Back in 2007, Shout! Factory released both
Ironside - Season 1 and
Ironside - Season 2 for DVD. Frankly, sales of the first release weren't profitable, which in this industry would usually nix plans for any sort of second release. Shout! decided to move ahead anyway, hoping that strong fan interest would assert itself and boost sales for the first release. That's not what happened, and ever since then the show's chances for further releases have looked rather dim. But the studio never gave up on the program, or the fans, and is finally ready to move ahead in a brand-new direction: Shout! is bringing the next season set out, and will be selling it themselves at their website, directly to the fans who have pretty much demanded this release. And in fact,
Ironside - Season 3 is only one of several items that will be offered. Here's a quote from the studio:
In an effort to bring fans a series of memorable catalog titles under-represented at retail, Shout! Factory will be offering select releases of TV-DVD and film catalog titles as Shout! Factory Exclusives, available for purchase directly from the official online store site.
As you can see, Shout! Factory is preparing a number of Direct To Consumer releases in 2010, similar to their earlier direct offerings of the collectible complete-series releases for the original
G.I. Joe and
The Transformers classic animated programs. Like those titles, these ARE going to be factory-produced sets, and will NOT be manufacture-on-demand titles. Unlike those titles, however, the new slate of offerings will concentrate on shows that have much smaller fan bases, and for which most major retailers have resisted carrying the DVDs:
Mr. Belvedere, Room 222, My Two Dads, The Bill Cosby Show, The Goldbergs and
The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog. Today you'll see separate news postings for each of these (some more in-depth than others).
Ironside - Season 3 is part of their first group of titles, a 7-DVD set with all 26 episodes. Cost is planned to be $49.98, plus shipping and handling, and it will be available to ship starting
Tuesday, January 19th. And, beginning about a month prior to that (specifically on Thursday, December 17) you'll be able to pre-order the title
from a listing at Shout!'s online store. Our thanks to reader Jack Mooney for the heads-up about that. Want more? Below we have the studio's brief description of this release, followed by a nice-sized look at the package art:
From his uniquely equipped office at SFPD headquarters, Chief Robert T. Ironside (Raymond Burr) continues to lead his special police unit fighting crime that others cannot. His crack team includes Sergeant Ed Brown (Don Galloway), ex-con-turned-assistant Mark Sanger (Don Mitchell) and policewoman Eve Whitfield (Barbara Anderson). Season Three guest stars include Bill Bixby, David Cassidy, DeForest Kelley, Cloris Leachman, Mort Sahl and William Shatner.
