Sorting TV Shows by Creator (1 Viewer)

[seanOhara]

I'm getting to the point where I'm going to need new shelves for my DVDs, and I'm thinking about reorganizing my TV collection by creator/show runner (I already sort movies by director, so this is just the next logical step). Now this might sound a bit odd at first, but doesn't it make just as much sense to have Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, and The Time Tunnel next to each other as Lost, Lost in Space, and The Lost Room? The only major conundrum is what to do with spin-offs -- should all Star Trek shows go under Roddenberry, or should DS9 go after Battlestar Galactica?

So does this sound like a silly thing to do, or do people think it makes sense?

 

[michael_ks]

I find that sorting my sets by genre works well for me, i.e. grouping them by 'science fiction', 'western', 'secret agent/detective', 'comedy', etc. Within each genre, I then sort them alphabetically.

 

[RoryR]

I never understand anything but alphabetical, it just makes sense as if I want to watch a certain DVD I will positevely always know the name and thus where to find it, with genre - I'd spend hours figuring out where to put things, and I don't think I have enough shows from any single creator to justify doing it that way.

 

[JasonJason]

Here's a question for you guys: I keep wanting to sort my dvd's and have several thoughts on ways to do it (Sean's idea of by director and creator is a great one I hadn't thought of). But, the thing that keeps stopping me is that I have them laid out on several shelfs and what not and I keep worrying that as I get a new dvd, I will then have to shift EVERY single dvd after it to make it fit. Not so big of a deal if I get a new 'W', but what about an 'A' or 'B'? The only thing I have thought of is just leaving open space, but I have limited storage room... Dumb question, I know, but any thoughts?

 

[Corey3rd]

I prefer to organize my TV show DVDs by how they played when they were rerun on WLVI and WSBK.

 

[Mary_P]

If you can swing it, I'd leave a little open space in each section. You'll probably still have to shift everything once in awhile (for example, if you left enough space for 4 titles in a particular alpha range, but wound up buying 10), but in my experience, that's a couple of times a year, and I buy a lot of stuff. If you run out of space to put things where they belong, you can always put those titles in a separate "to be filed" bin to put away properly the next time you do a major reshuffle.

As far as organization goes, put me in the alpha camp. My memory's not good enough to remember who created every show I own. The alphabet, however -- got that one down pat. (Though some of us may disagree about whether "24" belongs before "Alias Smith & Jones" or after "Tru Calling".... ) I could see separating out some things if you have a large number of titles by one particular person -- if needed for space, I might put all my Joss Whedon stuff in one place.

I do a little bit of sectioning -- one for TV, one for feature movies, one for music/musicals. I also keep my unwatched stuff on shelves (note plural) near the TV to shame me into watching what I already have before I buy more. It's not entirely effective, but it has helped me cut down on the impulse buys.

 

[Katherine_K]

I sort my movies alphabetically with seperate sections for foreign language films and documentaries. For television I generally sort by a combination of genre and alphabetical, depending on my shelf space (I don't like to break up a television series between shelves).

 

[Marty M]

I also find it easier to sort alphabetically. I have all my movies entered in an Excel spreadsheet with title, director, genre, and time. If I am looking for a movie in a particular genre or director, I just sort on one of those fields, but keep the movies in alpha order. It makes it easier, for me, to find that way.

I always have a problem at Best Buy looking for movies by genre. Sometimes, they put movies in a different genre than I would have expected.

 

[Shawn_Sm]

I have mostly TV shows and I just put them on the shelf as I get them, except to add seasons to shows already started. I basically know how long I've had a particular set so I know where to look on the shelf.

 

[Firebee]

I have a separate set of shelves for all my movies, which I organize by alpha; and then more shelves devoted to just TV on DVD, which again I organize by alpha, and face at times the quandary posed by the original poster of running out of room when I add new shows and sets. I just move 'em around until I have room and have left space for pending arrivals. Eventually, I'll have to get around to buying another DVD shelf.