Would you rather see new shows or older ones released on DVD? (1 Viewer)

Personally I'd rather have shows I haven't seen in years than something I could have recently taped off the TV. How about everyone else?

My vote should be obvious to all the regulars on this forum, so I won't belabor the point. My vote, without hesitation, is for classic shows from the 50's, 60's and 70's to be released. Anybody that has a favorite that's less than 20 years old ought to have to wait another 20 years before their show is released. Then they'd get an idea of how frustrating it is for us vintage TV fans.

Gary "plus, it's patently ridiculous for a fan of recent shows to NOT already have them on tape or dvd from off air recordings - they've had plenty of chances whereas us vintage fans don't get shots at recording most of our favorites" O.

I think I can pretty safely assume what most answers to this question will be.

I would like to see the subset of shows described as "Jason Seaver's personal favorites". Good ones, regardless of age. So, I would like VR.5 *and* Batman.



Okay, while we're bringing crappy attitudes out, I'd like to see the end of people thinking "classic" is a synonym for "old".

Exactly. While I'm sure some will disagree, there's great shows in every era of TV (and crummy ones).

No one is saying every single show done in the last 20 years is crap. There are a few diamonds in every rough. The point of contention is that every piece of garbage from the last 20 years gets released (aka "Son of the Beach", "Stacked", "Greg the Bunny" and dozens upon dozens of other stupid shows that are on DVD simply because they came along recently). On the other hand, there are dozens upon dozens of classics that are languishing in vaults because they had the misfortune of being produced in b&w or simply aren't "fresh." It's the complete one-sidedness of the entire thing that ticks many of us vintage fans off.

Gary "this has nothing to do with crappy attitudes - it has to do with facts" O.

THANK YOU!!!!!

Most definately classics/older shows. I'd love it if they would release the Eddie Albert, Robert Waggoner series "Switch".

How about if classics came out as a complete series. Like Seinfeld for instance.

Ironically, many of the "Crummy" shows of the past would easilly beat what passes for "Great" Shows today!

I like finished TV shows. Classic TV? I have ONE boxed set from the 70's. (Rockford Files season 1.) I have two from the 80's. (Moonlighting seasons 1-3). All my other boxed sets are from the late 90's onward. Twin Peaks when it comes out, the new set, will be my only early 90's show.

Though all but one of the shows I have on DVD are cancelled. Only active show I collect is Scrubs.

My collection is from the 1950s to the Present with the Vast Majority consisting of the 1960s and 1970s. The only "Active" show I have on DVD is Smallville. (I confess I haven't watched the current Season, but that's because I don't have access to a CW Station anymore since I dropped my Subscription to Cable TV in January.) I will buy it when it comes out on DVD However.

I may be a bit on the greedy side... but I don't have a preferance of rather seeing classic/older shows or new shows... I love them both and want to see plenty of releases for both.

I see that point too, Travis. But if I had a "vote" in the big picture of TV/DVD releases by decade. that's an easy vote for me....(late)50's, 60's, 70's, and a few 80's series. At the moment, I can't think of any 90's set that I'd buy, and no '00's sets.

I know that this wasn't a direct thread question, but I recenctly "did the #'s" for my TV/DVD sets by decade and here's my count:

50's: 4
60's: 28
70's: 26
80's: 15
90's: 7
00's: 1

For this count, I counted a series, like "Twilight Zone" (orig) as a 60's series since the majoriy of the series aired in the 60's. (premiered Oct '59). For others, like "Perry Mason", and "Wanted Dead or Alive", I counted those as 50's since there was more than 1 season aired in the 50's decade. I also included all of my miniseries and animated series, like "Flintstones" and "Jonny Quest".

Anyway, it's interesting to see the "#'s", as they say Reveals a lot about a collection.

From the '60s, I have Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, Wild Wild West, Hawaii Five-O, Twilight Zone, The Avengers, The Prisoner, The Flintstones, The Littlest Hobo, The Fugitive, Spiderman, Marvel Superheroes, and in a manner of speaking, The Pink Panther Show and Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Hour.

From the '70s, The Brady Bunch, Planet of the Apes, The New Avengers, U.F.O., Space: 1999, Star Maidens, Blake's 7, Doctor Who (I put this mainly in the '70s per percentage of releases thus far), The Six Million Dollar Man, The Bionic Woman, The Incredible Hulk, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Star Blazers, The Tomorrow People, Space Academy, M*A*S*H, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Fawlty Towers, Star Trek- Animated, The Martian Chronicles, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Jesus of Nazareth, Charlie Brown/Peanuts (primarily '70s)

From the '80s, Cosmos, Voyagers!, The Last Place On Earth

From the '90s, nothing

From the '00s, Doctor Who, Shackleton

And catching my eye but as yet unpurchased, Gunsmoke ('50s, '60s, '70s), Return of the Saint ('70s), Sesame Street Old School ('70s), Dallas (mainly '80s).

Clearly, new TV has very little currency with me. I'm of the view that TV died
when the "believability"-stressing "experts" purged it of all imaginative concepts and went for dreary, post-modern realism.

Stacked was great entertainment....maybe not. But seeing how they only ran a handful of episodes on the air, it's a good excuse to burn the episodes that were on the shelf. A better example was Kitchen Confidential - the show died quick, but it wasn't that bad of a show. And I enjoyed getting to watch the entire run when the DVDs came out. Sure it left out the nasty bits of Bourdain's book, but as a kitchen based sitcom, it had its moments.

There are certain show on now that I prefer to watch on DVD in boxsets rather than attempt to follow them every week. Other shows we've gotten into late and like to be able to perform a catch up by getting the first season or two boxset.

When it comes to older shows, it's all about recreating the great indie stations of my youth. Back in those days before VCRs when if you wanted to see something, you lived by the TV Guide. I do want the older shows especially the ones that have disappeared from my 200 cable channels.

Does anyone talk about Comfort TV like they do about Comfort foods? The ability to embrace a show because you have fond memories of watching it with departed relatives and simple times. You want to tap into those early days. You want your eyes to remember what they were like as a child when they first saw Lancelot Link Secret Chimp.

The TV DVD divisions of a studio needs to maintain this balance of the three.

Yes, because saying "every piece of garbage from the last 20 years gets released (aka 'Son of the Beach', 'Stacked', 'Greg the Bunny' and dozens upon dozens of other stupid shows" is a fact. Because what most people would call your opinion of the quality of TV shows is actually a fact.

:rolleyes

It's snobbish attitudes like that that don't make me feel bad when old shows that people want aren't released.

I believe that many of you are in a rut in regards to your TV show selections. While I have a large collection of Classic TV shows and grew up in the 50s/60s, I find today's shows to be as good, if not better in many cases, than many so-called-Classic TV shows.

True, I refuse to watch broadcast or cable TV. Too many ads, too many reality shows and too much depressing "news" and blather about the Paris Hilton/Spears celebrity losers. So, I for one, am damn happy they put the new shows out on DVD sets. During the 50s/60s/70s TV had to follow rigid morales/language censorship, which dictated content and language. Since cable a lot of those outdated and rigid codes have been tossed out -- and, I for one, and damn glad.

I love Leave it to Beaver, but I wouldn't want to go back to the rigid moral structures of the 50s.

I buy many new shows and in my opinion a lot of them are among the best TV shows ever broadcast, especially in the dramatic, historical and crime fields. Some of my favorites are: The Sopranos, The Tudors, Nip-Tuck, Rescue Me, Deadwood, Prison Break, Arrested Development, Dead Like Me, Frasier, Lost, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, Carnivale, Rome, The Shield. And, I'm looking forward to Heroes and lot of other new shows.

I suspect many of your haven't watched the new shows, or are still living in the EishenhowerLand-of-the-Mind. The rest of us love the new shows and are damn glad the industry is putting them out as quickly as they do.

John

I pretty much confine my buying to shows from the pre-taping era, 50s-70s. Any show that I wanted from after 1980 I recorded or I know people who recorded it. So for me it's a matter of access. Take Odd Couple for example. It has never aired in any form other than pre-cut tape in the videotaping era. The DVD releases are the first time they have been available complete. As an example of an 80s show, The Wonder Years. I recorded them all and I know at least 2 friends that did as well. I love the show but I don't need a crummy music replacement release when I have them all as aired.

What bothers me the most are the failed current series bombs that get released while there are many failed shows from the past I would love to see. A small list:

Blue Light, Jericho, Convoy, The Reporter, Mr. Broadway, For the People, Trials of O'Brien, Double Life of Henry Phyfe, Governor and JJ, The Good Guys, The Debbie Reynolds Show, Occasional Wife, Love on a Rooftop, The Jean Arthur Show, The Tycoon, Mickey, Baileys of Balboa, The Cara Williams Show, Accidental Family, Pistols and Petticoats, Run Buddy Run, He and She, Man Who Never Was, T.H.E. Cat, Garrison's Gorillas, Bus Stop, Five Fingers, Adam's Rib, Nancy, Hank, Camp Runamuck, The Little People, No Time for Sergeants, Wendy and Me, The Bing Crosby Show, The Bill Dana Show, 90 Bristol Court, The Hero, etc., etc.

Chances are none of these will ever see the light of day again in any form. Meanwhile all of these POS reality series come out a day after they go off the air. A bit unfair, don't you think?

Fox is still sitting on the second half of the Son of the Beach.

While network TV has gone downhill over the past years with their ability to book shows that seem more like UHF channel time killers (How many dancing shows do I need?), the cable channels have upped the ante. I won't condemn all reality TV. I got hooked on The History Channel's Ice Road Truckers. Who needs BJ and the Bear when you've got these guys going across frozen lakes?

If you visit TVpary, you'll see the old network schedules during the glory days and you'll realize there were a lot of network stinkers back.
http://www.tvparty.com/70fall74.html

see what you probably blotted out of your memory.