picking up a new tv show feels like a gamble these days. i'm thinking of dropping cable and tivo and just using netflix to watch tv series. i don't like being part of the networks' shotgun approach. if a show is successful then the dvd set will come out a few months after the season ends.

anyone feel the same?

No.

I'm doing that in a lot of cases. I still watch some TV live (any HBO series, The Office).

I've done exactly this with Lost, The Shield, Arrested Development.

I hate commercials. Like fossil fuels they've served their purpose but we as a society shoulbe be able to move beyond them but can't because the $$'s and entrenchment related to them.

I do this, except for Jericho and House...and I buy the House DVDs anyway, and will buy Jericho's anyway.

Actually, I'm in the same boat. I'll probably bring my box to the local office and tell them to cancel my service.

The problem is that I'm actively watching Heroes and Battlestar Galactica right now and they're on their midseason breaks. I know both shows are offered on iTunes if I want to go the legitimate route...

Unless it's a TV show that I'm really interested in from the moment I first hear about it (Lost, Studio 60 etc.) I've found that rather than investing my time right away only to be disappointed when it gets cancelled after a month or two later, I usually wait til the end of the first season, gauge where the show is headed, and if it looks like a winner I'll catch up with the series through summer re-runs.

Sometimes if the show looks to be a winner ealier in the season I'll try to catch up with re-runs while the first season is still underway.

I basically did this a year or two ago after Angel went off the air and I realized I didn't have any regular TV shows I watched except NFL. I kept cable for that, cable news channels and flipping around once in a while. But now I'm back to watching several shows as they air because I got hooked on them via DVD. This happened with Veronica Mars, House, Stargate Atlantis (and then SG-1), My Name is Earl, Deadwood, Scrubs, The 4400, and, starting next month, 24. And for the first time in a few seasons I started watching a new show at it's debut with Heroes.

No.

- I have a Tivo (well, two actually)
- I get most of my shows in HD
- I'd want satellite/cable for sports anyways
- The chances of most of my shows not being spoiled for me before I see the DVDs would be very slim
- I don't want my viewing to be dependent on DVD release schedules, especially since some shows that are releasing on DVD are WAY behind (for example, Simpsons)

No.

Reason: Sports.

I've thought about this quite a bit and I'd like to since I get my locals clearly via antenna, but my wife needs her shows.

I did for about a year or so. My old TV was just a moniter and I didn't have cable or rabbit ears so all I could do was watch DVDs. I started buying TV show Boxsets and everything worked out fine.

I eventually bought a TV and went back to normal viewing.

Yeah, and topical shows like news (or satire of news such as The Daily Show), talk shows, etc.

I personally would. I don't care about sports and I get news online. The only 'new' show I watch is the Simpsons, and I'm sure I could watch it via other venues. I like having access to the HD channels, and I originally got a good deal on the megapackage, so I watched some HBO/SHO shows. We record a bunh of shows for my boy, but he doesn't watch much tv and we could always pick up a few dvd sets. My wife, however, watches Food Network and TLC and Heroes, so I don't think she'd like to cancel.

I watch a lot of my shows both ways... essentially the shows I watch on broadcast are my apsolute favorites and the ones that fit my schedule whereas the ones I watch on DVD are the ones that don't fit my schedules or for soem reason or another I missed the premier seasons...