Travis McClain

Previously on DVD Talk TV on DVD* Challenge...


Ah, January. It's cold, there's very little new content in any entertainment field and most football fans have already figured out that their teams are going nowhere. Is there a better time to hibernate on the couch and gorge on TV shows?

Guidelines/Rules

• This challenge begins 12:01 AM 1 January 2013 and concludes 11:59 PM 31 January 2013.
• Eligible content is anything originally produced for television broadcast, including television series, mini-series, made-for-TV movies and specials (including, but not limited to, stand-up specials and music performances).
• Also eligible are movies that are directly part of the continuity of eligible content. If you are uncertain, please ask in the discussion thread!
• This is not a challenge pitting your final view count against anyone else's. You're fighting your own schedule and capacity for gorging on TV content. You are therefore welcome to count your viewing totals however you wish, as it will only matter to you.
• Remember also that 1 January overlaps with the Holiday Challenge, so if you've got any Holiday-themed TV content you want to squeeze in, it counts for both challenges on that day. There are also some movies that count for this challenge as well as the Academy Awards Challenge, though I'm unclear at this moment when that one starts.
• * The emphasis of this challenge should be to explore the impact that the DVD format has had on how we view TV content, but you are not restricted to the DVD format. You may watch your content on VHS, Blu-ray, over-the-air broadcast, digital download, online streaming; whatever format suits you.

Optional Checklist

Mister Peepers introduced an optional checklist into this challenge during its second season.


Now, Season Three participants, I'd like to hear from you! If you've participated in either of the previous TV on DVD* Challenges, what have you learned that you'd like to see incorporated this year to make the challenge more enjoyable for you? If you're a first-timer, what would you like to get out of this challenge?

Cardsfan111

I know I may have said this in several other discussion threads in 2012, but this is one of my favorite challenges.

No changes to suggest. I like how this one is so "easy" - knowing what qualifies, etc. I have so much unwatched content just ready to go for this one.

shadokitty

Looking forward to this challenge. I have quite a few backlogged tv series to watch. O've participated in the last two, and have no changes to suggest, I like the easy counting method.

BobO'Link

Same here. This is one of my favorites and I have *lots* of unopened content from which to choose! The hardest part about this one is deciding just *what* to watch!

Changes? Do we want to change the start/end times to be Dec. 31 sunset to Feb. 1 sunrise to match the way many other challenges are now doing for consistency (frankly - I'd like to see the others revert back to the midnight to midnight times)? Or at least make it 12AM Jan. 1st to 12AM Feb. 1st so as to get the entire month in. We're losing 2 valuable minutes with 12:01 to 11:59...

shadokitty

I may go through my series sets and tv movies just to make a list, so I can keep an eye on what I wantr to watch.

lisadoris

My goal in 2013 is to watch the entire Stargate franchise so this Challenge will get me underway. I don't have any changes to suggest MinLShaw but I'll thank you in advance for hosting this challenge.

Travis McClain

I can't remember; did we even have a counting system in 2011? My offhand recollection is that we treated it like the Criterion Challenge, where each person basically kept tally however they wanted.

Yeah, that's fine. Plenty of New Year's Eve shows and specials to consider watching. Also, the countdown is a staple of television programming and has been for decades. Seems kind of silly for the New Year's Eve specials to only "count" after 12.

Have you decided if you're going to start with the original movie? You know, because there's not enough to squeeze into 31 days as it is.

lisadoris

Yes. I'm finishing up Season 2 of The Wire right now and should finish the series before the end of December (depending on how good or bad my student's final papers are). then I'm going to watch Stargate the Movie right before the TV on DVD Challenge begins. Then it's 10 seasons of SG-1, 5 seasons of Atlantis and 2 seasons of Universe (which is the only one of the series I never watched). Let's see how many episodes I can get through in 31 days!

shadokitty

Are you also going to watch the animated Stargate Series? I forget the name, and don't forget the Continuum movie. I have season 1 of SG 1 so might watch it at some point in the challenge.

I also started working on my list of what to watch as I will probably randomize my list to just make it easier to choose. Finished the first binder and found 12 series and tv movies.

BobO'Link

I have all my TV series in a spreadsheet showing which seasons I own and which have been watched. I have so many unopened sets that are double and triple layered in cabinets and on shelves it's easier to look at the list than to start moving everything around to get ideas. Of course there's the inevitable "I found what to watch and now have to actually find the set" search...

shadokitty

I'm the same way. Sometimes I forget to put a disc back in the DVD case, or at times, whole dvd cases with 2 discs in it will go missing, so I have most of a serties but not the whole series. Missing one dvd case from Land of the Giants, and 2 DVD cases from Lost In Space S1

Trevor

Three plus weeks to come up with a plan. I'd love to get through the entire series Lost, but I already started season 1 with Jen a couple months ago and she can't watch stuff at my pace. Maybe I can convince her that she didn't like it and she'll let me finish on my own.

mrcellophane

I'm glad I'm not the only one with mounds of unwatched television box sets. I need to dig into all the stuff I got during the Black Friday extravaganza. This is going to take a little planning! 2013 may be the year to finally watch all of those $3 box sets I got from Big Lots three years ago. Thundercats and Lois & Clark, ho!

Darth Maher

My list will most likely consist primarily of stuff on my DVR.

If time permits, I'd like to catch up on series I have never seen or only seen a handful of episodes of (Doctor Who, Star Trek, Firefly, Lost, Twin Peaks, etc...)

Ash Ketchum

As usual, I have tons of anime series to watch, including a whole newly-purchased line of Japanese-only 90-minute compilations of series adaptations of classic works of western literature (Heidi, Tom Sawyer, Pollyanna, Swiss Family Robinson, etc.) under the umbrella title, World Masterpiece Theater.

But I also have box sets of: Dragnet, The Untouchables, Wanted Dead or Alive, Bonanza, and Police Story, among others. Plus a bunch of western shows taped off of the Western Channel.

And Japanese live action shows like Zatoichi, Lone Wolf and Cub, Shadow Warriors, Iron King, Super Robot Red Baron, Ultraman, and the various sentai shows that inspired Power Rangers.

Can we devote a whole year to this challenge?

Also, last year each entry had to be at least an hour: one 60-minute show or two half-hour episodes.

lisadoris

There's an animated series too? I had no idea. I'll track it down and watch it too and yes, I have Continuum and Arc of Truth on the viewing list too.

Cardsfan111

I hear ya. If we did, I'm certain I'd still have some unwatched stuff for next January's official challenge.

I always liked that method of counting -- I view it as hours of television watched.

davidh777

I think it's this one

mrcellophane

All this talk about Stargate SG-1 makes me want to rewatch it (and watch Atlantis). I just finished the last season of Star Trek: TNG last week so I'm a bit trepidatious about diving into another sci-fi show.

LJG765

I have so many unwatched tv sets, I don't know where I'm going to start! I do know, I've started part of a Facts of Life season, I have one more season of Kids in the Hall, I have the first two seasons of Scarecrow and Mrs. King unopened...plus tons more that I can't remember...oh where or where to start!

EdTheRipper

I've been looking forward to this one. So many unwatched shows to work through. And like a few others have said, I like the easy counting method. I will always abide by whatever guidelines are set in place, but sometimes it is a pain in the ass keeping track of .25s and .75s. 1 episode, 1 entry. Works for me.

gp1086

I'm about 4 episodes behind on American Horror Story right now, and I need to watch the 2011 season of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, plus the 2012 season I have on DVR. This should cover me.

Trevor

Watch TV episodes within 4 years of their airing?!

Travis McClain

Lisa - your Stargate project sounds crazy ambitious! I can understand if you'd rather spend the two hours on the movie outside the time period of the challenge so that you can devote those two hours to episodic content, but just for the sake of clarity for anyone else who may be contemplating that show, the movie itself is eligible for our challenge since it's a direct part of the TV continuity.

I upgraded to the newest DVD Profiler...and then it refused to open. I tried everything, eventually having to completely uninstall and reinstall the program. I still have the backup database file but because I've been using the free version, they won't restore more than 50 items!

Frustrated, I just created a Google Docs spreadsheet of my library. I reconstructed some of the purchase info, but unless I ever pay Invelos for the full version of DVD Profiler, most of that information is now lost to me.

(Side note: I'm glad I've made so many remarks in posts on this forum about my buying habits so I could at least establish when I bought some things, if not where and for what price.)

I presently have one sheet for DVDs and another sheet for Blu-ray Discs. I'm thinking about creating another sheet of TV content to track which episodes I have of which series, on which discs, etc.

I'm completely in love with using Letterboxd for my reviews of movies, and I wish there was a TV counterpart to that. I haven't yet figured out just how I'm going to chronicle my thoughts on what I watch. Maybe I'll review them on my personal blog, which was my default place for such things before Letterboxd.

Incidentally, because 2012 marked the 20th anniversary of Batman: The Animated Series, I've begun rewatching that series on DVD. I just finished Volume One earlier this morning and reviewed that collection here in case anyone wants to warm up for the challenge with some B:TAS talk.

Cardsfan111

My TV on DVD collection is set up the same way. It is set up alphabetically so I can find anything with some ease, but it would be a challenge to get to it at times.

I purchased DVD Profiler many years ago. It was money well spent. I balked at paying for the program at first, partly because I thought that money could be better spent on DVDs and it was also tough because of using the free DVD Spot program for some time. I finally rationalized that it was similar to spending money on shelving, etc. It's been invaluable in keeping tabs on everything I own, so I recommend it.

This may not be exactly what you're referring to, but I use the monthly unwatched threads to keep track of where I'm at in any particular season. I could "note" this info in DVD Profiler, but it's easier to update on here and mark off the set as being watched in Profiler when I've completed it.