Qrusher14242

Well, its almost here. The Fourteenth Annual TV on DVD* Challenge. What is everyone looking to watch this time? Any shows you are planning on rewatching? or maybe finishing off a show?

HyperWeather

I ended up watching the entire Friends series when I started it for comedy which was my original plan, so I think my new plan is focus on some mini series I’ve missed the past few years Station Eleven, Haunting of Hill House, and The Fall of the House of Usher. Maybe get back to my Daredevil rewatch and Agents of Shield.

Surfinhank

The unwatched pile is still a mile high, but I've been whittling away at it all year. I started pulling stuff yesterday... A few made-for-TV movies, some series that only got one season, some limited series, and a few shows that I only watched the first season of that I want to finish off like Longmire and Regenesis.

shadokitty

My unwatched pile is still too high to count since more than half of my DVDs are TV box sets. May also revisit some old favorites.

lisadoris

I might try to re-watch The Wire before The Oscar Challenge begins. I thought about tackling Homicide: Life on the Street in honor of Andre Braugher but I don't think I could get through it all in time.

mrcellophane

I just bought Babylon 5 on blu-ray and may marathon it during January. I also have a number of series that I started and never finished so I may focus on those. The pandemic derailed my ability to watch television, and I'm hoping that I'll get back to it next year!

shadokitty

I actually started it a couple weeks ago, but this morning I completed my first series of the challenge with revisiting Planet Earth. It was something I had been thinking of even before the challenge began.

mrcellophane

I had the day off yesterday so in between doing some housework, I watched four episodes of The Lost World, an early 2000s Canadian show loosely based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle novel. It's one of several adaptations that came out in the late 90s and early 2000s, using novel in the public domain to capitalize on the dinosaur trend post-Jurassic Park. I watched a lot of it on A&E when I was in college and recently found a cheap box set with the whole series. It's not a good show, but I have a lot of affection for it since it's basically adventure trope nonsense. Professor Challenger and his entourage are stranded on this lost plateau that is just teeming with people, including a bunch of Europeans. They meet rouge scientists, lizard people, samurais, Celtic druids, Arthurian knights, etc. It's very silly.

Qrusher14242

I've been watching a lot of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Mostly episodes i haven't seen or one's i haven't seen for a long time. I mostly will stick the classic ones i think, i haven't really care for the reboot except for a couple episodes. I also started Schitts Creek which is a show i've seen a few episodes over the years. It feels a lot like Corner Gas and Newhart. I think its cause the character Bob feels a lot like someone in Newhart, like Harley Estin (played by Jeff Doucette). It does make me want to do a rewatch of Newhart, it was just such an easy show to watch. Both that and The Bob Newhart Show are just really easy watches for me.

davidh777

So far I’ve just been catching up on Hallmark and football. May tackle a series if I can.

shadokitty

I received my copy of Mighty Orbots in the mail yesterday and tested the set out last night. Considering it's a mod series, it's quite good quality. And the show was just as good as I remembered. Though I had forgotten that Don Messick was one of the voice actors. And Crunch did sound just like Astro. Plus, while at the time, it meant nothing to me. But I looked up the voices after Rob sounded familiar. He was the later voice of the original Donatello from the first series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Plus, being a Saban or Toei animated series, it is almost like an American anime.

Cardsfan111

I've been alternating between several television series this month.

I'm midway through the 5th season of Happy Days. I've already seen the Fonz jump the shark. The latest episode was "Richie Almost Dies" where a motorcycle accident leaves Richie's life hanging in the balance. The Fonz is understandably shaken up, showing emotion, and praying for his friend. In an odd way, he seemed more heartbroken about the situation than either Mr. & Mrs. Cunningham. I'm a few episodes away from the introduction of Mork.

I'm also watching another staple from the same time period, Good Times. I caught a lot of the show while growing up. I knew details about how the father (John Amos) had been written out of the show. I also knew Janet Jackson would appear later on. As I'm watching the 4th season (when Jackson's character was introduced), I had no recollection that the mother (Esther Rolle) had left for a season as well. While the dad being killed was a powerful episode packed with emotion, the mom was written out by remarrying and moving away. This scenario made no sense to me, and apparently it didn't to Rolle either from what I've read.

mrcellophane

I finished the first season of The Lost World which ended with the return of an earlier villain and an oddly downbeat cliffhanger. They also established in the latter part of the season that there are ancient Egyptians on the lost plateau and that time travel and beings from other dimensions exist in this universe. By the end of the session, the actors have settled into their characters and achieved a good chemistry. My only complaint is that this version of Professor Challenger is calm and mannered instead of bombastic and relentless. He often takes a backseat to the other characters which is not the case with the literary character.

davidh777

Finished season 3 of Yellowstone, which is the end of the Vudu bundle I purchased. I’ve been meaning to sign up for Peacock, which should have the rest. In the meantime, I’ve started The Night Agent, which is good.

shadokitty

^ I hadn’t given Yellowstone much thought before. But this past Sunday I was channel surfing and saw that an episode was on CBS as part of the event I guess. I actually really enjoyed it and may at some point delve further deeper. I finished Mighty Orbots yesterday. As with many Saturday morning cartoons, it only lasted one season. However, it wasn’t because of ratings. Digging deeper into the story behind its cancellation, Tonka had sued the studio for supposedly ripping off their Gobots toy line. It was baseless, but I guess the financial issues made the studio shut the series down.

On the streaming side, I’m currently working through a digital copy of the 2018 season of Shark Week that I bought on Amazon a few years ago and never got around to watching.

Cardsfan111

The characters we still love, but the storylines now... Season 6 starts with nearly the entire cast going to a Colorado dude ranch and ends with Fonzie riding a bull and Richie coming to the rescue as a matador. I have a hard time typing that out with a straight face. The bull riding scene is particularly laughable with an obvious stunt man wearing a leather jacket on the bull and closeups of the Fonz waving his arm around.

BobO'Link

That one episode of Happy Days is where they lost me completely. It had gone a bit off the tracks with a few S4 episodes but that one... I purchased a S1-S5 box set simply because it was less expensive than purchasing S3/S4 (the last 2 seasons I intended to own) separately. I have zero intentions of ever watching S5. Don't even get me started on Mork... That story line makes Fonzie jumping the shark almost look good.

shadokitty

I think the point of no return for me was when Fonzie became respectable. He not only became a teacher, but basically became a family man with a ready made family. Dating a woman who had a little girl. Incidentally, the little girl was the daughter in the Poltergeist movies. I don't even know what that season was.

Qrusher14242

I've almost got through all my goals in this challenge. Finished up S2 and S3 of Storage Wars. Its a fun little show, i enjoy it. I also finished S1 of The Mads are Back. It's so good hearing Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff riff again on crummy movies. It's a little darker than MST3K but its sooo much better than the revival of MST3K. I could never get into the Netflix seasons. I've been going through a bunch of MST3K as well, mostly from the Joel years. Episodes like The Day the Earth Froze and Hercules Unchained are just sooo good.

I also am almost through with Schitts Creek. I enjoy it, but its not as laugh-out-loud funny as i had hoped. I'm also almost through with S3 of Gunsmoke. I've seen these episodes a bunch but they never get old, just love old western shows like Gunsmoke, The Virginian and Wagon Train.

BobO'Link

I was quite disappointed with Schitts Creek. I did a blind buy of the complete series based solely on the cast. It wasn't nearly as good or funny as I was expecting and is unlikely to ever get a 2nd viewing.

davidh777

That’s too bad. I like Schitt a lot, but nothing appeals to everyone.

BobO'Link

Yes - and I *really* wanted to like it. Oh well... It's possible I went in with too high expectations.

davidh777

That’s probably it. The show has generated a ridiculous amount of buzz and gifs. I watched the first five seasons with my family during quarantine, so that gave it an extra element of comfort to me.

shadokitty

Thanks for running this Qrusher. I had a lot of fun this month. And still have a lot that I could probably use for March Action/Adventure.

Qrusher14242

No problem! it's usually the only challenge i participate in and it was fun to run it this time. I have done the Academy Award challenge before, but im not a huge movie watcher myself. I may try that March challenge though, never done it before (not that i can recall).

I had fun too, got through all my goals and watched more this challenge than i ever had before. I watched a lot of MST3K i hadn't seen in years. I finished off this challenge with some Gunsmoke.