Question on bonus features (1 Viewer)

I have purchased DVD / BluRay sets with and withou bonus features.

In my experience, a whole lot of the time I watch episodes and much of the bonus material goes unwatched for a very long time if i watch it at all!!

for myself, ive sorta decided that the bonus material is far less important to me than having the actual tv series.

What are others thoughts? does it depend on the show? is it a make or break in your decision to buy a set?

Frequently I just play the commentary-heavy bonus features in the background, while I'm on the computer netsurfing.


The only specific bonus features I actually watch is stuff like deleted scenes, alternate scenes, etc ...

The bonus material is always secondary, but good bonus material can make a difference. It just depends.


I've sat through bonus material I could have done without and that I'll never watch again, but then I've watched bonus material that I really enjoyed and will revisit occasionally.

I watch every scrap of bonus material for my all-time favorite shows, but for the lesser shows that I like, I generally don't care one way or the other. Audio commentaries matter the least to me, I prefer to watch the episodes without that stuff--they're ultimately why I bought the show in the first place.

For myself, it all depends. Some sets I have found the bonus features to be great while others have been a waste of time. I tend to like more of the vintage stuff (promos, deleted scenes, featurettes, etc) but a lot of that kind of stuff has been lost. Certain shows like The Six Million Dollar Man, have had great bonus features but are over produced with a lot of redundant stuff (same interview used over and over). If there is a good behind the scenes documentary I tend to watch those a lot. I've watched the Behind The Planet Of The Apes documentary lots of times. The features on the original Battlestar Galactica set were good, but I would have liked a more lengthy making of documentary. Putting all of the featurettes together into one long feature would have been better, in my opinion.


I also feel that music heavy shows (WKRP, The Wonder Years, The Carol Burnett Show) shouldn't have bonus features if the cost to produce them takes away from the music clearance budget. In those cases every bit of money budgeted for the set should go to music clearance first, then if there is anything left over do the bonus features. I'd much rather have as complete episodes as possible.


In the end, I usually just watch the bonus stuff once and never again. I'm not big on commentaries as they tend to be boring and not very informative. I haven't listened to a commentary in a very long time.

One thing I don't like at all for a TV or movie commentary. Never let a cast member do one solo because what you'll usually get is a lot of vague recollections and a lot of dead air time as the person becomes more involved in watching than talking. Also, if a professional is involved, that person should watch the program beforehand and not be "surprised" by what he sees on-screen either and also it means I'll be spared the annoyance of an "expert" fishing for a name they can't recall or getting a detail wrong they should have checked earlier.

I completely ignore "bonus features" when purchasing a TV set (movies too, for that matter). It's the program that counts.


If I'm bored and/or don't want to bother changing a disc for some reason I may watch a few "bonus features" to kill a bit of time but generally ignore them entirely.

I really like the bonus features and if there are any usually watch them first. I am disappointed if a TV set doesn't have any. I particularly like it when a TV series that I am not that familiar with is put into context. I really enjoy listening to commentaries too.

I usually watch the bonus material once but the episodes/movies are what I rewatch.


On a similar topic, I'm glad that shows like Breaking Bad, Lost, Mad Men, The Sopranos, The Wire, etc. all came out during the DVD era since the thoughts of the people involved with those great shows are now recorded. Imagine if you could hear commentaries from people before their memories faded or watch hours of behind the scenes footage from all the great shows of the classic era.

On the first viewing of a set, I will watch all (almost all) of the bonus material. After that, it depends on the series and the length and quality of the extras. Some show have 20 minute or less interviews, I usually re-watch those and deleted scenes. I love feature length, in depth docs like Star Wars: Empire of dreams. I'd re-watch those too. I almost always skip the commentaries, unless they are on the Simpsons and Futurama sets, then i listen to some.


Extras are nice to have but its the episodes that I want. So, its no big deal if they aren't there.

If it is simply voice-overs, I really don't care too much about them. The only voice-over I watched and was interested in was Dick Van Dyke's appearance on The Phil Silvers Show. The cast commercials on The Beverly Hillbillies were good since those actually generally figured right into the plot of the show. Most everything else is a watch once or twice and never again.

Jack P said:

One thing I don't like at all for a TV or movie commentary. Never let a cast member do one solo because what you'll usually get is a lot of vague recollections and a lot of dead air time as the person becomes more involved in watching than talking.

Click to expand...

IIRC, the commentaries on The Bob Newhart Show were done by quite a few of the major cast members (Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, Peter Bonerz, Tom Poston, et al.).