Just 5 days after Season 1 of 8 Simple Rules was released in the U.K. it has sold out on all major online shopping sites. Amazon.co.uk, Play.com & HMV.com are out of stock at present, and the situation on the High Street might not be much better.
Buena Vista Home Entertainment U.K. is responsible for releases of "Home Improvement" & "The Golden Girls". While all seasons of those shows have been released in the U.S., here in Britain only Seasons 1-3 had previously been released, the further releases brought to a halt because of low sales. So, when Buena Vista announced that Season 4 of Home Improvement & The Golden Girls, along with Season 1 of 8 Simple Rules, would be released there was a catch. As sales were low, Buena Vista were going to cut costs. This time the DVDs would be 3 disc, instead of the 4 discs that British releases used to contain, and they wouldn't be in the boxed digipak that previous releases enjoyed instead they'd be in a keep case modified to hold 3 discs.
Why would the DVD be sold out in under a week? Sadly, it's not because it has been a huge run-away seller, nobody would expect this show to be selling as quickly as the latest movies or big TV shows like "Lost" or "Heroes", the reason is a cut-price release. A cost cutting measure seems to have been to reduce the number of copies made of the DVD and sent to retailers, but it appears they were too conservative with their estimates. Play.com have sold out of 8 Simple Rules, and HMV don't have any in stock. Amazon.co.uk only has "Home Improvement: Season 4" available right now.
If you're thinking of buying "8 Simple Rules: Season 1" then you might end up on the High Street, or waiting a short time.
