What television series do you own every episode of, either on DVD or VHS (or 16mm or any other format, I suppose)? I have a lot of TV in my home video collection, but only complete sets of (not counting unsold pilots or series that ran only once):

BEYOND WESTWORLD (5 episodes)
CLERKS (the ABC animated series) (6 episodes)
DAVID CASSIDY--MAN UNDERCOVER (10 episodes)
FREAKS & GEEKS (1 season)
THE GREATEST AMERICAN HERO (3 seasons)
I SPY (3 seasons)
JONNY QUEST (1 season)
A MAN CALLED SLOANE (12 episodes)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE (7 seasons)
THE MONKEES (2 seasons)
MURDER ONE (2 seasons)
THE OUTER LIMITS (2 seasons)
POLICE SQUAD (6 episodes)
THE PRISONER (1 season)
QUARK (9 episodes)
THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN (5 seasons)
STAR TREK (3 seasons)
TWILIGHT ZONE (5 seasons)
UNSUB (8 episodes)
WALKING TALL (7 episodes)
WKRP IN CINCINNATI (4 seasons)
WORKING STIFFS (6 episodes)

Honorable Mention:
THE AVENGERS (all the Diana Rigg episodes)

Well, since you asked, Marty, and you didn't specify which country, here goes:

(Note: many anime series are designed to be a deliberately set length of 13 eps. or 26 eps. Only those based on long-running manga like Dragon Ball or Rurouni Kenshin tend to go beyond one season.)

These are the ones I have all of:

BLUE GENDER (26 eps.)
BOOGIEPOP PHANTOM (12 eps.)
BUBBLEGUM CRISIS TOKYO 2040 (26 eps.)
CHOBITS (26 eps.)
COWBOY BEBOP (26 eps.)
GASARAKI (26 eps.)
HIS AND HER CIRCUMSTANCES (26 eps.)
INITIAL D (41 eps.)
KIMBA THE WHITE LION (52 eps.)
MASTER KEATON (25 eps.)
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM (42 eps.)
NEON GENESIS EVANGELION (26 eps.)
NINJA SCROLL (13 eps.)
SAMURAI CHAMPLOO (26 eps.)
SERIAL EXPERIMENTS LAIN (13 eps.)
STREET FIGHTER II-V (29 eps.)
TENCHI UNIVERSE (26 eps.)
VIRUS BUSTER SERGE (12 eps.)
"X" (24 eps.)

Plus I have most of or just a lot of the following:

ANIMATED CLASSICS OF JAPANESE LITERATURE
ARMORED TROOPER VOTOMS
ASTRO BOY (first season/52 eps.)
BERSERK
DRAGON BALL
DRAGON BALL Z
(Note: DB / DBZ have 444 eps. combined!)
FIST OF THE NORTH STAR
FUSHIGI YUUGI
GATCHAMAN
GUNDAM WING
MACROSS
POKEMON (there have been new seasons every year since 1997)
RUROUNI KENSHIN
SAILOR MOON
SPEED RACER
STAR BLAZERS (English dub of SPACE CRUISER YAMATO) - 2 seasons/52 eps.
URUSEI YATSURA (LUM)

Sorry, but only a handful of YU-GI-OH eps., it's just not my cup of tea. :D

Plus, I try to tape EVERY episode of every Power Rangers season, but I invariably slack off and miss some of the last ones, although ABC Family and Toon Disney have repeated them enough that I've been able to fill in some of the gaps.

Plus, I'm happy to say, I have 57 episodes (so far) of my current favorite TV show, "Hello Morning," Morning Musume's weekly Sunday morning TV show, filled with games, skits, travelogues, food segments, songs, dance and fun, fun, fun, which I discovered only last year (end of summer) and have been acquiring as fast as my local Japanese video store can get them. (My eps. only go back as far as April 2005, although they've been shooting it since 2000. But I have no source for the older shows. :( )

I realize this isn't the most exciting collection, but:

Angel (all 5 seasons)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (all 7 seasons plus the movie)
Mr. Show (all 4 seasons)
Nero Wolfe (both seasons)
The Office (UK; both seasons plus the Christmas special)

...and the following one-season wonders:

Clerks (animated)
Firefly
Freaks and Geeks (in the 8 disc yearbook packaging, even)
Hammer House of Horror
Profit
Undeclared
The Weird Al Show
Wonderfalls

I have all of the releases of Arrested Development, Batman Beyond, The Hitchhiker, Masters of the Universe, Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Office (U.S.), The Upright Citizens Brigade, and Veronica Mars to date. There are quite a few series (Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Simpsons, Batman: The Animated Series, The Prisoner, the original The Outer Limits, Sledge Hammer!) where I'm one set short of a complete set.

All on DVD:

US Series:
Carnivale
Danger Man/Secret Agent
The Prisoner

UK Series:
Blake's 7
Red Dwarf
Sapphire and Steel
Cracker
Lipstick on Your Collar
The Singing Detective
Pennies From Heaven
The Office
Black Books
The League of Gentlemen
Captain Scarlet (new CG version)
Brass Eye

Japan:
Neon Genesis Evangelion
His and Her Cicrumstances
Paranoia Agent
Serial Experiments Lain
Maison Ikkoku
Azumanga Daioh
Kamen Rider V3

Boogiepop Phantom
Escaflowne
Slayers
Slayers Next
Slayers Try
Sakura Wars TV
Cardcaptor Sakura
Pretear
Gokudo
Batman The Animated Series
Superman The Animated Series
Gasaraki
DNA Squared
Nadisico
Irresponisible Captain Tylor
Ninja Scroll TV
Now & Then Here & There
FLCL
Dai Guard
Jubei Chan
Azumanga Daioh
Love HIna
Wild Arms
His & Her Circumstances
Trigun
Vampire Princess Miyu
Outlaw Star
Midori Days
Onegai Teacher
Onegai Twins
Comic Party
Record of Lodoss War
Hyper Police
Spawn
Fruits Basket
Aura Battler Dunbine
Patlabor
Soul Hunter
Maze
Cowboy Bebop
EVA
Fushugi Yugi
Haibane-Renmei
Licensed By Royal
Magic Users Club
Blue Gender
Rune Soldier Louie
Saikano
Silent Mobius
Tsukikage Ran
Twelve Kingdoms
Zone of Enders
Brigadoon
Hellsing
Devil Lady
NieA Under 7
Berserk
Clerks
Serial Experiments Lain
Witch Hunter Robin
Princess Nine
Black Heaven
Aeon Flux

Department S
Strange Report
The Flash
Keen Eddie
Sapphire & Steel
The Prisoner
Monty Python
Firefly
Farscape
Damo
Return of the Condor Heroes
Seven Swordsmen
Kolchak
Buffy
Hammer House of Horror
Round the Twist
Stingray (puppet)
Black Adder
Wonderfalls
Outer Limits
Lone Gunmen
The Veil
Miracles
Spaced
Fawlty Towers
Eerie Indiana
Star Cops
Quatermass and the Pit
Children of the Stones

That's most of'em. Some OVAs may have slipped into the anime list, disregard. I'm slowly working on Angel, Remington Steele, Bob Newhart and eyeballing Xena.

My complete series:

F TROOP (65 episodes)
POLICE SQUAD! (6)
SLEDGE HAMMER! (41)
BLACKADDER (24 plus Christmas special)
THE JOB (19)
THE WHITE SHADOW (54)

I have over 100 episodes of LOVE THAT BOB! (there are 173 total) and about 85 of THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW/SGT. BILKO on VHS, all taped between 15 and 22 years ago, and I'd love to complete those, but they are rarely rerun. There are numerous other long-running series that I have about 2/3 to 3/4 of the episodes of on VHS (CANNON, COLUMBO, THE BRITTAS EMPIRE I'm missing only the last 2 seasons), but the 6 series above are my only complete series. Surprised me, as I was sure I'd completed more. Guess I'm more of a dabbler than a completist. :)

GREATEST AMERICAN HERO
I SPY
SILK STALKINGS (so far, I'll stop w/ season 5, the last eps w/ Mitzi Kapture & Rob Estes)
TAXI (so far, but I'll finish it if they continue!)
ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT
COLUMBO (so far)
FAWLTY TOWERS
MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
THE PERSUADERS
THE SAINT (not all of the black and white, I'm saving up for the Australian sets, as it appears A & E is not in any rush in the U.S.)
REILLY, ACE OF SPIES
THE BARON (Steve Forrest & Sue Lloyd!)
BOB NEWHART (so far)
THE BILL COSBY SHOW (60s show, just picked up season 1 of 2, will get 2nd...)

Not counting individual movies and two-parters, here's what I've got series-wise on DVD:

Long running shows:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer [all 7 seasons]
Angel [seasons 1-3 & 5]
X-Files [seasons 1-3 & 5-7]
The Simpsons [seasons 1-5]
Monty Python's Flying Circus [all]
The Prisoner [all]

Short running shows:

Band of Brothers
Ultraviolet [UK cop/vampire show]
Day of the Triffids [UK series, region 2]
Jane Eyre [1983 version w/Zelah Clarke & Timothy Dalton]
Pride & Prejudice [1995 version w/Colin Firth & Jennifer Ehle]
Wives & Daughters
Serial Experiments Lain
Blue Submarine No. 6
Haibane Renmei [missing one volume]

Medium running shows:

Dead Like Me [season 1 so far, probably buy more]
The Wire [season 2 so far, probably buy more]
Veronica Mars [season 1 so far, will definitely buy more]
Shameless [UK series (region 2) series 1 & 2 (series 3 comes out in Oct)]
MI-5 [season 1]
Carnivale [season 1]
Dead Zone [season 1]
Farscape [season 1]
House [season 1]
Due South [season 1 & 2]
Horatio Hornblower [first 4 movies, last 2 movies (missing 5 & 6)]
various [adult swim] sets (Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Sealab, Space Ghost, the Brak Show)

Cancelled before their time single box sets:

Wonderfalls
Firefly
Eerie, Indiana
Profit
Keen Eddie
Boomtown

Recording from tv has become a challenge with every network throwing animated banner ads and station bugs all over the screen. But here are some shows that I have recorded:

Spaced, series 1
Hamish Macbeth, series 1
Doctor Who (the 9th Doctor)
Life on Mars, series 1 (still in progress)

I tried to catch the "Sharpe" series, but after screwing up several in a row, I gave up. I did record the first 4 movies, which are the best anyway.

Some holy grails that are not on DVD and haven't played on tv since I got a DVD burner:

Twitch City
Max Headroom
The rest of Hamish Macbeth
The Incredibly Strange Film Show
Hollywood [Kevin Brownlow & David Gill series]

Only two that are complete so far, but both are dear to me:

HOME MOVIES
FAWLTY TOWERS

Ones I wish I could afford:

Monty Python
Star Trek: Deep Space 9
Star Trek: The Original Series
The Amazing Adventures of Superman (as they come out)
The Prisoner
Monk
King of the Hill (only have season 1, would love them all)
MST3K (have many many of them, both released and unreleased but far from all)

Well, that's it off the top of my head....

I love it that four of us, so far, have listed "Serial Experiments Lain." I re-watched it this year and it remains an amazing work.

One really interesting thing I learned from it this time was that a guy named Ted Nelson came up with the word, "hypertext," back in the 1960s and is something of a cult figure among Japanese computer geeks. He certainly can lay a greater claim to "inventing" the internet than Al Gore can. (Not that I actually understand exactly what Nelson did.) I looked him up and learned the astounding fact that he's the son of movie/TV director Ralph Nelson (LILIES OF THE FIELD, REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT, many others) and veteran Broadway/Hollywood actress Celeste Holm (ALL ABOUT EVE). Who knew? Well, now I do and all because I watch anime. B)

Complete TV series I own on legit DVD:

AT LAST THE 1948 SHOW (surviving episodes)
DANGER MAN (both the 30-minute and hour incarnations)
DEAD LIKE ME
DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET (surviving episodes)
FRACTURED FLICKERS
THE HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY
I, CLAUDIUS
JIM HENSON'S THE STORYTELLER (I don't have the GREEK MYTHS series, though)
JONNY QUEST (original)
KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER (including the two TV-movies)
LAND OF THE LOST (original)
MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
MR. BEAN
THE MRS. BRADLEY MYSTERIES
THE OUTER LIMITS (original)
THE PRISONER
RIPPING YARNS
ROGER RAMJET (combined Image and Classic Media collections)
STINGRAY (Gerry Anderson)
THUNDERBIRDS
THE TWILIGHT ZONE (original)
UFO

Complete series I own on other media:

THRILLER (Boris Karloff; I have the old LD set, plus all the other episodes on SLP VHS from old SCI-FI Channel airings)
THE WESTERNER (on home-made DVD-R via Encore Westerns Channel)
WKRP IN CINCINNATI (old SLP VHS recordings from E! Channel airings)

Nearly there on legit DVD:

THE AVENGERS (just need that recently-released 1962 set)
H.G. WELLS' INVISIBLE MAN (need the 2nd set)
URUSEI YATSURA (just 5 discs of the TV episodes needed, plus the 6 OVA discs)

All caught up will the currently-available-on-legit-R1-DVD episodes of:

ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS
BEANY & CECIL
THE CHAMPIONS
DEADWOOD
DRAGNET (1960s color incarnation)
ERNIE KOVACS
GET A LIFE
LEXX (the Eva Habermann episodes only; I lost interest in the show after she left)
LOST
MAVERICK
ULTRAMAN (1966 series)
VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA
THE WILD WILD WEST

Slowwwwly working on:

THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (have seasons 1 & 2)
LOST IN SPACE (have season 1)
THE SIMPSONS (I'm up to Season 7; I'll probably stop collecting this after Season 8)
MST3K (I have 5 of the 10 legit sets, and am shy just two of the legit individual discs, and have several DVD-rs, but nowhere near to having the complete series)
RANMA 1/2 (I have the first season set, the OVA set, and the 2 movies; 6 season sets left to get)
SPACE GHOST COAST-TO-COAST (I have just the first set)
SPEED RACER (just have the SPEED RACER: THE MOVIE compilation, but the sets are cheap)
ZATOICHI (still need vols. 4-6 of season 1)
SCTV (still need set 4; I'm debating whether to eventually pick up the forthcoming "BEST OF THE EARLY YEARS" set)

One that hasn't been mentioned:

Barney Miller

Ahh, the plight of the dvd collector, others have mentioned titles I forgot I had! I do have KOLCHACK (it was a gift) and
REMINGTON STEELE.

Indeed, the odds of owning a series in completion for me rest honestly on it not running too long apparently...cult stuff like GREATEST AMERICAN HERO and the PERSUADERS are not too hard to collect when they run 20-40 episodes, as opposed to I LOVE LUCY or MASH....

I thought I was a mad collector -

...but I ain't got squat compared to you maniacs! :lol:

I only have partial seasons:

JERRY SEINFELD - seasons 1-3

THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW - season 1

REN AND STIMPY

THE DICK CAVETT SHOW: ROCK ICONS, JOHN LENNON & YOKO ONO and THE COMEDIANS

THE TOMORROW SHOW (Tom Snyder): PUNK ROCK

Complete sets (complete or complete in terms of what's been released so far):


ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT (I'll get season 3 on 8/29 to make it complete)
CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM
SEINFELD (first five sets; complete as far as what's been released)
THE DAILY SHOW: INDECISION 2004
FAMILY GUY
THE INCREDIBLE HULK
THE OFFICE (complete UK, season 1 of US)
THE JOB
RESCUE ME
ROBOT CHICKEN
MR. SHOW
THE BEN STILLER SHOW


Partials:

-DICK CAVETT SHOW: COMIC LEGENDS
-LAW & ORDER: CI (first season; got it as a gift, really like it, but it's on so much that I haven't seen a need to buy any other L&O sets---says the guy who owns all those SEINFELD DVDs)
-MASTERS OF HORROR (Carpenter, Gordon, Dante, Argento)


I'd imagine I'll get THE SOPRANOS when I find them at one of those crazy 50% off sales at Target (that's when I splurged on the SEINFELD sets)

After Collection 26 comes out next month,I'll have the complete Dark Shadows Collection. Whew!

Mostly Britcoms, like FAWLTY TOWERS, MONTY PYTHON, THE OFFICE, and my beloved BLACKADDER. [And JEEVES AND WOOSTER, which given the popularity of Hugh Laurie in HOUSE should go back into circulation somewhere on the dial.] With fewer (and usually better) episodes, they're easier to collect. I also have the Rigg AVENGERS and THE PRISONER.

I'm not getting the third, very mixed season of ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT on DVD. Beleaguered, the show just seemed to poop out. But I am looking forward to completing season 2 of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

I never actually watched an episode when it was on. I got into it after Netflixing the first season, then I waited and bought the insane second season. AD almost seems like the kind of show that's tailor-made for a TV-on-DVD box set. The endless self-referencing to stuff from earlier episodes, even earlier seasons--it just isn't the kind of show that works in 30-minute blocks. I'd much rather just wait for the box and plow through it over a 2-3 day period.

Monty Python's Flying Circus
Lost In Space
Star Trek
Astro Boy (1960s, 1980s & 2003)
Green Acres
Ultra Man (1966)
Twin Peaks
The Office (UK)
The Prisoner
Fireball XL5
Stingray
Brass Eye
Crusader Rabbit
Bat Fink

Soon I'll probably pick up the 2nd Time Tunnel, 3rd Sealab 2021 and Ren & Stimpy Lost & Found

All in all I don't find TV very collectible. With purchased or rented movie discs piling up all around me, more new TV to come as the fall season resumes, and the possibility of lengthy blocks of time to watch anything a remote prospect, collecting TV shows I've watched and enjoyed just seems like adding another clump of dirt to a mountain whose size I'm trying to reduce. [And collecting box sets of any kind really reduces shelf space.]

Then again, I've always found TV ephemeral, watch it once then be done with it. Movies, in part because of their concentrated lengths, have more rewatchability for me.

That said, I'd pick up a DEADWOOD box when that becomes available. And POLICE SQUAD, six episodes, will be mine. :)

Off the top of my head, all on DVD unless noted (I'm sure there's more, but I don't have my shelves in front of me right now to peruse):

MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
THE PRISONER
I SPY
WACKY RACES
THE ADVENTURES OF PENELOPE PITSTOP
JONNY QUEST
THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW
THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (all seasons released to date)
THE BOB NEWHART SHOW (all seasons released to date)
GREEN ACRES (all seasons released to date)
HILL STREET BLUES (1st two seasons released to date)
QUINCY (1st two seasons released to date - come on, Universal, where are the rest?)
SPACE: 1999
THUNDERBIRDS
CLUTCH CARGO
KAREN SISCO (taped from network broadcasts)
STAR TREK: TOS
UFO

Incomplete collections:
SEINFELD (seasons 1-4)
THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW (seasons 1-3)
THE SAINT (megaset - not including the B&W eps)
THE AVENGERS (Emma Peel megaset)
SPEED RACER (1st two sets, need to get the 3rd one)
THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. (both laserdisc box sets and a bunch of tapes)
SGT. BILKO/THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW (1st and only set released so far - hope there are more to come)
THE BEST OF ERNIE KOVACS
COLUMBO (somehow, I've only managed to get the first set)
ADAM-12 (1st season, not sure I'll buy subsequent ones)
EMERGENCY (ditto)
McMILLAN AND WIFE (ditto)
McCLOUD (ditto)
THE FUGITIVE (all 5 (6?) laserdiscs that were released)
THE BEST OF MISTER ED (both collections released to date - looks like no complete seasons for this one, but OTOH a little Ed can go a long way)

Dave

Ted Nelson's amazing, visionary book COMPUTER LIB/DREAM MACHINES, originally published in 1974 as an oversized paperback, is highly recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in the history of technology. You can see some pics and a brief excerpt here. He absolutely did foresee with remarkable accuracy many developments related to personal computing and the Internet which we take for granted now. It's designed and written very much in the vein of the Whole Earth Catalogs which were its literary contemporaries in the idealistic era that was the early 1970s.

Unfortunately, it's not easy to find copies of either the first edition or the smaller, revised reprint edition from the late 80s - I was stunned to see what copies of the first edition are selling for now at Amazon (with the incorrect picture of the later edition displayed in their listing), because I picked up my copy for 99 cents at a used bookstore some years ago.

Dave

The COLUMBO sets must be doing well--there's another to be released soon--but I don't know if Universal is doing any more seasons for the other shows you mentioned (and DRAGNET too). I think Universal did something stupid when they put all of these Season One sets (and BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP) out at pretty much the same time. No one could possibly have the spare dough to buy all of these shows or the time to watch them, and I fear Universal has confused a (likely) lack of sales with a lack of interest. I only have the first two COLUMBOs and the QUINCY sets myself, and I'm Universal's perfect target audience (I plan to get at least all the COLUMBOs eventually).

I'm afraid you may be right. I have the DRAGNET and BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP first-season sets as well - I forgot about those - but I sure didn't pay anywhere near retail price for any of them, nor have I actually had the time to do much more than selectively dip into them so far, hence my comment "not sure I'll buy subsequent ones". But I'll definitely get around to all of COLUMBO sooner or later; likewise with QUINCY if more seasons are released.

A few more I forgot about:

THE HONEYMOONERS ("classic 39" episodes)
THE ROCKFORD FILES (both seasons released to date)
SANFORD & SON (1st two seasons)
GUNSMOKE (50th anniversary collection best-of)
HAVE GUN WILL TRAVEL (1st season)
RAWHIDE (1st season)
BONANZA (Brentwood 20-ep miscellany)
NAKED CITY (about half of the eps released to date on single discs and box sets)
ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS (both laserdisc box sets and "The Last Shout" LD)
THE ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (1st two seasons)
LAUGH-IN (both best-of sets released to date)
CHAPPELLE'S SHOW (1st two seasons; haven't gotten the recent "Lost Episodes" disc yet)
JACKASS (recent box set of all three seasons)
DASTARDLY & MUTTLEY
OUTER LIMITS (1st season)
ROCKY & BULLWINKLE & FRIENDS (both seasons released to date)
THE SIMPSONS (1st four seasons)
SPIDER-MAN (1967 cartoon series)
THAT GIRL (both the earlier Anchor Bay single-disc best-of and the Shout! Factory 1st season set)
I CLAUDIUS

And if we're counting multi-part documentary series, several of the Ken Burns boxes (BASEBALL, JAZZ, NEW YORK) as well as THE WORLD AT WAR and the superb early-1960s British docu THE GREAT WAR.

The only recent show I watch with any regularity is THE BOONDOCKS, and that's currently in between seasons. But I don't have any of the premium cable movie channels, which is where most of the serious TV action seems to be these days, so highly-touted series like THE SOPRANOS and DEADWOOD aren't on my viewing list, at least until the DVD sets become available at a much lower price point than they have been so far.

Dave

I have "Ren & Stimpy" as well. Forgot that one. Also the first season of "Malcolm in the Middle".

Regarding the ephemeral nature of television and whether to collect or not collect, it depends on the show. I'd never collect "Law & Order" or "CSI" because they are on all the time. I think you could turn on the tv any time of the day or night and find an episode of one or both shows. But the cops & firemen show "Third Watch" seems to only be on at about 3:00am. I could see buying that show, which I always thought was underrated. More likely, if I ever get around to it, I'll set the DVR to catch it in the middle of the night.

Now that I have a DVR/DVD-burner, I record stuff that I think I'll want to keep before purchasing box sets. Mostly British drama on BBC-A or PBS. BBC-A does two things that are intolerable though. They edit the hell out of programs to fit them into a commercial timeslot and they wallpaper the screen with ads for other programs. Sadly, all the commercial networks do this now, but BBC-A are particularly heinous about it. I've been recording "Life on Mars" on BBC-A. The original series on UK tv had 58 minute episodes [if IMDb is to be trusted]. After editing out the commercials, the BBC-A runtime is 45 minutes. That's an awful lot snipped out. On the other hand, I heard somewhere that the UK DVDs replaced the original music, which is also unacceptable. Presumably the region 1 set will do the same. What's a person to do?

The other big factor to buying DVD sets is the price. I own a lot of tv sets on DVD that I probably wouldn't have bothered with if they weren't so cheap. "Dead Zone" for instance, which I picked up on amazon for $15. I would buy a lot more HBO programming if the sticker price weren't so high. Even at Costco, seasons of "Deadwood" are $65. That's $65 for 12 episodes. For about $39, you can get 22 episodes of "Veronica Mars".

I'd forgotten that Costco has a coupon deal running through Monday 8/27 (coupons available in-store) for $20 off selected Warner/HBO TV series box sets. The coupon shows CARNIVALE, SIX FEET UNDER, THE SOPRANOS, and DEADWOOD.

Looks like the deal's also good online at Costco.com, and the discount is automatically applied without having to enter a coupon code. What it boils down to is that you can get both seasons of DEADWOOD for $39.99 each.

Dave

I didn't list series I have incomplete sets of, or else I'd be writing all night. I still have many old TV reruns I recorded on VHS back in the day, including the memorable STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO with guest star Arnold Schwarzeneggar and the ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW with Jack Nicholson!

If you pay attention, TV box sets will frequently go on sale. I happened to walk into Wal-Mart a couple of weeks ago, and a lot of their shows were discounted; I picked up THE BIG VALLEY's first season for less than $20. Also a couple of weeks ago, I accidentally discovered Paramount had dropped the price of STAR TREK's season boxes by about 50%, so I ordered them as well. I remember getting Season One sets of NYPD BLUE and BOOMTOWN for under $20.

Raymond Tucker:
"Crusader Rabbit
Bat Fink"

Raymond, where did you get a CRUSADER RABBIT set? I see that there is a BAT FINK set available from the UK, is that the one you have? How is it?

Some additions:
V
ARK II
THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY, JR.
HARRY O
THRILLER (Karloff)
MAVERICK
POLICE SQUAD!

I just discovered that my cable company carries AmericanLife Network, formerly GoodLife Network. Each evening, it airs old reruns of shows you won't find anywhere else, including COMBAT, GALLANT MEN, I SPY, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E., THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E., CHICO AND THE MAN, WELCOME BACK KOTTER, IT'S A GOOD LIFE, THE LONE WOLF, SUGARFOOT, CHEYENNE, MAVERICK, HARRY O, THE FBI, KUNG FU, 77 SUNSET STRIP, HAWAIIAN EYE, SURFSIDE 6, BOURBON STREET BEAT and several others. I'm not certain whether or not the episodes have been cut, but they don't appear to be time-compressed, and the network doesn't manufacture extra commercial breaks.

BOOGIEPOP PHANTOM
FLCL
FULL HOUSE [thru season 5]
GUMBY ['80s episodes, please please please]
LAND OF THE LOST [yuck?]
M*A*S*H [can we please have W*A*L*T*E*R and AFTER M*A*S*H now?]
MONTY PYTHON'S FLYING CIRCUS
MR. SHOW
THE MUNSTERS
ON THE AIR
PINK LADY & JEFF [yay!]
REN & STIMPY
SAILOR MOON [1-thru STARS!, though I'm lacking some of the associated movies]
SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?
SERIAL EXPERIMENTS: LAIN
THE SIMPSONS [thru season 8]
THE SOPRANOS [thru season 6 pt 1]
THREE'S COMPANY [ROPERS now, por favor?]
THE TWILIGHT ZONE
TWIN PEAKS
THE X-FILES

I didn't get in on the ground floor of Animeigo's URUSEI YATSURA discs, so they're taking me forever to catch up on.

Everyone complains about the degeneration of the movie-going experience -- something I more or less disagree with -- but the TV-watching experience is so miserable I find it waaay easier to watch shows on DVD than TV.

I've picked up a some new one's as well:

Complete:
Timeslip
Police Squad
MPD Psycho
Legend of the Condor Heroes (84)

Justice League
Samurai Jack

Cyberteam in Akihabara
Cromartie High School
Kaze No Yojimbo
Sadamitsu: The Destroyer
Saber Marionette J
Saber Marionette J to X
Banner of the Stars
Banner of the Stars II
Crest of the Stars

Working on:
Batman Beyond
Teen Titans
Justice Leage Unlimited

Still eyeballing:
Adam Adamant

I recently purchased the entire GET SMART series from Time-Life. An amazing set, with uncut episodes and a load of extras.

I've been reading about that. From the pictures I've seen and stuff I've read it's got to be one of the best tv boxes out there.

I'm loath to buy in to TV series unless they're closed off with a finite number of seasons - also reduces the risk of buying lots of boxed sets only to find that the last few are padded out to extend their life and meet syndication targets - with the exception of THE SOPRANOS which I'm praying for proper and satisfying closure. The completist in me doesn't like having isolated series but I have bought cheap sets sight unseen with the intention of watching and then deciding if I should continue (24 (s1), ALIAS (s1+2), ANGEL (s1)

Complete Collections:

SPACED (UK)
I'M ALAN PARTRIDGE (UK)
JAMMM (UK)
BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER (US)
FAMILY GUY (US)
SERIAL EXPERIMENTS: LAIN (JAPAN)
DEVIL WOMAN (JAPAN)
MPD PSYCHO (JAPAN)

On The Way to Completion:

SOPRANOS (1-5)
FRASIER (1-7)
KING OF THE HILL (1-2)
TWIN PEAKS (1 of course!)

High on Wish List:

GHOST IN THE SHELL (got the first two discs)
GHOST IN THE SHELL (2nd GIG)
DEADWOOD

Started but not planning to finish:
ANGEL (didn't enjoy it)
SIMPSONS (bored with it)

Victor

Well, if we're listing incomplete TV series:

Blackadder II and III
Simpsons 1, 3, 5 (didn't plan it that way!)
King of the Hill Season 1 ("Hap-pee-nis")
A whole bunch of Tom Baker Dr. Who's


TV on DVD has turned out, against all logic, to be a wonderful thing. Too bad box sets take up so much damn space!

For me:

THE PRISONER
STAR TREK (original, although I'm slowly getting TNG when I can find them used now for around $20-$25 a pop)
BLACKADDER (still haven't watched all of these)
LITTLE BRITAIN
QUANTUM LEAP (actually have these all from original broadcasts I taped back in the 1990s, but haven't made the jump to the DVD sets)
COLUMBO (hoping that they'll put out the ones from after season seven)
GET SMART (great purchase - glad to see these finally captioned)
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS (eh - my wife loves 'em)
MASH (first five seasons only - after Burns left, it became a different series)

and so far:
WILD WILD WEST
SIMPSONS
F-TROOP

There's more I know, but that's off the top of my head. I also have most of the episodes of many-series-named DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE, although none from the final run of DOCTOR AT THE TOP.

I have some additions as well:

X-FILES, season 4. Rounds out my X-Files collection to the complete seasons 1-7. I have no intention of going beyond season 7 as I think the show really jumped the shark after Duchovny left. Not because of Duchovny really, but because the best writers seemed to jump ship with him. At least I saw very few post-DD episodes that were any good.

DEAD LIKE ME, season 2. Picked this up during the recent DeepDiscount sale.

VERONICA MARS, season 2. Picked this up as soon as Costco got it in stock.

HOUSE, season 2. Impulse buy at Costco.

DUE SOUTH, season 3. Bought the cheaper Platinum edition at Best Buy. Still really annoyed that the more expensive Alliance season 1 set doesn't include the pilot. They put the pilot on the season 3 Alliance set, but the Platinum season 1 set includes the pilot. So I'm left with the dilemma of repurchasing season 1 [Platinum] or repurchasing season 3 [Alliance]. I haven't checked out the Platinum discs for quality. The Alliance discs have about the worst packaging I've ever encountered for a DVD set. The discs overlap inside the case creating a lot of potential for them to rub against each other and get scratched. And the discs are dual-sided, so they can get scratched on either touching surface. My season 1 set had to be exchanged because of defects. Lucky that amazon has good customer service since I was well past the return period when I discovered the problem.

TWITCH CITY, complete series. On DVD at last, but so far only available in Canada. Not many frills on the DVDs, just a couple of Don McKellar commentaries.

STRANGERS WITH CANDY, complete series. Got the mock trapper-keeper set, which is unfortunately, pretty flimsy [the packaging, I mean]. I wish they had taken a page from the Afterschool Specials which come in heavy-duty trapper-keeper mock-ups.

THE DAILY SHOW: INDECISION 2004. A mere sampling of THE DAILY SHOW, but it's all that's available on DVD. I wish they'd release more. All they have to do is check the youtube rankings to see which bits are the most popular and put those on DVD.

Thanks to DDD's 20% sale, I added the TWILIGHT ZONE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION to my TV list. I kept telling myself, as I made arrangements to enter the poorhouse, "But it works out to $5.50 per disc!" :)

Bob, you won't be sorry. It's a great set, even beyond the actual shows.

Hey Lisa -- what you say about THE X-FILES is certainly true, but you've got seven years of emotional investment in the characters and story. It may not be worth spending your money to buy the DVDs, but I think it's worth it to stick through the last few seasons of the show. It becomes less about the individual episodes as stories than experiencing some great narrative crescendos in the mythology arc, and something like closure or payoff for characters you likely care about by now.