VHS to DVD: Format Wars and TV Collections

You're listening to Geedcast Radio on geedcastradio

.com And welcome to third episode of geek cast

radio I am TFG one Mike and I'm joined with Steve

Megatron Phillips. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. What's

what's going on with you? Yes, we weren't actually

sure if we were going to be able to record episode

3 today cuz Steve had family stuff going on that

Nobody knew what they wanted to do pretty much

nobody could figure out what they wanted to do

to have fun. So they would all just sit there

and say, what do you want to do? I don't know.

What do you want to do? Oh, I want to do this.

And then they changed their mind two seconds

later. So I said, to hell with this. And I kind

of went off on my own. But anyways, this episode

is basically going to be about what is it about?

You don't even remember now? No. My brain is

so far gone. Well. Originally I had it listed

on the on the schedule as you know the the advent

of TV on DVD And I guess we could actually make

it like a DVD all -encompassing like going from

like VHS to DVD and stuff like that and how the

technology has changed And we can talk about

you know DVD seasons of TV versus complete series

stuff like that So yeah, that's basically what

it's gonna be Whatever, I don't know. This is

very much last minute on our part We were trying

to figure out Stuff we didn't have to research

that we could talk about on the fly And I think

that that's something you know the TV on DVD

is a subject that I can talk about whenever I

did grab two two resources off my off my DVD

shelf just as examples to you know for me to

kind of look at and and discuss but Yeah, that's

basically what it is. Yeah, and I guess other

than if we don't have any other news, we could

probably just jump right into it. Yeah, not really

that much any other news. I'd like to apologize

to everyone about the delay for episode 18 of

the CFG One podcast. That was my fault. I forgot

to send Steve the DVD audio. I thought I already

did, but... Apparently I didn't but you know

a one -day delay is fine. It is actually online

now So and it's also linked on geek cast radio

comm as well Yes, we should probably talk about

the website a little bit actually before we get

into the topic You have been adding tons and

tons of stuff. You've added a lot of bios so

far I've added the show guide and the about page.

Yep. Yep Like, if you click the word about, it'll

show you some stuff about GeekCast until you

get with me and write some more that you want

included in there. But it's also a dropdown,

so it shows the various hosts. Right. Yeah, I

think it's a cool design. I think it's very accessible.

People who are into using Facebook, you can comment

through Facebook. If you'd like to comment on

whatever episode that you're you may be listening

to of any of the shows It doesn't matter which

one it is So yeah Don't think I have any other

news other than eBay is really starting to still

piss me off Since I'm recorded tooncast episode

2 the pissing me off of eBay still has not subsided

I actually have a chance to get quote -unquote

a free iphone three g s but in order to do so

i have to uh... pre -order it and pay for it

and then they'll give me the money back when

it comes out and i can take my current three

g back up there for it for a trade -in but i

have to have the money first to pre -order and

i have to do this before tuesday because i'm

st after tuesday i'm out of my a t and t thirty

-day trade -in so yeah trying to come up with

two hundred fifteen dollars between now and tuesday

Yeah, it sounds like a very wonderful thing.

Yes. Yes. Yes hell I only want the 3gs just for

the the auto focus camera the video and and and

stuff like that I mean because you can actually

edit the video on the phone and post it straight

to YouTube from the phone You don't have to you

know, put it somewhere else and do it somewhere

else But yeah, so I think on that note we're

gonna get into today's topic You know, we both

grew up in the 80s and I don't know if your parents

ever had any beta tapes around and then switched

to VHS, but I know my mom did. We had a couple

of beta tapes. My uncle actually had an old beta

machine, beta player, whatever the hell they're

called, I forget. And then the thing from beta

to VHS and now VHS to DVD. uh... and of course

dvd to blu ray but i really don't get in the

whole group blu ray thing yet i just haven't

picked up on it uh... yes we know you have uh...

uh... uh... i think for me dvds are so awesome

as much as i like online content sometimes it

did did it's too consuming it's just especially

video it's too space consuming And, you know,

even though I do have a 1TB external hard drive,

I don't have a whole hell of a lot of memory

on my actual computer. So, you know, DVDs are

great. It's something you can hold in your hand,

it's something you can take out, you can put

in a DVD player and watch any time. It's still

nice to have the physical disc like I myself

Sometimes depending on the movie or the show

Download the episodes of the movie to my computer

from various online sources and I watch it until

the DVD becomes available then I delete it because

I don't want the crap quality I want the physical

disc. Oh exactly, and it's just so much more

satisfying to see exactly I totally totally agree

and silence yes sorry I thought you were gonna

say something else for me like okay I'm the type

of person that I want bonus features and I'll

watch those after I watch a movie or if it's

a movie I've already seen I will watch the bonus

features first and then watch the movie later

But I'm the type of person that wants the two

or three disc edition. I'm not this person that

goes out and spends $5, $7 .50, $9 .99 on a single

disc DVD. The Dark Knight's a perfect example.

It took me probably two weeks to find the two

disc edition of the Dark Knight, and I did eventually

find it. um... you know just single discs are

just they're just like blah yeah i i personally

like to get the mini disc edition yeah it's just

it i like all the features now like back about

a year ago i didn't really give a rat's ass for

the features i pretty much just wanted the movie

or the show and didn't care if it came with anything

now find myself going in the video store looking

at movies that I own on DVD that either a I got

the cheap version of and I see the better version

there and for instance, I have Star Trek Generations

and Yeah, I I Wish that I would have got the

newer one because it's got deleted scenes as

I like that movie. Yeah We're in the movie, but

I didn't know and I just found out yesterday

Because I went to a local video store that it's

got an alternate ending. Oh lovely Yeah, I didn't

even know that either. So that's something I

got a research Yeah, I mean perfect example for

me even though I have both both versions Daredevil

when daredevil came out on DVD after the theatrical

release It came out as a two -disc edition and

had a whole bunch of features Well, you know,

I think about a year after that, or about six

months after the initial release, a director's

cut came out with a few extra features, but not

much, but it was a director's cut. It's a completely

different cut of the film than the theatrical

version. It maintains the same story as the original

theatrical, but it cuts out part of the love

scene that's in the original theatrical and puts

more into the courtroom scene. you know bender

benn uh... met murdoch who was played by bennett

like and we'll get to this eventually in m wire

but uh... he has to defend this guy who was accused

of murdering a hooker and it goes through all

this other scene and and everything else another

courtroom scenery i mean i i like stuff like

that and i don't mind owning stuff like that

uh... The 2004 Punisher movie is another example.

There's a regular version and an extended cut.

And for me, I actually like extended cuts more

because it gives you more for your buck from

the movie. Yeah, I just like having as much as

I can get on disc. And I like having the discs

in front of me because the time, especially with

TV shows, I am a fan of Supernatural, which I

know you were not, which will be discussed in

another episode of GCR at some point. Say that

again. What was that show? Supernatural. You're

an ass and I can edit that out. Better not, damn

it. That's my opinion. Yeah, I won't do that.

I'll just slam yours Yeah, I missed like We started

watching it on DVD amazingly enough at the video

store we picked it out just for a new show to

watch and We got the first season and of course

couldn't get enough of it and it was already

in the second season and I was missing it because

I worked those nights at the time and Up until

like season three. I didn't wasn't able to actually

watch it. But now It's in season four and I'm

all caught up and whenever the next season comes

out like on DVD I'm able to watch it just before

the next season starts on TV. So I mean it's

a great like catch me up to for TV shows if you

miss a lot. Oh, yeah The other thing is it's

great for old shows or shows that have been prematurely

canceled fucking Fox The two things I actually

picked out one there. They're actually both complete

series sets, but one show was fast that Fox didn't

pick up. And we can kind of talk about here in

a bit, season sets versus complete series. But

TV on DVD and just DVD in general is a great

format for old shows. There are a ton of classic

shows on DVD now. And usually back then you think,

oh, Well, the shows like Cosby shows perfect

example. They're like, oh, we're never gonna

get to see Cosby again And now I believe it was

earlier this year or late last year They released

the complete collection on DVD and I have that

in the other room So, I mean it's just awesome

that the that there is this technology now Yep,

yep I I just can't wait for More stuff to be

thrown on the discs Especially the, well, like

now they're adding more features such as online

content, which I really don't care for the online

all that much. That's kind of dumb for a DVD

in my opinion. But I like the alternate endings

extended, all that, all the extra features. I

like when they remaster stuff on the disc. Yeah

online I Understand that there are people out

there that are constantly on the go They're not

always at home watching TV or you know have access

to a DVD player They may have a cell phone with

video like the iPhone or something where you

can watch a movie on it or whatever and Don't

get me wrong. I'd love watching stuff on my iPhone

like TV shows and stuff like that, but Sometimes

I just I would much rather you know sit down

or lay down in bed or whatever Pop a DVD in and

just lay there and watch it like last night.

I started watching Mission impossible 2 and of

course as soon as I was starting to fall asleep

I just stopped it and turned the TV off fell

asleep and this morning. I woke up finished watching

it like 6 o 'clock this morning You know and

you know and that's the other thing Especially

with TVs on TV shows on DVD. It's Not like TV

now. Yeah, I know now you have the DVR and you

can pause but you're still gonna have to watch

commercials best That's the number one best thing

for me other than having it in your hand. There

are no commercials on TV on DVD whatsoever. I

Mean it it fades out to like there would be a

commercial break, but it immediately comes right

back and that's just so great it it's much better

uh... yeah uh... i guess we can move into uh...

talking about you know cd like t v on dvd season

versus series uh... i would much read okay say

uh... uh... what is it uh... lois and clark it

is on is on they have all four seasons on dvd

I bought those through Columbia House for like

$35 and change a piece. So if you do the math

on that, it's close to $100 or maybe a little

bit over that. Now complete series, if they did

a complete series set of that, they would probably

price it anywhere between $120 and $180, depending

on what show it is. And it's basically all the

season sets. In one place. So basically you're

paying all at once for the same thing or you're

paying over time buying them individually I would

much rather buy it once the other thing I had

picked out was Batman the complete animated series

set I I grew up on Batman the anime and grow

up on it. But I mean, I remember Batman the animated

series and Unfortunately, one time my stepmother

was in her room while it was on and she said,

you're not watching this anymore because it was

supposedly too violent, which admittedly there

are some very violent moments in the cartoon.

But anyway, you know, they originally released

this as four volume sets. And I was like, oh,

OK, I didn't even realize that was out. And then

I heard news about a complete series set and

I was like, oh, okay Well, I'll just buy it all

at once instead of you know having to worry about

each set and that's what I did and It's much

better. I think Yeah Just as far as like I like

watching For the most part I do like the season

to season that's mostly because I'm one of those

people that When something comes out, I can't

wait until the box set. So I just go out and

buy it. Unless it's a series that's been out

for a while, then I'll probably just splurge

on the box set if it's cheaper. But I mostly

get the ones that come out as soon as they show

up in the store. And I'm the dumb ass that pays

full price. Well, when the Batman set came out,

it was priced at 100 and I think after tax it

was like a hundred and five ninety nine I got

it for 85 bucks at Best Buy I mean you know you

can always find like some sort of sale somewhere

with it being brand new I will very rarely buy

I have bought DVDs on eBay but only if they are

new in sealed package I will not buy anything

on eBay as far as DVDs being used because you

just don't know what you're going to get. Yeah.

I don't know. Yeah. Oh, I know what I was going

to say. Yeah. I know there's one, actually I

know there's two things coming up that you're

not going to be waiting on. To complete series

think about it G1 and GI Joe Yes, yes, yes And

I like that that I like that they're doing the

individual releases for transformers But I am

super stoked for that matrix of leadership edition

That just looks so cool And I cannot wait for

that um I'm not really sure what else there is

to say about TV on DVD I mean I I guess I could

talk about a website I found but About two years

ago. I think it was two years ago. I found it

TV shows on DVD calm these guys Have all kinds

of contacts and whatever else they all kinds

of news in and it's specifically for TV shows

on DVD like it says and It's just a great informational

resource They have thousands of listing of stuff

that either is or isn't on DVD If there's a show

that I think of that I want to either get or

find or whatever If it is or if it isn't on DVD,

that's probably the first place I go They always

show like, you know box art and press releases

and stuff like that and it's just a great a great

tool To use for someone who collects TV shows

on DVD Yeah, I really don't have that much else

to say I don't know. This is an awfully short

episode We've kind of said it all really You

know, I guess we could talk about Like online

content versus actual I mean we've kind of touched

on it, but I mean online content is pretty much

taking over the world I mean, it's everywhere

you go. I mean, I don't know. I mean, I guess

we talk about the whole Blu -ray versus HD DVD

thing. Of course, Blu -ray 1, which I don't understand

why there's a whole... I don't get why there's

wars like that. Like, you know, VHS versus DVD

or Blu -ray versus DVD and it's like, you know...

You know, I'm betting 30 years down the line

from today, you know, we're just gonna have like

a plug that plugs into our brains like in that

PS2 commercial. The PS9! It's like, oh, okay,

that's a little weird. Yeah. I don't know. I'm

not really sure. Yeah, I don't know. So I guess...

Guess we can see what Homer has to say. That

didn't work at all. What the hell is that? Freaking,

uh, sorry about that. Fucking bill collectors.

Ah, damn it, don't they know I don't have any

fucking money? Oh, I know why it didn't work,

because it has no timestamp on it. Whoops. Well,

uh, yeah, that kinda sucked. Um, hmm. Oh well.

Um, yeah, I guess we should end this before it

turns into a giant rat hole. We should have done

more research! Yes, yes, and apparently it does.

So, I think with that we're gonna end and hopefully

Porky will say something. Okay, that didn't work.

Yeah Yay, it worked well, it's funny even though

well anyway Yeah, yeah, I'll tell you off here.

All right. Well, I think that's it for this episode

of geek cast radio You can comment on any of

our shows at geek cast radio comm You can follow

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follow us individually. Mine is TFD1Podcast and

yours is... Yes, so I believe we're going to

bring this episode to a close. Do you have any

parting thoughts? Goodbye. Yes, yes, goodbye!

Alright, stop.