Why no "Play All" button on all TV shows?
 

One of my biggest gripes with a TV series, or mini-series, is no "play all" option! I recently purchased "The Simpsons" Season 2 and ther NO "play all" button, and when it was in the credits, and I hit the "next" button and it when to the menu.....of that episode. The same is true with "Futurama"and "24". Why won't Fox and other companies, just simply add a "Play ALL" button for fans that want to watch the episodes straight through on the disc? Is anything being done about this for future releases?

if I'm not mistaken there are TV shows that have the 'play all' option. I know Alias: Seasons 1-3 have the option.

alf season one didn't have it...and it didn't have the entire episode either...alf dvd's suck

24 definetly needs one!

The ones I have do have a play all option, I'm surprised that the simpsons doesn't have them

The Shield doesn't have a PLAY ALL option, and I've found it very annoying.

Arrested Development: Season 1 has a play all function. This DVD is also produced by fox, so who knows why some do and some dont.

Fox does indeed do the Play all feature. Simpsons has it and so does Arrested Development. Haven't you asked this question before?

Family Guy has a "Play All" button...not sure why Fox didn't bother to do it for The Simpsons.

-JP

I remember watching The Simpsons with a play all option, I don't remember which seasons they were though.

I read on the digitalbits that the first few seasons of MASH and Friends didn't have but now they do

The Simpsons and MASH (to name two) added "Play All" in later season sets. Maybe they actually listened to consumer complaints (mine among them).

RichC

for the simpsons, its season 3 and up that have a play all (for season 4 and 5, go to the bottom of the screen where it says, play all with or without commentary)

Thanks everybody. Any word on whether Fox will do this for 24 Season 4?

I find that I never actually use the play all. I get impatient during the credits, and instead of fast forward, I just hit menu and go the next episode from there.

tru calling(also fox) has "play all"

With most discs you can chapter skip during "play all." Hit advance during the credits and you're at the start of the next episode with one click.

RichC

Yup and I agree. Used the 'play all' option quite a few times. :up:

I personally don't see the need for it. I never use it, whenever that option is there. I like to select each episode individually, because most of the time each episode has its own unique menu screen, and other options, and I like that.

Buffy and Angel are missing "Play All" options. While they not exactly necessary, I'd definitely rather have them for the sake of convenience. I know new fans watching the shows for the first time on DVD are kinda peeved by spoilerish DVD menus because they have to go into the episode submenu to play each individually.

I don't understand why people think this feature is a big deal. I guess I'm not one to sit and watch TV for hours at a time without moving, so maybe that's why I don't get it. It just doesn't seem like a big deal either way.

I've never really used it, simply because i ususally only have the time to watch 1 or 2 episodes at a time before doing something else. I can see why people would want it though.

We have a remote TV in the kitchen that gets a feed from the HT. I first became aware of this "Play All" problem when my wife complained about having to drop what she was doing, wash her hands, run to the living room every 25 minutes, find the remote, and click several menu buttons just to see the next episode of the MASH disk she was watching.

I do think it's a more annoying problem on sitcom sets with 6-8 episodes on a side.

RichC

I admit that I love the 'play all' function. I like to go to sleep to TV shows on DVD. (i.e. Simpsons, Seinfeld, Family Guy, even episodes of Homicide that I've seen several times before). Be it a good habit or not, I grew up with a televison playing constantly in my bedroom, even while I was sleeping. When VHS came along, I had tapes crammed with 6-8 hrs of favorite movies and television shows to which I could go to sleep. There was (is) something comforting about waking in the middle of the night to a familiar televison show. The 'play all' function is a must for such practice.

Since marriage, I cannot continue this practice, therefore I go to sleep on the couch to a familiar program and then stumble on to the bedroom around 1 a.m. to continue the night's sleep. I have to be absolutely exhausted to initiate sleep without a television.

Granted, 24 is not a show to which I would want to go to sleep. In fact, one episode at a time is about all my mind can handle when it comes to 24.

The Family Guy sets are a good example of when this is useful. A lot of times, I'll play them during the poker nights that we host here at the apartment, assuming there's no game on. They're good because you can look up between hands, get a laugh, and go back to the game. Or, if I'm exposing somebody to the show that's never seen it (this was more applicable a couple years back, but still), I'll want them to sit and watch more than one episode. This is better without interruptions, IMO.

Regarding the, "I never sit and watch TV for hours at a time without moving" comment: Family Guy episodes, minus commercials, are what...25 minutes aiece? You can watch four in a row and would be sitting on the couch for about as long as if you'd popped in a relatively short movie.

-JP