Comments on: Archiving Blackness: The DVD and Cultural Memory http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2012/12/27/archiving-blackness-the-dvd-and-cultural-memory/ Responses to Media and Culture Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 By: Jonah http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2012/12/27/archiving-blackness-the-dvd-and-cultural-memory/comment-page-1/#comment-382281 Thu, 27 Dec 2012 22:05:31 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=17148#comment-382281 “A Different World” is a fascinating show, especially in its retooled version. But I’m not sure what you’re driving at re. the absence of all but its first season on DVD. You seem to nudge the reader toward certain conclusions without making them explicit.

You ask “Why is the complete series of ‘The Cosby Show’ available when only the first season of ‘A Different World’ is available? Later, you write that there is “something else afoot.” Do you mean to imply that the politics of “A Different World’s” second and subsequent seasons has kept them from being released on video? If so, whose agency would you ascribe to that?

The DVD set of the first season of “A Different World” was released by Urban Works as a sublicensee from Carsey-Werner Productions. As their name suggests, Urban Works was a home-video company dedicated to African-American entertainment—not just TV shows but straight-to-video features, stand-up comedy performances. It seems likely Bill Cosby (a producer of “A Different World”) had something to do with them, since their most notable other releases were of “The Cosby Show” and “Fat Albert.” Unfortunately, the company seems to have gone belly-up some time around 2007 or 2008, before they could release the second season of “A Different World.”

To my mind, it’s unlikely that the series has been suppressed for its politics, since many shows of an equally or more prickly nature have seen home-video release. It’s more likely that later seasons of the show have been a victim of the ups and downs of the home-video market and the vagaries of commerce in general. The folks to ask about this would be Casey-Werner Productions and Bill Cosby, who retain the rights to the series.

The reissue label Shout! Factory rescued all episodes of “Fat Albert” from out-of-print oblivion fairly recently, and it’s very possible they might do the same for “A Different World.” For those who seek this important show on DVD, it might be worth contacting them.

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