NYTimes on TV Series Rentals

The New York Times is running a story about the flood of new tv shows that are now available on DVD.

"You should have seen the two of us in our P.J.'s," Mr. Michelin, 23, a student of ethnomusicology who was then living in London, wrote in an e-mail message, "exhausted from lack of sleep, hungry at times, stressed at other times, elated and shocked most of the time." "But," he added, they were "determined to complete the season."

Despite what you might think, they were watching the entire second season of "24" in one weekend (2416 hours!). I knew there were a lot of tv shows released in the past year, but this really puts it in perspective:

"About 70 percent of all TV DVD titles have been released in the last year, so it's a pretty new phenomenon," said Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer for Netflix, the online DVD rental company. And the market is only expected to grow. "They're cramming over a weekend," he said. "A month's worth of viewing in one sitting."

Have you watched an entire season at once? What is your favorite series?

Comments

[Adam]

Actually, a full season of 24 would run you 16 hours (40 minutes per episode). This isn't that hard to do.

[Rachel in Tulsa, OK]

I love the fact that most TV shows are released to DVD so quickly. It means that I don't have to set my VCR or be at the TV at a specific time (I don't have TiVo). To me, it saves time because I don't have to sit through commercials. Plus, there is always the potential for special features.

[Keith]

Back in college we did weekend marathons of seasons of B5. This was while B5 was still on the air, so it was pre-DVD. This was great for people like me who didn't get into B5 until late in the 3rd season, I was rapidly able to catch up.

The downside, though, is a room of geeks who made chili and fajitas. Well, the downside was clear a few hours later anyway.

[Kathryn]

I'm constantly praising DVD to friends for the very fact that it's made watching TV shows possible. I've been able to catch up on series that I came in on in the middle (Gilmore Girls, Entourage,) catch classic shows I'd never seen (The Twilight Zone episode with Buster Keaton, for instance,) find new favorites (The Wire) and enjoy BBC series that are hard to find on TV over here.

While I've never watched an entire series at once, I have been known to watch an entire disc (3-4 episodes) at one sitting, which is often just the equivalent length of a movie. TV shows on TV are great too if you don't want to invest more than an hour at a time.

[Matt]

If I could get all discs of a TV series season out from Netflix at the same time, I would watch the whole thing in one sitting. Most of my discs lately have been TV shows, and I always watch the whole disc right away.

Right now we're into Queer As Folk Season 3, The L Word Season 2, and Six Feet Under Season 1. We are very eagerly awaiting the release of Deadwood Season 2...anybody know when this is coming?

[catana]

My favorite series on DVD is Carnivale, with B5 running a close second. I don't have cable or satellite, so the big bonus for me, of DVD, is that I can now see series like Deadwood or Six Feet Under.

Last night I watched an entire disc of Forever Knight--five episodes.

[Adam]

What is B5?

[Tim]

I want my BH 90210!

Until then, the first season of The 4400 will have to tide me over.

[Becky]

B5=Babylon 5, one of the greatest Sci-fi TV shows EVER. It aired from 1994 to 1998.

[Throttled]

"What is B5?"

Babylon 5, most likely. Don't you watch TV?

I watched Alias: Seasons 1-3 back to back on Blockbuster's Movie Pass. Then CSI 1-2. I've not watched any recent series on live TV. I just record and skip the commercials, or get it on DVD. I'd rather wait than put up with brain dead commercials. Most TV is not worth my time. I got sick of CSI after Season 2.

[CJ]

The only TV series I've ever rented (or watched for that matter) is "Queer as Folk." That series has some cultural value for people like me, who are ignorant, straight grandfathers who don't know anything about gay people.

Anyway, I don't have the patience to watch any series on a weekly basis, even though I have a DVR. I just wait till the whole season is available on Netflix, rent all the disks, and watch them sequentially over several days.

[Carl Cravens]

I rent far more TV shows than I do movies. I cancelled by DirecTV and went entirely to DVD rental two years ago... the cost of satellite or cable was too darn high. I watch far more TV shows now for far less money. I don't watch "real" TV at all anymore, and I've almost forgotten what commercials are like.

I have watched an entire season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in one long weekend a couple times.

[ag]

I discovered Gilmore Girls over the summer and went through a MASSIVE watching spree. I managed to watch every single episode (110ish episodes I think) with the help of Netflix and its soon to be follower BitTorrent in a month. I even went as far as to get a Blockbuster membership because Netflix couldn't turn my discs around fast enough. I hardly ever rent movies from Netflix anymore, and by the comments I see I'm not alone. I know this isn't the place for a gushing review, but the show is really, really amazing and worth putting in your queue. Start from the beginning and I promise you'll be in love by the end of the first disc.

A lot of shows are even better when they're on dvd. You don't have to watch the commercials, there is no continuity issues because you can watch episodes back to back to back etc, you just get to stay in the "flow."

That being said, Buffy the Vampire Slayer is awesome to watch straight through. I love that show, and I had to watch every episode of every season like I was a crack addict.

[Off topic]

Hey, this is a little off topic, but has anyone ordered TV shows from Amakon UK to get series "faster?"

I know most of the shows are basically twice what you would pay for them here, but some shows are about the same, even with the shipping price (ex. Joey Season 1, Will & Grace Season 1 & 2, etc)

Even if you don't have a region 2 player, there are "things" that can be bought to make you're purchased dvd Region Free.

The only thing I've heard negatively about this is that these regions are also in PAL (and not NTSC) format, and that PAL usually plays things 4% faster than normal.

What do you all think?

[Throttled]

"The only thing I've heard negatively about this is that these regions are also in PAL (and not NTSC) format, and that PAL usually plays things 4% faster than normal."

I don't think TV shows are effected, because they are shot at the same frame rate as PAL. Movies are shot in a different frame rate so when they convert to PAL it's sped up. There is one way around that, though - use WinDVD, which has a feature called PAL TruSpeed that slows it down. There are many TV series you can get in other regions but not USA, like the COMPLETE "Ally McBeal" (all 3 seasons - only highlights are available in USA, due to licensing issues). Also, "Twin Peaks" pilot and second season - unavailable in the USA.

[J G Bell]

Firefly is the big one. I ended up watching each episode 3 times in a row. First, to see it. Then, I'd watch it again with the commentary on. Next, I would watch it again withour commentary when my partner came home. Send it out, and wait for the next one.

I've got Tivo, so I can queue many if they are on TV. West Wing is playing on Bravo, or we'd probably rent that. Buffy and Angel were on a local station until just recently, so we've seen all of them. I was going to start renting Farscape, but they just got added to a local station, as did Stargate: Atlantis.

Voyager and Xena are the others that we get regularily from Netflix.

We generally get 1 of three as a series and the other two as movies or whatever. So, we've always got a series on tap for the week.

[Throttled]

"Ally McBeal" (all 3 seasons)

Correction: 5 seasons are available in UK. None are available in the USA where the show originates. Why? Copyright bullshit. Greed. Short-sightedness. Death to copyright. Death to the RIAA, MPAA, BSA, DMCA, CBDTPA, etc.

[Leala]

I'm desperately addicted to Dead Like me right now. I just finished season 1 via netflix and have started in on season 2. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.

[Citizen Of Trantor]

I did this with Lost. I didn't realize I might like the show until season 1 was over and S2 was just about to start. I set the Tivo to collect S2 episodes, and ripped all the S1 episodes to my hard drive for the marathon.

I had trouble getting S1-Disc 1 due to the wait, so I got the first four episodes from Bittorrents and discs 2 to 6 from Netflix.

I also didn't get into 24 until season 4, so I marathoned seasons 1 to 3 thanks to Netflix.

"I'm constantly praising DVD to friends for the very fact that it's made watching TV shows possible. I've been able to catch up on series that I came in on in the middle (Gilmore Girls, Entourage,)"

Same here. No matter how popular, I usually come into the middle of a series: The Sopranos, Quantum Leap, The King of Queens, Soap, etc.

But thanks to DVD, I am able to see what I originally missed and catch up.

"catch classic shows I'd never seen (The Twilight Zone episode with Buster Keaton, for instance,)"

For me: The Joey Bishop Show, The Doris Day Show

"While I've never watched an entire series at once, I have been known to watch an entire disc (3-4 episodes) at one sitting, which is often just the equivalent length of a movie. TV shows on TV are great too if you don't want to invest more than an hour at a time."

Same with me. I cant watch an entire series all at once due to constraints of time, or because I am limited to my "4 at a time" program at Netflix and many series havec more than 4 discs. Usually I watch one whole disc at a time.

"I rent far more TV shows than I do movies. I cancelled by DirecTV and went entirely to DVD rental two years ago... the cost of satellite or cable was too darn high. I watch far more TV shows now for far less money. I don't watch "real" TV at all anymore, and I've almost forgotten what commercials are like."

I used to have cable tv, but couldnt afford it anymore and lost it due to non payment. But when I did have cable tv, I would videotape just about tons of movies and tv shows (cable tv just about had everything I ever wanted to watch and more). When I lost my cable tv, I relied on my videotaped collection to keep me entertained at home. It was rare for me to watch regular free tv. Mostly because they had little to nothing I wanted to watch, also because the tv reception, without cable, is horrible out where I live.

Now, with my rent by mail DVD memberships, I watch alot of movies and tv shows (mostly tv shows) more often than I watch my videotape collection.

More tv shows I have recently watched:

Emergency!
Adam-12
Naked City
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Make Room For Daddy
Petticoat Junction
SWAT
The Greatest American Hero
You Bet Your Life (w/Groucho Marx)
Kolchak
Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
Benny Hill Show
Tabitha (Bewitched spinoff)
Mork and Mindy
Night Court
Sanford and Son

Emergency!
Adam-12
Naked City
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Make Room For Daddy
Petticoat Junction
SWAT
The Greatest American Hero
You Bet Your Life (w/Groucho Marx)
Kolchak
Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
Benny Hill Show
Tabitha (Bewitched spinoff)
Mork and Mindy
Night Court
Sanford and Son

Also add:

My Favorite Martian

[mills70]

We don't have cable at all and so the only way we watch tv is indeed DVD. Some series can be watched in one go, although the closest to a marathon was watching the last 8 episodes of Season 2 of 24 in one lonnnng night because it was so suspenseful.

Other series need to be doled out maybe one or two episodes a night. Two reasons mainly: either they are too complex and need "digesting" (The Wire, Sopranos) or they are too formulaic and run the risk of blending into each other (E.R., which my wife is currently watching).

The effect is very close to reading a very long novel, especially if you take in several seasons. We watched the entire run of Sex and the City and it certainly felt like a long 19th century comedy of manners (with an unsatisfying ending!). In fact, in getting addicted to these TV shows, I understand how a century ago people got so wrapped up in Charles Dickens' serials and got all in a tizzy when he killed off certain characters. This is the same thing.

[rob emmerich]

Farscape in about 6 weeks. And if you really want to see how good dvd is (are?) we watched the first 4 episodes on VHS tapes, eww. (Which was possibly better than B5 due to season 5 fiasco) Own "Sports Night" (both seasons, 1 box) which is GREAT comedy (but probably only if you are an east coast overly educated liberal ;-)

DVD over tv - no commericials (has anyone else noticed commercials now coming in 1/2 minute increments which is killing my 1 minute skip on my DVR, or 5 minute long commerical breaks w/ only 5 minutes left to go in the show); watch stuff in order (see Firefly on FOX, or better yet don't); 3 one hour (or 6 1/2 hr.) shows in 2 hours; extras.

[Throttled]

My time is too valuable to waste time watching live TV. I canceled cable several years ago. I just rent DVDs from online and local revolving membership deals. I will never watch TV Again. It kills brain cells and makes you an ignorant moron who believes what authorities tell you. BTW, most TV shows are mindless anyway. It's a laugh to see people taking the high ground by watching mindless crap TV shows on DVD. The last good TV show I remember watching is "MAX HEADROOM". Where's the DVD of THAT???

[Throttled]

The only shows worth watching were canceled after the first season due to poor ratings. Anything that's a hit, I guarantee is crap.

"My time is too valuable to waste time watching live TV. I canceled cable several years ago."

you are in a shrinking minority. DVD rentals are dropping and cable programming especially with dvr and TIVO is growing.

[West Kentucky Holler]

I've done marathon weekends/holidays and my favorite; snowed-in with a complete season on DVDs(Priceless!). My queue is about 75% TV serials. Favorites include many of the HBO series(SFU, Sopranos, Carnivale, Deadwood, The Wire, Oz). South Park, Homicide, The Shield and 24. The British series - Coupling, ABFabs and a great mystery, Cracker.

I own every episode of Dawson's Creek (no, I'm not ashamed)! And I love them EXCEPT the DVD had to change a lot of the music (including the opening credits number) from the original episodes. Not cool.