but I definitely think there is value in having the DVDs and sitting down to watch a whole show season or something at once.

As you observed, I think we miss a lot being fed a series piecemeal. I think it's a great "Test" of a tv show. For example, I could watch the entire run of Xena from start to finish over the course of a few weeks and eagerly look forward to each new episode. I had been told that, eventually, Xena just got weird and bad...maybe it did, but watching it the way I did it flowed right with itself and except for the odd episode, I was always wanting to see what happened next.

Without a doubt, the most...powerfully beautiful episode of television I have ever seen was a Xena episode. Maybe that's just weird. Maybe it says something about how I watched it.

On the flip side, I've had it ranted and raved at me how Angel is a higher quality show than Buffy, and how it's awesome. I do enjoy it. Whenever I sit down and try to get it watched, I quickly burn out after only a day or two. I don't want to keep watching. I'm finding that a lot of Joss Whedon's flaws show through when you subject his shows to this kind of viewing (eg. his repetitive use of plot devices and conflicts).


Of course, I think it's a little silly to ask someone to wait until a show comes out on DVD to watch it. I don't think one loses anything by watching a show as it is played, particularly if it's one of those shows that is great bit-by-bit but obnoxious all at once. Doing both allows one to compare as well.