Which modern current tv shows do you still buy on dvd? (1 Viewer)

[jcroy]

For many years I followed a "no bluray = no sale" rule, largely to limit the number of tv season sets I buy. (Primarily to avoid jumping onto an ocd compulsive collecting treadmill).

The fact that many non-genre and/or non-cable shows are not released on bluray at all, makes this very convenient for restricting my tv season sets collecting. As a result, most modern tv shows originally filmed/edited in HD (or higher) resolution are unfortunately only released as dvd-only, where the intrinsic HD video is downscaled to 480i SD ntsc resolution on dvd.


Most recent/current tv shows I'm not willing to buy as dvd-only, largely for the reason that the HD resolution of new episodes look really good and don't look as good as downscaled SD video on dvd. I noticed this immediately on past tv on bluray shows like CSI (seasons 1 and 9), House MD (seasons 6-8), The Office, etc ... where I also had the dvd versions. The rebooted Hawaii Five-0 blurays looked spectacular and a lot better than the original cbs broadcasts.

Though with that being said, the few current tv shows I'm still willing to buy on dvd are shows I still watch like Criminal Minds and NCIS, where it appears the intrinsic HD video might be run through a "crappy-fying" image softening filter which makes the video look "non-HD". (This is most likely done for "artistic" type of reasons).



So I'll open the discussion of which modern tv shows are you willing to buy on dvd-only, and for which reasons are you willing to watch such modern shows in SD resolution on dvd?

 

[mrz7]

I do buy "Modern Family", "It's Only Sunny In Philadelphia" and "Family Guy" on DVD...….just because Fox (now Disney) doesn't give you any other option (no Blu-Ray). I will buy a t.v. show on Blu Ray as a first option.....but if I have no choice I will buy the DVD. I have the first 4 Seasons of "Modern Family" on Blu-ray and the middle seasons of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" (Season 5-8, Christmas special) on Blu-Ray and "Family Guys" Star Wars Parody on Blu-Ray.....but other seasons are on DVD. Another Fox show "American Horror Story" I have all on Blu-Ray except for Season 7 (Cult), which I have on DVD.....but just learned, thru this forum that it was released in Europe on Blu-Ray as an "All Region" disc.....so I placed my order on amazon today. It does suck that they just don't stick to Blu-ray on some of these shows.....but if it becomes available on Blu-Ray I will buy that option first.

 

[Jasper70]

I have all five seasons of The Goldbergs on DVD. A few seasons of Blue Bloods. A few others. I rarely buy them new, usually wait until I find them at pawnshops or thrift stores. Obviously I’d rather have them on Blu-ray but DVDs are better than nothing.

 

[BobO'Link]

I've only purchased a few newer shows. Those I've picked up on DVD are:

Community
Chuck
Fringe
The Office
The 100
The Goldbergs
The Last Kingdom
Modern Family
The Orville
The Vikings

The choice of DVD over BR is always based on price but I lean towards BR if it's available. I don't get bothered if a series is only available on DVD (The Orville for example).

 

[jcroy]

Most recent/current tv shows I'm not willing to buy as dvd-only, largely for the reason that the HD resolution of new episodes look really good and don't look as good as downscaled SD video on dvd.

To be more specific, this ^ is a "jedi mindfuck" I say to myself repeatedly to talk myself into NOT buying most tv season dvd sets. Basically to avoid jumping onto a particular ocd treadmill in the first place.

 

[jcroy]

Obviously I’d rather have them on Blu-ray but DVDs are better than nothing.

Many years ago I use to think exactly in this same ^ manner.

Nowadays I'm fine with watching episodes of modern shows in reruns or a streaming service, in HD resolution from the start.

 

[Ethan Riley]

I'm always going to prefer blu-ray no matter what. I'm buying This is Us and The Orville on dvd because I want to collect those shows and FOX gave us no other choice. For some shows on blu-ray I've had to go to Warner Archives, like Shameless and Riverdale.

 

[Paintbeanie]

I don’t really buy many current tv shows anymore. The only one I buy is Big Bang Theory (and I get that in Blu-Ray, but would get that in DVD if it was all that was available). I sometimes will buy other seasons of shows I have heard about or missed just to catch up such as this year I will also get The Good Place on dvd since I missed a lot of season 3 (and that is the only way to catch up since I do not use any streaming or digital services). Overall though I rarely buy current shows now unless I like them enough to rewatch. When tv on dvd started I would get every dvd of the current shows I watched but it got to be too expensive and I realized I did not watch everything, so now I am more careful.

 

[Radioman970]

Walmart has Ash vs Evil complete series DVD for $35. The blu ray is $30. I bought the blu ray and was afraid to open it but did anyway. waiting for stuff to happen!

 

[TJPC]

The only DVD set I purchased was “The Orville”. I would love to have it in Blu ray if it was available. I started the first season of “The Walking Dead” on DVD, but traded it for Blu ray. All my seasons of both the “Dead” shows are Blu now.

 

[jcroy]

Overall though I rarely buy current shows now unless I like them enough to rewatch. When tv on dvd started I would get every dvd of the current shows I watched but it got to be too expensive and I realized I did not watch everything, so now I am more careful.

Over the years I found the "perceived rewatch value" of a show/movie, was not a very good indicator for dvd/bluray purchasing decisions for me.

Over the past decade or so, there were quite a few tv shows which had a very high rewatch value for me during their original first-run broadcasts. During the week(s) between airings of new episodes, I was watching the then-current new episode as many as a dozen times (or more). For example, shows like: Fringe, Person of Interest, the Nikita reboot, the Hawaii Five-0 reboot, Continuum, Defiance, etc ... At the time I thought such shows were good candidates for purchase on bluray.

In the end, unfortunately I found out the hard way that most of these bluray sets had very little to no rewatch value for me. This is all in spite of the fact that these exact same episodes had an extremely high rewatch for me during their original first-run broadcasts.

 

[jcroy]

So far I have not been able to figure out what would have a high rewatch value for me when it comes to bluray (or dvd), other than trial and error.

For example, the only tv show which had a very high rewatch value for me both during the original first-run broadcasts AND on dvd disc, turns out to be one of the worst tv shows ever produced: CSI Cyber.

For reasons I don't really understand, CSI Cyber iss one of the few shows I watched over and over again on dvd. (It was never released on bluray in america).

Horrible and/or short lived tv shows is not a good indicator of rewatch value for me when it comes to the bluray/dvd versions. For example, other horrible tv shows on bluray had no rewatch value for me such as Under The Dome (both first-run broadcasts and bluray/dvd).

 

[jcroy]

(This may sound really really stupid, but I'll mention it anyways).

Other "jedi mindfucks" I've been saying to myself repeatly more recently, is stuff like:

"no 4Kbluray = no sale"

and/or

"bluray-mod only = no sale"


As a side effect of this, I've been keeping mental lists of 4Kbluray titles as a rough guide of "which movies/shows NOT to buy" over the past several years.

I don't even own a uhd/4Kbluray player or computer drive.

 

[jcroy]

I sometimes will buy other seasons of shows I have heard about or missed just to catch up such as this year I will also get The Good Place on dvd since I missed a lot of season 3 (and that is the only way to catch up since I do not use any streaming or digital services).

The only show I ever did this for over the past decade or so, was Revenge. I picked up the first three dvd season sets of Revenge, where I binge watched through the dvds just before season 4 started. Previously I only watched through most of season 1 in their original first-run broadcasts, but sorta fell by the wayside for seasons 2 and 3. (Seasons 2 and 3 were much more seralized than season 1).

A year or so after Revenge went off the air, eventually I picked up the season 4 dvd set of Revenge. At the time, I thought about watching through all four seasons again, but I found that the show had very little interest for me by then. I ended up only watching through the first few episodes again, until I got bored and dropped it altogether.

 

[Neil Brock]

None. Trying to think of the most modern show in my collection and its probably Miranda, the British comedy series. American shows? Probably Grounded For Life would be my most modern.

 

[bigshot]

I buy lots of modern shows... especially British ones. Ripper Street, Broadchurch, Whitechapel, Luther, Missing, Maigret, Touching Evil, Hinterland, Hidden, Sherlock, Shetland, The Fall... and Nordic Noirs... The Bridge, The Killing, Wallander. These all are like movies. Great direction, photography, acting and writing. High replay value.

Everyone here talks about shows they knew when they were a teenager or stuff that is all over US TV right at this moment. But there's a whole world of TV outside the box.

 

[Susan Nunes_329977]

So far, I haven't bought any.

 

[David Weicker]

Current shows:
Doctor Who (on Blu)
The 100 (on Blu - thank you Warner Archive)

Recent shows:
Person Of Interest (complete series on Blu)
Grimm (complete series on Blu)
Limitless (DVD - not available on Blu)

 

[David Norman]

"bluray-mod only = no sale"

Question MOD no sale or Burned disc no sale?

 

[jcroy]

Question MOD no sale or Burned disc no sale?

Both. Though it has nothing to do with anything technical nor any actual content on such discs.

This is just a psychological "jedi mindfuck" I repeatedly say to myself, as a way of not jumping onto a particular ocd compulsive collecting treadmill. It has more to do with preserving my "sanity" and well being.