Well said, Brett.
As for DVD-18s, it may be the only solution for hourlong shows and I can live with it.
I have come to loathe the overlapping discs. Dallas: S3 is the latest offender. The slim cases that Sony now uses should be used in all cases. I don't want to have to worry about breaking discs.
What I also don't like:
—Cut versions of episodes (I should NOT have to keep saying this). I pay for "The COMPLETE xth season", and I expect it to be Complete. If complete versions do not exist (which only seems to be the case in extreme incidents), say so on the packaging. For I Love Lucy, they have gone out of their way to present the episodes uncut, and only once out of 180 shows have they slipped up.
—Music replacements (The publishers are pricing themselves out of getting ANY money for the songs' usages. No single song is worth $50,000. Not Beethoven's 5th, not White Christmas, not Love and Marriage, not Stairway to Heaven, and certainly not anything they put out today)
—Lack of original airdates mentioned anywhere on the packaging
—Original studio logos replaced by current ones. (Bewitched was a SCREEN GEMS production, NOT a Sony Pictures Television one)
—Putting out inferior copies when restoration is needed. If it's between waiting for quality and getting crap now, I'll take the former.
—Inconsistent release patterns, especially Sony's. Diff'rent Strokes should be on Season 3 by now. All in the Family should have been finished by next year. If no restoration/tape rejuvenation is needed, nor licensing problems, there is no excuse.
—Colorization (With Bewitched, I had to break down and get it online, because no B&M stores had the black and white version). Do they put out black and white versions of color shows?
—Unskippable Disclaimers (Lion's Gate has a good one: "This DVD commentary contains opinions and statements of the individuals participating in them." Oh, really?)
—Lack of GOOD, SUBSTANTIAL, INFORMATIVE extras (Larry Hagman's "Helmet hair" comment on a commentary for Dallas S1/S2 is not what I'm talking about). This includes original promos, outtakes, interviews (either archival or recent), and other rare archival material.