paraamount releasing THE AFRICAN QUEEN as a pressed disc!  I still cannot believe that Warners has not released the classic 1940 NORTHWEST PASSAGE.       

So thank god for firms like SHOUT! they are truly a haven for dvd collectors who want quality and uncut episodes!  And who knows maybe they can save FLIPPER because MGM's survival is in question.

and yea  i forgot to mention about the price yes 20.00 for a bare bones dvd is expensive so i always wait for the sales witch warner is running right now 5 titles for 55.00 shipped which in my opinion for a rare classic is worth it to see it again or the first time collector of a certain actor we have to face it not every dvd sales well and some dvds would get no release at all not even liscensed by shout or anyone else  thats why big lots has those cheap dvds to many pressed up and not moving well enough. sure warner archive titles arent remastered well most are not but over all quality is really good for most ive been dissapointed with pressed sets as well but who cares if its watchable and plays good enough to enjoy

Hear, hear Maxx, couldn't have said it better.

I find this MOD quite the rip-off at $20 ($25 with shipping) a title to be quite a joke for a burned disc. With no authoring, max quanities, storage, or sharing of profits, plus quite a few of these films aren't remastered and barely look better than VHS (I LOVE MELVIN and TRAPEZE are two prime examples), I'm starting to find this practice greedy and lazy and will no longer support it.  Shout Factory's exclusives, Universal's TCM Vault Collection and Paramount's licensing to Legend and now Olive Films (SKIDDO on a pressed DVD? Sweet!) should be the standard and not the exception.

Oh, and I also got the CARY GRANT: EARLY YEARS COLLECTION and was very pleased with it.

TomH you hit it on the head, there really is no way to justify thinking that paying $20 for a DVD-R that has a film on it that has not been restored after years of being told film restoration was a good thing.   For WB to tell consumers that a studio like WB which championed film restoration, lower price points for discs, great box set etc that the reason there are no more classics being issued on pressed disc because of the economy and then go to a MOD at $20 a pop and then telling us the program is a huge success is really amazing.   To tell us that they are having problems getting product on shelves then have major e-tailers offer the MOD discs is also amazing - so if the demand is there they can give us pressed discs, if the demand is there they should invest in restorations. If WB valued there customers they would sell them the best quality prints and best quality media. 

And people should step back and wonder when buying into MGM's MOD program with their perilous financial conditon what happens if any dvd-r purchased rots with a couple of years - will new management support replacing discs?  I have gotten "burned" (pun intended) by going into the RCA CED discs, Laserdiscs, and VHS I will not spend 20.00 to have a rotted  disc in a couple of three years!

I IN NO WAY SUPPORT BOOTLEG PRODUCT but Warner also justified the MOD program as beating bootleggers offering DVD-R's of films that had not been issued by the studio in official versions - so WB turns around and does a MOD program featuring transfers done 15 years ago and at double a bootleg priced disc.  Can we spell G-R-E-E-D?  Today Universal announced a Bob Hope set coming in June at $39.99 the great news it is a pressed set - although it features a couple of already issued films it also includes THE CAT AND THE CANARY - so here we have a studio that went the mile to clear the legal issues with this classic - and are putting it out as a pressed set.  This is the kind of product I will support - along with the great product SHOUT! is putting ou there for our hungry dvd machines!!!!   Just look at SHOUTS FATHER KNOWS BEST Season 4 and PATTY DUKE 1 and 2 this is product of great quality great price points and treated with TLC for all of us to collect.

I just received a catalog in the mail today and the firm is selling the WB dvd'rs with a list price of $29.99 on sale at $24.95 this is a rip-off of a rip-off.   Reading the posts here proves that we all have our own minds and it does seem to be a subject that we will never all agree on.   But there is no denying that if people buy these dvd-r's than the studios will keep making them, if there was no support they would change their business model.  But WB argument has been for years they did not want to release sub-standard masters on dvd - hence they did restorations.  They turn around and put 15 - 20 yr old masters on dvdrs many of them blurry (THE BIG HOUSE as an example, garbage quality color I LOVE MELVIN) and put a price tag of $19.99!!!  They used the excuse of a poor economy for mot releasing classics on pressed dvd, they used the excuse of no stores carrying old films.  So if there is such a bad economy why are they charging $19.99 for a dvd-r???  For a bare bones burnt disc???   Every major e-tailer I see on the net i,e: AMAZON, CRITICS CHOICE, OLDIES are carrying these discs and prices higher then the already high price WB has priced them at.   Proving there is demand and people bit, but to think that this is the best thing since sliced bread is simply mind boggling, and it proves that line from FIELD OF DREAMS is correct - "build it and they will come"  But there is nothing of merit to the way they are treating their customers in selling them sub-par transfers on burnt media - and gouging them to boot.

There are promising signs that pressed SD DVD is viable and in demand - MCA announcing the release of THE CAT AND THE CANARY, a great BARBARA STANWYCK set, the great CARY GRANT set  Paramount's recently issued AFRICAN QUEEN, Fox dropping hints that A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN might take root in our collections this year Sony issuing great sets such as THE BUDD BOETTICHER COLLECTION, SAMUEL FULLER and soon RITA HAWORTH and then SHOUT! gets LEAVE IT TO BEAVER and THE GOLDBERGS, issues FKB season 4 and should be finishing MR ED and PATTY DUKE so we can all complete these series and you cannot see WB is still issuing the same product the umpteenth release of OZ - GWTW - retreads of A STAR IS BORN - same old same old!  The only new pressed set they officially announced is CHARLIE CHAN!!!  Everything else is beiing dumped in the WB archive there is no defense that can be made by any serious collector of WB's current policy.

So thank heaven for the haven that is SHOUT!

P.S. on the line about the only way to view films were on battered 16mm prints - do your research there was a vibrant Super 8 collectors market with Blackhawk Films selling great films such as uncut prints of Laurel and Hardy films, Our Gang and Charley Chase too, Ken FIlms selling full length classics from MGM - I have WIZARD OF OZ, GWTW, EASTER PARADE, SHOW BOAT - BABES IN TOYLAND (1934) etc in full length prints.  I think DERANN is still in business selling RETURN OF THE JEDI in scope, BEN HUR in scope SOUND OF MUSIC in scope - what killed Super 8 as a really vibrant market was the drastic rise in silver when the Hunt brothers cornered the silver market.  But these prints were great ans still are!             

Evidently they are not getting swamped with orders at 19.99 and are now resorting to dump them at $9 a piece which in reality is probably all they are worth.  Best way to explain WB's 19.99 list price for dvd-rs is taking a cue from W.C. Fields - Never Give a Sucker An Even Beak!      Can you imagine WB dumping the 1939 classic film "Confessions of a Nazi Spy" into the WB Archive, the 1939 film exposed concentration camps and Nazi brutality Warners created a stir and tried to wake up America to what was going on at the time - it was a landmark film that WB could not even restore or put in a Edward G Robinson box with THE SEA WOLF and others - that is how much they think of their loyal customers!

Looking at the post mentioning Laser Discs at 100.00 that was the pioneering Criterion Co and there discs were loaded with everything imaginable, George Feltenstein the man behind the WB Archive now was at MGM/UA at the time and helped pioneer the $39.98 price point for Laser and featuring many widescreen releases, he stated that they lowered the price to atteact more consumers to the laser market and stated that it cost nearly $7.00 a side to produce a laserdic - meaning $14.00 to stamp each disc.  So using that argument that justified the $39.98 retail price - so now how much does it cost to create a dvd-r what between the disc, the dvd cover etc what $1 tops the transfers are 15-20 years old no cost there?  And you don't think $19.99 is a rip-off for a dvd-r??   Plus the laserdiscs had to then be sold to retailers through distributors then to stores - I was told that the mark-up on lasers were 20% - so with these dvd-r's going from WB right to consumers it is pure gravy and greed at $19.99 no way to justify the price!

Looking forward to the future gems that SHOUT! has in store for us on "pressed" dvds!