DVD is selling like mad, doing better and better all the time...so much so that every retailer wants to get into the act: you can find DVDs (and even cheap DVD players!) at supermarkets, drug stores, gas station convenience stores, clothing stores, sporting goods stores, and in the gift shops of roadside restaraunts along the highway. DVD is everywhere, and the TV-DVD genre is the hottest, fastest-growing category of DVD you'll find right now, and many of the mass-market venues named above want to cash in on that interest by consumers. The trick is, they don't have the room for the multi-disc season sets that a specialty electronics store or a department store will have. The studios see their dilemma, and want to provide product for their customers: smaller, single-disc releases that fit into an impulse item area at a low price point for the customers who prefer that kind of release.
Many of those customers are the people who love to watch TV, remember a particular show fondly, but would never pay for season sets of that show even at the lowest prices, because it's just a lot more of the show than they care to own. Dedicated TVShowsOnDVD readers might be surprised to find out that there are plenty of consumers who would enjoy having a show like
Dukes of Hazzard on DVD, but they only want a disc or two of some of the more enjoyable episodes to pop in, for the sake of nostalgia from time to time. To kick back and enjoy once in a while, but not to sit through a couple of dozen of episodes. Releases similar to what we're describing are out or coming soon for
Friends,
The Simpsons,
Star Trek: The Next Generation,
Little House on the Prairie,
SCTV,
The X-Files,
Highlander,
Silk Stalkings, and even
He-Man, among others. Now the good ol' boys,
The Dukes Of Hazzard, are joining the party!
This morning Warner Home Video has announced a single-disc release called
The Dukes of Hazzard - Television Favorites, featuring 3 episodes of the show at a low $9.97 list price. This hits the impulse display at checkout stands on
May 31st, running 148 minutes long, and carrying an English soundtrack but subtitles in English, French, Spanish, plus closed captioning. Here's what you get on it:
3 Times the Fun with Bo, Luke, and Daisy Duke!
Remember when short-shorts were called "Daisy Dukes?" When the coolet car around was the General Lee? And when most folks had to get up from the sofa to change channels? Well, now you can reach for the remote and enjoy the good times again with three favorite episodes from the series that inspired the 2005 Theatrical Feature.
- "Double Sting" (Season 1; aired May 11, 1979)
Daisy confronts robber who hide their identities behind Laurel and Hardy costumes
- "The Ghost of General Lee" (Season 2; aired Oct 26, 1979)
Bo and Luke scheme to haunt Boss Hogg after they're blamed for a robbery they didn't commit.
- "And in this Corner, Luke Duke" (Season 3; aired November 14, 1980)
Wint he fight or lose the farm! Luke has to float like a butterfly and sting like a skeeter to save Uncle Jesse from a jam.
But wait, there's more! With the aforementioned
Dukes of Hazzard feature film scheduled to hit theaters this Summer (the current release date is August 5th, delayed from the previous June schedule), Warner wants to get everybody into the spirit of things with a special "
Dukes of Hazzard - Pilot TV Episode Promotion" DVD release. This is the 49-minute episode "One Armed Bandits", which first aired back on January 26, 1979. Introducing the characters and the concept, this story finds confederate cousins Bo and Luke Duke learning about Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane smuggling illegal slot machines into the county. To make him mad, they hijack the slots with the help of Daisy and give the proceeds to the orphanage.
As you can see from the front and back cover art below, this item is meant to help promote the new film starring Seann William Scott (
American Pie) as Bo, Johnny Knoxville (
Jackass) as Luke, Jessica Simpson (
Newlyweds) as Daisy, Burt Reynolds (
Smokey and the Bandit) as Boss Hogg, and country music legend Willie Nelson as Uncle Jesse (we have no idea if he's also taking over for the late Waylon Jennings as The Balladeer/narrator, as some fans seem to think). As far as promoting the new film goes, look on this "pilot promo" disc for 12:28 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from that upcoming theatrical release. Not a bad way to tease us!
The release date for this item is
May 31st, the same day as the
Television Favorites disc mentioned above, and also the same as the release of
The Dukes of Hazzard - The Complete 3rd Season, too. The
Pilot TV Episode Promotion disc shows a price of just $2.88! We're not sure of the specifics about how or where the studio intends to sell this promo, or if you must buy anything else first to get that price, but if we find out anything along those lines then we'll update you. In the meantime, here's a look at that package:
