| DVD Roundup January 2005
 With
DVDs Like These, Who Needs TiVo? -- Part One
There was a time when our busy lives demanded
machines that could record our favorite TV shows while we were out partying or hard at
work. Considering the recent and apparently unending spate of TV shows released on DVD,
one wonders if you might not just wait for the discs.
Many will ask why, when most of these shows are rerun
constantly for free. That’s true, but the DVD releases boast better transfers and,
more important, they don’t have commercials. I was staggered to realize just how much
time commercials take these days. I might watch an older hour-long show, such as Columbo,
and see the closing credits roll 48-50 minutes later. But watching the latest season of Buffy
the Vampire Slayer or CSI, I’m lucky to hit 42 minutes. That means 18
minutes of commercials -- almost 30% of the hour.
Another reason to buy the DVD versions of popular shows is
for the extras they often contain -- commentaries, bloopers, cut sequences, alternate
takes, histories, actors’ biographies, and more. The amount and quality of these
extras vary considerably, however.
In the early days of DVD, shows were released a few
episodes at a time, but producers have since discovered that what sells is a complete
season. Now you see nothing but boxes containing four to seven (or more) DVDs, each box
comprising a complete season -- or, in the case of shows that didn’t make it past
season one, a complete series. Critics might well hate these; after all, most are not paid
more for watching 24 hours of a show than a two-hour movie. But sales indicate that
viewers love these collections; they’re selling like hotcakes.
The best: Buffy and Baltimore crime
I like them, too, as I didn’t see many of the shows
the first time around, and 42 minutes of a quality show fills space nicely when I
can’t get into four hours of Gone With the Wind. A few shows have become
prized possessions on my shelves. First among these is Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I
wrote about the sixth season of Buffy earlier this year, and that review still sums
up how I feel about this quality show. The seventh season, which completes Buffy on TV and
DVD, is out now and is just as good as seasons 1-6. The six DVDs offer first-rate
full-screen video, quality sound, and many cool extras: an overview, selected episode
commentaries, four featurettes, outtakes, and DVD-ROM content, including a "Willow
Demon Guide." The only thing I don’t like about the DVD editions of Buffy
and its spin-off series, Angel, is the packaging: a huge accordion foldout that
makes it hard to find just one disc.
Comparable in quality to Buffy, though quite a
different show, is Homicide: Life on the Streets. A&E’s DVD
releases of this quality cop show now comprise the first five seasons. The picture and
surround sound are just dandy, and season five includes "Prison Riot," acclaimed
by TV Guide as "one of the greatest episodes in TV history." I agree. The
extras include commentary on the midseason episode "The Documentary,"
interviews, and cast and crew biographies. And the packaging is super: six slimline DVD
cases in a cardboard slipcase. When you want to watch a specific episode, you just flip
out the correct disc without having to spread the whole season out across your kitchen
counter.
Crime, comedies, and Star Trek at Paramount
It’s not possible to review every TV show now
available on DVD -- there are just too many -- but here’s a rundown of what I
consider to be the best, organized by studio.
Paramount owns several franchises that can’t be beat.
To begin with, it has all things Star Trek: the original series, Next Generation,
Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. All of those should be complete by now, all
feature excellent pictures, and each has singularly good upgraded sound. The original
show, first released on separate DVDs, is now being reissued in space-saving boxes that
also contain more extras. (The same thing has happened with I Love Lucy. The
second-season box takes up a third the amount of shelf space required by the first
season’s individual DVDs.) Paramount’s other big series is the CSI
franchise. The original is up to the fourth season, and the CSI: Miami spin-off is
up to the second. Paramount tried the accordion foldout box with Star Trek: Next
Generation, but has discarded it in favor of skinny individual DVD cases in a slipcase
or a flip-file arrangement, as in the CSI boxes. Paramount also has Have Gun
Will Travel and The Andy Griffith show, black-and-white classics that look
great on paper but that I have yet to view.
Capers and crime at A&E
A&E could float my boat just by having Homicide,
but the company has several other quality shows as well -- all of the Avengers, for
one, and boy, do those color seasons look super. Peter Gunn’s first two
seasons, in crisp black and white, can also be found on A&E. This hard-hitting show
was way ahead of its time, with a pulsing jazz score by Henry Mancini. I was promised two
years ago that all of the seasons would eventually see the light of day, but so far
there’s still a gap. Other detectives in the A&E stable include The Saint,
played with style by Roger Moore, and Nero Wolfe, with Maury Chaykin as the portly
sleuth. A&E TV shows offer few extras, but all of them look and sound just fine.
British crime extraordinaire from Acorn Media
Acorn is still the new kid on the block, but that
hasn’t stopped the fledgling company from being a major contender in the TV-on-DVD
market. Leading off with 20 discs of David Suchet’s Poirot, Acorn has
established itself as the DVD format’s detective clearinghouse. In addition to the
distinguished Poirot series, Acorn has 13 discs’ worth of Cadfael,
starring Derek Jacobi as a medieval monk who is also a whiz of a detective. Poirot
and Cadfael are all full-screen and in mostly mono sound.
Acorn has also released two seasons of Foyle’s War
in widescreen anamorphic and stereo sound. The technical and acting quality are equal to
what you’d see from major-release movies. Almost as good is Midsomer Murders.
Unlike the other shows on Acorn, this one is set in the present, but the villages of
Midsomer County are throwbacks in time, and the investigations of Detective Chief
Inspector Barnaby and Sergeant Troy are solidly in the best tradition of English detective
stories. The first season of Midsomer is full-screen; later seasons are spiffy
anamorphic reproductions.
So many shows, and this article has covered only three
studios. Look for the second part in February.
…Rad Bennett
radb@hometheatersound.com |
