One Season, Some Seasons, or All Seasons (1 Viewer)

Looking through the threads, it seems that a lot of you want a complete collection when you buy a TV series and that you would hesitate to buy if the whole series would not be released. There are some long-running shows that I will gladly buy every season (Buffy, Futurama, Alias, a few others). But my budget is limited and frankly, some shows just aren't worth investing in the whole series.

For instance, I will probably buy the fourth and fifth seasons of The X-Files eventually, and maybe one or two of the earlier seasons. But that's as far as I'll go given that the quality seemed lower in the later seasons and the price. I bought the first season of Charlie's Angels and may buy one more, but two sets seem like enough to fill my appetite for the show. All five seasons would be overkill.

So how about you? Do you go for one season, some seasons, or are you a true collector who wants every season?

For the most part, I'd want every season. The X-Files is the only series I can think of where I didn't get them all (I started at 1 and stopped with 6; although I may yet get the rest when the prices come down later this year).

Part of the fun, for me at least, is to watch the evolution of a show. Sure, some seasons are stronger than others, but I always find something about one season or another that is indispensible.

As for me, I can't stand having something that isn't complete. lol. When I buy the first season of a certain series, my intention is to have that series completed.

I'm the same way with movies. When I buy a movie, I have to have ALL of the sequels which follow it. I know it sounds a bit crazy, but that's just me.

TV shows are definitely a must. For example, I have the first 6 seasons of 'Friends' (picking up S7 tomorrow). Season 6 was in my opinion the worst of the bunch.....and I probably could've done without it, but it would drive me nuts knowing that I have seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 7 without having 6. Whether a certain series hits an ultimate low in certain seasons, my goal is to always finish what I start.

Mind you, when the studios who produce these sets choose not to follow through with continuing seasons, then that sparks a new problem..........but that's a different can of worms I'll open another day. lol.

I'm a collector. Once I've got one part of something, I want all of it. I bought the second season of the Simpsons a little after it came out. I'd never seen most of season one, and most reviews (of the shows, not the set) were unfavorable, so I decided to pass on that. But as soon as I finished the S2 set, I ordered season 1. Not because I was going through withdrawal or anything like that, but I just felt odd knowing that I only had PART of what was currently available.

I'm actually going to agree with Amy at least to an extent.

There are some shows that I will think long and hard about whether or not I finish them up, although I will say that all of the shows currently in my collection are ones that I want the whole run of, but when say Happy Days comes out there is a good chance that I'll stop after a bit.

I also notice even with a show that I like that my interest can drop off a bit. I picked up seasons 2-6 of Friends on release date, but season 7 I'm not going to be in a great hurry to run out and buy. I'll pick it up eventually, but its not a high priority.

Then you've got shows like MTM where sure I'd like to have all 7 seasons but having only 1 season of the Mary Tyler Moore Show is still a good thing.

So, how's that for a really noncommital answer?

I'm certanly a completist. If at all possible, I'll get every episode of a series.

However, there are some instances where I'll take what I can get. The Hulk, for example. Will we ever see a full season set? I hope so, but the pilot, the three movies, the UK discs and the Ultimate Edition will have to serve until then.

Sure it sucks not having the whole run, but some is better than none, right?

For me it totally depends on the show. For shows like the Simpsons - yea I want all the seasons. For shows like M*A*S*H* - well I only really liked the first few seasons (with Henry Blake) so why would I buy seasons I didn't care about? There's so many shows that wind up "jumping the shark" somewhere along the way and aren't worth getting EVERY season even for completeness sake. "Married With Children" is a show like that. And "Roseanne". Does ANYONE want that last wretched season of Roseanne?

I do, because some of the episodes were still fun. It was just a step wayyyyyy down in quality.

I'll give a pass on the Rosann comment but...


Married with Children ruled all through its run, IMO. Having Jefferson basically be the male version of Peggy brought a new dynamic to the show that Steve just didn't have, and plus regardless of who his neighbors were Al Bundy ruled for all 11 seasons.

Personally I quit watching after they adoped Seven or Six or whatever they called him. But it's all personal preference. I'm sure there's shows you can think of that you liked the first few seasons but not the final ones (or vice versa). This is especially true if you're on a buget as season-sets are usually not cheap.

Ok, I admit that the one season where they had 7 was not good, well accept when they went to the park and beat up the rich people, but fortunately they rectafied that mistake.

Like I said, I doubt that I'd buy all the seasons of Happy Days even though I love the first few. I prefer the Winchester years of M*A*S*H but I still own all the preWinchester years because I still like it.

One thing I would introduce to the discussion is this, for the seasons I don't care for if they loaded them up with some special features then I'd reconsider. I probably wouldn't buy the last season of Rosann, but if she were to participate in the set like she said she'd like to in that article from a few weeks ago then I'd probably reconsider. Some good features might make a borderline purchase a definite, butotherwise I buy the shows for the show.

I want all seasons of the shows I want. I do want a few best of or single set stuff for shows like

America's Dumbest Criminals
Sightings
Unexplained Mysteries

I'm definately a collector. If I buy one, I want them all. The only times I haven't done this is with the "Halloween" series, I choose to ignore parts 3-6, and with the "Chainsaw" series, I haven't gotten Part 3 and 4 yet, but I plan to when Part 3 comes down in price.

With Buffy and Angel, I'm buying every season. If Tru Calling is released, I'll buy every season. I have a small budget, so I can only go with so many..

The thing with UNSOLVED MYSTERIES (which i would buy) is that some of them had "Updates" and I don't know if the show is still on the air.

It depends on the show. For instance, I would stop after season 3 of Charlie's Angels. I didn't like the last 2 seasons after Kate Jackson left. Happy Days, I'd buy the first 2 seasons before it became the Fonzie show. But multi-season shows I would buy all of:
The Untouchables
Man from UNCLE
Lost in Space
The Fugitive
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
The Invaders
Route 66
Naked City
Ben Casey

Of course most of them will never be released at all so the point is moot.

I look at episode guides to figure out which seasons I want (most of the shows I get I saw in syndication, so I sometimes don't even know if I saw the episodes in order).

Some shows I want everything (Buffy, B5, Angel, Alias). Others, I don't (Star Trek: TNG - only 4-7, Little House on the Prairie 5-7 + a couple of the specials). It really depends on the show. Ones with more standalone episodes or shorter story arcs, obviously, are easier to subdivide. I still want full season sets, though (partially because I don't trust other people to pick -my- favorite episodes, and partially to have the proper flow of the show through the season).

I just don't have the money or the space to hold onto dvd sets that I'm not going to watch. That's why it worries me that first season sales are dictating more and more whether later seasons get realeased. I hated the first season of Star Trek:TNG, for example, and will never buy it, but I'm really happy to have the later ones.

Robert I was actually talking about Unexplained Mysteries which is a new show that premiered last fall in syndication. It's kinda of a 21st version of the show Sightings. but I can see it was easy to get Unsolved Mysteries and Unexplained Mysteries mixed it. I think I might buy best of's of Unsolved Mysteries too but your right about the update thing I wonderr how they'd figure that out.

I'd love sightings on DVD.

When they'd show older episodes of Unsolved Mysteries on Lifetime and 1 of the Mysteries had an update to it they would insert it even if the update came much later, at least that's how I remember it.

I can't imagine watching ALL IN THE FAMILY after season 5 or so when Mike and Gloria leave the show!!!

I'll happily buy the first five seasons of LAW & ORDER but I have no interest in the exploitation of the stars' sex appeal (Benjamin Bratt prancing around in his undershirt) or subplots where the attorneys sleep with each other.

THE SIMPSONS after season 7 or so makes me ill.

MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE went south in season 3.

But in all these cases, my point is moot because the shows are being released either slooooooooowly or not at all!

On the other hand, MARRIED WITH CHILDREN jumped the shark with the "Seven" season but recovered magnificently! I'll take the entire series, please.