TV Shows on DVD News Story (1 Viewer)

[Daniel Wilson]

Hi all,

I'm a journalism student in Vancouver, B.C., Canada and I'm going to be doing a news story on the TV shows on DVD phenommenon, which I am engrossed in.

For my story, I'd love to have some fellow fans (and as I've seen so far, some much more infomred fans) opinions on the trend.

Any feedback you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Here are my questions:


What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?

What are you personally looking forward to be released?

What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released?

Please also include your name and where you are from.

Thank you in advance and I look forward to becoming a regular member of this forum,
Daniel Wilson

 

[JasonPW]

What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?

My favorite TV show to be released on DVD would have to be either The Simpsons or SCTV. My favorite "TV on DVD" release...that's tough! Shout Factory did an outstanding job on a "Here's Lucy" special edition. "Here's Lucy" is is kind of a mediocre show, but the exemplary array of extras and archive footage makes it a must-own for fnas of Lucille Ball's work. Another great DVD was the 4-title group of "Howdy Doody" shows released by Image a few years back. The episodes were presented in their intact "as-aired" versions, complete with original commercials for Tootsie Rolls and Wonder Bread. When you're dealing with a series that old and that rare (only a few Howdy episodes survive), giving fans the complete viewing experience, including commercials, promos, etc. is in itself an outstanding "bonus feature." Another release in this style is the "Beatles on Ed Sullivan" set, which includes entire "Sullivan" episodes including original commercials.

What are you personally looking forward to be released?

I'm ready for another season of "The Muppet Show"! The first season release, while unfortunately lacking some musical numbers due to clearance issues, was quite good.

What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released? There are some that fall into the category of "Am I the only human being on planet earth buying this?" Like R2's "Tony Orlando" and "Captain and Tennille" sets, or the complete "Fractured Flickers", or even Shout Factory's excellent Dick Cavett releases. My only hope is that rights holders continue to see the niche audience out there for things like variety shows, talk shows, etc.

Please also include your name and where you are from.

Jason Wentworth, from Alliance, Nebraska

 

[Doug Wallen]

What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?

Homicide:Life on the Street - great ensemble drama with Andre Braugher.

Hill Street Blues - just released and enjoying every minute of it. Was looking for this one for a long time.

What are you personally looking forward to be released?
More Hill St., more Muppets, season 4 of Magnum, P.I., Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released?

Most interesting, Leave it to Beaver in the "lunch box".
Most bizarre, the "head" covers - (Simpson's, Munster's, etc.)

Doug Wallen from Macon, Georgia.

 

[todd s]

My personal favorites: X-Files, Miami Vice (amazed that the original music is still intact), Twilight Zone (original), Smallville.

Looking forward to: Wild Wild West, Mission: Impossible and Superboy (Surprised they were able to release it.)

Most surprised: Obscure shows that I never thought would be released on dvd. For example Punky Brewster or while not obscure the 80's version of The Twilight Zone.

On a side note. The studios have an opportunity to create fans of old shows with new audiences. My daughters (ages 8 & 10) love Punky Brewster and now Saved by the Bell. While Saved is on tv still in syndication. I haven't seen Punky in years. For their b-days and holidays they wanted all of the seasons of both shows.

Todd Scherr from Wayside, NJ

 

[alanR]

all things star trek.......

 

[Will_B]

-What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?

My personal favorites are Firefly and Wonderfalls. Both shows had erratic schedules when they were aired on television (indeed, only 4 of the 13 episodes of Wonderfalls were shown on air), so I appreciate the opportunity to bypass the whims of the network executives and enjoy the series as the creators intended.


-What are you personally looking forward to be released?

The Independent Film Channel's "low-tech" version of Greg the Bunny is coming out on DVD later in 2006. After Fox cancelled its own version of this show (which is, incidentally, already out on DVD), the creator went to the Independent Film Channel, where he was able to make a new show on a shoestring budget with some of the same characters. It seems like everyone has trouble with the networks...

I would also like to say, in light of this week being the start of the Winter Olympics, that I would look forward to the day when the Olympic Committe might decide to start releasing extensive box sets of past Olympic games. The 1992 Barcelona games, where the "Unified Team" (former USSR turning into free nations) did such an outstanding job, would be most welcomed. It is sad that the Olympics are not on DVD. We can hope that the Olympic committee might get turned on to the tv-on-dvd craze soon.

-What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released?

I'm not sure by what standard you mean "bizarre".

-Please also include your name and where you are from.

Will Bueche
Boulder CO

 

[Ethan Riley]

What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?

I Love Lucy which is one of the greatest tv dvd boxed sets of all time. Star Trek: TOS is up there too. These are beautifully produced sets, made by people who do care about the materials inside. It shows.

What are you personally looking forward to be released?

Generally, I most look forward to obscure or short-lived tv shows that I thought nobody but me even liked. Coming up would be Grosse Point and the Bugaloos; hardly 5-Star tv shows but I like 'em.

What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released?

I think probably the original release of 1978 "Battlestar Galactica" which had a 3-D Cylon mask molding as its cover. Very, very hard to store that box, but it does look cool...

Please also include your name and where you are from.

Ethan Riley from California

 

[AnthonyC]

What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?

I think The Simpsons sets are very high-quality, with uncut episodes and tons of bonus features (including commentary on every episode). And while none of the Survivor DVD sets except for All Stars are anything to write home about regarding extras, it's my favorite show and I never thought it would be released on DVD, so I'm loving those sets.

What are you personally looking forward to be released?

More Survivor and Amazing Race sets.

What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released?

I don't own any that I would consider unusual, but the fact that My Big Fat Greek Life is even available is pretty bizarre.

Please also include your name and where you are from.

Anthony Coro
Virginia

 

[TravisR]

If I was forced to name one release as being the best, I'd say The Twilight Zone Definitive Editions. They look amazing and Image put together a ton of bonus features on a 45 year old show. My runner up would be Seinfeld because (like the TZ sets) you can see that a lot of love and work went into the sets.

Lost and The Simpsons are also very nice sets.

 

[MatthewA]

The Simpsons sets have been uniformly great so far, as have the I Love Lucy set. There are other shows that I'm glad to have in the uncut versions of even though they lack substantial extras (if any); Green Acres, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, What's Happening, Dallas, and The Golden Girls all come to mind.

The Shout! Factory sets of Punky Brewster have been great so far; they sought the surviving cast (and some crew members) for interviews and included episodes of the Saturday-morning animated version. I was pleasantly surprised that I still found the show enjoyable as an adult, and I'm glad to see that the show has caught on with a new generation of children.

I'm looking forward to many of the upcoming releases including The Facts of Life, Gimme a Break, Knots Landing, and Designing Women. Still, I can't keep up with them; I still haven't bought a lot of the shows that I want.

One thing I do wish for is for the music licensors to pull their heads out of the sand in regards to DVD licensing. Send them and the studios to Camp David and don't let them out until they reach an agreement!

I also wish that some studios would strive harder to present the uncut versions of these episodes. This does not happen as much as one would think from all the talk, but there have been times where the ball was dropped -- and hard.

Matthew Anscher
Chapel Hill, NC

 

[Chris Minogue]

What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?


Arrested Development. Freaks and Geeks.


What are you personally looking forward to be released?


Homefront. Picket Fences.


What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released?


Interesting - The phenomenal Freaks and Geeks yearbook.
Bizarre - The Simpsons Heads. A complete aesthetic and functionality fiasco.



Chris San Francisco, CA

 

[Nick Martin]

What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?

ANGEL and FIREFLY - two of my favorite shows.
Seeing the three "CSI" shows on DVD has ruined the far inferior standard broadcasts for me...gives me a glimpse of what HD must be like, since I don't have it.

What are you personally looking forward to be released?

I'm hopelessly looking forward to short-lived 80's sitcom "My Sister Sam", and music-clearance issue plagued "Boston Public"....and to have "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" reduced in price so I can get them.

What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released?

I don't own any strange looking sets - but those "Simpsons" head packaging seems very silly. I wouldn't want Marge Simpson's head on my shelf - I hate her!

Nick Martin
Ontario, Canada

 

[Joseph Bolus]

What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?

That's easy: "Star Trek - The Original Series", "Star Trek - The Next Generation", and "Star Trek - Deep Space Nine"! All of these are presented in uncut form (unlike the syndicated versions you normally see on cable); and the audio on all the sets has been upgraded to Dolby Digital 5.1. The video presentation of these shows also shine: In the case of "The Original Series" the provided video is so good you can actually see loose threads on the Starfleet uniforms! I've also really enjoyed the "M*A*S*H" sets and "The Simpsons". "Farscape" and "Firefly" are also more enjoyable on DVD than they were in their original TV broadcast incarnations.

What are you personally looking forward to be released?

"The Adventures of Brisco County Jr." - This was a quirky Western/Comedy/Sci-Fi series that aired in 1993 and '94. It starred "B"-movie king Bruce Campbell and had outstanding production values for a TV series. It's supposed to be released at some point this year. I'm also looking forward to the Spy Spoof series "Get Smart". I couldn't understand why it wasn't released earlier in conjunction with some of the Austin Powers movies. It would also be great to be able to purchase the original 1966 "Batman" series (especially since this year marks the 40th Anniversary of its premiere); but there's apparently no release of that series on the horizon due to legal snafus.

What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released?

I never thought I would see complete seasons of some of the 1950's TV Westerns released to DVD. And yet "Have Gun: Will Travel" Season One was one of the earlier TV-on-DVD releases!

Joseph Bolus
Birmingham, Al.

 

[Daniel Wilson]

Thank you all for your great answers to my questions. It is greatly appreciated. When I finish my story, I'll look into possibly posting it here in the forum as long as eveyone is okay with that being done.

Thanks again,
Daniel Wilson

 

[Sarah K.]

My faves released so far: Friends & I Love Lucy

Least faves released: Punky Brewster & Doogie Howser M.D....I loved them when I was a kid, but come on! There's better stuff out there that should be released...

which brings me to the one that I am most looking forward to: Homefront, by far...I can't believe it's been virtually ignored by Warner Home Video thus far.

 

[Eve Brown]

What are a couple of your personal favorites to be released so far?
Favorite show-The Pretender was waiting for this for awhile even brought 3 of the region 2 sets from France while i was visiting there

What are you personally looking forward to be released?
The release on the horizon Grosse Pointe,
wishlist is currentily at 15 but several that were on for a while have come out American Gothic, Growing Pains, Charles in Charge and of course the Pretender


What's the most interesting/bizarre set you've seen released?
i guess the simpson heads, i like the look but don't want them holding my dvds


Please also include your name and where you are from.
Eve Brown 24 Cincinnati OH