How do you watch? (1 Viewer)

[Anthony_J]

Just a random thought brought on by the release of the "Hunter" TV series on DVD.

My DVD habits have declined drastically over the past year with the arrival of some significantly increased living expenses. Since I haven't been buying lately (save for a few films I really want to own), my interest in DVD buying has wained and I've been staring at my collection of unwatched DVDs collecting dust and thinking about the thousands of dollars that went into the collection.

My question - do any of you regret purchases made in the past? Especially the movies that you weren't a fan of but bought because the DVD package was supposed to be of benchmark quality or "Complete Series" collections of TV series.

Even when I was avidly purchasing, I never found the time to watch most of these discs. Save for series like "24" where it doesn't work to watch episodes individually or "Chappelle's Show" bought for individual sketches, I just don't have the desire to watch 12 hours of a single TV show, or to rewatch movie I wasn't that interested in to begin with (X-Men and X-2 come to mind).

I find this really true with older TV shows I bought because I was a huge fan when growing up (Battlestar Galactica, Good Times, The Simpsons). The shows are never as good as I remember them being and even the kitsch and/or nostalgia aspect don't seem to be there. Probably best (for me) to let memories remain memories.

How do you watch? Do any of you put the discs mentioned above to good use or are your experiences similar to mine? More importantly, if the latter, have you changed your buying habits?

 

[Citizen87645]

Well, I'd say I'm more selective now, out of the need for space and money. Of course this prevents a good portion of buyer's remorse (to see my evaluation "system" check my link to my Viewing Log in my sig). But anyone who is into collecting anything should be okay with having things sitting on the shelf, collecting dust. That's the nature of the hobby! It's just that with DVD (and LD and VHS before it) there's a sense of obligation to watch the collection. Not to say a purchase shouldn't be viewed at some point and if you don't have any interest to even watch a show eventually, I'd say get rid of it, spend the money on something you WILL watch. For me what seems to work (and which I'm just now getting back to) is actually previewing a release before a purchase to ensure my money follows my level of interest.

 

[Al.Anderson]

I understand the sentiment; though I'm not as far down that road. At only about the 200 disk point I definitely came to the conclusion that I couldn't keep buying disks at this rate, so now I only buy my absolute favorites - and from that point on movies I had seen and loved.

I never went in for too many of the TV sets: Honeymooners, Star Trek, Kung Fu, Twilight Zone, Simpsons, and Columbo. (And West Wing, Smallville, the Gilmours girls, and Sailor Moon for my wife and daughter). While I don't regret the purchases, I did come to the comclusion that the sets were going to get too large if I kept it up; so now I'm not going to get any multi-season sets until HD comes out.

And yes, I do sometimes stare at the shelfs and dollar signs start spinning in the back of my head. In those cases I quickly hit play.

 

[Citizen87645]

Yeah, it gets kind of scary when sites like DVDSpot provide a retail value of your collection. Of course 99.9% of the time I don't pay full price for a release, so it's much less. I've decided not to keep track of how much I've actually paid for insurance purposes.

 

[george kaplan]

The question isn't "how do I watch?", it's "how do I buy?" I never make blind purchases, nor purchase anything that I don't know for a fact that I'd want to watch many times in the future, whether a film or a tv show. So, of the over 1000 dvds I've bought, I don't regret any of them one bit.

 

[JoshuaB.]

Since most of the TV shows I enjoy seem to be the ones that become cancelled quickly, I tend to watch those sets in their entirety (though not in a single sitting). I can't watch only one episode of Freaks and Geeks or Firefly like I can for any of the Star Treks or Buffy. I try not to buy too many TV shows on DVD because I'm still trying to collect so many of my favorite films on DVD (and films are more beloved to me than TV shows).

I don't purchase TV shows I've never seen before (especially shows that ran for more than one season), so I rent them and enjoy them that way; I've rented and enjoyed 24, The Shield, Buck Rogers and many others (and it's easy on the wallet)--which helps because I rarely watch TV nowadays.

I may not watch every TV set repeatedly, but I'm happy I have entire series with uncut episodes, excellent A/V quality and not having to rely on regional syndication.

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I refined my collection not all that long ago weeding out some of the stuff I wished I hadn't bought and now I am more selective in my purchases.

Its harder for me in the sense that I have to be in the right mood for certain kinds of viewing, and because of my nature I am more often then not in the mood to laugh so some of the dramatic kind of gets shoved aside more than it probably should.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I agree with George. I try to only buy things I'll want to watch again and again. Otherwise, there's no point in buying and it's a waste of time, money and space. Of course there comes a time where something you want today will no longer have any value for you tomorrow - and then you unload it.

At 43 I've come to the stunning realization that I cannot possibly watch all the movies and TV shows in my collection over and over, even if I live to be 80 - and this is not even counting all the NEW acquisitions I'm buying every week! So you have to become more selective.

I didn't buy these discs to let them collect dust on my shelves. Some collectors try to rationalize: "well, that's the whole thrill of collecting - you know it's there WHEN you want to watch it!" -- but the absolute fact is, if you have 1000 movies you will NEVER, EVER get the "urge" to see each one of them at given points throughout your life. Oh, maybe your favorite 50 or so, but no way do you get the regular urge to see ALL OF IT.

That's why I do a "Track the Films You Watch" guide each year (as in the MOVIES section), to make a conscious effort to see more of what I own, as well as things I've never seen at all. My film friends say I make it "too much like a job," but I'd say it's a labor of love, and yes indeed, when you have a collection as huge as most of us here, it requires a little coaxing. But I've always found this very worthwhile and productive. Get moving!

As for TV shows, I'm acquiring more and more and I find that I enjoy watching either one half hour sitcom episode per evening, or - in the case of certain longer eps like STAR TREK - maybe one per week (pick a convenient night and stick to it). You'll find you get all the episodes watched, without overkill, and you look forward to them!

 

[Mark Lx]

I just rent DVD movies, no matter how good they are. You have to draw the line somewhere. I buy music stuff, like Jazz or Beatles Anthology (Music/Documantary DVDs are the most rewatchable in my opinion) and TV shows on DVD, where you get better value in terms of hours. The list of shows I'd buy is limited though, and not growing. I don't watch TV anymore. Almost everything I'm interested in has been released, announced, or hinted at. So that's the good news. The last year's been big for me. As my TV purchases slow, I may buy more films. We might be looking at a new format by then.

I only buy Season 2 of nostalgic favorites, if I genuinely enjoyed rewatching then, which is usually the case. I don't care about completion.
As far as how I watch, I'll watch an episode or 2 a night (if I'm lucky) and then switch to another set(unless there is strong continuity). It takes me almost a year to watch TV sets now, which is nice.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

The best thing that ever happened to get me to slow down with buying more than I can watch was to start writing reviews for the HTF. I'm too busy with Sony screeners to watch anything else!

I do pick up the occasional music disc, though. The new Iron Maiden: The Early Years kicks major, major ass!

 

[Ruz-El]

Out of my 520 title dvd collection, I only gotten rid of about 10 titles: all double dips.

For TV, I mostly buy the shows that I always wanted to own, but never collected on VHS (Twilight Zone, South Park, Spiderman 67 etc.) or shows that I loved that I collected off broadcast TV, and upgrading (Homicide, SCTV, and many others that I can't wait to get if they ever get announced). If I buy shows that I never had, and don't care for them after the first 2 seasons, I stop buying remaining seasons (The Simpsons and Futurama fit into this catagory, which surprised the hell out of me!). If I like it, I typically buy them complete, because I'm a geek and have to own everything. I blind buy tv, I bought Family Guy Vol 1 based on word of mouth, loved it and well buy volume 2 if I ever find it on a deal. I bought 24 season one because it was $20, but I'm yet to watch it because I'm not that interested in it. I bought Arrested Developement because I saw a couple episodes, loved it, and decided to skip watching anymore on TV and get the DVD release if/when it came out. Many more to list. I don't regret any of them, because by owning them, I can watch them anytime I want. I got all of them on deals, so the hit to the wallet isn't as much as people would think. I also don;t plan on upgrading these to HD, as they already look better than broadcast.

I watch TV on DVD at night, usually an hour drama followed buy cartoon shorts or 30 min episodes until I'm getting the noddy head, right before bed. Unless I get hooked, in which I'll skip watching feature movies and go on a 5 hour tv jag.

 

[Aaron Silverman]

"Gooten???"

 

[Ruz-El]

Aaron, don't you know that spell check is for wimps?:b

I think I've corrected it.

 

[george kaplan]

Ah, that explains our differences. I don't watch dvds I'm in the mood for, I watch the ones I haven't seen in the longest time (i.e., I cycle through them). Since they're all rewatchable, I'm always up for whatever is next in the cycle, and I'll easily watch all of the dvds many, many times in the years to come.

 

[Kieran Brown]

I myself found myself staring at my dvd collection the other day thinking how on earth am I going to watch all these dvds before I die (I waited for some music score to start playing but it never did, LOL) !
I'm 21 so I guess I do have some time to watch the DVDs, but with work and going to the movies or just hanging out with mates and then there's also the watching of new US shows that are making their debut on Australian television sometime this February I just let them sit there. Although over our summer there's been crap all, there's been some good shows like Arrested Development, Summerland, One Tree Hill, Scrubs, Nip/Tuck, The Amazing Race Season 5, etc. But the viewing I get to watch all year long gets a bit bigger; when the networks don't show repeats in between new episodes that is!! I'm looking forward to Desperate Housewives, Lost, CSI:NY, The Amazing Race Season 6, plus all the others returning like CSI, CSI:Miami, Cold Case, Without A Trace, Las Vegas, 24, etc.

And I have no room! I have all my movies on a shelf 3 shelves, other movie DVDs won't fit on the shelf so they're just stacked as I wouldn't fit too many of the boxsets on the shelves plus it's a lot easier to stack boxsets than movie dvds. And so my tv show DVDs are in my wardrobe, stacked on one another. I've watched 5 out of 36 boxsets. And I still have more I want to buy, another 14 in fact, and that's only between 22nd October 2004 and 10th March 2005, it's going to get longer and longer, well I hope Australia gets a good heap of tv show DVDs released this year (Bring out The Dead Zone *wink wink* !!) and a couple of tv shows that were released ages ago that I haven't bought yet.

I guess I watch my DVDs with what I feel like, although say I have started watching a season of a show and then the second season comes out while I'm watching the first season etc I will continue that tv show till I finish the second season. etc.

So yeah, I really can't believe it, but I love owning them and not having watched them isn't too saddening cause all of the shows I watched on TV. Though a lot of people, mainly family, think I should've just watched them on TV and not bought them. But I don't care, I love TV shows and I love DVD so why not combine the 2, I've never thought of it as a hobby, but I guess it is, I'm always looking up DVD websites to find out when something is coming out and if it contains special features, I look at tvshowsondvd every day just to see how lucky the US gets for releases. And they may have a bit of dust on them but that's it, even though they're stacked on each other I keep them in good condition as they're standing perfectly fine, especially after the money spent on them!

I'll always be buying TV Shows on DVD. I'll never stop. And if I die before watching them all then that's ok too as there's nothing in my collection I don't like.