Purchasing series on DVD -- is it passe?

[Lord Garth]

In 2001 when The X-Files was released on DVD in season sets, I remember thinking this was a brilliant idea. You could purchase an entire series for hundreds of dollars over the course of months instead of thousands of dollars over the course of years, and it beat setting the VCR to record a show every day until you had all the episodes, which took more commitment than simply purchasing a series however many times there were seasons, less if you thought the series jumped the shark eventually.

So, here I was purchasing all kinds of season sets for various series. What was my rationale? I couldn't go to the video store and find most of these series on DVD. I never saw Three's Company or I Dream of Jeannie at Blockbuster, for instance.

I'd watch every episode of every set. I'd plow right through them if I was really into the series. Then I'd never watch it again. Or seldom watch it again.

Now I have a ton of DVDs that I might feel like watching, and they're there if or when I feel like seeing them again... but I wish I went the Netflix sooner than 2010. I was slow to make this particular change but I'm glad I did.

Unless it's something like Mad Men where I'm going to watch it several times (Mad Men is to me now what Star Trek was 20 years ago, or Oz 10 years ago), I'm probably only going to watch it once or twice... so why purchase a series when renting it is so much more cost-effective and better in-tune with my actual viewing habits?

 

[Professor Zoom]

And with instant streaming, soon DVD will be passe.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I've never bought much on DVD, but Dexter and Lost are both series I want to own physical copies of. Streaming ain't the same.

 

[tomalak301]

I only bought shows that I really like (Star Trek in it's various forms) and Babylon 5 and Farscape. I don't go out of my way to get any show and with Streaming now, it's better and more convienent to watch the shows online. That's what I've been thinking about doing with Firefly (As a revisit) and maybe Eureka. Streaming is only going to get bigger I think and it might make Purchasing just DVD's passe.

 

[Goliath]

I re-watch almost all of the TV series that I have purchased on DVD.

For example: I re-watched The Wire for the second time, not too long ago. And I'm in the middle of re-watching The Shield.

It's rare that I purchase a series on DVD that I'm not interested in re-watching. Unfortunately, my latest purchase, Season One of Fringe, seems to be one of those cases. I bought it because it was only twenty bucks, and so far, it isn't exactly blowing my skirt up.

 

[23skidoo]

I consider buying TV shows on DVD to be exactly the same as buying a novel or a short story collection or a graphic novel. If it's something you really like, you buy it for your library to watch/read again. If you only have a passing interest, you might be better off borrowing the book from the library or buying an e-book and then erasing it.

I love buying TV shows on DVD because I've grown tired of watching shows on broadcast and having to deal with commercials and edits. Also, especially with arc-heavy shows like BSG and Fringe, I find it a lot easier to follow the story if I'm able to watch 4-5-6 episodes at a time (which I have done).

Some shows I have picked up, watched a season, then left sit for a couple years before watching more. That happened with Deadwood, for example. It's no different than buying "the Complete Sherlock Holmes" and reading a few of the books and then coming back later to finish. DVDs (or Blu-Rays as the case may be) of TV series are books. If the show happens to be arc-heavy or a "telenovel" (i.e. Fringe, BSG, DS9), then it's the equivalent of a novel (or a multi-chapter novel if you buy season by season). If it's a series that airs standalone episodes like, say, NCIS or CSI or Star Trek TOS, then it's the equivalent of a short story collection.

It's also tremendous for feeding nostalgia, which for me includes the ongoing issues of classic Doctor Who, the 1980s Max Headroom, and the long awaited issues of the original Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman.

Certainly in stores I don't see any indication of TV shows on DVD being passe. In fact I often find it easier to pick up a TV show than a new-release Blu-Ray (referencing my rant elsewhere about Blu-Ray availability at places like Wal-Mart). There is a trend in our culture against commercialism and the ownership of property, so things like temporary downloads and streaming are pushing DVD back. But it's not going to disappear. I don't have any confidence in shows like Six Million Dollar Man ever coming out in Blu-Ray, mind you. But frankly, they don't need it.

Alex

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I've certainly found endless rewatchability from my DVDs of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, The Catherine Tate Show, Doctor Who, Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, NewsRadio, Red Dwarf, Roswell, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, & Wonderfalls.

Then there are some shows that I love and own a bunch of DVDs of but just never get around to watching, like 3rd Rock from the Sun, Firefly, Frasier, Star Trek, & The Twilight Zone.

Then there are shows where I really wonder why I bothered, like Babylon 5, Crusade, Conviction, Dollhouse, Earth: Final Conflict, Millennium, Northern Exposure, Tru Calling, & The X-Files.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

I don't have any confidence in shows like Six Million Dollar Man ever coming out in Blu-Ray, mind you. But frankly, they don't need it.

It's ironic. Old shows made with old film editing techniques from the 1960s like the original Star Trek & The Twilight Zone are easy to transfer to Blu-Ray. And yet later shows from the 1970s-90s can be nearly impossible because they were edited on a faster system with less resolution. It's just one of the many ways in which I think the 1980s has aged probably the most badly of any of the decades of the 20th century.

 

[Lord Garth]

I think the '70s, '80s, and '90s all have aspects to them that have aged less-than-desirably. Yes, the '90s too.

I'm not much of a fan of '80s TV, but a lot of my favorite movies are from that decade, as are a lot of my favorite songs. I prefer the '80s to the '90s overall, and I say this as someone who graduated high school in 1998.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I don't think it's quite there yet. The one thing keeping streaming from being something really useful is the selection available, both new and old. There's just not enough of it, at least in Canada, due to the rights required in order to stream them. So, at least here, it won't replace DVDs anytime soon.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I collect baseball games on DVD, and I doubt that any of them (even the World Series) will be permanently streamed. I don't think the bandwidth is in place to stream absolutely everything. Especially in high definition.

 

[Sheep]

And with instant streaming, soon DVD will be passe.

I've never had a problem sticking any DVD in my player to watch it whenever I wanted.

My internet connection, OTOH, is another story. Coupled with bandwidth limits and I think digital distribution won't be a suitable 100% replacement any time soon.

 

[Professor Zoom]

And with instant streaming, soon DVD will be passe.

I've never had a problem sticking any DVD in my player to watch it whenever I wanted.

My internet connection, OTOH, is another story. Coupled with bandwidth limits and I think digital distribution won't be a suitable 100% replacement any time soon.

True. But I'm not talking in the short term. More like 10 years.

 

[PlainSimpleJoel]

And with instant streaming, soon DVD will be passe.

I've never had a problem sticking any DVD in my player to watch it whenever I wanted.

Same here. Lately I've been watching season 1 of Babylon 5, as hired it (and others) from my local library. There are some shows I want to collect, but I can wait until cheaper prices and when I feel the time is right.

 

[milo bloom]

Some streaming and some DVD. We have Netflix instant streaming, and it's great for shows like 30 Rock that we love, but we don't see getting that many re-watches. But I have all of TOS and TNG on DVD because that's going to get rewatched for years to come.

 

[Warp Coil]

I still love to own DVDs. Streaming is a nice supplement. It's a way to try out new shows, or to get some enjoyment out of a decent (if not spectacular) series that you liked, but maybe not enough to fork out the cash to own. I own quite a few DVD series box sets and have no regrets. One advantage that physical media has over digital and streaming media is the ability to take it with you and share it with others. I take DVDs to friends' houses all the time, or let others borrow them to try them out.

For example, I am currently re-watching Dexter with some friends who have never seen it before. I own the DVDs and can just go over their house to watch it. Sure, they could join Netflix and stream seasons 1-2 but they'd have to pay for the service and then watch it on their computer (they don't have a game system or anything that would let them stream to their TV), and it's far more enjoyable to sit back on the couch and watch it on their big LCD screen. Physical media is just more flexible in that way.

 

[Kirkman1987]

I agree that owning physical media still has value. I think you just have to wisely choose what you actually need and what is wasted money. With all the TV shows I watch, I only own a few of those series on disc. I watch those very often, and am glad to have a physical copy.

 

[John Clark]

For me, I do tend to rewatch on my lunch break, so they're worthwhile to me

 

[Spot's Meow]

I very rarely rewatch anything, movie or TV show, just like I rarely reread books. So I prefer to use Netflix for my watching needs.

 

[Sheep]

And with instant streaming, soon DVD will be passe.

I've never had a problem sticking any DVD in my player to watch it whenever I wanted.

My internet connection, OTOH, is another story. Coupled with bandwidth limits and I think digital distribution won't be a suitable 100% replacement any time soon.

True. But I'm not talking in the short term. More like 10 years.

Soon = 10 years? That's a long time in my book.

Considering how long seemingly straightforward things like the DTV transition in the U.S. took and how tech-illiterate and unwilling to learn many people are (VCRs flashing "12:00" endlessly, running an SD signal on an HDTV, and aspect ratios comes to mind), we techies assume that it's going to be as easy for non-techies to pick things up when it's simply not for a variety of reasons.