UNIVERSAL HOME VIDEO TO RELEASE BIGGEST BOX SET EVER

Some analysts have suggested that a principal reason for the recent fall-off in DVD sales is that many consumers have already filled their shelves with the product and that they simply have no room left for more. If that is the case, then Universal Home Video may be bucking the odds bigtime with its planned release of a DVD box set comprising all 20 seasons of the NBC crime drama Law & Order. It will contain 456 episodes on 109 discs, making it the biggest DVD box set ever to hit the market — one has to wonder whether retailers will be able to find room on their shelves for it — and will be priced at $700. Still, it wasn’t all that long ago that the series was racking up huge ratings with 15-20 million viewers tuning in every week. Executives of Universal Home Video must have concluded that if only a few thousand of those viewers plunked down $700 for a set, it will become a huge success. Law & Order: The Complete Series will also include deleted and extended scenes, interviews, tours of the sets, a preview of an interactive L&O game, a tribute to the late Jerry Orbach, who starred in the series for 12 seasons, and other featurettes.