I've been watching the first few seasons of West Wing on Bravo the last few weeks and for the first time feel that I want this damn show on dvd to watch again and again and bask in the glory of Sorkin's wittiness.

Why?

Damn it all, I pay for cable to be able to watch all the crap that's out there, and I've watched the first few *seasons* by now of West Wing but I want to own them and watch them again on my time.

I understand these forums are more focused on film but has anyone read anything about how dvd has changed TV? Producers for big films seem to bank on dvd sales to make up costs they don't get in the theatre. Even comic books (to show some of my true colors) are now more often then not being written with prolonged story arcs so they can fill tradepaperbacks (usually 5-6 issues) b/c they know they'll make more money in trades, especially at Barnes & Noble or Borders, then they will the individual 6 issues. SO... is this true at all for television shows?

We have apprentice, survivor, daily show is coming soon... how long till Ken Jennings' run on Jeopardy makes it to dvd? Every episode of Buffy, of X-Files is available for purchase at your nearest retailer. Wonderfalls, with 9 episodes that never aired on television, will be out beginning of february. I guess DVDs mean something to the people who control the pursestrings. So how does that effect us? (and I'm miffed that Black Adder collection still costs so much).

I suppose when my favorite release of the year is The Office complete collection I am really hooked on the entire concept.

I'm hoping that the success of the idea, and the unexpected sales of even canceled shows like Firefly and Family Guy will add another layer of considerations in favor of taking on more risky and challenging programming at the earlier stages.

When even shows that had short lives, but critical acclaim (like Freaks and Geeks and Al Franken's Lateline) make it onto the format, you know it's really making inroads.

All I can say, in the end, is that I'm incredibly happy that any episode of Homicide: Life on the Streets is available to me at any hour of the day.

I second that.

Kellerman: I just want you to know that I'm here for you. if you want a hug, I'd be happy to give you one.
Bayliss: A hug?
Kellerman: Yeah.
Bayliss: Do you and Lewis hug?
Kellerman: Yeah.
Bayliss: A lot?
Kellerman: No, not a lot.
Bayliss: But enough.
Kellerman: What do you mean?
Bayliss: Well, do you want Lewis to hug you more?
Kellerman: Forget I brought this up.
Bayliss: No, no, no. You brought up the hugging thing.

Bayliss: I'm a detective, Frank. I'm a keen observer of the human condition. I pick up on the subtlest clues, I react to the slightest suggestion. In short, I deduct.
Pembleton: Who told you?
Bayliss: Brodie.

Maybe it's just me.

But I really can't understand how some of the TV-series out there make it to DVD whilst something like The Rockford Files languish in company vaults.

Here's a few gems:

Electric Larry: Harry, the soda machine at the bar is busted again.
Harry Smick: It was fixed last week.
Electric Larry: Tell that to the customer drinking scotch and air.

***

Jim Rockford: Yeah, well we got snarled up in a case in August. I ended up doing 90 days on a county honor farm.
Lance White: Well, I'm sorry about that Jim but I had my client's interests to protect and you did break into that hotel room.
Jim Rockford: What client? Who where you working for? Nobody seemed to know.
Lance White: Well, that was kind of a strange one, those 3 little boys hired me.
Jim Rockford: The triplets? They were only 8 years old.
Lance White: Yeah well when their folks were killed by the mob, I kind of took 'em in. Finally, I made arrangements for them to live on a friend's farm in Vermont.
Jim Rockford: Isn't that nice? A happy ending. We all got to go to a farm.

***

Jim Rockford: [to hood who has just kidnapped him] Does your mother know what you do for a living?

***

[Rockford knocks out a thug with one punch]
Jim Rockford: Ow! If I could do that without a roll of quarters in my hand, I'd be a terror.

I think the same legal limbo that kept Jim Garner in court for years might be tangling up The Rockford Files, which is a pity because that was a wonderful show.


Bayliss: "Some things you just can't talk about with women."

Pembleton: "Why don't you pretend I'm a woman..."

Woooo Homicide! Aside from the fact that it was a great show in general, one of the few really well written shows on network TV, I especially love watching Homicide when I'm here at college in Boston...it's like an hour long trip back home to Baltimore

I've recently discovered The Wire. The show is also created by David Simon and it's about police and criminals in Baltimore. It's not as good as Homicide but it helps with the withdrawal symptoms.

It's mighty Goddamned close to Homicide

It is, without a doubt, the best dramatic show on American TV right now.

One thing for sure is that the writers for "West Wing" have watched alot of Howard Hawks films !

Note: I haven't had TV since 1981, so I've discovered all of these on DVD to start with:

Other TV on DVD classics: My So Called Life -- the most tragic cancellation ever, IMO. S1 of Twin Peaks and hopefully S2 before the world ends.

Worth a look: Northern Exposure, Farscape, Law & Order, Six Feet Under, Singing Detective, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, I, Claudius, L Word, Sex in The City, etc.

Of the stuff already mentioned by other posters above, Freaks & Geeks, Firefly and Buffy are certainly spectacular.

I'll have to check out West Wing & Homicide, Life on the Streets. Too bad all this TV show viewing leaves no time for movie DVDs...

Ted

P.S. For those who asked -- yes TV on DVD is having a huge impact on the biz as well. Example: the quickly cancelled Firefly is now getting the feature film treatement courtesy of its DVD success. (Though frankly that's a mistake -- they should have just revived the show itself -- wouldn't you have happily traded Star Trek I to VI for a fourth season of the original show -- I sure would have).

I'm a huge fan of the Adult Swim stuff put out by Cartoon Network. Even though a lot of it is popular in fraternities, and therefore bad, I still laugh my head off at Family Guy (on DVD), Aquateen Hunger Force (on DVD, with very interesting extras/menus/package design), Harvey Birdman (coming soon to DVD), and a few others.

Mr Show is also a big favorite, and I aim to get Freaks and Geeks (if there's ever a decent sale on it) and The Office (neither of which I've seen, but have heard enough about to blind buy).

Ditto, harri...in fact, it's really all the (pre-DVD) television watching I do nowadays. Family Guy has its moments, but I can't get my head around how completely derivitive it is of The Simpsons, right down to recycling some of its jokes; it's probably my least favorite. The rest of their line-up is drop-dead funny, and not counting some of HBO's line-up, is the funniest comedy being written for television. Aqua-Teen is also a favorite around here, but in a close second is the drastically underrated and deadpan Home Movies. I think their newer creation, The Venture Bros., is wonderfully cinematic and chock full of great film homages. IMO, it's the most entertaining, creative, and viewer-friendly television being made today.

Now, if they'd just bring back Space Ghost...

Yeah, I really like Home Movies, but it seems relatively inconsistent (when it's good it's drop dead hilarious though). Venture Bros. is a favorite, and out of the adult swim lineup it seems to be singularly developing some continuity. Every episode I've seen has had some kind of Bowie reference, which just makes me want to send money to someone and get the DVD already.

Birdman though... some of the best voice work in animation. How can you go wrong with Stephen Colbert and Gary Cole? You can't.

Oh, I totally agree. Tell that to my co-workers, who are entirely sick of me saying, "Multiple entendres!"

Harri, you can get the Freaks and Geeks series at DVDpacific for 28 bucks. I probably stand alone, but I'm totally hoping Roseanne makes it to dvd soon. By far my favorite show ever.

Edit: Sorry Harri, they must have caught the mistake on the Freaks and Geeks dvd. Now it's 43 bucks.

"Birdman! Good News!"

I love it. This new show Tom Goes To The Mayor seems like a comedy jackpot as well.

While I don't think I'd buy it, I agree that Roseanne was something very special. When I see it now I spend the whole time feeling profoundly small for hating it when I was a kid. Stupid, stupid viewer.

Also, add me to the list of Adult Swim obsessives. Home Movies is probably my favorite, inconsistent or not. I've also bought Space Ghost and Sealab 2021 and just started watching Venture Brothers, which has commenced rocking my world. Anything with Patrick Warburton's voice in it is a good bet.

Random fact: at a posh cocktail party in some fancypants country club in the mountains of North Carolina, I met the creator of Sealab 2021. He was deeply, deeply odd in the best possible way. Everyone else there was scared of him, but since I was scared of them, it worked out really well.

Ted, waste a little time on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Season 3 is due in a couple of weeks. Friends are tired of me saying so, but they have all come around to the view that it is the work of pure genius. Larry David has rarely come up in discussion here, but arguably there is no one presently working in the comic medium of television and film that can touch him. So good, that it is hard to watch much else these days.

Agreed as well, devlinnn. I do like Seinfeld, but I wish that every person who received their box sets this Christmas had a copy of Curb along with them. Larry David has reached that mythical comedy zone where I laugh upon just seeing him, whether he's delivering a line or not.

yup, curb your enthusiasm has upped the bar on pettiness, spite, agony and humor. i get the feeling each episode is made just for me and i couldn't be happier.

Thanks for the tip -- should I be starting with S1 or S3? How different is it from Seinfeld because I was never much of a fan -- of what I saw at a friend's house, it didn't do much for me.

Ted

i know seinfeld haters who love curb so there's hope.

start from the beginning to see all of the obsessive pettiness unfold as it was meant.

Start with the pilot episode found on disc 3 of the Season 1 set, then take the episodes in turn, as characters and bits of business pop up in the future. If you were not a fan of Seinfeld, don't worry. Larry David has created something more human, sexual, jewish, spiteful, hysterical and just plain superior here. Hey, he actually makes Ted Danson funny. I've yet to see season 3, but if episodes come close to the brilliance of 'The Doll' and 'Trick or Treat' from season 2, I'm in for a great late January.

(It's especially great if you're married or in a long term, hetrosexual relationship, without kids.)

are you ever.