Travis McClain

Previously on DVD Talk TV on DVD* Challenge...


Ah, January. It's cold, there's very little new content in any entertainment field and most football fans have already figured out that their teams are going nowhere. Is there a better time to hibernate on the couch and gorge on TV shows?

Guidelines/Rules

• This challenge begins 12:01 AM 1 January 2014 and concludes 11:59 PM 31 January 2014.
• Eligible content is anything originally produced for television broadcast, including television series, mini-series, made-for-TV movies and specials (including, but not limited to, stand-up specials and music performances).
• Also eligible are movies that are directly part of the continuity of eligible content. If you are uncertain, please ask in the discussion thread!
• This is not a challenge pitting your final view count against anyone else's. You're fighting your own schedule and capacity for gorging on TV content. You are therefore welcome to count your viewing totals however you wish, as it will only matter to you.
• Remember also that 1 January overlaps with the Holiday Challenge, so if you've got any Holiday-themed TV content you want to squeeze in, it counts for both challenges on that day.
• * 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.

Optional Checklist

Mister Peepers introduced an optional checklist into this challenge during its second season.


Now, Season Four participants, I'd like to hear from you! If you've participated in either of the previous TV on DVD* Challenges, what have you learned that you'd like to see incorporated this year to make the challenge more enjoyable for you? If you're a first-timer, what would you like to get out of this challenge? Only fourteen participants even attempted the checklist last year. I'm inclined to scrap it, but we can leave it if it's important to anyone. I'll happily incorporate pretty much any requests anyone has for it.

shadokitty

If you're taking a vote, I'm probably in the minority here as I rarely attempt checklists anyways, but I would say scrap it. Anyways, the only reason I asked about the thread Travis was I was already planning out some of my watching and was looking forward to ppl talking about what they were going to watch.

I've already been watching Star Trek, Ancient Aliens, Dogfights, and am also considering tapping into Knight Rider and some of my animated series, both anime like Dairugger, Saber Rider, and Voltron, as well as US cartoons like finally watching my She-Ra sets, GI Joe, Bravestarr, and Superfriends. Also plan to work through some of my Japanese Transformers sets as I have all 3 series, Headmasters, Masterforce, and Victory. Might also watch some of my Irwin Allen sci fi sets.

Also have a question. Does MST3K count? As they were movies, but it was a tv series.

Travis McClain

I've been auditing my disc library for things I own but haven't logged since I started using DVD Profiler throughout the year, and I've still got some TV shows to get to, so those are my priorities. I've got Season Two of She-Ra, Princess of Power still to go, a few seasons of Psych (I may just re-watch all four that I own), two seasons of The Dukes of Hazzard, plus all of Superman: The Animated Series. Those ought to keep me fairly busy.

Absolutely! You just can't watch the original movies themselves.

BobO'Link

I went to look at my lists the times I've participated to see if I bothered with the checklist only to find I don't have them linked in my signature! How'd *that* happen?!? Anyway...

Checklist:

I included the checklist in Season 1 but didn't fill it in. I do not know why as a few items watched qualified, BUT I didn't watch a lot during that season. It's been too long to recall just why I didn't have many viewings as watching TVonDVD is a specific favorite "genre".

In Season 2 I completed the checklist although only the required # of items and not in its entiriety. There were a few lines I didn't complete for a 100% fill. I watched quite a few complete seasons and worked in stuff for the checklist as needed by carefully selecting episodes of favorite programs to watch between full seasons or disks of other programs.

For Season 3 I didn't bother at all because I wanted to focus on my huge pile of unwatched TVonDVD seasons. Working in episodes from programs I'd already watched just for checklist items seemed counter-productive towards that goal.

I'll most likely do the same this year as that pile grew more than it shrank last year! I'll probably include the checklist should we use one but I doubt I'll concentrate on getting it completed.

General rumination:

This one seems to be the least drama filled - a stress-free month of gorging on TV content. After all, how hard is it to decide if something qualifies? It's your basic "no brainer" wind down after a year of thinking too hard about some other challenges! Watching TVonDVD is something I tend to do in my sleep (literally since I fall asleep most nights watching TVonDVD content!).

I *do* like the idea of having a checklist but somehow this challenge doesn't seem to lend itself to one as readily as others. I think that's simply because many of us tend to watch entire seasons of a program rather than jump from show to show mixing shows/episodes.

Cardsfan111

I'm looking forward to this again to kick off the new year. I have so much unwatched content to choose from, and I know I'll only get to a fraction of it. My main focus will be the few TV shows I have on BD, nearly all of which I've purchased in the last month or so. On top of the to-watch list is The Dick Van Dyke Show.

Travis McClain

How the hell did you have a checklist in Season One? I hosted that year and I don't remember creating one. It was guest host Mister Peepers who introduced the checklist in Season Two.

That's my sentiment. Just doing a cursory audit of the list thread from last year, I see a whole lot of marathons of at least a whole season/volume at a time, if not an entire series at a time from most participants.

I know I can't stand the idea of popping in a DVD for one episode here to satisfy this checklist item, then switching discs for another episode of another series for another check, etc., but again, this ain't about me. The checklist is entirely optional, so I just want to know from those who *do* use it, what do you want from it? How do I modify it to make your challenge more enjoyable?

shellebelle

I'm planning on trying to get through the rest of the seasons of All Creatures Great and Small. I have 4 seasons of that left. I still have a bunch of TV shows on my DVR that I'm still trying to catch up on from October!

I will probably not do anything with the checklist, but you never know.

I've been going through my TV series that I have and would love to wipe out a few 1 season shows also. Hopefully I will get through everything I want to watch next month.

EdTheRipper

Ideally, I'd like to get pick up where I left off with How I Met Your Mother. I made it through the first 4 seasons last time around. Other than that, I have no specific plans. I usually do better just winging it anyway.

BobO'Link

It took reading through the original discussion thread to answer that question.

Basically we talked about it, decided it probably wouldn't work well (theme nights too) as the "genre" truly doesn't lend itself well to such, and finally left it up to each individual participant to decide whether to use one or not. If you wanted one you were on your own to come up with one that made sense to you. Apparently I thought I would use one, created one with ideas that had been put forth during the discussions, and promptly did not use it after expending the effort.

Looking over the lists from that inaugural year it was only Ash Ketchum and I who created a checklist with only Ash bothering to check off any of the items. Even then, our checklists were different.

Travis McClain

You win DVD Talk Researcher of the Year for 2013.

Maybe that's what we ought to revert back to this year; self-made checklists for anyone who wants to mark off progress in their own way. It's still early, though, but if no one from the pro-checklist crowd speaks up by, say, the end of the week, I think we'll just scrap the official optional checklist this year and leave it up to each participant.

One other thing that I think would be nice is if we did a better job connecting this challenge with the TV Talk sub-forum. It's not a section I ever really explore, so maybe someone who does use it might have some thoughts on that? It can be hard to strike up conversation if we're each all watching different shows unless someone else happens to have seen whatever we're watching. Maybe this discussion thread could be a sort of hub into show-specific threads in TV Talk?

PCBreakdown

I'll be participating, probably focusing on finally watching Dr. Who and Supernatural (but I'm not fully decided on that). I may make an effort to at least finish a season or two of many different shows. Either way, I can't see how a checklist would mesh with that.

Trevor

I'm in of course. I'll probably use the month to watch some season sets in plan to sell after watching. Of course, it's taken my wife and I almost two years to get through Lost, but hopefully we'll speed things up.

Cardsfan111

Just a FYI -- It doesn't look like there will be any overlap this year. The Awards show is scheduled for March 2nd. The AA challenge has always started 1 month prior to the Oscars, so unless the host wants to change things up, it will begin on February 2nd.

pacaway

I'm in for my first year. I like the idea of keeping a personal list of accomplishments we feel are noteworthy. I think I did something similar at the bottom of my list during animation month.

Travis McClain

Good catch. I deleted that line. Someone remind me next year to add it back in if appropriate.

lisadoris

Oh goodie, another reason to re-watch SeaQuest. I really wish Season 3 was available

As for linking this to the TV Forum, you certainly could but the threads are usually devoted to specific shows so it might be difficult to get folks to chime in since we won't know in advance what shows folks are going to watch for the challenge. On the other hand, if you want to start a thread in the TV Forum to hype this challenge then that may get some more participation.

I don't think I ever did the checklist for this challenge: I just have my personal goal and I run through it. If folks want to keep it; I wouldn't object. If folks want to scrap it; I won't miss it.

Travis McClain

You just keep getting cooler, you know that?

shadokitty

I've been pondering letting Netflix lapse, but I think I'll wait till after this challenge what with all of the tv shows available on there.

The Man with the Golden Doujinshi

I know I've never used it.

I think if I was doing it, I'd pick up a good portion of checks from just watching random stuff that's on TV when I'm bored instead of pulling discs for specific episodes.

If it does stick around, I remember someone suggesting that a cooking show should get added into the list.

shadokitty

I think I may have to replace my season 2 set of Knight Rider as one disc is pretty scratched. Give me a chance to get the official set anyways as my season 2 set was one I bought in Afghanistan at a bazaar, so I doubt it was the real set.

BobO'Link

Cool! Does that mean I get the Uber Prize Pack?
I'd go for that. Even though I completed the checklist last year I have *way* too much unopened product to use one this time out. It was sorta of fun to do one last year but I also recall looking up episodes just to fulfill a checklist item and only watched a single episode of a series. Then there was one where I intended to do that but got caught up in the series and watched several disks of episodes to the detriment of the unopened pile.

I need to win the lottery/Publisher Clearing House giveaway so I can retire and become a full time couch potato!

coyoteblue

Though I've got some short stuff I'd like to burn through (Keen Eddie, Space Above and Beyond, etc...) I'm probably going to end up with my usual potpourri approach. I will try to finish off the first series of Up Pompeii. After that...some Trick...

Oh, I know, I'm going to dedicate this challenge to watching all 59 episodes of Return of the Condor Heroes (1983), though I'll log any other tv (like Grimm) I'm going to be watching anyway.

lisadoris

Why thank you sir. I just learned that Netflix streams S3 of Seaquest so I guess I'll pony up $8 so I can finally re-watch Michael Ironside chew up some scenery.

Babylon 5 is my big 2014 re-watch but I don't think I'll start that during this challenge.

LJG765

I wish this also! I have some poor copies of it, but it's just not the same as having an official, commercial free version of it.

Somehow I am not surprised that you said this! Ha!

As for the checklist, I think that I could go either way. I am pretty sure I did it last year, but like someone else said, I have so much to watch this year, I'm not sure I want to bother having to hunt down specific things to watch just to fill in a check mark.

That being said, would it really hurt to leave it up and have it be optional? Then those would want to have some sort of starting base and those who don't can ignore it?

My goal for next month is to finish up "Red Dwarf." I have several series left to go, but they're fairly short, or at least the beginning ones were. I have so much else that is unwatched that I could probably just focus on TV on DVD for the year. I think my main problem is, I like to watch the whole series first at once, but usually only feel like one or two episodes so I never get to it. This challenge really helps me with that.

mrcellophane

Amen! This part-time couch potato stuff is for the birds!

I like the idea of building our own checklist if we want. I usually attempt the challenge checklists, but I'm not sure if I've ever completed one.

During the challenge, I'm hoping to finally finish up some of the box sets I've started - things like the complete series of Top Cat and season four of Gilmore Girls. I sorta want to do a big project as well, perhaps rewatching Battlestar Galactica.