Has This Changed How I Watch TV?

For Father’s Day, my mother and I purchased the first three seasonf of The Wire and The Godfather trilogy, the first on the suggestion from his friends and the second because he is a man of the 60s and 70s.

He finally started to watch The Wire the other day and causually commented that he understood me a bit better now.  Of course, I don’t actually think he fully understands the joy of TV on DVD after a partial season, but he might by the end of this.

The comment did get me thinking, though, about the nature of TV shows on DVD and how it changes  (or doesn’t) the way I watch shows now.

My first big show to buy on DVD was season 1 of The O.C. It might have been the only thing to get me through the 2004 Election (that’s another story for another day.)  I marathoned the show and had myself a grand time in the process.  It wasn’t until I started to watch Veronica Mars that I understood how much more useful DVDs of entire seasons could be.  It saved me the horrible lag time between episodes, which much more of a payoff by the end.  Of course, not every show is like Veronica Mars, but the fact that in the span of a few days, I can watch what people spend months getting through is (and will always be, I think) different.

The downside to them, though, comes in the form of that horrible wait time before they actually come out.  Holding off on watching an entire show to catch it once it’s on DVD works if the show has bene cancelled and there’s no worry about being spoiled.  However, for current shows, marathoning an entire season in a matter of days before a season premiere is a bit much.

In the end, I can’t say if having TV on DVD has been good or bad, but it certainly helps to pass the time.