The Obsolete Man
Senior HTF Member
Finally!
Since this is Fox, I'm not surprised by the lack of Blu-ray.
Sam, better than not having any option at all on the disc front as I am NOT a fan of streaming stuff and I'm old-school who values watching these shows through traditional means still, so let's be thankful the studio woke up and took the fans' comments to heart.
Sam, it took them long enough to know what they did was wrong to start with by ceasing these releases, but I guess better late than never and hoping Season 19 makes it out before spring 2018 but it's a step in the right direction for this franchise and not everyone streams stuff out.
Robert, I figure Season 19 comes out in the spring of 2018 and then maybe another season (S21) a few months afterwards and then they take a break on it yet again, is my GUT feeling.
Oh, and unless Fox learned really big lesson, I wouldn't expect S19 (if it comes at all) before December 2018. Doesn't matter that the commentaries are done, I just don't expect them to release more than one season a year, as usual.
I think that this is surprising and good news for fans. I'm somewhat surprised by comments here lamenting the lack of blu ray. This is absolutely not surprising.
If Fox doesn't bother releasing seasons 21+ for whatever reasons, let's hope that they outsource it to Kino-Lorber or Olive on bluray.
IIRC, did the Simpsons start being finished in HD resolution during season 20 or 21?
My guess is that their streaming website wasn't getting the hits/making the money they had hoped so they went back to DVDs to keep some money coming in.This is very good news for fans, no doubt. I wonder what prompted the change of heart, though.
Not that I'm complaining, mind you. Sure, I'd like a BD release to keep in continuity with the other seasons, but again...not complaining.
If Fox doesn't bother releasing seasons 21+ for whatever reasons, lets hope that they outsource it to Kino-Lorber or Olive on bluray.
Olive has already released Season 13 of King Of The Hill on bluray. I think they did a great job on it.I'm guessing these could be two "test cases" for Fox/MGM to see how well these two smaller companies can handle tv on bluray season sets.
(This is purely uninformed wild speculation, as a rambling rant.)
With Olive releasing Flipper seasons 1 and 2 on bluray soon, and Kino-Lorber releasing The Outer Limits on bluray at the end of this year, I'm guessing these could be two "test cases" for Fox/MGM to see how well these two smaller companies can handle tv on bluray season sets.
If I had to guess, Kino-Lorber seems to put a lot of effort into their releases (ie. extras, etc ...). I don't have many releases by Kino-Lorber, but the ones I do have (ie. Metropolis) seem to be semi-Criterion quality.
If the revenue from the Simpsons seasons 18 and 19 dvd sets don't live up to Fox's expectations, and Kino-Lorber do a good job with The Outer Limits bluray sets, then perhaps Kino-Lorber might possibly do a high quality presentation for (hypothetical) seasons 21+ of The Simpsons on bluray.
At this point I have no idea how Olive would approach doing The Simpsons on dvd/bluray. (ie. Will they just be "bare bones" bluray releases?)