How many TV shows are worth owning?

[Lazybones]

Before I got Netflix, I would have said 10-20. For a while, I was collecting the seasons of The Simpsons, Family Guy, and BSG as they came out, and I already owned full runs of Futurama and Firefly.

But now, probably my answer would be zero. Or maybe 1-3, at best (probably single-season releases like Firefly). I find I generally watch shows again maybe once every five to ten years (with Firefly as the exception, I've seen each of those 2-3 times since I bought it). Since I'm keeping my Netflix sub anyway, I don't have a problem with re-renting them when I want to watch the show again some time in the future.

Since my Netflix sub costs about $1.70 per DVD (I costed it out based on my average rentals during the first six months of my membership), and most purchased series (at least the ones I am interested in) cost $4 (low-end specials) to $10 (HBO series) per disk, it's not really worth it to me right now to buy the DVDs.

You might say (correctly) that in the long run the DVDs will be more economical, over multiple viewings. And Netflix might not be around in 10 or even 5 years. But I think that based on the current pace of technological development in storage and media delivery, by the time I've watched these shows 3-4 times (i.e. 15-25 years from now), we'll have something totally different in place. Probably instant delivery-on-demand of any show ever made to our hi-def sets for a buck or two (today's dollars), but that's just my guess.

For folks who watch shows again every year, I'd say definitely, get the DVD sets... and the lists others have cited are ones that I would agree with in whole or in part.

 

[Rackhir]

Oh, we were to include anime in our lists?

Point taken.

It's a tv series in the US and Japan. You don't have to include them, but there are a number of anime series I've found to be worth collecting. Ghost in the Shell I think by any mark is an excellent series, with some really though provoking material in it about what IS it going to mean to be human if your body is artificial, your mind is computer augmented and your conciousness is plugged into a network.

 

[Arnwyn]

It's a tv series in the US and Japan. You don't have to include them, but there are a number of anime series I've found to be worth collecting. Ghost in the Shell I think by any mark is an excellent series, with some really though provoking material in it about what IS it going to mean to be human if your body is artificial, your mind is computer augmented and your conciousness is plugged into a network.

Oh, I know. I own both seasons (well, waiting for Vol. 7 of 2nd Gig). I love me some Ghost in the Shell.

 

[Celtavian]

re

I own the following:

The X-files
Millennium
Miami Vice
Cheers

Shows I will own:

Star Trek Classic
Star Trek: Next Generation
The Shield
The Equalizer (if it ever comes to DVD)
Taxi

That's 9. I'll probably think of more, but those are the ones I most want to own at this moment.

 

[Piratecat]

I've got Gilligan's Island. Really, is anything else needed?

 

[GandhitheBFG]

Well, at home, we have 5 channels, one of which doesn't count. So I'll buy anything that I catch a couple of episodes of and enjoy. Also, my job has really odd shifts, so I can't really watch most things regularly.

Recently, I bought Lost, and I'm tempted to buy Smallville. Assuming it's more like the Birthright comic, than the Returns movie *shudders*

 

[Tuzenbach]

C'mon, only 47 voters? But over 400 peeps viewed the thread!

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I am three seasons shy of owning all of MASH on DVD. Highlander I'd love to complete, but can't afford it (with my current allowance it'd take me 10/12ths of a year or more to finish it. I've got two seasons of Red Dwarf and will be completing it. Firefly is on my list as well as Stargate SG1 & Stargate Atlantis.

 

[Kaodi]

So Little Money To Burn...

I have Firefly.

If I had the money, I would buy all of Transformers. I watched the movie sometime within the last year I think, and it was still cool. The fact that Autobots & Decepticons get killed left and right is interesting, compared to a lot of contemporary stuff. And man, there is no denying the awesome power of Hot Rod opening the Matrix and becoming Rodimus Prime. If they came out with the rest of the series and I had the money, I would also buy Gargoyles. I'd consider Battlestar Gallactica, Buffy & Angel... Damn you Alexis Denisoff!

 

[EricNoah]

I get a lot of repeat viewing pleasure out of Futurama, the Simpsons, Family Guy, Friends, Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Smallville. Shows where I only have partial collections and feel I only need to see now and then include the X-Files and the last two seasons of Enterprise.