La, La, La, La, La: Daria's Coming to DVD!

And it's about damn time. We've been living in a sick, sad world without a certain bespectacled high-school misanthrope, one Daria Morgendorffer. Daria, the 1997 sardonic spin-off of Beavis & Butthead, has been living in post-MTV purgatory since it ended in 2002. Although it endured a longer and more celebrated tenure than some other MTV cartoon greats (R.I.P. Clone High), the only tales of Lawndale to surface on DVD over the years have been the two Daria TV movies: Is It Fall Yet? and Is It College Yet? But rest easy, fellow '90s junkies: there have been rumblings in the DVD world that some sort of Daria release is due in 2010.

Word came from Jezebel via TVShowsOnDVD that on the DVD for another old MTV show, The State, a preview ran for one such Daria DVD. We haven't heard anything more definitive just yet, but the simple thought of it is enough to make you break out the combat boots, do your best Quinn impression and debate the unresolved Mystik Spiral name-change in anticipation.

In the meantime, check out the pretty stellar string of Daria clips compiled by Jezebel, or this clip from Season One:

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4 Comments

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By katie on July 10, 2009

Woohoo! This is glorious news.

By Christina on July 15, 2009

whoever wrote this is a moron and did zero research before writing this article. I have owned the box set for years. It's 6 DVD's which include all 5 seasons, the unaired pilot episode and both made for tv movies. MTV stopped production on it because of failing sales. Maybe they are bringing it back but it is most definitely not the first time it is coming to DVD. Google it if you want it, most are on sale new for $30 because no one wants them.

By To Christina on July 24, 2009

Sorry, but that's not an official box set. You were duped. The reason it's taken so long for Daria to be released on DVD (save for the two TV "movies") is because of the legal issues with the music rights. (MTV had rights to the music for TV only, which means absolutely nothing if you want to release something on DVD.)

An example of a TV show that was officially released that did not have music rights for DVD release is Mission Hill. On the DVD set for Mission Hill, there are generic music clips instead of the actual songs that were on the show when it was on TV. One instance of how painfully bad this can end up is the Mission Hill episode titled "Andy vs. The Real World (or The Big-Ass Viacom Lawsuit)". Throughout this episode, there is supposed to be the R.E.M. song, "Everybody Hurts," playing in the background during certain scenes. At the end, everyone starts singing the song a cappella. It's really funny when the actual song has been playing throughout the entire episode, but on the DVD it is awkward and confusing since the song has not been played at all. It makes no sense without the song...which is why music rights are such a big deal when it comes to TV shows (and movies, for that matter).

Anyway, concerning these "official" Daria DVD sets you are talking about...

From "DVD Box Sets: Are They For Real?" at http://www.outpost-daria.com/daria_on_dvd.html :

There have been a lot of questions lately about this issue, so I thought it'd be best to address the issue here, for all to see, with what little knowledge I have. Basically, people have been seeing various ads for Daria DVD sets, which usually contain all 65 episodes, the two movies, and some bonus features. (A product from some outfit called Media Enterprises is mentioned frequently, thanks to their ads that seem to be in quite a few places.) Several people have asked if they're legitimate releases. Good question.

The short answer: if Daria had been officially released on DVD (beyond the two movies, that is), I would've plastered the news on the Outpost Daria home page in 97-inch blinking red text. :-)

The long answer, of course, is that these are not legitimate releases. MTV and Paramount are still dithering on the issue, and probably have many legal issues to resolve (mainly involving music rights) before we'll see Daria DVDs (if we ever see them at all; that's a possibility we don't want to hear, but it's a very real one we have to face). What you're seeing advertised are bootlegs, no doubt assembled from episodes broadcast on MTV and The-N (yes, the cut-up versions you've heard so much about).

By BLeh on August 30, 2009

its about damn time!