January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Welcome to the 2nd TV on DVD* Challenge. Why the asterisk? Because we're allowing TV content from other formats, but the emphasis should still be on DVD. If you TiVo your content, still have VHS releases or just like to catch it over the air, so be it.

MinLShaw is preoccupied with other things, so I'm stepping in to take over this year since nobody else has jumped in and we're getting close to the start.

The Rules

1. [*]
2. [*]
3. [*]
4. [*]

* 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.


Prizes will be drawn at random from active participants.

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3 Wildcards Allowed
These can be used on things that are too short, like commercials from the 20s where it's easier to find those than shows. They can also be used on something you can't watch/find on your own. As an example, you can only watch things from 4 networks, you can use a wildcard and check off the 5th one.

--- Watch a Pilot -
--- Watch a TV Movie -
--- Finish a Season -
--- Finish a Series -
--- Character Dies -
--- New Character Introduced -
--- Actor/Actress changes but Character remains the same (voice work for animation also counts) -
--- Watch a Deleted or Extended Scene (bonus feature) -
--- "Will they or won't they" -
--- Stunt guest star -
--- Show goes on vacation -
--- Watch a clip show -

Watch shows with at least 8 distinct genres (horror, sci-fi, comedy, animation, drama, crime, action, adventure, historical, paranormal, satire, documentary, romance, reality, game show)
--- Horror - Show
--- Sci-Fi - Show
--- Comedy - Show
--- Animation - Show
--- Drama - Show
--- Crime - Show
--- Action - Show
--- Adventure - Show
--- Historical - Show
--- Paranormal - Show
--- Satire - Show
--- Documentary - Show
--- Romance - Show
--- Reality - Show
--- Game Show - Show

Watch shows originating from at least 5 distinct networks (cbs, abc, nbc, comedy central, mtv, fox, tbs, tnt, amc, a&e, disney, nickelodeon, hbo, showtime, cinemax)
--- Network 1 - Show
--- Network 2 - Show
--- Network 3 - Show
--- Network 4 - Show
--- Network 5 - Show

Watch shows from at least 5 distinct decades
--- 1930 - Show
--- 1940 - Show
--- 1950 - Show
--- 1960 - Show
--- 1970 - Show
--- 1980 - Show
--- 1990 - Show
--- 2000 - Show
--- 2010 - Show

Watch shows on 3 different formats
--- Format 1 - Show
--- Format 2 - Show
--- Format 3 - Show

Watch shows originating from 3 different countries
--- Country 1 - Show
--- Country 2 - Show
--- Country 3 - Show

re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

:banana:

One of my favorite challenges

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boo-yah!

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Thanks, Mister Peepers!

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I did the wrong title, this isn't the list thread, it's the discussion thread.

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Damn, I knew I should have started this myself, and fixed the silly counting rules and DVD emphasis. ;)

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If we ever do DVD Talk awards, Mister Peepers has my vote for MVP, the Hall of Fame and anything else for which he is eligible. Thank you for stepping in (once more!). It looks like I'll be away dealing with things for an extended time so I don't know that I'll even be around to participate but I hope everyone enjoys the challenge. We had fun last year, and I'm sure it'll be better the second time around!

In retrospect, I really should have called last year's challenge TV on DVD* Challenge "Pilot" and then we could have had an ongoing thing where each year has its own episodic title. That could have been entertaining.

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^ It's never too late to change thread titles. We can go back and change all of last year's to "Pilot", and make both of this year's "Second Season" (or something funnier, like "a very special episode").

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Well, I would leave it to each year's host to come up with a title but I would point out that no show skips from the pilot to its second season. ;)

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So much for getting in on page 1 :sad:

Funny :)

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Sounds like a great opportunity to burn through my backlog of TV-on-DVD, especially since most of the broadcast networks will be in repeats until at least the middle of the month. I already have "White Collar" seasons 1&2, "Being Human" first seasons of both shows, and 'Shameless' US season 1 waiting in the wings.

My only question is if the standard format for television is 1-hr unlike movies which is 2-hrs, why does an hour-long television show only count for .5? Just IMO, that it should be changed for this specific challenge.

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I didn't even bother counting mine last year. I just listed the days I watched next to the titles as I watched them.
:up: If we have to number our lists, I say go with this.

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Thanks :) I have more free time on my hands compared to last summer, so it won't be as much of a burden now.

I'm all for changing the title if there's any suggestions.

We could do it but then there can't be any complaints when made for TV movies and shows like MST3K end up counting as 2 entries.

edit: Actually it makes a lot of sense so I'll do it anyway

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That makes sense to me because those were aired as 2-hour segments :). Thanks for taking my idea into consideration.

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Of all the challenges, this is the one where I have the most unwatched DVDs in my collection so I'm really looking forward to it. Plus, during December I expect to buy even more TV on DVD so I'll be well stocked.

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Just to play Devil's Advocate... One could argue the "standard format" for Television is 30 minutes as, based solely on observation - no research, there appear to be *far* more 30 minute than hour programs historically and currently. Looking at my TVonDVD shelves reveals ~160 *different* half-hour programs and only ~80 *different* hour programs. Of course that's based solely on personal preference and I'll admit that mine leans towards comedy programs which tend to favor the half hour format. However, 23 of those half hour programs are pure drama and/or adventure.

To further expand using the movie challenges as the basis, it could be additionally argued that, for *this* challenge, it's the *program* that counts rather than actual length. After all, in the "movie" challenges you can count a film that runs 60 minutes or less, as do many "B" movies, as a full entry even though it'd take 2 "hours" of TV content to count. That's solely based on it being a "movie" rather than TV show, with all appearances of that rule being to somewhat discourage use of TV content for what were originally, in most cases, movie only challenges.

Taking that into consideration, I'd almost argue for counting each *program*, 30 minutes or longer as originally aired, as a single entry were it not for the tallying disadvantage on those whose tastes in programs are of those running an hour or longer.

Whew! :D

That said - I really don't care how entries are counted as long as it's logical to the challenge. I actually *like* the "60 minutes counts as a entry" rule for this one. If I'm able to catch up on sleep lost with the Horror and Comedy challenges, and renew my usual pace, the new length rule should allow me to easily pass the 200 mark! :)

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Agreed. I just got Muppets, Soap, Reaper, and I've still got tons of TV on DVD I have either never watched or am working my way through. And January's a good time for it.

I agree, thanks to Mister Peepers for his initiating and maintaining of the Unwatched thread and handling this one - really helps to focus my dvd watching. (And yes it's sad that that should even be an issue.)

I don't like each program being considered one entry - compare Looney Tunes cartoons to The Stand miniseries. I can see 1 hour, but 30 minutes (22-30) seems to make more sense as an 'entry' to me, that would help minimize the number of .5 entries or calculations, and while this is purely anecdotal, I tend to watch more 30 minute programs.
Regardless, it's not like it's that difficult to count 30 minutes as .5, so if that's the consensus, I can roll with that.

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Same here! Thanks to some excellent finds/prices at Big Lots since Thanksgiving I've already purchased enough to completely fill the month of January. The truly sad part (if it *can* be considered "sad" - I'm sure many of you guys are in the same boat) is I had enough unopened seasons *before* those purchases to do this challenge for a full year. The challenge for me is *what to pick* from those dozens of unopened seasons awaiting my attention. :)

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Well, since I have a boat load of tv series on DVD that I'm still trying to get watched, I'm in. Should be fun. Had a great time last year!

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Last year each episode counted as 1 entry and it worked great. Why change it? Isn't it bad enough we have to do that conversion crap for most of the other challenges!

Last year I chose to limit myself (not others) to DVD only, with one exception (The Tenspeed & Brown Shoe Pilot is not included in the Box Set). I watched 226 episodes on DVD & 1 on DVDR

Totals
126 1/2 Hour Shows
99 1 Hour Shows
2 Movie Length Pilots

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:( got my hopes up and all...

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Can't wait. I decided I was going to re-watch all of the Star Trek shows in 2012 so this challenge will help. The new rules help so I can stream TOS via Amazon and I think The Animated Series is available online. We'll see how much I can get through before the Oscar Challenge sidetracks me.

Thanks Mister Peepers!

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I just looked over my list from last year and my numbering system was all over the map. I counted 84 entries, but some were simply one episode while others counted 6 half-hour eps. on a single disc as a single entry. I think my rule was: everything I watched in a single sitting or on a single tape or disc counted as one.

The (new) current rule will make life easier for me by counting every hour show (or two half-hours) as a single entry.

I have dozens of anime series and live-action Japanese shows to get through. Last year I got sidetracked by diving into my VHS collection and seeing all kinds of stuff I might not have normally gotten to (e.g. "Death Valley Days," "The Colgate Comedy Hour," "The Naked City," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E."). It was fun and exciting to explore so much TV history, but I didn't accomplish my specific goal of getting through the Japanese shows.

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Actually, last year there was no counting unless you did it on your own, counting things however you want. Coming up with a system for counting lets me do a ranking list at the end of the challenge, for those that are interested in that sort of thing.

I don't really see how hard the conversion is, especially on a TV challenge. It should be even easier doing it at 1 hour = 1 entry. You watch a half hour show, you get half an entry. 2 hour show/movie is 2 entries. An episode of Robot Chicken, and those other 15 minute shows, can now be easily converted to 1/4 entry instead of some smaller fraction that I always hated dealing with.

It's also nice, or possibly shameful, because you can see your total and get a quick idea of how many hours you spent watching TV.

But these challenges are all about having fun and nobody is forcing anyone to count things unless they want the benefit of showing up in the rankings.

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Sounds like a fun task! I watched all three seasons of TOS and the six first films this year. Most of this was for the first time. I think this challenge will be dominated by episodes TNG for me.

I am excited. After participating in several challenges in a row, I took a month off - mostly to deal with finals, grading papers, and researching graduate school options. I'll be happy to be obsessively listing again!

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Is a theme night really useful on a challenge like this? The way I see it, if someone's going through a specific series, they probably don't want to mix it up with something different everyday.

On the other hand, for the checklist I wanted to do common things that show up in tv shows. That way it shouldn't matter so much as to what you're watching.

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im def down for this one as im in a big tv kick right now just hope it follows thru till jan.

this month watched Game of thrones, s6/5 of supernatural, s1/2/3 of Sons of Anarchy and now s1 of breaking bad.

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It would be pretty easy to do something like that. I was thinking about coming up with a list of something like the 10 or 20 most common plot tropes for Comedy and Dramas - but havn't gotten around to it yet.

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Most of the things I can think of, off the top of my head, are of the "jumping the shark" variety.

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Here's a start for the checklist:

Watch a Pilot
Watch a TV Movie
Finish a Season
Finish a Series
Character Dies
New Character Introduced
Actor/Actress changes but Character remains the same (voice work for animation also counts)
Watch a Deleted or Extended Scene (bonus feature)
Watch shows with at least 8 of these genres (horror, sci-fi, comedy, animation, drama, crime, action, adventure, historical, paranormal, satire, documentary, romance, reality, game show)
Show goes on vacation
Watch a show originating from at least 5 of these networks (cbs, abc, nbc, comedy central, mtv, fox, tbs, tnt, amc, a&e, disney, nickelodeon, hbo, showtime, cinemax)
Watch a show from at least 5 different decades

As a reminder, the checklist is supposed to be a challenge in and of itself. Nothing is set in stone and more should be added to it.

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"Will they or won't they"
Stunt guest star

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Would a "Watch a Failed Pilot" be too much for a checklist item?

We've also got prizes from Hamilton Books:
Casper: Complete Collection
Dennis the Menace: Final Season
Police Story Season One
Kojak Season Two

And the list thread is up.

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Fuck, I totally forgot about this challenge and have powered through the complete BSG reboot here the last 2 weeks :(

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There's tons of these around. So I think it be a good one.

You've got several officially released ones like:

Black Bart (1975) Blazing Saddles - 30th Anniversary Special Edition
Revenge Of The Nerds (1991) Revenge Of The Nerds - Panty Raid Edition
Humor Me (2004) Dane Cook: The Lost Pilots
Cooked (2005) Dane Cook: The Lost Pilots

Too many movie length ones including the ultimate failed pilot movie trilogy:

Genesis II (1973)
Planet Earth (1974)
Strange New World (1975)

Regular episodes of long running shows that were (not so well) hidden failed pilots like:

Star Trek: Assignment: Earth (1968)
The Brady Bunch: Kelly's Kids (1974)

These examples are just a drop in the bucket.

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Yeah, I bet I have a number of failed pilots kicking around in the tall grasses of bonus features, like Aquaman

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Can't wait for this challenge, I have some anime left over from the animation challenge, and I also have my Ultraman and Red Baron sets that I have been holding off on watching waiting for this challenge.

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A couple of questions that were probably answered last year, but I've forgotten what the answers were.

I have a number of those Marvel/DC straight-to-DVD animated superhero movies, including these:

THE BATMAN/SUPERMAN MOVIE (1997)
GREEN LANTERN: FIRST FLIGHT (2009)
SUPERMAN DOOMSDAY (2007)
SUPERMAN BATMAN: PUBLIC ENEMIES (2009)
ULTIMATE AVENGERS: THE MOVIE (2006)

Are these eligible for the TV on DVD Challenge? I'm not sure if they were first shown on TV or if they were first meant for TV rather than DVD.

Also, in Japan they release tons of movie spin-offs of popular anime or live-action sci-fi/superhero TV series. Pokemon, Doraemon, Naruto, Ultraman, Masked Rider, Sentai (Power Rangers), etc., all release theatrical movies, some quite short, in the course of their TV runs. In each case, the TV series came first. I have a lot of these movies. Are these eligible for this Challenge?

Thanks.

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Rules say:
I take that to mean things like The Transformers Movie, where it was a theatrical release that directly impacted the TV series, since they killed off tons of characters to they could replace them in the TV series.

As for the Marvel/DC straight to DVD movies, they all stand on their own and aren't part of any TV series, so they wouldn't count.

If your Pokemon movie introduces new characters or is continuing/starting story arcs for the TV show, then something like that would count. If it was something that could be wiped from the face of the Earth and not have any impact on the current series, then it doesn't count.

Re: January 2012 TV on DVD* Challenge Discussion Thread
 

Getting excited for this challenge. Just made my list of what to watch thanks to random.org. Looks like I'm starting off heavy with nature documentaries as the first two entries on the list are the Life mini series from Discovery and my Wild Kingdom sets. The after my Ghost Hunters episode, I've got 3 anime series in a row to watch.