What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Ever take a chance and buy a TV show or series on DVD that you had never seen before or had minimal exposure to? Maybe it was from curiosity or reputation or the recommendation of someone else, a show that, for whatever reason, wound up in your library.

If so, what was the BEST of these purchases, those you found pleasantly surprising, rewarding and worthwhile both in content and quality or even regardless of quality?

How about the WORST of your blind buys, shows that just did not fulfill your hopes when you bought it or those with quality so inferior they didn't stand a chance to make much of an impression?

Include ALL TV shows on DVD, not just series, and even smaller company and public domain releases, individual episodes, compilations, etc.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best: The Wire, Season 1. By a mile.

Runner up would be the Homicide: Life on the Street, Complete Series.

Worst: Superfriends. Loved it as a kid. Tried to watch it as an adult and it was so bad it actually made me angry watching it.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

My best and worst is the same show: The Waltons. Best for content, most disappointing for quality.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Glen, good thread. I'll name a few in each catagory since it's hard for me to pick just one each

BEST:

1) By a near-infinite margin: The Fugitive. This one's absolutely amazing in content & DVD transfer quality. 's out of 5.
2) Macgyver. Never saw this one in the 80's but so far, into S1, it's great.
3) Band Of Brothers Miniseries. DVD set was pricey but a great miniseries.
4) The Untouchables. Only faint memories of Dad watching it remembering the opening theme.
5) The Naked City Box Sets. Great show. Near-blind-buy as my only memories of this one was when Dad was watching the original runs on the one family Zenith B/W TV. I only barely remembered the opening theme of the show. The Image DVD sets are excellent.
6) Honey West. This one's another faint memory of Dad watching the original run and I only remembered that classic opening theme tune.
7) A-Team. Yeah, I know...it's 80's "silliness" by a lot of measuring sticks out there but since, like the Fugitive, I'm probably one of 5-10 on the planet that had never seen a single episode before the DVD releases, it's a great way to watch a series. What fun, to me, watching George Peppard in that role and those bullets flying around with no one getting shot

WORST:

I've been fortunate in this catagory with very few duds. I think that's because I mainly buy TV/DVD's for the "reliving" experience of shows I saw growing up in the late 50's/60's. I tend to be cautious with blind-buys.

1) Route 66 S1V1. It's only due to the DVD transfers. The content/series is great but unless this one's re-mastered and re-released it's #1 for my disappointment purchase.

I don't have more than R66 for a blind-buy but I have had a couple that didn't stand the test of time for me when I saw them as a kid,

1) Lost in Space. I only bought S1 but sold the set after viewing it at a local trading store. It just didn't "do it" for me after watching it as a kid.

2) Yogi Bear. I usually like the HB shows like the Flintstones, Jetsons, Jonny Quest, but this one so far hasn't been too keen for me during the revisit viewing.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

I can't really decide between Larry Sanders and NewsRadio for the best. LS is the better show but I'm just so disappointed in the way the releases are handled and the fact that I'll never (legally) get to see the full series.

I haven't really had any bad luck with a blind buy. I loved Extras and Flight of the Conchords, as well as the UK Office.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best: Joan of Arcadia (bought it without ever having seen even one episode before).

I don't have a worst one yet; maybe after a while I will think of one.

BTW, I agree regarding the quality of The Waltons (a show I love). Nevertheless, I will be completing that series soon.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

One of my best would have to be a late-'60's series called "Hawaii Five-O." The three currently released seasons stand as great investments to me for several reasons-- first and foremost, the characters. Steve McGarrett and his legmen (Danny Williams, Chin Ho Kelly, Kono Kalakaua) are among the permanent enshrinees into my personal television hall of fame-- they were just that good. The opening and closing themes, and also the opening and closing titles, are also why the 3 currently released seasons of "Five-O" are among my best.

Another: "Mary Tyler Moore." Mary and her coworkers at WJM, IMHO, stand head and shoulders above the "jerks at Central Perk"-- of course, that's just my opinion. "Jerks at Central Perk" refers, of course, to "Friends," which, sadly, TV Land is planning on taking on next year, despite the fact that TBS and some FOX stations show it a lot.

On the other hand, I don't think that I've had very many worst. One that comes close is FOX's release of Season 1 of "The Fall Guy," which, while the episodes were entertaining, had some undisclosed music replacement and other editing that totally stunk.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

There have been a lot that I knew were going to be good before I bought them as I seen some of them on TV (Band of Brothers, Sopranos etc).

The ones that I did not know would be good but turned to be would be "The Shield", "the new "BSG", "OZ".

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

BEST: DEXTER season 1,

WORST: Dark Angel....UGH!

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best is a tie between House M.D. and Boston Legal. Was hounded by friends for months to watch them, and eventually bought both S1s when they hit the under-$20 mark. I sat myself down begrudgingly to watch them, not even wanting to like them, and now I'm absolutely hooked on both.

Worst is probably Monk. I can't count the number of times I read or was told "If you like House you'll LOVE Monk!" so I finally broke down and bought S1 with very high expectations. It's certainly an ok show but it just doesn't do anything for me - an extreme disappointment.

I guess for me the trick is to go into watching something without any preconceptions. Almost all of my favorite films are those I went into without any idea of what I was getting into.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

BEST: Wonderfalls

WORST: The Bob Newhart Show

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

I don't have a Worst blind buy, unless I count the video quality on the Adventures of Robin Hood, otherwise, it's a great show.

The best blind buys of mine are The Time Tunnel and UFO.


I've been watching Super Friends Vol. 2 and I'm enjoying it a lot, though I find myself laughing when I'm not supposed to . It was one of my favourites as a kid, I love how so much was packed into a 22 minute episode. It's such a fun show

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best: Sledge Hammer - I missed this series during its original run. Also The Odd Couple - much better than imagined. Banacek - barely remember it as a kid.

Worst Mary Hartman Mary Hartman - after getting the wife hooked on all four seasons of Soap - I figured she's enjoy seeing the citizens of Fernwood. Instead she despised it - especially the pacing.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

I rarely do blind buys unless they happen to be vintage shows with excellent reputations. THE FUGITIVE and ROUTE 66 are two such examples that spring to mind immediately.

I was very aware of these shows and their reputations, but had never seen an episode of either.

THE FUGITIVE is indeed an excellent series and is beautifully presented on Paramount's dvds.

The quality of Infinity's ROUTE 66 dvds is definitely inferior to THE FUGITIVE, but the shows themselves have really blown me away. What a fantastic, unique and varied series this was! Other than some occasionally heavy-handed, purplish dialog courtesy of Sterling Silliphant, the show feels as fresh today as when it first aired. Great, great series, and I only hope that Infinity can get its hands on some better prints for their next volumes.

These two series certainly qualify as "BestBuys."

Don't really have any "Worst Buys," but I will admit to some disappointment with THE ADDAMS FAMILY, vol. 1, which is a nice presentation of a cute, but very "one-trick pony" sort of show. Then again, as fond as I am of the gimmicky 60s sitcoms, I don't derive nearly the joy from them as I do the dramas of the same period. Never been much of a sitcom guy, I guess...

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best: Newsradio and Grounded For Life

Worst: Benson, One Day at a Time, Silver Spoons. What was I thinking?

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best: Arrested Development
Worst: None

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Tough calls. I have a lot of older stuff (I buy almost everything from the 50's and 60's), but they usually are not complete blind buys. But since we can include shows that we only have faint memories of as a kid I can definitely say that my...

Best Blind Buys are:
RAWHIDE (never watched it much as a kid or adult, but I love it now)
TATE (great little show)
OZZIE & HARRIET (believe it or not, I hadn't seen this one since I was very young and it holds up well)
HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL (same situation as Rawhide for me)


Worst Blind Buys are:
REAL MCCOYS (just can't seem to get into this one)
ADVENTURES OF LONG JOHN SILVER (too slow moving for me)


Gary "I've had pretty good luck with many of my blind buys, but some of the more obscure shows haven't done much for me - guess that's why they were obscure to begin with" O.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best: Battlestar Galactica (2003)

Worst: The Closer

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best Blind Buy: Without a doubt, ``Buffy,'' tho I'd seen parts of some episodes while it aired, I never really got into the show. After watching on DVD, I loved it. ``Brisco County,'' and ``Invasion''.

Worst Blind Buy: ``Nowhere Man''...I managed to stick with it through to the end, but it SUCKED! ``Space: 1999'' was another...stopped watching after five episodes and gave it to my best friend, who said he likes it.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best blind buys: based off recommendations here; all 3 of the Bruce Timm animated DC comics shows - "Batman The Animated Series", "Superman: the Animated Series" and "Justice League" . Wow. Never expected them to be so great.

Worst: "Alias" - It's actually a good show. The term "Worst", isn't really fair, but it was more of "do I really want more". After finishing Season 1 blind, I just couldn't bear the thought of plodding through 4 more hour long seasons especially after hearing that the remaining seasons were a bit of a letdown. I've still got season 2 unopened (and season 3 of "24" as well for the same reason")

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Only one true blind buy and it worked out well - "Here Come the Brides". Good as it was, it was definitely losing momentum the farther along the season got and with the whispers about adverse changes coming in season 2, this is probably as far as I go with this one. But season 1 was good and worth what I paid for it.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

For me it's MacGyver. I never saw the series when it first came around, but when someone (Perhaps Deep Discount) had one of their BOGO sales, so I picked off the entire series for what was essentially half-price!

I havn't blind-bought a series and regretted it, but one day it MAY Happen (It's happened to me on other things, but that's life!)

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

What did you hate about Benson? I love that show!

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

I've had a lot of luck with blind buys (Futurama, Ironside, Twin Peaks, The Odd Couple spring to mind). Usually I like to try a show before I buy it, which is easier and easier now thanks to Netflix and sites like Hulu.com.

Really the only time I've struck out on a blind buy was The Streets of San Francisco. I'm a fan of 70s mystery/crime dramas, but this one just didn't do it for me. I picked up Season 1, Volume 1 and that was enough.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best: Undeclared. I didn't have cable when this series aired, but my love of Freaks and Geeks assured me that I would also love this Judd Apatow-produced comedy and I was right!

Worst: The Twilight Zone (2001-2002 version). I love the original TZ and quite like the 80s version (even the low-budget Canadian version), but this series is very disappointing. Subpar acting, scripts by writers who don't understand the Twilight Zone's concept (most of the episodes seemed better suited to the new Outer Limits or Tales from the Darkside). Sometimes it's not good to be a completist!

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

I never like to unduly influence anyone in a thread at the beginning, so often when I post a new topic, I will let the dialog commence and then chime in later with my own reflections.

BEST Blind Buy: Has to be DANGEROUS ASSIGNMENT, which was an incredible value considering what you get, a complete series in two volumes with beautiful transfers of uncut episodes. I managed to get both volumes for about $10 each. Of course, as with any primitive media, the show itself is a bit hokey, maybe even more than a bit at times, but it's always entertaining and as a student of spies in popular culture, it's an amazing find, given that it is TV's first spy series.

Second would be HERE COME THE BRIDES, a show I watched when I was a little kid, but had ever diminishing memories of, so it was akin to a blind buy. I was amazed that it even came out at all and wonder who at Sony greenlighted the release of this relatively forgotten show. I'm still watching it and am just past the half-way point, so can't yet comment if the content begins to pale the longer it goes. I don't think the quality is very good for a major studio release, but it's watchable and rare enough to warrant my attention despite the heavy grain and artifacting.

Third, I've been enjoying SUSPENSE very much, but it is not for all tastes. The kinescoped series has been heavily criticized for its apparent bad quality, but if one has even a passing familiarity with the kinescope process and the era in which it was applied, you should have no trouble adjusting your vision and imagination, even on a Plasma. As has been written, the show is not as good as its radio progenitor, but it's an amazing document of early TV, for better and worse. In addition most of the shows still have their repetitive commercials for AUTO-LITE, which will drive (ha!) you crazy if you watch too many shows back to back, but are not without entertainment and historical value. It's always interesting to see the great number of advertisers in the 50's and 60's who thought that animation or partial animation was the predominant visual way to sell their product.

WORST Blind Buy: Like many of the posters I've mostly stuck with shows I at least had some recognition of prior to purchase, but one year for Christmas I asked for and received the first season of DANIEL BOONE despite the fact that I had never seen an episode of it. On the whole the show is very good, but the quality of the first season on DVD is awful. A favorable review at DVD Talk mentioned how stellar the transfers were and I based my desire to obtain the DVDs on that. Unfortunately the reviewer must have watched it at the bottom of his swimming pool because everywhere you look on the web, critics have expressed their disdain for the first season's quality. A friendly letter to the offending critic at DVD Talk asking if his review set may have differed from the one released elicited no reply. The company who released the set admitted after the release that the copies used were the best available and even indicated one or two shows that had significant scenes missing. From what I understand the rest of the series on DVD is in good shape. Lesson learned: Never trust just ONE critic!

The complete series GOOD MORNING WORLD was another blind buy which was not bad enough to be called WORST, but was only mildly entertaining. Considering the production team and their background I expected far more and even hoped it might be one of those "forgotten, neglected treasures," but instead it was only a light sitcom without any substance and too few and far between laughs.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best:

How I Met Your Mother S1: The pilot alone is worth the buy. I really enjoyed what I have seen so far of it(haven't watched the full season yet) and I am looking forward to S2.

Dead Like Me S1: This series is really quirky and very well written. I enjoy the cast a great deal and each episode gets better and better as you watch.


Worst:

Firefly: I'm sorry to all those who absolutely rave about this series. I found it to be such a disappointment. The acting is probably the worst I have ever seen and the writing is just dreadful. I honestly do not get what so many people love about this series. Pure crap! Waste of money. Thanks to Netflix, I don't have to bother wasting my money on blind buys anymore.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best: Dexter, Season One
Honorable Mention: Ultraviolet
Possible Worst: Chancer-a 1990 British series starring Clive Owen. Got it at a good price but watched only the first two episodes a while back. One of these days I'll watch the whole first season but I wasn't terribly impressed by what I saw. When I finish watching it I may feel differently-the reviews I've read all raved about it.

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

Best - Firefly, enjoyed the tongue in cheek humor, Ron Glass and Adam Baldwin. Can't say enough good things about this one.

Worst - The Untouchables, just didn't get what the hype was all about. Didn't care for Robert Stack and the other "untouchables" just were not compelling. Traded set before finishing the episodes.

Doug

Re: What Is Your BEST & WORST Blind Buy TV On DVD?

The only true blind buy I have is Firefly, I absolutely loved it - original, great characters, good writing.

The ones on the other side aren't so much bad, as not what I had expected.
- The Addams Family's laugh track (S1) was more pronounced than I remembered and severely diminished my enjoyment.
- While I really enjoyed the Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 2 was more than I needed, plus I wasn't happy with their selection, and I wound up putting it back on the shelf where it remains uncompleted.