WHY is Daria DVD not complete?

There have been (correct) complaints here about the Daria DVD's not being as complete as the uncut version on TV.

I have a QUESTION about this. WHICH of the following is true: (Please answer only if you know for real.)

1) There were questions of what is legal and illegal to have on the DVD (sometimes a song is used without permission and they can't use it on a DVD) This would be unfortunate but forgivable.

2) They just screwed up (e.g., delivered the wrong tape to the DVD. This would fit my image of how MTV is run (e.g., the Daria Schedule was often screwed up).

3) They are planning to release the UNCUT version at some later time and make more money. (With the first Lord-of-the-rings movie they sortof did this- there are two DVDs out, one has more extras then the other.) I don't think the fan base is big enough for this to be worth doing.

bill g.

"William Gasarch" wrote in message news:b4ls3u$hhl$[email]...

Trick question, it's all three.

Chris Smith

On Sat, 10 May 2003 00:40:39 -0400, Reese Kaine wrote:

Let me break it down for you.

"Is It Fall Yet?" is pretty much the same version MTV aired the first time it was aired, sans commercials. The same thing was supposed to happen with "Is It College Yet?" but someone apparently digitized the wrong tape...the one with the material taken out to provide MTV with their patented "home of the supersized commercial break" commercial time.

Lots of the music not written by Janet Wygal and performed by Splendora (well, some of Splendora, anyway) was cut out due to not getting synch licenses for Home Video release. Actually, I don't think MTV even bothers to chase that stuff down for most of their Home Video releases. For instance, Beavis and Butt-Head VHS releases don't have videos on them, nor do they have any background music not directly owned by MTV or available royalty-free.

As to point 3...one can only hope. But unfortunately their unwillingness or inability to fight for synch licenses for Home Video means

On Sat, 10 May 2003 08:38:26 -0700, Michelle Klein-Hass wrote:

Damn, this posted by mistake before I could finish it... <kevvy>SOR-ry...</kevvy>

Their unwillingness or inability to fight for synch licenses for Home Video means that we will never see official "Daria" DVDs with anything other than generic royalty-free music. That's unfortunate because often music was used as a running greek chorus for the proceedings. I can think of the use of "Everlong" by The Foo Fighters in "Lane Miserables," that obscure soul song about barbecue in "Legends Of The Mall" and the use of Silverchair's "Freak" at the end of "Malled" right off the top of my head. Unfortunate...but get used to it. It's not going to change. MTV is way too cheap.

-.\\<-H-

Es war einmal ein Mensch, genannt "Michelle Klein-Hass" , der news:[email] schrieb:

Frustrating as it is, it also helps highlight the uniqueness of Daria -- I suspect that one of the reasons the show was so great is that the suits at MTV didn't care enough to interfere with it - the same 'Who gives a shit?' attitude that leads to inferior video releases may also lead to giving the creators an unusually large amount of leeway.

Nevertheless, many of the episodes aren't complete without the background music and closing songs. One of the things that made my first-ever viewing of Daria memorable was the closing song -- "Keep Young and Beautiful," by Annie Lennox. I was disappointed the first time I saw the earliest episodes when I realized that they didn't have closing songs - I always looked forward to finding out how they were going to wrap up the show, and the songs were often perfect complements to the action, e.g., "Rock and Roll Lifestyle" for 'Road Worrier,' 'The Job that Ate my Brain' for "It Happened One Nut," and "Friend is a Four-Letter Word" for "Dye! Dye! My Darling." (The last one was screwed up on the first airings by MTV -- they couldn't resist adding a brain-dead teen queen voiceover along the lines of "My gosh, what will happen to Daria, Jane, and Tom *now*? Tune in to the Daria movie to see!")

-Mark Steese

"Michelle Klein-Hass" wrote in news:[email]:

-[Snip!]

Actually for the UK B&B releases that's not completely true some of the videos DO have music videos on them,the Christmas one springs imediatly to mind but there are a couple of others too. Also interestingly enough they have a full and uncut (as far as I can tell) "Down Mexico Way", as it includes the bit about smuggling drugs....

Sorry this has been mor about B&B than Daria :)

<Beavis>It's Hairy Sack</Beavis>

Phill.

"Phill Harvey-Smith" wrote in message news:...

Yes, we have them in the US with Music Videos, mostly in the later tapes like "Hard Sell," and I think "Butt-o-Ween" has them too. Of course the UK & Australia have MORE later B&B and Daria tapes than us Americans do.

"Michelle Klein-Hass" wrote in message news:[email]...

That is truly pathetic. That means we'll NEVER see a Daria set that has complete music which..of course...is a HUGE part of the series.

In article , Mike Nassour says...

We're at a stage now where it's technically possible for fan produced DVDs, providing high quality episodes were recorded they could be better than a commercial release.

"Wolfie" wrote in message news:ba5ntl$pie74$4@ID->

Technically, yes. Legally...forget it. You can't imagine how fast the Viacom lawyers would be after someone for doing that.

Mike Nassour wasted our time in alt.tv.daria on 17 May 2003 with:

You see it on Ebay all the time still. Saw one the other day, $100 for complete eps, including the uncut IICY on 7 DVD-Rs. Supposedly the person had made the set from 3 different sources of videos, choosing the best for each ep. Would have paid $20, but the guy can go to hell for $100 =p

In article , Gamer says...

Someone has done it for NewsRadio and so far hasn't been stopped. Daria's such a low profile series that they might think it not worth it, especially since there's no commercial equivalent. Bit different to someone churning out their own Simpsons DVDs

That's interesting, so far I've only seen the usual downloaded off IRC ones on CDR. $100 he can go to hell for, if done it should be a non-profit project.

"Wolfie" wrote in message news:ba8cvi$q9dmp$[email]...

such

since

I promise you that Viacom will protect each and every trademark like a mother owl will protect her nest.

Actually, the company has no choice. Once it allows a copyrighted character or trade name to enter the language as a common term (such as happened to the trade name "asprin), it runs the risk of losing its ability to profit from it.

Mike Nassour wasted our time in alt.tv.daria on 18 May 2003 with:

Naw, they're *way* more violent.

In article , Mike Nassour says...

But they're not profiting from it, okay they must get money from syndication but there's no profit they'd be losing by home made DVDs. They're not making their own and the ones they made weren't complete without the music.

I'm not sure how homemade DVDs would make Daria become common term like Asprin either.

Not arguing that they would fight it, just that there's no logic to them fighting it. And thinking outloud.

"WolfieRyan" wrote in message news:bajsmo$ivti$[email]...

syndication

making

Not relavent, I'm afraid. As long as Viacom owns the rights, it can do as it pleases. This is what Disney does....it releases a movie to the sell-through (home video) market for a year or so, then put it back in the vault to shore-up demand.

Asprin

That's simple. By allowing others to use the Daria name/trademark/characters without permission, Viacom risks losing its copyright protection should it ever choose to take legal action.

On Sat, 17 May 2003 21:40:51 GMT, "Mike Nassour" wrote:

Who said anything about telling Viacom?

"Sean Carroll" wrote in message news:[email]...

They already know. They're Viacom.

"Mike Nassour" wrote in message news:...

MTV is really pathetic & cheap. That is why the VHS & DVD releases of Beavis & butt-head don't contain the music videos because MTV doesn't want to pay the money which is required to license the music videos. The music which played during Daria will probably be excluded from a complete set because MTV is too cheap to license the music. IMO, if MTV has to pay to license the music for a Daria, Beavis & Butt-head, etc set then MTV won't do it since they are cheap.

"Eugene Esterly III" wrote in message news:[email]...

Well, OK, I guess you've made your point that MTV won't pay the money<grin>. No arguement there. I think this was proven when a couple of so-called "bonus" episodes were released with the movies with NO music at all.

However, you have to realize (and I'm no apologist for MTV) that this is indeed a business decision. If Viacom has to pay so much for the music that the price of a four-episode DVD jumps from $14.95 to $19.95 or even $29.95 (not out of the realm of possibility), then the bean counters say the DVD won't sell, the music isn't licensed, and the DVD isn't released.

A prime example of this situation is the 70's-era movie "Slapshot". Popular music from the 70s was used in the theatrical release, as well as the original video release, from DiscoVision on the late, lamented, LaserDisc format. But music rights caused the original music in the movie to be dropped from all releases on VHS and even Laser in later releases. Only with the recent DVD release has the original (far superior) music track been restored in all its glory.

The bottom line....follow the money trail. MTV isn't pathetic...but like the rest of today's music industry, the bottom line is all that matters.