So, guess what I've been watching since the mail came yesterday?
Wow, this is a great release. I first popped in the 1st of the 2 bonus discs, and watched the Season 1 Gag Reel, the 4 ABC series promos on there, and the "Face Off: ESPN's SportsCenter vs. CSC's Sports Night" featurette. All were drop-dead terrific supplements. The first promo will make anyone crack up, I'm sure...it's a fun gag. The gag reel, while the quality isn't the best (and a text card pops up on screen explaining why), is most certainly worth the price of admission (as soon as the missus wakes up I'll watch the gag reel from S2). GREAT stuff!
And the Face Off featurette is full of interviews with the producers and cast of the show, and the folks over at ESPN, and how SportsCenter begat Sports Night and how SN cast and crew endeavored to capture the feel of what goes on behind the scenes of a show like ESPN's SC...especially in the hectic minutes leading up to the start of the broadcast. You'll LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!
Seeing this all over again reminds me of what a great cast this is, and how awesome all the acting is with each of these people. I tend to want to single out the big leads, like Felicity or Robert, or Peter or Josh...but then I watch Sabrina and Joshua and Kayla (WHY the heck isn't she currently in a show?) also all standing out, too, and everyone else, and I just have to say "all of them!"
I have yet to pull out my old set and compare transfers directly, but so far my impression is that this one is better, sharper, nicer, more colorful. Maybe I've got rose-colored glasses on, or maybe my equipment is better than it was back then. Maybe it's just my PS3 upconverting, I dunno (if I have time I can stick it in my regular DVD player later and see). But my impression is that the video looks better than it used to.
My one minor complaint about the video is that the credits, noticably the closing credits but also on the opening, have low-res type "jaggies" in the text that probably are exactly the way they should be considered how those credits would have been added to the episodes, but come out looking worse in modern times due to that "better equipment". I'm sure some of you will see what I mean when you view these, and others probably won't see anything at all and wonder what the heck I'm talking about. Regardless, it's not important in the least, but just a minor nitpick that Shout! could not possibly do anything about (well, they could I guess, but I wouldn't want them too!).
Final list of extras: "The Show" featurette, "Face Off" featurette, ABC promos (not mentioned on the box), Season 1 Gag Reel (~11-12 mins!), Season 2 Gag Reel (~2 mins), "Looking Back with Aaron & Thomas" featurette, "Inside the Locker Room: Technical Innovations" featurette, and commentary tracks. Plus a very nice printed 36-page book.
