TV on DVD & Blu-ray

Message

milk114 · #51 Post by **milk114** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 5:35 pm

The best tv show on dvd has got to be Freaks & Geeks. Even though I had seen the show in syndication after it originally aired, I hadn't realized I'd seen at least parts of all but the last two episodes. After sitting down and watching all 6 discs in a few days span... nbc needs to go to hell! I love the character development for every single freak and every single geek in the show (except for Cindy, she's kinda creepy though cute). I feel foolish but I miss these characters. I want to know what happens next! The one nice thing, though, is that it was never given a "proper" ending, that the characters do not die or are sent off or anything so their lives "continue" in the realm of imagination. The people involved behind the scenes on this show are also pretty impressive: Mike White, Miguel Arteta, Jake Kasdan, and of course Judd Apatow. I wanna see all of "Undeclared" on dvd as well, but I think one thing that show did wrong was trot out guest stars too early in the season as a "draw" for viewers whereas Freaks & Geeks held off, allowing the characters to establish themselves, and then when they had guest appearances they were seasoned character actors as opposed to, say, Adam Sandler.

I think one of the advantages of Freaks & Geeks is the chronological distance. Placing it in 1980-81 school year works similar to Wonder Years though, for me, more successfully because even though I was nowhere near high school at the time the early 80s are part of my memory and vocabulary. Beyond "Disco Sucks!" most of the "topical" humor can be directly translated to today, making it more timeless than Wonder Years for that show often delved into the wonders of the first space exploration or a political campaign, specific nodes of time while Freaks & Geeks deals more with the feeling of the time.

The dvd has deleted scenes, audition tapes, blooper reals, behind the scenes reels, and 2 commentaries. It's a bit expensive but is a LOT of content for its price. Serious is the greatest tv show on dvd.

porquenegar · #52 Post by **porquenegar** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:57 pm

Speaking of James Garner, I read somewhere that Maverick is finally going to be released on DVD. I can't find the source, though.

Narshty · #53 Post by **Narshty** » Fri Jan 14, 2005 7:23 pm

Oh, glorious day! My favourite TV series of all time is coming out in March. It is, of course, The Wind in the Willows: Series One. It's just the most meltingly lovely children's show ever made, plus Mr Toad is my fashion idol.

thesemodernsocks · #54 Post by **thesemodernsocks** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 5:32 am

Some great series mentioned so far(Mr. Show, Home Movies, Freaks and Geeks, Brass Eye, etc.) but here are two that I don't believe I've seen anyone talk about yet..

Upright Citizens Brigade
Strangers with Candy

ben d banana · #55 Post by **ben d banana** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:38 pm

thesemodernsocks wrote:Strangers with Candy

especially season one, it is the height of absurdity. amy sedaris was on letterman on friday, apparently the movie version (which he produced) premieres at sundance on jan 24.

cafeman · #56 Post by **cafeman** » Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:53 pm

porquenegar wrote:Speaking of James Garner, I read somewhere that Maverick is finally going to be released on DVD. I can't find the source, though.

One episode of it is included on the Unforgiven SE. Is the rest of the show anything like it? I`ve seen it, and it`s purty fun.

Martha · #57 Post by **Martha** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 9:33 am

Holy mother of god, people-- our prayers have been answered: The Job is coming to dvd.

Harold Gervais · #58 Post by **Harold Gervais** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 8:46 am

I thought I saw someone here asking about Profit but maybe it was some where else. Anyway, for fans of yet another short-lived Fox series, Anchor Bay is bringing us Profit, the complete series. From the Anchor Bay web site:
This bizarre and highly acclaimed television series only aired for a few weeks before being pulled from the airwaves but its popularity has remained strong and now the entire series comes to DVD in a special collector's series package featuring new interviews, etc and more to be announced. Expect a late Summer release.

Starring: Adrian Pasdar, Lisa Zane, Lisa Blount, Keith Szarabajka

justeleblanc · #59 Post by **justeleblanc** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 3:26 pm

I'm actually still waiting for THE RIPPING YARNS, the tv series that Terry Jones and Michael Palin did. Last time I checked only the scripts were available, and even though they were funny, the show I hear was a bomb. Still worth watching.

The Fanciful Norwegian · #60 Post by **The Fanciful Norwegian** » Fri Jan 21, 2005 4:48 pm

I'm actually still waiting for THE RIPPING YARNS, the tv series that Terry Jones and Michael Palin did.

Ta da! There's apparently some nasty glitch with the audio though. Not sure if it's been corrected yet.

Polybius · #61 Post by **Polybius** » Sun Jan 23, 2005 12:41 am

If low rated but cult loved stuff like The Job, Profit and Miracles make it out, I may just see, one of these fine days, a set for the one and only season of The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. =P~

Caligula · #62 Post by **Caligula** » Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:12 am

jpfisher wrote:I really hope that Universal puts out the rest of Magnum -- I was too young to watch the show when it was on for the most part, and really enjoy catching it in syndication. The first DVD set left a bit to be desired with the presentation and packaging, but at least the shows looked better than they do on TV.
-- Jim

From DVDAnswers:

The last announcement from Universal for today, is for the second season of Magnum P.I. which stars Tom Selleck, John Hillerman, Roger E. Mosley and Larry Manetti. The three-disc set will be available to own from the 12th April this year, and should set you back somewhere in the region of $49.98. Each episode will be presented in 1.33:1 full frame, along with English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo tracks. English, French and Spanish subtitles will also be provided. As with the A-Team Season 2 release, the set also appears to include bonus episodes of The A-Team and Knight Rider.

Ashirg · #63 Post by **Ashirg** » Thu Feb 03, 2005 1:13 am

I recently bought Freaks and Geeks DVD collection and it's an excellent TV show that got cancelled too early. I saw it on TV when it was on and quiet liked it, but it was hard to find it when they started to move the time slot. Now, in this excellent presentation, I watched the whole show in a week. I'm thinking of selling it to get 8-disc set from their website for $120. Does anybody have it? Does it worth extra money for extra 2 discs?

#64 Post by **cdnchris** » Tue Feb 15, 2005 8:57 pm

I bought my wife "Wonderfalls" on DVD as she liked the show while it was on (cancelled after only 4 episodes according to the supplements) and I watched it with her and I have to say I actually really enjoyed it. It was quite funny and clever, and the general premise was cute: Inanimate objects with animal faces talk to the protagonist, a laid back, over educated, slacker gen Y girl working retail, forcing her to do good deeds for other people. I remember when I heard the premise originally I was thinking it sounded cheesy, but it was actually quite well written, and some of the humour was sort of sick and dark, the way I like it. Plus I liked how the good deeds unravelled to unvail other bigger things as the episodes progressed. I'm glad Fox actually released it on DVD because I would have missed it otherwise.

With this and "Freaks and Geeks" could DVD save TV shows cancelled too soon. Are there any other lost gems out on DVD? Any that probably should be released on DVD?

Fletch F. Fletch · #65 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:35 am

cdnchris wrote:I bought my wife "Wonderfalls" on DVD as she liked the show while it was on (cancelled after only 4 episodes according to the supplements) and I watched it with her and I have to say I actually really enjoyed it. It was quite funny and clever, and the general premise was cute: Inanimate objects with animal faces talk to the protagonist, a laid back, over educated, slacker gen Y girl working retail, forcing her to do good deeds for other people. I remember when I heard the premise originally I was thinking it sounded cheesy, but it was actually quite well written, and some of the humour was sort of sick and dark, the way I like it. Plus I liked how the good deeds unravelled to unvail other bigger things as the episodes progressed. I'm glad Fox actually released it on DVD because I would have missed it otherwise.

Ah, it's nice to see someone else chime in about this underrated show. I just got the DVD set of this as well and watched a bunch of the episodes last night. Lots of clever dialogue often snappily delivered by the cast. It has a really excellent off-kilter, quirky (over-used word but applicable here) vibe that I really dig. I also thought the setting -- the U.S. side of Niagara Falls -- was rather novel and provides a wealth of oddball characters to interact with the regular cast.

Watching the episodes I started thinking, you know, this is like a cynical, more fantastical version of Joan of Arcadia (although, I think it came out first) and then on one of the extras one of the creative team mentions that the initial idea was a modern tweaking of Joan of Arc.

It continues to baffle me as to why Fox continues to green-light these left-of-center shows (Wonderfalls, Arrested Development) and then abandons them at the first sign of trouble. I know, it's all about ratings and money but it seems to me that they are losing more money by cutting them off at the knees before they develop an audience.

#66 Post by **cdnchris** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 12:20 pm

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:I also thought the setting -- the U.S. side of Niagara Falls -- was rather novel and provides a wealth of oddball characters to interact with the regular cast.

Filmed on the Canadian side, though

It was a clever little show and completely surprised me. It's very quirky (I tried not to use the word because it has been overused lately) and quite entertaining. Definitely up my alley. Plus I get a kick from the talking lion

Fox is horrible with their shows. They actually get some of the best shows on television, yet they don't know what to do with them. They don't know how to market them, and instead of having faith in them when the ratings aren't huge at first, they'll just fuck with the time slots until even the people who watch the show don't know what's going on. It's nice to see they are willing to gamble at first by greenlighting the show, but damn, once it's on, they have no clue what to do.

Fletch F. Fletch · #67 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 1:43 pm

cdnchris wrote:It was a clever little show and completely surprised me. It's very quirky (I tried not to use the word because it has been overused lately) and quite entertaining. Definitely up my alley. Plus I get a kick from the talking lion

heh. The talking monkey is my favourite. Especially how he motions with his paw when talking to Jaye.

#68 Post by **cdnchris** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 2:05 pm

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:heh. The talking monkey is my favourite. Especially how he motions with his paw when talking to Jaye.

He was cool, too, the mannerisms and that voice made him another great "messenger". That was one of the many other neat things about the show, how those little toys/dolls/nick-nacks actually had their own little personalities and became actual characters. The animation was very good, some of the more impressive CGI I've seen, and it's a friggin' TV show! I liked the little expressions and the facial reactions they had, especially the lion, who always seemed to have this sly little smirk on his face. I actually cared for them, and was actually horrified when

SpoilerShow

Jaye puts the lion on the coffee heater, melting him

.
They also had a lot of fun with the concept obviously. One of my favourite moments was the reference to the Looney Tune dancing frog ("One Froggy Evening"?), where the lion starts singing "Hello my baby, hello my honey..." and then shuts up when someone walks by, looks around, and when it's clear starts singing again. I also liked one bit where she grabs an air freshner and throws it out the window of the moving car, and all you can hear from outside is "I didn't say anything!"

Fun, clever little show and I'm really disappointed there won't be more. Some of the talk on the supplements suggested some cool ideas for future seasons (like the return of that psychotic little kid that fell in love with Jaye), but alas, it won't be. At least the show ended feeling complete.

Fletch F. Fletch · #69 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 5:30 pm

cdnchris wrote:They also had a lot of fun with the concept obviously. One of my favourite moments was the reference to the Looney Tune dancing frog ("One Froggy Evening"?), where the lion starts singing "Hello my baby, hello my honey..." and then shuts up when someone walks by, looks around, and when it's clear starts singing again. I also liked one bit where she grabs an air freshner and throws it out the window of the moving car, and all you can hear from outside is "I didn't say anything!"

Yes! That was a memorable moment to be sure. Another nice bit was the episode where Jaye had to help out a nun who had lost her faith and there was a nice throwaway line that referenced that Jane Fonda film, Agnes of God! Weird...

Fun, clever little show and I'm really disappointed there won't be more. Some of the talk on the supplements suggested some cool ideas for future seasons (like the return of that psychotic little kid that fell in love with Jaye), but alas, it won't be. At least the show ended feeling complete.

Tis true. Although, part of me wonders if they would have been able to keep that same high quality over a prolonged period of time. They really seemed to be firing on all cylinders creatively speaking for the 13 episodes that are on the DVDs.

Theodore R. Stockton · #70 Post by **Theodore R. Stockton** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:15 am

according to tvshowsondvd.com the adventures of pete and pete season one will be out in may. They have a cover posted but no news on wether the pre-season one minute shorts or the random specials will be included.

Donald Brown · #71 Post by **Donald Brown** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:27 am

The Comic Strip: The Complete Collection. I've been waiting for this.

yumitree · #72 Post by **yumitree** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:28 am

Theodore R. Stockton wrote:according to tvshowsondvd.com the adventures of pete and pete season one will be out in may. They have a cover posted but no news on wether the pre-season one minute shorts or the random specials will be included.

as many people i know and other boards i frequent have (like me) found this to be some of the best news i've heard in the past year or so, i will repost my thoughts on the disc's extras:
the rumors (that my friends and i have started after careful consideration of the announced facts) is that the season 1 dvd will contain all of season 1 (eight episodes) and 4 of the 5 episode length specials, omitting "what we did on our summer vacations" probably for music rights issues (even though two versions exist, one with the original REM music and one for subsequent airings with the music replaced by polaris originals).
this is based on the following observations of a friend of mine:
"292 minute time = 13 22 minute episodes. But Pete and Pete runs at about 24 minutes per episode.

292 minutes time also = 12 24 minute episodes. So that leads me to conclude they are leaving off "Summer Vacation," which could only mean that they intend to include it later with the music cleared, or at least try to.

That, or they intend to include a bunch of new extras. But if they cared enough to produce new extras, they'd care enough to know that fans would want the specials...

But then again Paramount did leave off the first episode of Spongebob Squarepants from it's first season DVD becuase they didnt want to pay for a Tiny Tim song. " i doubt that the original shorts will be on this disc and am not sure if those will ever be released.

Ashirg · #73 Post by **Ashirg** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:53 am

I'm yet to pick up Wonderfalls, but I really enjoyed the 4 episodes I sawe on TV.

The 1st Season of Scrubs is coming to DVD in May - another great show. Can't wait. I've been missing a lot of it this season because another show - Veronica Mars is on the UPN at the same time. The show really deserves better network, but I hope because it's on UPN, they will give it a chance to survive for another season.

Crocky · #74 Post by **Crocky** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:41 am

Does anybody know the tittle of the British TV documentary series that follow the lives of six or seven peoples from youth to adulthood ?

Thanks

Ashirg · #75 Post by **Ashirg** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:52 am

Up Series?
- Seven Up (1964)
- 7 Plus Seven (1970)
- 21 (1977)
- 28 Up (1985)
- 35 Up (1991)
- 42 Up (1998)