[THE ABOVE TITLE MAY SOON BE REMOVED DUE TO LICENSING RESTRICTIONS]
So I was listening to the radio the other day on my commute to work and overheard an interview with Danica McKellar. She was on promoting her new math for girls book called Kiss My Math. But as expected, the conversation easily steered in the direction of the role that she is most famous for – Winnie Cooper (if you are too young to know and appreciate this, then I feel sorry for you). And in this conversation I learned something surprising and disappointing.
Anyone who has been in a video store or a department store should be aware by now of the trend of resurrect any and every television show ever through its release as a DVD box set. If it was a show worth watching, you could rent or buy it at your local Blockbuster. If it wasn’t so worth watching, you could still buy it. But to my surprise, The Wonder Years has yet to be distributed in this manner. Why, you ask? The reason may disgust you.
One of the most enjoyable parts of the series was the regular use of period music as a fitting backdrop to the drama portrayed. From the opening credits to the denouement, one was rarely disappointed by the score of any episode. But apparently this is the issue that has stalled any efforts to re-share this series with the masses – the studio didn’t think at the time to buy rights to all of the included songs to the extent of covering DVD use. And puchasing the extended rights at this point is likely too expensive for the studio to consider paying in order to release it (they are probably concerned that they won’t make the money back in the sales). So the options are either cut all of the music out (and probably replace it with a crappier selection) or wait another 50 years until the music licensing rights run out.
While I DO understand the issue, it annoys me greatly. And it isn’t because I really want The Wonder Years on DVD – I liked the show, but not enough to own it. It is the principal of the matter. It isn’t that I’m unsympathetic to any of the parties involved – I want the musicians to get their due, I would want the actors and writers to get their share from the DVD sales, I don’t really care whether the studio makes money, but I understand that that is their goal. It is the fact that such red tape can gum up the works and stand in the way of distributing entertainment art that deserves to be put out there just as much as any other show.