"Soap" Navigates Slippery Slope of Overpopulated DVD Boxed Sets

At the start of the 21st century, releasing TV series on DVD seemed like a gold mine so rich, so deep, the vein would never run dry. Less than a decade later, there still are plenty of old television series to be repackaged and sold -- but already, there's a serious problem. So many shows -- so little shelf space.

When The X-Files released its pioneering "complete first season" DVD boxed set in 2000, it demonstrated an appetite for TV series on DVD that appeared unquenchable. For studios owning those shows, it was a gold mine: except for remastering, packaging and promotion costs, and paying small rights fees to the creative personnel, these re-releases were pure profit. The boxed sets kept getting bigger, and the number of them kept getting larger.

This led to some extras-filled, comprehensive, oversized, gorgeously packaged sets such as Seinfeld: The Complete Series, a mammoth masterpiece of a comedy behemoth. In terms of laughs per dollar, it was a bargain even at its original price of $283.95. Now, discounted by Amazon at $209.99, it's an even better deal. (And if you buy it here, TV Worth Watching gets a tiny percentage: Costs you nothing more, helps me stay alive.)

But if you've seen this set for sale in your local video or bookstore, which is by no means automatic, how many have you seen there? One? Two? The truth of the matter is, when it comes to DVD megasets, the problem is one of physical space and available inventory. How many of these big boys can stores carry? And, on the other end, how many can TV fans afford?

That's why, though the 1977-81 ABC comedy series Soap has been released already on DVD, its re-release today is noteworthy for taking a new, shifting-tactic approach. The comedy, controversial in its time for both its caustic humor (Robert Guillaume as the sarcastic butler Benson, eventually given his own series) and its social irreverence (Billy Crystal played Jodie, the first openly gay series character on network television), was released in four complete-season box sets, each costing $29.95. Season one came out in 2003, and the others in 2004 and 2005.

But now comes Soap: The Complete Series, all four seasons, selling for $59.95 retail, and available from Amazon for $44.99. (Again, you can get it here.) The box in which it comes is about the same size as for a single-season release, so the savings are substantial in terms of shelf space as well as cost. That matters to retailers -- and, as home-video collections increase, matters to homeowners as well.

How did Sony Pictures Home Entertainment squeeze so much into so small a package? By minimizing the packaging. The discs -- all 12 of them -- are stacked on top of each other, like pancakes. Booklets and other written supporting material are nonexistent. Sony calls it "space-saver packaging," and might well be on to something.

The absolute best TV series, those of Seinfeld and West Wing stature, deserve ultra-deluxe status. But for many of them, if not most, a money-saver "space-saver" is the smart way to go.