Seasons 17-21: How the Episodes Should Be Distributed

In the previous post, I criticized Universal for their poor strategies on distributing Thomas content. After speaking with a few on DeviantArt, I thought, "How would I have distributed the episodes?" So, I came up with nineteen new(ish) DVDs focusing solely on seasons 17-21 with their own criteria:

1. All episodes of a season must be released within one year, so there will be no mixing between seasons.
2. There must be a roughly equal number of episodes among the DVDs - generally six or seven.
3. The episodic DVDs must come out at similar times in both the US and the UK, akin to the yearly specials (and yes, The Adventure Begins also gets this treatment).

That being said, let's get onto how I can fix the DVDs!

SEASON 17 (2013-2014)

Volume 1: Railway Mischief

1. Gordon Runs Dry
2. Kevin's Cranky Friend
3. Scruff's Makeover
4. Wayward Winston
5. Steamie Stafford
6. Henry's Hero
7. Not Now, Charlie!

As a minor spoiler for this blog post, most, if not all, of the DVDs are based upon the UK DVD listings with some editing here and there. My edited Railway Mischief follows the original US listing, only to be followed up by Henry's Hero and Not Now, Charlie! (akin to the UK release). I didn't include Bill or Ben? because I wanted to focus on the first two weeks of season 17, which would air later in June.

Volume 2: Santa's Little Engine

1. Santa's Little Engine
2. No Snow for Thomas
3. The Frozen Turntable
4. The Missing Christmas Decorations
5. Too Many Fire Engines
6. The Phantom Express

The UK release included three bonus episodes which ended up on Engines to the Rescue in the US. I've already included Henry's Hero on Railway Mischief, so Santa's Little Engine gets two bonus non-winter themed episodes.

Volume 3: The Thomas Way

1. The Thomas Way
2. The Switch
3. Percy's Lucky Day
4. Calm Down Caitlin
5. The Lost Puff
6. Luke's New Friend
7. Bill or Ben?

Luke's New Friend was a bonus episode for the US release, so I reinstated it as part of the episode listing. Bill or Ben?, the last remaining non-DVD exclusive season 17 episode, is tacked on at the end.

Volume 4: Spills and Thrills

1. Away From the Sea
2. The Smelly Kipper
3. No More Mr. Nice Engine
4. Gone Fishing
5. Thomas' Shortcut
6. The Afternoon Tea Express

This previously DVD-exclusive has six episodes, so I don't change anything. This will also apply to Dinos and Discoveries and Start Your Engines!.

SEASON 18 (2014-2015)

Volume 5: Trouble on the Tracks

1. Thomas the Quarry Engine
2. Not So Slow Coaches
3. Flatbeds of Fear
4. Disappearing Diesels
5. Toad's Adventure
6. Duck and the Slip Coaches
7. Old Reliable Edward

Based on the UK release; it ends with Missing Gator. I replace that instead with Old Reliable Edward to, again, focus on the first two weeks of season 18, and to avoid major spoilers for Tale of the Brave (though Reg does make a small appearance in Disappearing Diesels, but I digress).

Volume 6: The Christmas Engines

1. Last Train for Christmas
2. Long Lost Friend
3. Duncan the Humbug
4. Duck in the Water
5. The Perfect Gift
6. Toad's Bright Idea

Toad's Bright Idea is tacked onto the end of the original episode listing. I considered putting Missing Gator there, but I thought it'd be weird to see that and Long Lost Friend out of order, so I instead place it on the next DVD.

Volume 7: Signals Crossed

1. Signals Crossed
2. Marion and the Pipe
3. Duncan and the Grumpy Passenger
4. No Steam Without Coal
5. Thomas and the Emergency Cable
6. Spencer's VIP
7. Missing Gator

Based on the UK episode listing, only with Missing Gator in place of Toad's Bright Idea.

Volume 8: Dinos and Discoveries

1. Marion and the Dinosaurs
2. Millie and the Volcano
3. Timothy and the Rainbow Truck/Car
4. Samson at Your Service
5. Emily Saves the World
6. Samson Sent for Scrap

SEASON 19 (2015-2016)

Volume 9: Whale of a Tale

1. Toad and the Whale
2. Who's Geoffrey?
3. The Truth About Toby
4. Lost Property
5. Henry Spots Trouble
6. Salty All At Sea
7. Wild Water Rescue

The UK episode listing with Wild Water Rescue tacked on at the end; why that episode ended up with five season 16 episodes, I'll never know.

Volume 10: Thomas' Christmas Carol

1. Diesel's Ghostly Christmas
2. Snow Place Like Home
3. A Cranky Christmas
4. The Beast of Sodor
5. Helping Hiro

Diesel's Ghostly Christmas is one whole episode, per the US release. The UK release includes three season 20 winter episodes (those that don't feature Glynn). I instead include Helping Hiro in their place, an episode that's never been on a US DVD.

Ignore the yellow banner on top...

Volume 11: Full Steam to the Rescue!

1. Rocky Rescue
2. Very Important Sheep
3. The Other Side of the Mountain
4. Den and Dart
5. Goodbye Fat Controller/Sir Topham Hatt
6. No Help At All
7. Thomas the Babysitter

Five of the season 19 episodes appeared in a different order on the US DVD Ultimate Friendship Adventures, so I chose to stick with the UK episode listing instead, with Very Important Sheep in place of Wild Water Rescue and Den and Dart as the fourth episode.

Volume 12: Start Your Engines!

1. Two Wheels Good
2. Reds vs. Blues
3. Slow Stephen
4. The Little Engine Who Raced Ahead
5. Best Engine Ever
6. Philip to the Rescue

SEASON 20 (2016-2017)

7 Engine-Packed Episodes!

Volume 13: Ultimate Friendship Adventures

1. Henry Gets the Express
2. Toby's New Friend
3. Sidney Sings
4. Diesel and the Ducklings
5. Ryan and Daisy
6. Bradford the Brake Van
7. Saving Time

The episode listing is based upon the one from Tales from the Rails, minus the season 19 episodes and with Ryan and Daisy included as the fifth episode of the set. Interestingly enough, this covers the first seven episodes of season 20!

Volume 14: Tinsel on the Tracks

1. Letters to Santa
2. The Christmas Coffeepot
3. The Railcar and the Coaches
4. Over the Hill
5. Love Me Tender
6. Blown Away
7. Pouty James

All the winter episodes from season 20 are together as they should be, with the inclusion of Blown Away and Pouty James to have seven episodes.

Volume 15: Team Up with Thomas

1. Buckled Tracks and Bumpy Trucks/Cars
2. Mucking About
3. The Way She Does It
4. Mike's Whistle
5. Cautious Connor
6. All in Vain
7. Useful Railway

Three episodes have been scattered away onto other DVDs; The Way She Does It moves up as the third episode with Mike's Whistle and Useful Railway in the correct order as per the original Railway Series book. Cautious Connor and All in Vain are included between the two episodes to round out the set.

Volume 16: Extraordinary Engines

1. Engine of the Future
2. Henry in the Dark
3. The Missing Breakdown Train
4. Hugo and the Airship
5. Three Steam Engines Gruff
6. Skiff and the Mermaid
7. Tit for Tat

Unlike Spills and Thrills, Dinos and Discoveries, and Start Your Engines!, Extraordinary Engines has one extra episode - Tit for Tat - to match the other three season 20 DVDs at seven episodes each. It seems strange that it's separate from the other two Arlesdale episodes, but since it happened on the official Team Up with Thomas, it's only fair. Not only does this give Andrew Brenner one strong episode on the DVD, it also ends on a very high note.

SEASON 21 (2017-2018)

Volume 17: Danger at the Docks

1. Cranky at the End of the Line
2. New Crane on the Dock
3. Stuck in Gear
4. Springtime for Diesel
5. A Most Singular Engine
6. Philip's Number

Something I forgot to mention is that Ultimate Friendship Adventures is pushed forward as a teaser DVD for season 20. The same thing happens to Danger at the Docks. Here, I removed Den and Dart to focus solely on season 21 episodes, and Springtime for Diesel and A Most Singular Engine are swapped around. For the most part, it's unedited from the official release.

Includes 6 Episodes!

Volume 18: Christmas on Sodor

1. Terence Breaks the Ice
2. Daisy's Perfect Christmas
3. Confused Coaches
4. Emily in the Middle
5. The Big Freeze
6. Hasty Hannah

The season 20 episodes are replaced with Hasty Hannah so each season 21 DVD has six episodes each.

Volume 19: On the Go with Thomas

1. The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor
2. A Shed for Edward
3. Dowager Hatt's Busy Day
4. Runaway Engine
5. P.A. Problems
6. Unscheduled Stops

Besides the removal of Hasty Hannah, the episode listing is the same as the official release.

With all these changes made, hopefully I've gotten right what Mattel and Universal have so far gotten wrong. Not only are the episodes distributed more evenly, it gives us, as fans, more to look forward to when it comes to content. But how would you distribute the episodes? I'd love to see what you can come up with; your results may vary!