Best TV Series on DVD or Blu-ray? (1 Viewer)

[Cinescott]

I don't have many TV series in my collection, but there are few series and miniseries that I am very glad to have; among them are:

All in the Family (DVD, All)
Sex and the City (DVD, All)
Two and a Half Men (DVD, S1-8)
The World at War (Blu-ray)
Cosmos (DVD)
The West (DVD)

Series I'd like to have:

The Sopranos
Lost

 

[Walter Kittel]

Some of my favorites:

The Outer Limits - Original series on DVD.

Babylon 5 - DVD. Enjoyed revisiting this series on DVD after watching the broadcasts back in the '90s. Technically not the strongest presentations due to production issues involving the FX on DVD, but I love the writing of the series.

Breaking Bad - Blu-ray. Currently working through the series on Bd and so far every episode has delivered. One of the few series where I can honestly say that there is not a single bad episode (at least so far.)

Battlestar Galactica - Blu-ray. The series kind of tails off in the final season or so, but seasons 1 and 2 are pretty damn terrific.

Gilmore Girls - DVD. Revisited this on DVD after watching the original broadcasts. Easily in my top ten favorite shows of all time.

Star Trek: TOS - DVD and Blu-ray. Been a fan since the original broadcasts back in the '60s. Love the new Bd release.

The Wire - DVD. I've only watched the first season and it was pretty incredible. Really should get back to this show. Included in this post on the strength of that first season.

Lots and lots more I could list, but those are some of my favorite shows and by extension media releases.

- Walter.

 

[jcroy]

On bluray specifically:

- Dollhouse
- Nikita
- Fringe
- Person of Interest (if you're into procedural type tv shows with a vigilante twist)
- Hawaii Five-0 (if you're into procedural cop shows with a lot of mindless action and violence every episode)

 

[Elizabeth S]

I have a lot, but some of my favorites:

DVD:

Homicide: Life on the Street
Queer as Folk
The Sopranos
Nip/Tuck
Rescue Me


Blu-Ray:

Justified

I have many more series "in progress" and others I have not yet started. It's really hard to go back and "catch up" as well as keep up with the currently airing series.

 

[Richard V]

Surprised no one has mentioned, The Twilight Zone, original series.

 

[Kevin EK]

Not sure if this means the best series that is on DVD/Blu, or the best treatment of a series on DVD/Blu. Could mean both.


Assuming we're talking about the latter, I'd go with:


The Twilight Zone - both the original series and the 1980s incarnation. The original series has received perhaps the most thorough bracing I've ever seen in terms of commentaries and bonus material. Between The Definitive Edition DVDs and their counterparts in Blu, I don't think there's any bit of the Zone that hasn't been picked up, shown to the viewer and discussed. For the 1980s incarnation, there are some terrific commentaries, particularly by Harlan Ellison.

The Larry Sanders Show/It's Garry Shandling's Show - The Shout! Factory set for this Larry Sanders is one of the greatest pleasures I have in my collection. Some great commentaries, and all the really cool material from the Not the Best of collection to boot. And if you have Larry Sanders, it follows that you should pick up GS as well.

M*A*S*H - The "Goodbye, Farewell and Amen" DVD thankfully includes the bonus DVDs from the "Martinis and Medicine" collection, which is another nice grouping of interviews and documentary material.

Magnum P.I. - In addition to getting all the episodes, there are some nice bonuses along the way. In particular, they allow you to see both versions of the "Simon and Simon" crossover, as well as showing you the other sides of both that crossover and the one with "Murder She Wrote". The only commentaries come on the final episodes, unfortunately, but the additional episodes are a very nice touch.

Game of Thrones - Perhaps one of the best Blu-ray collections of any series, given the lovely presentation of the episodes and the generous amounts of commentaries of substance.

Boardwalk Empire/The Sopranos/Breaking Bad/Lost/Deadwood/BSG - Each one of these series has been treated quite well on Blu-ray, although Sopranos was really captured on DVD first.

Star Trek (multiple incarnations) - While there was a horrifying amount of double and triple dipping with episodes of TOS and TNG, there have been some fine DVD and now Blu-ray season sets made available. The current editions of TNG on Blu are a good example of how to find new material to go with a proper HD edition of a series.

Battlestar Galactica (both versions) - Both series were presented nicely on DVD, with the newer series getting a proper version on Blu as well.

The Muppet Show - Three seasons presented quite thoroughly, along with many other episodes preserved by Time/Life.

Other series preserved on DVD that I'd single out would be:
-Max Headroom
-NCIS (both regular flavor and Los Angeles)
-The Norman Lear Collection (multiple Norman Lear series first seasons and piles of additional material)
-Get Smart
-The Wire

 

[TravisR]

Off the top of my head...

Considering the quality of the show and the quality of the extras, I'd say that The Twilight Zone is the best TV show on DVD and Blu-ray. Other shows that I love and also have excellent and plentiful extras are Battlestar Galactica, Breaking Bad, Lost and Mad Men.

Great shows that might not have had massive supplements but are still well worth getting because of the quality of the show are Boardwalk Empire, Deadwood, I Love Lucy, The Larry Sanders Show, Leave It To Beaver, The Office, Parks And Recreation, The Shield, The Sopranos, 24, The Wire and The X-Files.

EDIT: Maybe I should have just copy and pasted Kevin's list since mine is pretty similar to his.

 

[Ejanss]

Off the top of my head...

Considering the quality of the show and the quality of the extras, I'd say that The Twilight Zone is the best TV show on DVD and Blu-ray.

It's amazing just what the Image TZ collection has, from the Desi Arnaz "Time Element" pilot, to a Rod Serling hosted episode of "Liar's Club" (I remember that show! )
Sort of the Alpha and Omega bookends of Rod Serling's TZ career.

And while I was able to only get one season into the Image Dick Van Dyke Show collection, I expect nothing less from it.

 

[JohnMor]

Combining both the series quality and the image quality, my two favorite TV blu-rays are The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Twilight Zone. The transfers are revelations.

Also love the following series:

Alfred Hitchcock Presents (dvd)
All in the Family (dvd)
American Horror Story: Asylum (blu-ray)
Bewitched (dvd)
The Carol Burnett Show (dvd)
I Love Lucy (dvd)

There are more that I love, but those are my favorites.

 

[moviebuff75]

1. The Twilight Zone
2. The Dick Van Dyke Show
3. I Love Lucy, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy
4. The Brady Bunch (although the vacation episodes are missing the cast boxes before the tags, and one episode is missing 20 secs. of footage.) Still, glad to have my favorite show basically uncut and with the original and rare Paramount closing logos...not often used anymore.

 

[Radioman970]

Red Dwarf. Tremendous releases, each one. The extras are staggering, along with extremely entertaining commentary from the cast. My most fav TV on DVD releases that I have.
Trek TOS. The blu release is phenom.
Dark Shadows. worth every single penny.
ARK II. Really liked the packaging on that (look inside the box! )... not to mention thinking it was a show that would never make it to home video release. So happy with it. One of those I needed to pick up a backup for since my box is squashed a little.
Various cartoon releases from BCI. Dungeons & Dragons, Heman, etc. Those were amazing. I did have sync issues with D&D and never exchanged. But I got a MC version and it's corrected. I think I just got a bad set.
TZ. I only have the DVDs, but those (along with Gilligan) schooled me on how well old shows can look on DVD.
Many many more... happy with my TV collection.

OH! and Monty Python!!! Oh oh! How about the SNL releases?

I've had problems with the sound on Battlestar Galactica blu. Often there's over-modulation. I'd list it otherwise.
MASH box set was problematic with loose DVDs, scratched marked up... I'd list it too.

I really want to get the Red Green Complete series collection. I'll bet it's a good one too.

 

[Kevin EK]

I should have included both SNL's first five years and Monty Python, as well as Fawlty Towers. Can't do Python without Fawlty Towers. And the last iteration of Fawlty Towers on DVD has some really nice commentaries by John Cleese.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

The Wire on DVD. Breaking Bad on DVD and Blu-ray.

Deadwood on DVD and Blu-ray.

Monty Python's Flying Circus is a great choice as well.

 

[Radioman970]

Incidentally, Monty Python was the very first TV on DVD set I bought. First one i got from a individual seller. I think it was tied to yahoo... cost me $125. I've gotten that back after years and years...

Yeah, Fawlty Towers. only flaw, too few episodes! I am glad I waited on the newer set of it.

 

[jcroy]

*A tangential rant.*Maybe I'm just getting old and tired.I find that I'm having less and less of an appetite for watching dvd sets of 100+ episodes. (In recent times, I've been making my way through 8 seasons of Magnum PI and 12 seasons of the original Hawaii Five-O).I thought about picking up the revived Hawaii Five-0 season sets on blu-ray, but ended up deciding against it. As much as I like watching the weekly episodes (and sometimes reruns), I dread the prospect of watching through 100+ episodes of McGarrett and Danno on bluray. (Especially when I have seen every episode to date, once or twice already).I'm also starting to feel the same way about "Person of Interest", especially if it gets renewed for a fourth season or beyond. With around 12 million viewers a week, there's a good chance it will get renewed for a 4th season. ("Person of Interest" brings in more viewers per week than other CBS shows like CSI, Criminal Minds, Hawaii Five-0, The Mentalist, etc ... but not as many viewers as NCIS and NCIS:LA).I'm finding that I prefer watching tv shows which only last around 25-50 episodes.

 

[Radioman970]

jcroy, I'd like to recommend Dark Shadows. :p I've watched 150+ episodes and now I'll get to the other 1200+. lol

 

[Kevin EK]

I'd add that it's the easy availability of all these DVDs (and On Demand editions) of many of these shows that has triggered the "binge watching" situation we are now seeing on a regular basis.

It used to be that you had to either watch your shows as they aired (or as you taped them), or catch up with reruns much later.
Then people got DVRs, so they could just pile up the episodes and watch a bunch in one swell foop.
Around the same time, people bought the DVD season sets and began scarfing through episodes that way. Best example I can think of was the 1st season of "24". You could get into serious trouble trying to watch that DVD pack, because you'd start watching one episode at 8pm and find yourself still glued to the set some 5 hours later...

We're now at the point that the creators of "House of Cards" have pointed out that they release the complete season on one day, specifically to allow people to indulge in the bingeing.

 

[Rick Thompson]

I have complete Hawaii Five-O, Remington Steele and others, but that's because I bought them as they've come out. The only three "complete series" sets I've bought are The Fugitive, Cagney and Lacey and Law & Order, mainly because that was (and still is) the only way to get them (in Fugitive's case, with the original music). Other than the upcoming Hill Street Blues and, if they ever happen, St. Elsewhere and Lou Grant, I can't see myself buying more complete run sets. Even with Cagney and Law, I didn't or (in Law's case) haven't watched them in one binge. I'll do one season and then come back a few (or more) weeks later and do another, but no more than two episodes a night.

On a related topic, I really dislike "cardboard book" sets like Hawaii Five-O. They don't fit on a shelf, and open the way for one bit of dirt to make the disk unwatchable. Give me the way Fugitive, Cagney and Law did it. Individual seasons in their own standard DVD cases, all fitted into the box (which, by the way, I trashed). If Hill is cardboard-booked, I'll be buying standard cases and making my own covers.

 

[Tooncy]

I also have to say The Twilight Zone. I just never get tired of watching it. I have the DVD collection. Is the Blu really worth the upgrade? I rarely notice much difference between the two.

 

[TravisR]

I also have to say The Twilight Zone. I just never get tired of watching it. I have the DVD collection. Is the Blu really worth the upgrade? I rarely notice much difference between the two.

If you don't usually notice the difference between high def and standard def, I doubt you'll see it on The Twilight Zone either. That being said, I notice a big difference between the two.