I'm still watching TV shows. Thanks to my discovery of classic TV shows in color on YouTube, I'm planning a blog entry on color TV shows in the 1950s, so I've been watching more DVD episodes of "Cisco Kid," "Adventures of Superman" and "My Friend Flicka."

Thanks for running the challenge, Travis. Also, thanks to GoldenWheels and Hamilton Books for the prize pack! I will try to save them for next year's TV challenge or another challenge they might qualify for.

I have no objection to web series since I actually included one in my list this year: Alpha House is a web series. Oops on my part of assuming it counted already!

i didn't take the chance to join the challenge mainly because i was too lazy to post my list but i did spend the larger part of January discovering some good TV that i was watching for the 1st time. these include Twin Peaks (S1 & S2), the Fire Walk with Me movie, Firefly (absolutely awesome!) and the Serenity movie. i can now understand what all the Firefly fans are raving about

i love the new Battlestar Galactica so I started on Caprica last week - what i've seen so far has been really good.

That's great! I've had good luck with my last few giveaways, too. The one good thing about having fewer participants seems to be we've gotten rid of the people who were only sort of into the challenges, and we're left with actual participants (or at least those who are into the challenges enough to read the discussion thread now and then).
Web series seem okay, but I'd be against serials. What's the next step, open it up to film series like Blondie, Tarzan, Charlie Chan, etc.?

Thanks for hosting, Travis! And to Hamilton Books for donating prizes! And to the winners!

As for your question, Travis, I'd say I'd be OK with web series as long it is something like, "Orange is the New Black." Episodic rather than just one or two videos like "Dr. Horrible."

Thanks for a great challenge, Travis! Had a wonderful time binge-watching some good television. I was able to revisit old favorites and introduce myself to new shows. Congratulations to all the winners!

I would wholeheartedly back the inclusion of web series. The series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries did win an Emmy and sites like imdb often classify web series as television so the lines are blurring (though I'm not one of those people who insist that web content is the new TV). Like, LJG765, I would say that to count, the series would have to be formatted like a television show: episodic and with actual production values and an ongoing narrative. That may get me motivated to catch up with H+ and Nuka Break.

I am home sick right now guys but am gonna do my best to get the prizes (sans bio hazard contamination, lol) in the mail by the end of the week. Congrats!

There's really no need for the inclusion of movie serials to be a slippery slope to such franchises any more than our allowance for in-continuity movies that connect with a TV series has allowed for them.

One argument I would put forth in favor of serials - and mind you, I'm merely brainstorming here - is that they pass the following sniff test:

Their weekly episodes were called "chapters", but the concept is the same. Clearly, they had both actual production values and an ongoing narrative, as well.

The fact that they were intended to be viewed in theaters is a holdup for me, though I know that the way we consume content (god, I hate that phrase) is continually evolving. Well, that and the fact that I already have too much TV to fit into a month.

How many older TV series had ongoing narratives? Soap operas are the only ones I can think of. Then there are anthology shows which didn't even have the same characters from week to week - at least a movie series like Blondie had the same actors in each film.

Okay, I thought of one: Lucy got pregnant and had a son who became a character on the show. But, I'll be darned, so did Blondie in the Blondie film series.

Thanks Travis for hosting, and GoldenWheels for the prize pack! I didn't top my best numbers this year, but ended up watching more then I thought I'd have a chance to.

Yes, serials are episodic in nature *but* they were initially created for theaters. Then again, they are tailor made for TV *because* of the way they were created - I saw many of them on TV first. However, if you include them you might as well include Our Gang/Little Rascals, Three Stooges, and Looney Tunes (as well as other studio cartoons) as they were all packaged for TV broadcast and lend themselves well to the medium. As much as I'd like to include such material it doesn't truly fit *unless* you watch it packaged in a TV program.

So... I vote *no* on including serials.

As far as "webisodes" - *if* they are extensions/supliments/continuations to a broadcast series then it's OK. If they were created solely for the web then no.

I first experienced serials and movie shorts in the same way you did--on TV. I would argue that if you found a TV show that featured them, that would be eligible, in the way that "Matinee at the Bijou," once upon a time, showcased serial chapters, cartoons, shorts and B-movies in a 90-minute package. I remember once including TNT's "Wacky World of Shorts" as an entry in the TV on DVD challenge because it was a regular series that packaged studio cartoons and live-action shorts like "Our Gang." But outside of that, it's not TV and shouldn't be eligible.

Going back to my slippery slope example of the Blondie films; they too were repackaged for TV syndication at some point (given a new opening credit sequence along with a catchy sitcom-style theme song). That's the way I've seen many of them (and may be the only copies which still exist for some).

There was a similar DVDTalk discussion about whether House of Cards, Arrested Development season 4, Orange Is the New Black, etc. should live in the TV forum or in the streaming forum. The eventual decision (as far as these things ever get settled) was that the content was essentially TV, just that the delivery system was different. My own preference would be to abide by the decision that was already debated and settled, but that's just me.

Early Color TV Shows: The 1950s is now up on my blog:

http://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/

Just got my net back full time, so I'd like to thank Travis for running a great challenge. Like others I'd say web series are ok, but I'm on the fence about serials.

Sounds reasonable.

Given that this is one of the couple of challenges (Oscars, Criterion) where it's flat-out obvious what counts, I would agree that following that "common sense" thread says that a TV show is a TV show wherever it begins life, and a cinema presentation is likewise.

I only ever saw Tom and Jerry on TV. Then again, there's dozens of films I only ever saw on TV - but it seems clear that neither counts. So "NO" to serials.

Whether a series is created by NBC, ABC, PBS, BBC, NetFlix, Hulu or Amazon is going to wind up being a case of splitting hairs very soon since several are co-productions and the creators intermingle. House of Cards and Alpha House are TV.

The real sticking point might be the production values suggestion: Acorn Antiques (and the soaps it spoofs) counts, and given that MST3K is also clearly TV, it's no great leap to suggest that any ongoing serialised 'show' might count, whether it's someone's YouTube talking head or something more polished like the fan-made Star Trek continuations.

That will be an interesting debate!

I got my prizes the other day, thanks again

I got mine the other day as well. Thanks!

Since Feb. 1, I've watched 31 more TV episodes, from "The Cisco Kid" and "The Gene Autry Show" to "Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot" and the latest "Pokemon."

Tomorrow (Sat. Feb. 15) gives us the premiere of the newest Power Rangers season, "Power Rangers Super Megaforce." The gimmick here is that each Power Ranger can now turn into any past Power Ranger (including ones from the Japanese seasons made long before "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" premiered).

I too am still watching tv shows, mostly rewatching my nature documentaries, but other shows as well.

I took a brief detour into Oscar territory but have mostly watched TV. Almost finished Leave it to Beaver S2 and started The Beverly Hillbillies S1. I ordered a copy of VEI's Arthur C Clarke Collection (which has ACC's Mysterious World, Mysterious Universe, and World of Strange Powers) which is scheduled for delivery today and my copy of Newhart S2 should arrive tomorrow. I may open the collection this evening but I *will* be watching Newhart when it arrives!

A late thanks to Travis for running this contest. I'm still trying to finish off Murder, She Wrote. I'm in the seventh season already. I have couple of complete sets that I bought recently that I'll hold off for next year's challenge like Get Smart.