| Editorial May 2005
DVD Leveled the Playing Field
Home Theater & Sound’s
DVD editor, Rad Bennett, has for some time touted the plethora of DVD selections derived
from television series. He has informed us about many of the latest releases and,
particularly, his favorites. (You can read his "With
DVDs Like These, Who Needs TiVo?" series in our "DVD
Roundup" archives.) Rad has always been a fan of the Buffy the Vampire
series, as have I, but lately its spin-off series, Angel, has been
entertaining me. Although these shows were made for network television, I didn’t dive
in with both feet until they were released on DVD.
My local Blockbuster Video has had a pretty good selection
of TV titles on DVD for some time now -- I can rent Alias and 24 as soon as
they’re released. Hollywood Video has been slower to offer such selections, though
recently my local branch created a section titled -- what else? -- "TV on DVD."
I was thrilled -- the Hollywood store is much closer to my house than the Blockbuster
outlet.
One slow movie week a month or so back, I spotted the fifth
season of Angel and, having had a taste of the series from catching an episode here
and there on TV, decided to check it out. The early episodes I’d seen had lacked
focus and direction, as I remembered, but Angel evidently improved as the seasons
passed -- I was hooked from the first episode of the fifth season. The later episodes
gained from the addition of such meaningful characters as Gunn (J. August Richards) and
Fred (Amy Acker), not to mention old favorites, such as Spike (James Marsters), from the Buffy
days. Angel’s final-season ensemble of actors performed like a well-oiled
machine. The story lines were focused as they built on each other toward a series-ending
climax. The last two episodes, taken together, were better than almost any movie
I’ve recently seen. Joss Whedon, the series’ creator, knew the show’s run
was coming to an end, and had an opportunity to conclude it properly with the Angel team
doing what they do best: battle ultimate evil against all odds, but with a touch of the
absurd.
My point is that I was able to really enjoy Angel
because it was on DVD. I could watch on my schedule and, because there were no
commercials, each "60-minute" episode took only about 40 minutes of my time. I
watched all 22 episodes of Angel’s final season in about two weeks, watching
on nights it was convenient for me. What’s interesting about this is that I passed
over some high-profile movies to watch this series.
Suddenly, at least on the shelves of my local rental store,
TV shows and blockbuster movies exist on a level playing field. For TV, this means that a
whole new market has opened up: folks like me, with limited time to enjoy the tube -- er,
LCD -- but who would watch if it were more convenient.
Competition is a good thing. Having TV shows and movies
competing directly against one another in the rental chains is bound to make each better:
more interesting content coupled with ever-improving production values. Any consumer can
watch only so many titles, so both media are competing for the almighty rental dollar. Who
knows? Maybe I’ll skip Ocean’s Twelve and instead watch the final season
of Buffy. I like having the choice that DVD has given me. I suspect that shelf
space at the Hollywoods and Blockbusters of the world is a hot commodity. Let’s see
what the movie and TV industries do next to capture our attention. It should be
interesting.
...Jeff Fritz
editor@hometheatersound.com |
