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?

This one is the one that speaks to me most as 75% of what I watch is TVonDVD/BR.

Same here.

One thing I like about this challenge is tv series and sports make up the majority of my viewing. Even during the Holiday Challenge, when I’m not watching holiday programs, I’m watching regular tv.

Yesterday I got some free Amazon gift cards, so I decided to use it for digital tv to make use of during the Challenge. I found Wild with David Attenborough for $10, which consisted of all three of his Smithsonian Channel shows.

I started gathering my TV series up today as the Challenge starts in just a couple weeks. I’ve even started watching things early as TV shows make up most of my viewing.

I recently got a digital antenna to supplement our Dish subscription, since there are some channels Dish doesn’t have and discovered that the MeTV channel, Heroes & Icons is available OTA. I know there are quite a few sci fi shows on there, so looking forward to watching them.

Prime Video Canada recently added all seasons of The Mentalist, Smallville, Vampire Diaries and Supernatural. I'm very excited about The Mentalist as I bough the first 5 seasons on DVD but I was missing the last two. I'll definitely watch this for the challenge.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. A reminder that the Challenge starts tomorrow night at Dusk in case anyone got some TV sets that they’d like to start. I didn’t get any, but still have a lot I can choose from.

I see that some have already started, so if anyone wants to start early, feel free. The Challenge is officially open for business.

I'm gonna try to get my money's worth out of Disney+ and Hulu during this challenge. I'm kind of annoyed that I can't reuse the same formatting template I've always used for this challenge on account of the change to the post editing format. (I'm sure it can be done, just not by me!) Got quite a few series under consideration right now:

Disney+
The Mandalorian
Spider-Man
Star Wars Rebels
Star Wars Resistance
Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Hulu
30 Rock
Animaniacs
The Boondocks
The Commish
The Dana Carvey Show
The Golden Girls
Live in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons
Sealab 2021
The Son
Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures
The Twilight Zone
Twin Peaks

Plus, of course, I'm eager for the launch of Star Trek: Picard on CBS on the 23rd and the last of this wave of Short Treks on the 9th.

I’ve got Hulu and Disney + too Travis, as well as ESPN +. Plan to make use of all three this Challenge, as well as other subs. I just wish that my Google Play subscription to MLB.TV transferred over to the Xbox app, but my other Google Play subscriptions do, and I can still watch free games on MLB.TV.

I also have digital copies of many series, as well as DVDs and Blu Rays. Since last week, I have been working my way through both Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World ​​​​​​ on DVD, and the first season of the National Geographic series Wild ​​​​​​, which I bought some time back on Xbox through the Microsoft Store.

Is there a checklis this year?

No, I never made one, but I could try to come up with one if you like.

My wife started watching "When Camellia Blooms" on Netflix which is a Korean Drama and I have to say that is actually pretty good. It's about a single mom who's disliked in a small town and she owns/runs a drinking restaurant and the cop falls for her. It's a romance/comedy with a serial killer story. Trust me, I'm not making up this sypnosis.

I started with my spankin' new BR of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Network did an outstanding job on restoring this series. I never would have believed a TV show from 1969 produced by the BBC on 2" video tape and 16mm film could ever look this good. It's like watching on control room monitors as it's going *to* the tape. I've been watching every episode twice - once for the skits and another just to marvel at the video restoration.

No thats fine, just thought i missed it.

Was debating upgrading the DVD set. I might have to do it now.

I've been watching Gargoyles on Disney+. It's definitely up there as one of my favorite animated series. As a Star Trek TNG fan I love hearing Marina Sirtis and Jonathan Frakes on the show.

This is the Checklist that I'm using from the Third Season of this challenge:

If you go for the "Complete Series" set or wait for the individual season releases (the deluxe version w/books) the included books (170+ pages each - all text, no photos) take much of the sting out of the price. Were they published individually I'd expect them to have at least a $20 MSRP each. They are roughly half history of the season and half a detailed description of each show.

I really struggled with the price (and I got it for $91 shipped w/tax during a Target sale). It's absolutely worth the upgrade at the current ~$125 prices.

I finally started watching S1 of The Orville. I watched this during its original airings but haven't seen it since - in spite of purchasing the DVD set on release day. I'm really enjoying it again! Just like I said during that original airing, it's more Star Trek than is Discovery. I have S1 of that one too and may watch it soon. I really didn't care for it much during its original airing so I'll be interested to see if my opinion changes. I've not seen beyond episode 9 or 10 of that one (my friend whose "All Access" sub I was piggy backing on dropped it) so it'll be interesting to finally see the entire season. On the flip side, I really enjoyed S2 of The Orville and have that one, too, awaiting a viewing. I really hate that it moved to HULU instead of remaining on "free" TV. I have zero interest in a streaming service subscription just to watch a show.

I feel this way too! I hate that the new Treks are on CBS streaming only. That would be the ONLY reason I'd subscribe to it and so far I haven't been able to bring myself to do it. With the new Picard one, I might wait until the season has all been released and do just a one month and binge it and Discovery. But I'd never keep the subscription up just for those shows.

My wife and I finished the season today and we loved it. I have been noticing ramping up the KDramas on their service and this one was really new as it ended in Korea a couple of weeks ago.

Since the Challenge started I've already burned through Lost in Space season 2 and The Witcher season 1. I'd already started the K-Drama Bring It On, Ghost before the Challenge started, so I'll continue with it. Also ready to start playing catch-up with the latest season of My Hero Academia.

I cracked open and watched my S1 copy of the *new* Lost in Space (2018). I'd only read a few reviews on the series and was going into it mostly blind but with a somewhat negative vibe (based on what I'd read in reviews). It's not as "bad" as I was expecting but not necessarily all that good either. None of the issues reviewers saw bother me (mostly about Maureen now being in charge and "Dr. Smith" being a woman). It claims to be a Adventure/Drama/Family movie, surprisingly not SF/Fantasy (and it's absolutely more fantasy than SF), and that's really what it is. It's more Adventure than anything with way too much unexpected twists being injected every time one issue is partially solved. It's like watching an Indiana Jones movie where every turn is another surprise. While that's not really that bad it's the extremeness of those issues/events and the Deus ex machina type solutions that come about.

The thing I liked best is "Dr.Smith" doesn't devolve into a comic foil with the twist on the robot coming in 2nd (although it's not that great). That they're part of a huge migration with dozens (hundreds?) of "Jupiter" ships connected to a single colony transport sounds interesting until the season resolution. There are parts of it that reminded me of the cancelled-too-soon Earth 2 series from the 90s. There were several interesting premises that arose but were forgotten or not expanded upon like I felt they should and other total incongruities with the "science" of the planet. I found myself laughing and/or shaking my head at the "science" parts more often than not.

The season actually ends with the first major issue being solved while immediately thrusting the family into the next, likely season long, adventure. If it comes out on physical and is cheap enough I'll likely add it to the collection but there's no real burning desire.