"Jem and the Holograms" Coming to DVD (Update: Now Available)

[Mandouga]

...at least it's likely, anyway (more later).

This article from TV Shows on DVD cites both Christy Marx (the head writer) and Brian Ward as both saying that it's coming to DVD. However, there is no word on when it will be released, how much it will cost, or what form it will take, or even what extras will be included (if any).

In other words, this is very early information that could change at any time. Christy says it's coming and Brian says it's coming, but in the end, it's ultimately Hasbro who has the final say on it (same with Transformers and G.I. Joe, but that's a moot point in those cases). FWIW, it likely will happen as long as nothing expected happens betwen now and then...

Still, with this (for the moment) upcoming DVD release, and with Rhino's My Little Pony DVDs still available, this would mean that all of the "1980s Hasbro big 4" (my personal nickname; it might not be that simple, plus it's a stupid name anyway) would be available on DVD at the same time again.

As for me, I'm hoping that the episodes of the first season (all five of them) and second season all use the original theme song ("Jem is truly outrageous..."). I'm not sure, but I don't think they started using the second one ("Me and my friends are Jem girls...") until the second season, afterwhich they used that for the previous episodes as well (you might have to correct me). I have the previous Rhino DVD of the 1st/2nd seasons, and the episodes randomly switched between the two OPs, with the second being more frequent. So, I would buy the S!F DVDs if this was to be fixed.

Early information or not, it's still good news. Let's hope S!F can follow through on their plans (which they likely will, but I'm just saying).

[zoombie]

A great week for girl power franchises. First the announcement about the Sailor Moon manga coming back to North America, and now this.

Now please let this open the door to a new seires on the Hub. A live action movie would be awesome or more accurately Outragious, but after the Last Airbender disater, not as excited with the thought of a live action adaption.

[Lord Dalek]

The term is getting reissued. Not "Coming to".

[zoombie]

The term is getting reissued. Not "Coming to".

Well I got the Rhino DVD sets for the first season and a half. I also got a bootleg for the rest of the series not released on DVD. I don't know if I am going to buy it till they get to the episodes that weren't released, especially the money I spent on the Rhino DVDs. Granted it is nothing to the prices for the Sailor Moon DVDs and mangas on Ebay and Amazon, but still pretty expensive. I have to find out if it has any extras not from the Rhino set.

[Tobias]

Shout needs to get the rights to the 80's My Little Pony cartoons and reissue them with the proper, original masters, and not the Disney Channel edited versions that Rhino used. Maybe they could even use the '& Friends' segments this time.

And I don't doubt that Rhino would use the original, uncut pilots, and not the syndicated cut versions they used for the '& Friends' series.

[Knightmare]

This is excellent news, I love Jem and I'm really looking forward to it and hopefully getting the entire series this time. I'm very excited and am hoping that Shout! will give as much care to Jem as they did the Transformers and GI JOE.

[zoombie]

I am hoping they have some new commentary from the cast and crew. Last time it was mostly just Christy talking to herself, and not really a good commentary. If they have more commentaries, they need to buy some Family Guy or Funimation releases and look at their commentatry, and take a tip from them on how to do an informative and entertaining commentary.

[Luna]

I'm glad they'll be rereleasing Jem (one of my favorite childhood cartoons)...I have the DVD sets that were released by Rhino (got them the first time I saw them at Best Buy),so I'm more interested in the episodes that aren't on DVD yet (though if they have interesting extras,I may consider double-dipping)...

[Beat]

You know, I saw the intro to this show the other day, and it seemed like someone tried to stuff as much concentrated 80's as possible into 44 seconds.

I'm just glad someone's rereleasing Rhino's material.

[Mandouga]

I'm just glad someone's rereleasing Rhino's material.

I'm not sure what you mean by "Rhino's material". Do you mean the shows themselves in general (which Rhino previously released), or do you mean the masters that Rhino previously used? If it's the latter, then I hope that the S!F DVDs fix the problem with the OPs that I mentioned before.

[Tobias]

If Shout! fixed the problem with the G.I. Joe openings (Rhino put the 3rd season opens on a lot of S2 episodes), then they'll more than likely do the same with Jem as well.

[ABrown]

Did Jem sell very well when it was first released? It was primarily a girl's show. And most of the girls that I know aren't really very nostalgic for the cartoons from their childhood. It seems like the guys are more interested in the Transformers and G.I. Joe than the girls are with Jem and Rainbow Brite.

[Storm Eagle]

Did Jem sell very well when it was first released? It was primarily a girl's show. And most of the girls that I know aren't really very nostalgic for the cartoons from their childhood. It seems like the guys are more interested in the Transformers and G.I. Joe than the girls are with Jem and Rainbow Brite.

It might have sold well, since it had three seasons and only up the the first half of the third and final season made it to DVD. Perhaps Rhino lost the rights to the series before they could release the second half of the third and final season?

[Ioz]

A guy that worked for BCI stated this a few years ago on the Rhino Jem DVDs (the Transformers and G.I. Joe stuff is also in reference to Rhino):

We've had some amazing successes, some that have been OK, and some that have been pretty awful.

But honestly, that's par for the course for 80s kids properties.

He-Man, ThunderCats, Transformers and Super Friends did GREAT numbers.

GI Joe the movie did great, but the series really underperformed. Nowhere near the 4 shows listed above. That really surprises me.

Jem, COPS and all the Sid and Marty Krofft stuff bombed. If I was to make a professional guess, I'd say WB is going to be very disappointed in the numbers that Silverhawks pulls in.

There seems to be very little correlation between quality of show and how well it sold. Mostly it seems to be which ones have the bigger fanbases.

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Jem! Yes!!! Jem is excitement. Jem is adventure!

Funny thing about how the dvds bombed. When it was airing, it didn't do too badly, though I suspect that many guys were watching it in between G.I. Joe and Transformers, as it was usually sandwiched between those two timeslots.

Girls tend to be more fickle than guys too. They'll go crazy over something one minute and drop it the next. They don't succumb to nostalgia as much as guys do. So a show that's over 20 years old isn't likely to appeal to many older women who watched it when they were kids.

I would not be surprised if more guys picked up the Rhino Jems than girls did.

Another problem was that Rhino Jem DVDs were crazy expensive when they were first released. Transformers and G.I. Joe were too, but they had hardcore geeks willing to throw down their wallets. If there were any women who were even slightly interested in picking up Jem, the DVD prices probably stamped those thoughts down promptly.

[zoombie]

I would not be surprised if more guys picked up the Rhino Jems than girls did.

Well that is kind of what is going on with the new My Little Pony series Friendship Is Magic.

I wonder which will sell better? The Jem DVD or the Sailor Moon manga. Sailor Moon is bigger title, but girls don't read nearly as many comics or mangas.

[Beat]

I personally think neither will sell well. Jem's just not that popular a show if the Rhino sales were any indication, and I've gone over why Sailor Moon is going to go over as well as a comic book about the Kool Aid man.

Jem might work if the price is significantly lower than what Rhino was charging. Might.

[Zorak Masaki]

I personally think neither will sell well. Jem's just not that popular a show if the Rhino sales were any indication, and I've gone over why Sailor Moon is going to go over as well as a comic book about the Kool Aid man.

Jem might work if the price is significantly lower than what Rhino was charging. Might.

Maybe they could play up the "sunbow universe" connection (Jem, GI Joe, Transformers, and Inhumanoids are all in the same universe, and buzz dixon was trying to get a cameo of a (possibly drunk) shipwreck encountering one of the ponies in the 80s MLP film, but was shot down).

[Leaping Larry Jojo]

Well that is kind of what is going on with the new My Little Pony series Friendship Is Magic.

I wonder which will sell better? The Jem DVD or the Sailor Moon manga. Sailor Moon is bigger title, but girls don't read nearly as many comics or mangas.

I think more girls read manga than guys right now, even though readership has declined from its heyday in the U.S. I don't know if it's changed, but last I checked the audience for manga was about 60% guys and 40% girls, which was about 4 years ago. And girls were closing in fast. Today I barely see guys read manga anymore, whereas girls are still reading them whenever I check out manga myself.

I think Sailor Moon manga will sell better. More girls read manga rather than troll DVD bins for cartoon nostalgia, and SM has a more hardcore fanbase than Jem. Neither of them will be Dragon Ball Z, but SM should still make a decent profit.

[Storm Eagle]

Jem! Yes!!! Jem is excitement. Jem is adventure!

Funny thing about how the dvds bombed. When it was airing, it didn't do too badly, though I suspect that many guys were watching it in between G.I. Joe and Transformers, as it was usually sandwiched between those two timeslots.

Girls tend to be more fickle than guys too. They'll go crazy over something one minute and drop it the next. They don't succumb to nostalgia as much as guys do. So a show that's over 20 years old isn't likely to appeal to many older women who watched it when they were kids.

Um, SUCCUMB to nostalgia? Guys SUCCUMB to nostalgia? As a guy, the term doesn't sit well with me in this case, and I find that to be almost insulting. For someone to say that I, as a guy, SUCCUMB to nostalgia makes it sound like valuing things that made my childhood great is a bad thing, no matter what it might be. Shows like Transformers, G.I. Joe, Thundercats, Silverhawks, etc. etc. just happen to be some of the aspects that made my childhood enjoyable, and gave me something to look forward to as a kid. Gave me a reason to enjoy life. So I shouldn't have to feel as though I'm a sucker, or even weak-willed, for buying DVDs for these shows to get a taste of the good old days at virtually any time I wish. I know you're a guy too, and I'm probably making more of a big deal than necessary, but I just had to say what was on my mind. It's just that I've never known succumbing to anything to be positive. I prefer to think that I TREASURE nostalgia, and not so much that I SUCCUMB to it.