Travis McClain

Welcome to the eleventh annual TV on DVD* Challenge, couch potatoes! Why the asterisk? Because we allow TV content from any format--Blu-ray, digital, streaming, VHS, even over-the-air broadcast. Chances are good that some time since Black Friday, you've either received or treated yourself to a single season or maybe complete series box set that you're itchin' to get into, so here's your chance to rationalize doing that. We only have a few guidelines. Here they are:

The Guidelines

1. This challenge begins at dusk on New Year's Eve 2020 (so you can count TV countdown specials) and concludes at dawn 1 February 2021.
2. 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. For instance, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm counts as it's part of the Batman: The Animated Series continuity, but Batman Begins does not as it part of a different continuity.
3. 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. Count by episodes, count by run time, count by broadcast time (i.e., accounting for commercial breaks), whatever system appeals to you.

shadokitty

This is a great challenge for me, as the majority of my collection is TV series. I also have three Batman series Travis. I have Season 3 of the 66 series on DVD, and on Google Play, I have complete series of TAS and Batman: The Brave And The Bold. I may also buckle down and start GI Joe in earnest, as well as make a dent in my Japanese Transformers series. Be a good chance to continue my digital copy of Voltron. I’m debating, do I want to continue Vehicle Voltron, or start over and watch Lion Voltron.

Travis McClain

I've been trying to shy away from the core geek standards and broaden my horizons buuuuuuuuut... I now have the complete series Blu-ray box sets for both the '66 Batman and Batman: The Animated Series and I am itching to gorge on those. I also have the first season of Star Trek: Picard on disc. I watched it when each episode dropped earlier this year, so I already know the twists and turns. I'm curious to see how it plays for me all at once, knowing those twists and turns. Of course, that's as much a core geek standard as it gets, so I may defer that to the Sci-Fi/Fantasy challenge in the summer. I don't really have anything else in mind at this point, other than I want to get into some of what's in my digital library and what's on the streaming services I subscribe to presently. It's a bit harder to do that with this challenge than with the others, because I'll commit to at least a full season of a given series at a time.

How about y'all? Any particular objectives in mind already?

Travis McClain

If it helps sway you any which way, you're guaranteed to have at least one other participant also chatting about Batman '66 & TAS! (I expect several others are at least acquainted enough to talk about them, even if they aren't actively revisiting them during the challenge.) I revisited the original Transformers a few years ago, but I haven't gone back to G.I. Joe in ages. I'm not even sure I've watched it since it ended in the 80's. I know I didn't stick around for the 89-92 series. Looks like Joe is streaming on Tubi so I do have access to it. You may have piqued my interest in that, though I'm trying to prioritize things I've either already paid for or am paying for by subscribing to some service or other.

BobO'Link

I'm very tempted to watch my unopened BRs of both Batman 66 and Batman: TAS (I own and have watched both on DVD but...) especially with you guys watching them. I also have the new BR of The Flintstones. I've been slowly watching The Untouchables and am about half-way through S1. Then there's S3 of Monty Python's Flying Circus BR that's awaiting attention. Some time back I picked up S1 of Doom Patrol, recently Batwoman S1, Stargirl S1, and HBO's Watchmen, none of which I've ever seen and all of which are calling. I finally purchased S8 of Game of Thrones during BF sales and want to watch it from the beginning. I also recently purchased S2 of Star Trek: Discovery and want to watch S1 of it to see the last few episodes I missed originally and then see if S2 really does get better. Plus several seasons of the "New" Doctor Who that I've never seen before, Star Trek: Enterprise on BR, and I'm wanting to rewatch Deep Space 9. And that's just the tip of the unopened TVonDVD iceberg...

Cardsfan111

I haven't formulated a plan yet, but there's so much unwatched content waiting to be checked out.

It's become a tradition for my son to receive the latest season of The Flash for Christmas, so I imagine that will be on tap.

I bought several seasons of The Walking Dead on BD at a couple of Family Video stores which were closing. I could save them for October, but they are close at hand.

And I'd like to finish up Rescue Me. I have the last 2 seasons to go on that.

Guess that is a plan of sorts. But I could easily get sidetracked and go in a different direction and I'd be ok with it.

lisadoris

Now that I am finishing up my massive Star Trek re-watch, it looks like Veronica Mars, Batman Beyond, and Stargate are up next.

Travis McClain

In case it's of interest, 12 January will be the 55th anniversary of Batman's premiere ("Hi Diddle Riddle"). I think I'm gonna start that series that night. That leaves the first third of the month open.

LJG765

Did we ever finish the 2nd season? It could be fun to sync up again and try to finish it and maybe the 3rd season. Or are you going to start from the beginning?

coyoteblue

I started burning my way through One Piece in late November. I'm currently 3 episodes short of 190 (six arcs in). I'm totally not worried about how many episodes I watch because as of now I've still got around 800 episodes in front of me, not to mention the movies. So most of my stuff will be One Piece probably,with whatever other TV I watch around it.

Travis McClain

No, we never finished the 2nd. I'm just gonna start over, partly because I want to again try ranking the series and don't remember the ones we watched well enough to do that without starting over. Also, now that I own them on disc, I want to watch those. I'll let you know when I get to where we left off, if you want to join me when I get there.

LJG765

Sounds like a plan!

BobO'Link

Ooooo.... I may have to start that night too. I was 10 when this series premiered and missed the last half of all the Wednesday episodes due to us leaving for Wednesday night Church services (my dad was the music director of a Baptist church so we never missed - had to be sick and contagious to stay home). We also had a BW TV at the time and didn't get color until the 3rd season. Batman was my favorite series that season - a huge accomplishment as Lost in Space had premiered that fall, also on Wednesday in that same time slot, and I'd been watching the first 15 minutes of it until Batman came along. The Thursday episode knocked out The Munsters, another top favorite.

That was a very good year as Lost in Space, Batman, The Wild Wild West, Hogan's Heroes, Honey West, I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, F-Troop, My Mother the Car (not as bad as history would have you believe), Please Don't Eat the Daisies, Gidget, Daktari, The Big Valley, I Spy, and Green Acres all premiered that year. I watched as much as I could of each of those, often having to make the tough decision as to just which one as several came on opposite another series I wanted to see.

shadokitty

Last night I figured out another show to watch for this challenge. I had insomnia, so was watching The Fugitive on MeTV. It was a great episode that had moonshiners protecting Kimball from Gerrard that happened to have Bruce Dern and RG Armstrong as guest stars. Normally I am sound asleep when it’s on, Sunday nights at 2 AM, but I’m going to start putting the episodes on my DVR.

shadokitty

I’ve been thinking about anime quite often lately, and got to thinking that I believe Tubi has both Robotech and Super Dimension Fortress Macross. The only Robotech I would need to stream would be the Master saga. I have both Macross and the Invid Invasion on DVD. I also have a digital copy of the Macross Plus mini series that I have yet to watch.

Travis McClain

Sounds like a Batman '66 celebration is in order! When LJG765 and I synced up originally a few years ago for it, I maintained a list of each episode ranked as we went. It's been too long for that to be relevant so I'm starting over. I think maybe this time I'll rank them by story (i.e., either both or all three parts as the case may be) rather than each individual episode. If nothing else, I think it'll be easier for me to keep it straight that way. As we did then, I will step outside the series after the first season to watch the movie. I also have the Return to the Batcave: The MisAdventures of Adam and Burt TV docudrama, and animated movie Return of the Caped Crusaders I figure I may as well watch as part of this. Gonna have to break down and get Batman vs. Two-Face, I suppose.

Just for the sake of sharing trivia I find amusing, there's an adult parody of the series called Batman XXX. I make mention of it for the simple fact that Randy Spears, who played The Joker, apparently went to the trouble of growing a mustache for the role. I got a kick out of learning about that. Eat yer heart out, Jared Leto!

shadokitty

Batman must get a lot of adult versions. Many years ago when we had Showtime, I watched a porn version where the Joker was renamed the Jerker.

Travis McClain

Oh, for sure. When I was preparing for this marathon, I fell down a rabbit hole that led me eventually--and, one might argue, inevitably--to some stuff about this specific parody. What separates it from most others that preceded it is that apparently it was the first to get away without having to make such adaptations. In any event, after reading both West's and Ward's memoirs, it honestly doesn't feel nearly as sacrilegious for there to be such a film as I would have felt prior to reading those.

Lest we get entirely sidetracked with this weird tangent I already regret introducing to the thread, I'm still debating what to watch prior to beginning Batman. I don't actually own much TV content on disc, though, and almost all of that has been logged at least once already. I have quite a bit in my digital library. Most of it is either complete seasons courtesy of Trevor during our Ultraviolet days or pilot episodes I got free on iTunes. Those have all collected digital dust for years now, and I feel kinda guilty about that. I also have a few streaming subscriptions that I ought to use. Decisions, decisions....

shadokitty

Regarding my earlier mention of Anime, I have a lot of even just that I can watch. I have the complete series of Tekkaman Blade ​​​​​​, Witchblade as well as Volume 1 of Armored Fleet Dairugger XV ​​​​​​, and Volumes 1 and 2 of Beast King Golion ​​​​​​. Golion took a while to grow on me, due to the way the guys treated Princess Fala, but it is still worthy for being what Voltron was made from.

I also have streaming subs for all kinds of viewing, even sports with ESPN+, Motor Trend, UFC and with My Outdoor TV, hundreds of hunting and fishing shows.

BobO'Link

It's OK but not as good as Return of the Caped Crusaders. Shatner does a good turn as Two Face. At least it sounds like it should, which is a plus.

I did that in real life - seeing the movie in the local theater the summer it came out. I remember liking it for the most part but also being a bit disappointed with it as it felt like a TV episode with a bunch of filler to get it to movie length. I now think that's a good thing but it took me decades to get to that opinion. I was then disappointed when Lee Meriwether didn't play Catwoman in the TV series - but she *was* in The Time Tunnel that fall so it was OK. I now know she was cast as Catwoman, after production had started, only because Newmar wasn't told about the movie in time to get out of a contract to make a film in the UK - a film that was never finished or released. Newmar did it again for S3 of Batman when she signed to do a movie which conflicted with her being in the TV series so Ertha Kitt got tapped for the role.

Travis McClain

I enjoyed all three Catwomen. Newmar was probably the most playful; Meriweather seemed like the most conniving; and Kitt projected an air of being cooler than everyone else and knowing it. Along those lines, I don't remember having a strong preference between George Sanders and Otto Preminger as Mr. Freeze. But my all-time favorite Bat-villain of the show will always be Frank Gorshin's Riddler and try as I might, I just cannot embrace John Astin as his replacement. It's no fault of Astin's; he's perfectly adequate, and in another role I probably would have really enjoyed him. I just can't look at anyone else in that costume and think anything other than, "That should be Gorshin."

BobO'Link

Astin, who did a good job, was The Riddler in only 2 episodes due to a contract dispute with Gorshin, who missed those and another story earlier in season 2 with the character renamed The Puzzler. Gorshin *owned* that role like no one else. I, too, like him best with Burgess Meredith's Penguin coming in a close second. Eli Wallach also played Mr. Freeze in a S2 story - I liked Preminger best mainly because he looks more the part, though each actor in the role only appeared in a single story and all were quite acceptable. It's kind of odd that they'd recast that role each time the villain appeared.

Travis McClain

I started my challenge with the first five episodes of The Adventures of Puss In Boots. They're included on the bonus disc the Shrek: The Ultimate Collection box set. I watched the rest of the movies and shorts during November's Comedy Challenge but held off on those for now. They're alright. I laughed more at the first two than the rest, but only the fourth ("Duchess") was an actual disappointment. It's just generic cartoon fodder that didn't need to be about Puss. I don't know that I'll go out of my way to watch the rest of the series anytime soon, but I did like what I saw of it.

shadokitty

In case anyone is interested in classic cartoons (thanks Travis for the reminder), MeTV is bringing back Saturday morning cartoons with a three hour block from 7-10 of the old time cartoons that a lot of us grew up with.

Travis McClain

I got in on a promo from Roku in which I get Epix, Showtime, and Starz for three months at 99¢ apiece, and so far haven't watched a single thing from any of them. I saw that Starz has Ash vs. Evil Dead, and it's just thirty 22-minute episodes so that'll be easy to knock out. Decided to just do the whole franchise, starting with the movies. I keep forgetting how almost entirely unfunny the first movie is. The key to why it works so well, I think, is that Raimi gives us plenty of questions to stop and ask, without ever letting us stop to ask them. I don't know anything more than Ash knew by the end of the movie. I just knew some things before he did. Winning formula for a one-off horror flick, but I'm glad Raimi let it be funny thereafter.