DVD Box Sets

Absolutely Fabulous
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Married ... with Children

And Dirk, Herman's Head wasn't so bad.

 

The only one I've seen is Alias.

But I'll offer these as my selling points:



And, likely NSFW (at least for the purposes of this board): http://garnerwebsite.free.fr/Images/97.jpg

 

Jennifer Garner single-handedly kept Photoshop alive during Alias' run.

 

My brother from another mother lays down the exactitude again....

 

If you have some extra cash, get the Homicide box set.

The full set is out and costs $300.

Individual seasons are around $70.

But it was one of the best shows on TV. Sadly, they don't show reruns on Court TV anymore.

 

Didn't get into the Wire or Alias so I can't comment on those two.
However the other three are my three favorite TV shows. I'd rank them this way:
1) The Shield
2) 24
3) The Sopranos

Here's how each show fullfills your requirements:
The Shield
1. Each episode must be at least 40 min -- With commercials its an hour show, so without commercials the episodes are about 45 minutes I guess.
2. There's got to be drama or suspense -- Lots of gritty drama and action in each episode.
3. The shows need to preferably have some sort of cliff-hanger ending. In other words, I want the ending of "Show A" to make me want to watch "Show B." -- No cliff-hanger endings, but the episodes build on eachother, leaving you to wonder how situations/events will effect the character down the road.
I got hooked on this show from the first episode of season 1, wanting to watch it based on the previews, and haven't missed an episode since.. and with the way Season 5 ended it's killing me that they keep pushing back the start date for Season 6.


24
1. Each episode must be at least 40 min -- with commercials its an hour, so figure 45 minutes without commercials
2. There's got to be drama or suspense -- lots of this, often to the point where you have to suspend your belief in reality, but there's lots of it there
3. The shows need to preferably have some sort of cliff-hanger ending. In other words, I want the ending of "Show A" to make me want to watch "Show B." -- The premise of the series is that each season is one day -24 hours - and each episode is one of those hours so the excitement of "what happens next" is always there.

Sopranos
1. Each episode must be at least 40 min -- About 50-55 minutes long on HBO.
2. There's got to be drama or suspense -- Lots of drama and suspense.
3. The shows need to preferably have some sort of cliff-hanger ending. In other words, I want the ending of "Show A" to make me want to watch "Show B." Not many cliff-hangers, but like with The Shield, all the episodes are interconnected, leaving you wondering what's going to happen next, how's event A going to impact characters down the road, leading to events B and C, etc.
Started watching in Season 2, have missed a couple of episodes since and have been lazy and haven't gone back and viewed what many consider to be the best Season - Season 1. But with a year-plus hiatuses between Seasons becoming the norm the last few seasons its hard to stay focused on this one.

 

My rankings, in order of what I'd personally recommend.

1. The Wire: Probably the best television show ever produced. That's not hyperbole. Each season is like a novel. It's compelling drama, it's dry humor, it's amazing storytelling, it's poingient social commentary. I have never met, or encountered, a single person who watched an entire season of The Wire and didn't fall in love with the series. Some people watch one or two episodes, and don't get it, but no one watches a full season and doesn't get sucked in for good. Worth every cent.

2. Alias: The first two seasons are some of the best popcorn television ever. Jennifer Garner is smoking hot, Victor Garber is awesome, and Ron Rifkin is one of the best villains ever. It started to unravel in Season 3, and the problem with things is once you watch Seasons 1 and 2, you'll want to see how it ends, and you'll probably end up disappointed, but if you're looking for a show that makes you want to watch the next episode immediately after one is over, this is it.

3. The Sopranos: You can watch this show on multiple levels. On one hand, it's a classic gangster story. Dudes get whacked, guys try to backstab one another, mob guys try to keep their mafia family separate from their immediate family, and hilarity and violence ensues. On the other hand, it's also, other than The Wire, one of the most compelling Dostoyevskian tragicomedies ever made. It's a metaphor for what's happend to America over the last 100 years, a commentary on love, friendship, marriage, society and the state human condition. It changed our expectations for what television could be.

4. I have never seen a single episode of 24, but hear it's fabulous.

5. Same goes for The Sheild.

 

i'll throw rescue me in on here, too

 

Very good call. I'm already waiting for season 3 to come out.

 

THe Shield is unbelievable.

 

My order would be:

24
Sopranos
Homicide
The Wire

Hank, if you get WGN, Homicide is on at 10 a.m. Central.

 

Sirs, Madames,

My favorite box sets don't quite follow the guidelines.

1. Twilight Zone
2. The Prisoner
3. Columbo*
4. Rockford*
5. The 4400 (with a bullet, truly under-rated)
6. The Honeymooners
7. Freaks and Geeks
8. Yes, Minister

* The DVDs of these classics have almost 0 as far as extras and are pretty shoddily put together. (One of my Rockford seasons ahad two of the same disc included.)

I've only borrowed my friend's Dick Van Dyke box--it is truly great.

YHS, etc