Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

caught up with the first two seasons of justified to catch the premiere of season 3..such a great show.

now onto breaking bad s3 and gonna watch some ninja turtles and claymore this weekend

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I'm not really participating, but I did stream all 14 episodes of Spaced from Netflix in the last week or so. Episodes only run about 24 minutes so those of you who may be interested still have plenty of time to squeeze it in during the last ten days. I'd never seen it and honestly I had never even really heard of it until its 2008 DVD release. The shorthand I've used is, it's the show that would have resulted from Seinfeld and Family Guy having a baby. It's a show about nothing with an absolute ton of geek/pop culture shout-outs. Well worth the ~7 hours. I just wish the DVD wasn't so pricey because now I'm really interested in the bonus content!

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I watched a couple of episodes of Family Matters from my brand-new Season One box set! I'm a fan of the pre-Urkel episodes. I generally enjoy the post-Urkel episodes as well, that is until they delve into the truly bizarre. When Steve's science experiments went awry, it frustrated me as a kid. I mean, I was also watching Full House at the time and while the weddings were too wacky and the Beach Boys were showing up for dinner, there was some grasp on reality. Family Matters chucked any pretense of reality to feature a character that I often wanted to strangle... or at least calmly ask to leave the room.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I watched Invasion last weekend. Yet another in the long string of prematurely cancelled sci-fi programs. It's a fairly interesting take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, although it *did* move slowly at times. I read that it was pre-empted or put on hiatus quite a lot during its run (seemingly another fate for many sci-fi shows) which couldn't have help with the slower pace and subsequent lack of viewer acceptance of the series. Maybe it was due to watching the entire run in a couple of sittings but aspects which bothered several reviewers didn't bother me. One is the Doctor constantly looking at/messing with water. On one hand I can see the "We get it!" viewer frustration part, especially when done repeatedly, but I felt it worked in the aspect of her discovering what she had become. It *can* be a bit too "soap operaish" at times, but what hour long drama *isn't* these days? As with any series there are some sub-plots that are a bit of a bore and seemingly unnecessary but they don't detract much from the program. Maybe the producers had something in mind for those had the series continued. It also looked as if the series had a decent budget. Because of the pacing and limited number of episodes (22) the series works well as a marathon view.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Always glad to see MinLShaw :wave: Yeah, BBC has always priced their stuff at a premium. My sister put Lark Rise to Candleford on her wish list and I almost choked when I saw the prices.

I watched Invasion in a marathon a few summers ago. Definitely helps, as does knowing you're not going to get a clean wrap-up so you won't be as disappointed.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I'm down to just a few items to complete the checklist and I just watched Friends: The One with the Invitation for the "Clip Show" item. It was chosen simply because it's a 30 minute episode (I almost watched the penultimate episode of Seinfeld but it's a 60 minute ep.) and was easy to get out. Shows like this cement the premise that the majority of "clip shows" stink and are nothing more than filler. I've had a dislike for "clip shows" since I was a kid - back when these type shows had more of a reason to exist. When a TV season was generally 30+ episodes and there were few, if any, reruns of episodes unless a show went into syndication so a clip-show was run to let people catch up on what they might have missed. Yeah, they stank even in the "Golden Age" of TV...

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

:banana: I was gonna wave back, but then I saw the dancing banana, and dammit, I fucking LOVE that emoticon so that's how I chose to respond! BBC DVD content is a perfect microcosm of why the whole "supply and demand"/equilibrium pricing model confuses me. Do they charge so much because there's relatively low demand, or is there relatively low demand because the price is so high? Someone wiser than me will have to dwell on this. I just know that I don't own Spaced 'cause I can't afford it at present.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Being a big fan of many British series I tend to believe the latter as many have had full releases in the UK at more "reasonable" prices. I, too, would own Spaced were it priced in line with similar US product. It's only 14 episodes but is priced as if it were 24-30. Even the sale prices are a bit too rich for me. Same for Lovejoy. I own S1 & S2 but just can't bring myself to pay the $40+ *sale* prices for ~10 episode seasons and then the "Christmas Specials" are almost always sold separately, even when they are in continuity with a series. It just feels like British series are at least double the cost of comparable US series.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I've noticed this with the British series a lot, I've been ordering them from Amazon UK, usually more then half off (a good example I ordered Gavin & Stacey complete series last year before it was out here (another problem they take forever to be released here) and paid a little over $20 with shipping and the set is currently $58 on our amazon). It's a pain I can only watch them on my laptop but well worth it.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I think both are partly true, but as far as pricing strategy, I'd lean toward the former. BBC knows that there's a certain rabid fan base that has to have the latest season of Doctor Who and will pay for it. I'd even stereotype the average BBC fan as having slightly higher disposable income. So they price accordingly, and they also don't have deep-discount promotions like full seasons for $20. That then creates the second part: they don't broaden their audience to the mainstream TV watcher because of the high prices. Clearly they've crunched the numbers and are OK with it.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I decided to finally move on to season 2 of Deadwood. I'd picked up all three seasons last year before the Historical Appreciation challenge and watched season 1 then. It was *very* good but I kept putting off moving on to the other seasons. I was looking for a title for the "historical" checklist item and this fits. Season 2 is quite entertaining so far. The portrayal of the removal of a kidney stone from Swearengen makes you *really* appreciate modern medicine. I noticed while watching this season that there's *no* musical score during the episodes. The only music is what would naturally be in the saloon/cat house and during the opening/closing credits. It seems to add to the realism of the episodes. The theme song still reminds me of the one for Firefly so much that I'm looking at trying to squeeze it in before I'm done. It *has* been a couple of years since I've watched that one...

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I tried watching Firefly with my wife once and we did it based on how the episodes were originally supposed to air. Not sure if that was a mistake because neither one of us wanted to finish the first episode. For me, the characters, especially the captain, were just so unlikable.

I've got 9 episodes left of Pee-Wee's Playhouse and I've noticed the adult and poo-poo type humor starting to creep in more the last couple of seasons. He did a quick upskirt joke where he dropped him doctor mirror while playing doctor with the mail lady. While flying on a magic carpet, he goes over some fishermen and if you listen carefully, you can hear him hauck a loogie. He also went grocery shopping and when he was taking things out of the grocery bag it was, milk, milk, lemonade. He didn't have any fudge but he sang the rest of it quickly.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I watched, or rather *tried* to watch, a few times during its original airings but could never get into it. It was purchasing the set and watching several episodes that really did it. The original airing sequence is best but it does start out a bit slow. It definitely takes a few to get into the flow and gain a liking for characters.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

My kid is a big Castle fan so I got her to watch the first episode of Firefly and she almost killed me because it's a bit slow and double-length. I agree that it takes a few episodes to really grab hold so I'd suggest giving it another chance if you have an opportunity.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

My daughter lent me a box set of Firefly last year to watch during the Sci-fi Challenge, but I never got to it. (I did watch SERENITY, though.) I still have it, but the TV on DVD Challenge is winding down and I have so much other stuff I want to watch.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Finished the first season of The Walking Dead. I was originally planning to watch a Hong Kong series, The Yangs' Saga, and M, a Korean series, but lately I always seem to watch something different than what I planned during these monthly challenges.

The Walking Dead was the choice of my two older kids, who have been asking to watch it for months. It really deserves its reputation as one of the best shows on TV.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

question: how was HBO's miniseries Angels in America originally aired, was it in two parts or six episodes? I am not sure how to count this out?

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Doesn't matter for this challenge. You count things based on time, so each 45 minutes of show is one entry.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

but the running time of Chapters 1-3 totals to 2hr 46minutes. - I'll just do each chapter as one entry

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

That works too. Doing it by time, and doing a little rounding has it come out at 3.5 entries.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I can do that? - ooooooooohhhh - hmmmm. thanks I'll do it THAT way then.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I started watching the first season of Downton Abbey which is an excellent show (jumping onto the bandwagon a bit late, I know). Now that the challenge is winding down, I am focusing on finishing up the checklist and my two remaining personal goals.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

We finished Pee-Wee's Playhouse Monday, so with only a week left, it's getting tough to pick things we'll be able to finish. Last night I picked Hey Dude which I thought had 19 episodes for the first season but I guess it was 13 :( That means I'll easily have it done by Saturday since we went through 4 episodes last night. After that, the best type of thing I can think of are just some of those 2 hours of public domain cartoon discs and mix it in with some failed kid pilots to break it up.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

I have some kids with me that want to learn about horror movies, so I've been watching horror movies lately, but to break it up, I've been still watching some tv on dvd. right now we're working on Superman: The Animated Series, as they also like cartoons.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Warner Archive is offering a free stream of an episode from Pac-Man through tomorrow. You have to have a WBShop.com account to access it, but that's free and easy to get. (And, even though the rewards system is inferior to Disney's, it's still handy.)