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Is Anyone Else Skittish About Buying TV Shows Before They've Finished Their Run?

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Is Anyone Else Skittish About Buying TV Shows Before They've Finished Their Run?

Old 11-28-06, 07:17 AM
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Is Anyone Else Skittish About Buying TV Shows Before They've Finished Their Run?

I just couldn't resist picking up THE OFFICE: Season One for $8.99 on Black Friday, and it's been a riot (I never saw these episodes; I got into the show halfway through Season Two), but I can't help but have mixed feelings about this "investment". I'm an in-for-a-penny-in-for-a-pound kind of guy with most of my collection (but I will never, ever own JAWS 3 or 4, dammit), so I'm going to have to keep buying these OFFICE sets as they come out, but I can't help but wonder--what if the show creatively tanks? History is full of promising, even great shows, that completely lost their way somewhere along the path and no one was brave enough to pull the plug before it was too late (ROSEANNE, WILL & GRACE and KING OF QUEENS come immediately to mind; hell, even the last two seasons of THE X-FILES, while not horrible, scream "did we really need this?"). THE OFFICE is the best thing on the air today, but it doesn't strike me as having any more than five years' worth of great material before the bones of the skeleton start to show. What if they run it into the ground and kill the golden goose? Does anyone else share my trepidation at investing in an entire TV show until you know it's quality work from the first episode to the last?
Old 11-28-06, 07:29 AM
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Even if the show tanks, you still have comedy gold in the dvds you've already purchased.

Additionally, I've used dvd sets as a way to catch up to shows that I missed the first season of when it aired. I didn't want to accept the idea that Prison Break was very good, but I kept hearing great things about it. So, over the summer I picked up season 1 on dvd, and fell in love with it. Now, I watch it every week. Same goes for 24 (although I missed the first 3 seasons, and caught them all on dvd...).

Just a thought...
Old 11-28-06, 07:49 AM
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For sitcoms and comedies, I don't mind not owning all of the seasons because most of the episodes are usually self-contained anyway (except maybe The Office and Arrested Development). So owning just the best seasons won't cause much of a gap in your collection.

Now for serialized TV dramas, I can sympathize because if the last seasons are clunkers, then the reputation of the previous seasons and possibly the entire series could be tainted (i.e. The X-Files).
Old 11-28-06, 07:56 AM
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Originally Posted by Simpson Purist
Now for serialized TV dramas, I can sympathize because if the last seasons are clunkers, then the reputation of the previous seasons and possibly the entire series could be tainted (i.e. The X-Files).
I don't buy this argument for a bit. It is thrown around quite often too. The final two seasons of the X-files have NO bearing on my enjoyment of the first 5 or so seasons. Nothing is tainted.

As for the original question, those of us without OCD don't have to have every season just to have them on a shelf.
Old 11-28-06, 08:03 AM
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The only thing I usually get skittish about is "investing" in TV DVDs is whether or not they will eventually put everything out on DVD.
Old 11-28-06, 08:26 AM
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Sometimes I wonder about this but I never pay full price for TV on DVD. I also waited on Prison Break and when it was 22.99 at CC recently I snagged it. We watched the entire season in a week we were so hooked. Now we've downloaded season 2 from Itunes and are watching it there to catch up before it starts back up in a month or so.

Even if it goes south I can also pop in season 1 and get some enjoyment out of it.

The thing that aggrivates me is when they put of shows that don' t have conclusions. I like closure.

Some that come to mind are: Point Pleasant, Surface, and Invasion.

All of these shows I was into when they were one but they were pulled. They now are charging $50 for unfinsihed seasons.

I enjoyed the shows and would probably pick the up for around $10.00 but no way I"m paying that.
Old 11-28-06, 08:52 AM
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You can just do what I do - buy the 1st seven seasons of the X-Files and pretend that the show ended when

Spoiler:
Mulder was abducted in the season 7 finale. I just pretend the last two seasons never happened... Mulder was in 1/2 the episodes in Season 8 and virtually non-existant in season 9; Scully was relegated to essentially cameo appearances in the last season; gone was the alien/government conspiracy, only to be replaced with a conspiracy involving some sort of superhuman project; the T-1000 sucked


Sorry for the rant.

Last edited by lin; 11-28-06 at 09:03 AM. Reason: Insert Spoiler Tag
Old 11-28-06, 08:54 AM
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I've decided in most cases to wait until it's all out on DVD, and the studio does the inevitable double-dip in the form of "the complete series" - most notably at a lesser price point and often with exclusive extras (Buffy, MASH, Alias, Friends, The Star Trek series etc etc)
Old 11-28-06, 08:55 AM
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Hey lin welcome to DVDtalk Take some time to look around and see what features are available, in particular you might be interested in the spoiler tag. If you put text between [_spoiler_] [_/spoiler_] w/o the _ you get
Spoiler:
something like this
.
Old 11-28-06, 09:04 AM
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Nemein -

Wow, that was a lot easier than typing "spolier alert" over and over again. Thanks for the info!
Old 11-28-06, 09:30 AM
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The quality issues isn't what's making me think twice about TV shows anymore since I don't do any blind buys. Except for a couple shows (Alias, Gilmore Girls, West Wing), I don't buy the DVDs until the show has finished its run so I know what I'm getting into. Gilmore Girls is the only one of the three that I'm rethinking because the arc of the characters just no longer makes sense to me. It's hard to explain but I think watching the earlier seasons makes it harder for me to watch the later ones.

At this point I'm hesitant to buy shows because of the new trend of studios releasing the individual seasons and then releasing a complete set. In the future I might just wait until the entire show is available before I invest in the individual seasons (as long as it's a show I'm sure the studio won't bail out on mid-release).

Last edited by lisadoris; 11-28-06 at 09:34 AM.
Old 11-28-06, 09:34 AM
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Originally Posted by nemein
The only thing I usually get skittish about is "investing" in TV DVDs is whether or not they will eventually put everything out on DVD.
Old 11-28-06, 09:42 AM
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Originally Posted by nemein
The only thing I usually get skittish about is "investing" in TV DVDs is whether or not they will eventually put everything out on DVD.

I agree. I've got a few shows now where they haven't released any seasons in quite some time. Makes me wonder if they ever will.
Old 11-28-06, 09:54 AM
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I can't say I was skittish about getting Malcolm in the Middle....I just wish they would release the rest of the seasons already....
Old 11-28-06, 10:18 AM
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How does your enjoyment of what you have now become tainted if they don't put everything out, or if later seasons suck?

If you enjoy what you have now, isn't that enough?

For example, I LOVE Simpsons up to season 12, though I'm lukewarm towards the later seasons, it's not going to stop me from buying and enjoying the ones I like. Or as far as serialized shows, I dig Alias seasons 1 & 2, and felt that 3-5 were shit. I have no problem buying and enjoying the first two seasons and completely skipping the last three. And as far as shows that won't complete their dvd run, not being able to buy the later seasons of NYPD Blue is no reason to not buy and enjoy the first few seasons I already have.

I guess I just don't understand the OP's dilemma.
Old 11-28-06, 11:09 AM
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How does your enjoyment of what you have now become tainted if they don't put everything out, or if later seasons suck?
Lots of dramatic shows have season ending cliff-hangers, which are pretty useless if you don't have the concluding episode.

For example, the only seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation I'm interested in owning are 3 and 4. But Season 4 ends with the Klingon Civil War 2-parter, so I either end up with one episode I never watch, or I have to buy Season 5. But Season 5 ends with a time travel 2-parter, so I either end up ....
Old 11-28-06, 11:55 AM
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It just never ends does is Sean.

Personally, I don't like to do it because I am afraid that they will eventually come out with a complete series collection. Although, I have bought all of the South Parks as they are released.
Old 11-28-06, 12:07 PM
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Nope, I don't worry about it in the least. I'll buy the official releases of a show that interests me, but if they leave me high-and-dry and don't release the remaining seasons, then I know where to go to get the rest.
Old 11-28-06, 12:09 PM
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I look at it this way: Jaws is a great movie. The sequels are all poopy. So, the only movie I own from the series is the first.

Likewise, for television shows with good and bad seasons, I only buy the good seasons.
Old 11-28-06, 01:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Michael Corvin
I don't buy this argument for a bit. It is thrown around quite often too. The final two seasons of the X-files have NO bearing on my enjoyment of the first 5 or so seasons. Nothing is tainted.
I think the reason it's a popular example is, for many people, the "mythology" episodes used to be really cool, but as that story grew and grew, people realized that Chris Carter (et al) had no plan for where it was going, so it just ballooned into something awkward and weird; then they got rid of Mulder and *still* tried to do mythology stuff, and it became obvious that they were just stretching it out.

The thing is that while 'X-Files' was on, it seemed really cool because of the big story, but now that the big story sucked, people who still watch it only do so for the one-off episodes, which are still very good. I don't think the show has been ruined personally, because I never liked the mythology stuff all that much, but I do see how a lot of episodes are tainted because the promise that they would someday make sense (and be satisfying) remains unfulfilled.
Old 11-28-06, 02:29 PM
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Originally Posted by nemein
The only thing I usually get skittish about is "investing" in TV DVDs is whether or not they will eventually put everything out on DVD.
Or they might collect them all and release a mega UE box set with a bunch of cool extras..
Old 11-28-06, 08:53 PM
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i agree with most, but now a few of the comments above

as for me, i blindly bought the office s1 because it was so cheap, but more because i just finished watching the og bbc version. i highly recommend it and you wont have this problem because the bbc version
Spoiler:
ends after 2 seasons + 1 christmas episode

not sure if that even needed that lol

edit: ack im a numbskull! help me someone!

second edit: thanks for unnumbskulling me RKillgore!

Last edited by hindolio; 11-28-06 at 10:29 PM.
Old 11-28-06, 08:55 PM
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No. I don't feel any obligation to own complete series sets.
Old 11-28-06, 08:59 PM
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I do not own the entire series of any show. Nor do I bother owning every sequel to every movie I have. I don't think it's investing in a show, it's enjoying what you got.
Old 11-28-06, 09:04 PM
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im not skittish about it.
i think its nice to have the season come out on dvd right after it was originally broadcasted.
its like a movie.
people can catch up on there favorite show before or shortly after the next season premieres.
even if the show goes to hell (for ex. i picked up my name is earl when it came out sept.19 and i think the show will last about 5 seasons total.)
but still you have that show to watch again and again.
er is still on the air and the dvds are behind but its still nice to own the earlier seasons even if you don't like the show now.
sure they might release everything a million times but at least you own it now.

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