Tuesday, March 08, 2005

TV Shows on DVD (Part 1)

What's your favorite Television show of all time??

Is it available on DVD?

What?

You say you don't know? Well, get with it, man!

This site contains all the information that you need including releases by date and by show along with news and reviews by show. Chances are, even if your favorite show isn't yet available, TVShowsOnDVD.com probably has some news about why it isn't out yet or information about its upcoming release!

Some Advantages...
Watch shows you missed from the beginning whenever you want. I've heard wonderful things about shows like The West Wing, 24, American Dreams, CSI, etc., but I've never seen a single episode of any of them. But all of these have at least one season available on DVD so that I can catch up with them at my own pace. One personal example of this for me is: I must also mention here that Christy and I discovered a wonderful TV series that only lasted one abbreviated season in 1999, but got excellent treatment on DVD, Freaks and Geeks. Anybody who was in school during the 80's will appreciate this show.

Watch shows from stations that you don't receive at home. HBO has really latched onto original programming with critically acclaimed shows like The Sopranos, Sex And The City, Six Feet Under, etc. For those of you who like the ultra-dry British wit, the BBC has many releases including Absolutely Fabulous, The Office, etc.

Also, watch older favorites that aren't on the air anymore. This could be for you or possibly for those of us who have small children. Our 3-year-old, Hannah, knows Pa, Ma, Mary, Laura and Carrie from Little House on the Prairie almost like they're her own family.

Similar to films on DVD, some shows are given better treatment than others, but many feature special features such as cast & crew interviews, audio commentaries, text commentaries, etc.

Best of all, NO COMMERCIALS!!

Some Disadvantages...

Mainly, price.

4, 5, 6+ disc DVD sets aren't generally cheap. Considering you'll probably be collecting the entire series of your favorite shows, be selective about which shows you begin to collect unless you want to end up in the poorhouse.

Also, the possibility that your favorites are being released as "best of" or "individual episode" releases. "Best of's" may appeal to a casual fan though and some shows may work better in the medium as highlights type releases (Sesame Street comes to mind here where the show runs year-round and some elements get used in multiple shows, perhaps a good candidate for a "best of" style release). Most often though, season sets are the way to go.

The last disadvantage that I am going to discuss is near and dear to my heart so I am going to put it in a separate post.

Music rights clearance frustrations [click here for more] (or simply scroll down to next post if on main page)

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