Posted on 09/27/2006 11:04:53 AM PDT by Keltik
There's a gag in one of the old "Treehouse of Horror" episodes of "The Simpsons," in which Homer and Marge attend a parents meeting at Springfield Elementary School on the "thirteenth hour of the thirteenth day of the thirteenth month." The meeting, of course, is to discuss misprinted calendars; as Homer walks in from the wintry outdoors he glances at one hanging nearby and grouses, "lousy Smarch weather."
Well, the DVD calendar now has its very own Smarch. Until recently, video releases have followed essentially the same schedule as theatrical openings, just shifted forward three or four months: The studios' end-of-the-year, Oscar-bait movies generally hit DVD in the spring, the summer blockbusters are pushed to fall, and the prestige indies come out early in the new year. But, lately, a new season has been added to the year in video: the pre-fall-premieres TV-boxed-set stampede.
TV on DVD has been a growing market for some time, but this month it's all but forcing theatrical releases off the shelves. As I write, five of Amazon's top six bestsellers--and about half of the top 100--are TV boxed sets. For decades, television has been slowly killing Americans' desire go out and see movies at the theater; now it's killing their desire to watch them at home as well.
This is probably as it should be. As any number of critics have noted, there's a lot more quality mainstream TV these days than quality mainstream cinema. Moreover, DVDs, DVRs, and various forms of video-on-demand have largely erased the single greatest shortcoming of broadcast television: its insistence that you adapt to its schedule rather than the other way around. It's still possible to set a weekly date with your favorite TV show; it's just no longer necessary. And, while those eager to stay up-to-the-minute with "The Sopranos" -- or "Rome" or "Desperate Housewives"--still must settle for the leisurely rate of one episode a week, those willing to wait for the DVD can compress that schedule to an episode a night, or two or three at a stretch, or even an entire season in one Herculean sitting.
It's no fluke that this technological revolution has coincided with a substantial rise in TV serials--that is, shows whose individual episodes are part of a longer narrative arc. In the past, such programs could be a tricky proposition: Miss one episode thanks to a dinner party or bout of the flu and the whole thread could be lost. But, lately, the miniseries--which was premised, to some degree, on the assumption that people would only be willing to follow a given story for a handful of hours--has given way to the maxiseries: 20 or 60 or 100 hours in the life of Tony Soprano or Jack Bauer.
Back in 1989, Tom Wolfe wrote a notorious (also disingenuous and shamelessly self-serving) essay in Harper's titled "stalking the billion-footed beast." In it, he bemoaned the decline in America of the "big, realistic novel, with its broad social sweep," and wondered who would write novels of New York, "in the sense that Balzac and Zola had written novels of Paris and Dickens and Thackeray had written novels of London." The answer Tom Wolfe came up with was, unsurprisingly, Tom Wolfe. But, almost 20 years later, television is offering another possible answer. What is "The Wire," after all, if not a sprawling social novel of Baltimore? "The Sopranos," too, despite its more intimate focus on one profession and one family, is very much the kind of novelistic enterprise whose (exaggerated) absence Wolfe was mourning. The DVD format enables--even encourages--viewers to interact with these series as they would with novels, picking them up and putting them down when they wish.
Not every program aspires to the sweep or seriousness of "The Wire" and "The Sopranos," of course. "Lost" is a throwback to the radio adventure serials of the 1940s, "Arrested Development" a magnificent, picaresque farce. But, in their individual ways, all of these shows--and many others--are expanding our notions of the storytelling possibilities of the medium. It's a development worthy of commemoration with an expanded (though necessarily still incomplete) version of this week's list, featuring a few of the boxed sets to hit shelves recently or due out soon.
The Home Movies List: Serial Box
Arrested Development: Season 3. Two years ago, I called this "the best sitcom on television." The first half of that assessment stands even if the latter doesn't. From the very start, "AD" was haunted by the specter of its inevitable cancellation; each season--each episode--charged forward with a breakneck hilarity that betrayed the creators' sense that they had nothing to lose. The third season begins to show inklings of self-parody, and stumbles through a 5-story arc with Charlize Theron that makes little sense until its ultimate punch line. But it's still funnier than anything else you're likely to find on TV or in the video store.
Lost : The Complete Second Season. As above (and below) it's best to start at the very beginning. Familiarity with the first season of the pulpy mystery/adventure/romance/thriller will not only help around the water cooler, it'll enable you to fully appreciate the dada genius of the second season's opening scene--a mesmerizing bit of televised misdirection and surely the best-ever use of Mama Cass's "Make Your Own Kind of Music."
The Wire: The Complete Third Season. Between "Homicide: Life on the Street" and "The Wire," Baltimore has attained a kind of iconic status--though hardly one that other American cities would envy. Rich in its texture, persuasive in its details, and boasting greater sociological range--from the tenements to the mayor's office--than any other show on television, "The Wire" is finally (as readers of Open University are aware) getting the attention it deserves.
The Office: Season Two. Heretical statement alert: The American version of "The Office" is better than the British original. Yes, in the transition from Ricky Gervais to Steve Carell, the show's central antihero lost some of his wicked bite. But the subplots and supporting performances are much more richly developed, from the peripheral (Stanley, Ryan) to the inner circle (Rainn Wilson's brilliant Dwight Schrute). Jim and Pam, meanwhile, may be the most endearing will-they-or-won't-they couple in television history--better than Sam and Diane or David and Maddie or Joel and Maggie.
Rome: The Complete First Season. A ground floor well worth getting in on. The ambitious HBO-BBC collaboration has its share of shortcomings: The budget is too spare to truly capture the civil wars (at times it seems as if Caesar and Pompey command a few dozen men each); the interludes in Egypt resemble a foray into glam rock; and the languid pace of the first three-quarters of the season abruptly gives way to a frantic sprint to the Ides of March. But the show is more than redeemed by its lavish staging, intelligent scripts, and exceptional casting--especially Ray Stevenson as legionnaire Titus Pullo (exactly the kind of sensitive brute it was beginning to seem only Russell Crowe could bring off) and Ciarin Hinds, one of few actors (and human beings) with a face and bearing worthy of Julius Caesar.
Battlestar Galactica: Season 2.5. Not quite as good as its cult reputation, but good nonetheless. And who, after all, imagined that, post-"Buffy," we'd be lucky enough to see another second-tier movie turned into first-tier television? (What's next? An Emmy-worthy re-imagining of The Black Hole?) The four-part miniseries that launched the show is a little too pleased with its own bleakness, but things improve quickly. And while Edward James Olmos may not quite be a Jaime-Escalante-in-space, he lends gravity enough to keep "Galactica" from drifting away.
Northern Exposure: The Complete Fourth Season. A postcard from before the Age of Irony. Though "NX" has only been off the air for a little over a decade, it somehow seems longer. Much imitated, the show's quirky innocence has rarely, if ever, been equaled.
Epitafios. A 13-part, Spanish-language miniseries developed in Argentina by HBO, this is the show everyone would be talking about if only it were in English. I haven't finished the series (yet), but its stylish, Grand Guignol horrors--reminiscent of The Silence of the Lambs and (especially) Se7en--are hard to shake. Not for the squeamish.
The Sopranos: Season 6, Part 1 (out in November). The "Part 1" in the title gives away the real problem here. At its best (e.g., with the Vito storyline), this semi-season was as good as ever. But too often David Chase et al. seemed to be killing time with redundant filler--the overlong dream subplot, the recycled storylines (Christopher falling off the wagon, Artie getting in trouble over a pretty young hostess). Here's hoping that when it returns for its finale, the show will have a little more forward momentum toward one of television's most richly deserved curtain calls.
24: Season Five (out in December). Arguably the best season to date of this relentlessly engrossing series, a "Perils of Pauline" for the post-9/11 era. Rolling Stone's claim that this is the "central moral-political drama of our time," however, is more than a little silly, as I argue here. Still, these days it probably beats a typical night at the multiplex.
800 channels and nothing is on worth seeing.
If Hollywood would stop making all those pro-American pro-family feel good movies and start making some good left-wing movies that depresses people, maybe they would make more money.
Heroes was pretty good. Prison Break is enjoyable and House is a good watch. Smallville, Lost and 24 make it for TV for me though. Those shows are great.
The anime I watch blows most live action US shows and movies out of the water. American TV has gotten good in the last few years though with the serialized series. 24 and The Shield come to mind. American cinema has grown stagnant and unimaginative. Where are all the great movies like we had in the 80s?
I *love* watching series on DVD. No commercials, no waiting a week for the story to continue, and then there's the extra features. Good stuff. Well worth the money - especially when compared to the costs of going to the movies.
It sounds as if the Sopranos has jumped the shark. In the months leading up to the first episode of season 6, Chase and his PR people were leading the audience on, giving the (false) impression that the sixth season would be the season to top them all. Instead, it turned out to be a dud. It looks as if it will never get any better anymore.
"the show will have a little more forward momentum"
Werent we promised something like this before the start of season 6? Why should we believe that now?
24 is better, but almost ticked me off with a soap opera style car wreck, daughter miraculously jumps clear and the wife wandering around with amnesia. Other than that, it's been good so far.
800 channels and nothing is on worth seeing.
$73 a month to watch Andy Griffith.
I spend most of my viewing time on The Science Channel and the History Channel.
That and taping "24" on A&E. Other than that it's Sci-Fi Fridays.
Gad, I hope Season 11 of Stargate SG-1 makes it to Sci-Fi.
House would be a better series if it was more about the characters than the patient of the week. That's what makes it formula; after a few episodes you are watching to hear some observations and one liners and a little bit of the "bigger story".
Are we supposed to become emotionally attached to these patient families who will never be seen on the show again?
When is Fox going to compile a "Best of O'Reilly" series?
But I don't really like it. Kind of dumb IMO.
Unless you get the dreaded "long wait" or worse "very long wait". Which is what happened to me with the 2nd season of the series "Ghost Hunters". So I deleted it from my queue and put it in my Blockbuster Q where its on a "short wait", but I've had better success at getting "short wait" movies from BB.
And well worth it :-)
Remember When Lucy and Ricky were in separate beds with nightclothes of opaqueness extraordinaire. At least one foot on the floor when in the same bed and God forbid, (well it was the network censors), the utterance of the word {gulp} PREGNANT!
Myself? I always had a crush on Princess Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring!
"If Hollywood would stop making all those pro-American pro-family feel good movies and start making some good left-wing movies that depresses people, maybe they would make more money."
I know your comment is tongue-in-cheek, but consider:
"All-Time USA Boxoffice
Rank Title USA Box Office
1. Titanic (1997) $600,779,824
2. Star Wars (1977) $460,935,665
3. Shrek 2 (2004) $436,471,036
4. E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) $434,949,459
5. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) $431,065,444
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) $419,654,338
7. Spider-Man (2002) $403,706,375
8. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) $380,262,555
9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) $377,019,252
10. Spider-Man 2 (2004) $373,377,893
11. The Passion of the Christ (2004) $370,270,943
12. Jurassic Park (1993) $356,784,000
13. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) $340,478,898
14. Finding Nemo (2003) $339,714,367
15. Forrest Gump (1994) $329,691,196
16. The Lion King (1994) $328,423,001
17. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) $317,557,891
18. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) $313,837,577
19. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) $310,675,583
20. Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) $309,125,409
21. Independence Day (1996) $306,124,059
22. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) $305,388,685
23. The Sixth Sense (1999) $293,501,675
24. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) $291,709,845
25. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) $290,158,751"
http://us.imdb.com/boxoffice/alltimegross
That is just the top 25 (the list goes on) and, so far as I can see, there is not one movie on there most families would be uncomfortable watching (with certain exceptions, like young children). But that is not the usual fare offered by Hollyweird; rather it is stuff that is left-wing, depressing, violent, and full of gratuitous sex and profanity.
You would think the studios would recognize what sells, and then offer it. But no...
It's as good as the action-drama genre gets. However, it'll leave you with withdrawls and the hope that you can find another, comparable, series to watch.
I guess I'll check into some of the above:)
People who buy DVDs don't throw them out. Eventually they build up a library of all the films they want to see and then turn to buying classic (and not so classic) TV programs. So to keep up sales of DVD movies, you either have to make new movies that people want to see over and over (pretty hard to do) or you have to expand your marketing so that people who never watch DVDs now want to go out and buy them (maybe by giving away the DVD player for free). Or you need to change the format from DVD to an entirely new system so people have to upgrade their collection to stay current with the technology. Since this would take years it is not much of an alternative.
1) Parents who bring their babies or young children to a PG-13 thriller only to spend the entire 2 hours explaining to the crying child that it's not real...it's only a movie.
2) People who don't turn off their cell phones and proceed to take calls and talk through the movie.
3) People who talk to their neighbors through the movie even when you politely ask them to be quiet.
4) People who eat like they've been raised in a barn.
5) Parents who use the movie as a two hour babysitter, which means children running wild, not sitting still, and talking through the movie.
6) Even though there are 200 sets in the theater and 10 strangers watching the movie...they all sit with a chair of each other as if they are afraid someone might attack them in the night.
After listening to 2 little old ladies talk through the entire 2 hours of Shakespeare in Love, I did turn to them at the end and say, "You might take into consideration the next time you come to a film that people like me did not pay $6.25 to listen to you talk through the whole movie."
That's why I wait for the movie to come out on DVD.
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