TV Shows That Need A DVD Release

With the advancement of DVD’s television viewing has changed considerably. Now people can watch their favorite shows whenever they want, and discover new shows they may have missed when they originally aired. But despite the multitude of shows that have DVD releases, there are still many that have still not been released. Below is a list of a few shows that I personally want to see on DVD in the near future.

Gargoyles: Even though it’s technically already on DVD, I’ve put it at the top of the list because I want the entire series released. Gargoyles was an animated action adventure show that told the story of six medieval gargoyles who wake up in modern day Manhattan after a magical induced 1000 year sleep. The show dealt with several themes not normally seen in most animated shows. Some of which include betrayal, unrequited love, moral ambiguity, vengeance, genocide, and gun safety (which was dealt with more seriously and realistically then many live action shows have done). The first season, which consisted of 13 episodes, was released in it’s entirety in 2004. The second season, which consisted of 52 episodes, was split into two release dates. The first half of season 2 was released in 2005 with plans for the rest of the season to be released later. Unfortunately sales for the second season were lower then expected and all future season releases were abandoned. Which is a shame because there are legions of fans who want to own every episode of this amazing show.

Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place: A gem of a sitcom that aired in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. The main characters were three twenty something friends, two guys and a girl as the title suggests, that have known each other since college. There was Berg, a fun loving pre med student; Pete, a conflicted and frantic individual who’s unsure about where his professional and love life is going; and Sharron, a neurotic yet confident woman who’s afraid of commitment. In addition to the standard sitcom mode episodes the show occasionally experimented with different styles, such as a episode without any dialogue and one shot in a film noir style. It also borrowed a page from the Simpsons and had annual Halloween episodes which were surreal and separate from the normal show’s continuality.

Unhappily Ever After: I’ll state the obvious and admit that this show was basically a slightly tamer version of Married with Children. But I still got a kick out of watching it. It was hilarious, plan and simple. Like Married with Children it focused on a bitter man with a low paying job who couldn’t stand his wife and was frustrated with his children. While the breakout character of the show was Tiffany, the beautiful and extremely smart daughter, my favorite character would have to be Mr. Floppy, a tell it like it is stuffed bunny brought to life through the protagonist’s schizophrenia.

Daria: While it was a spin off of Beavis and Butthead, Daria had a style and sense of humor vastly different then its predecessor. The show focused on a girl named Daria, an exceptionally intelligent high schooler with a biting wit and cynical anti conformist personality. Along with abundant references to the negative aspects of high school the show also took numerous jabs at suburban life and pop culture, all done in a very intelligent way. One reason I suspect this show has had trouble being released on DVD is music licensing. When it originally aired the show was saturated with the latest pop songs, no doubt an influence of airing on MTV. The use of so many various songs from different artists has created countless licensing issues making the release of original unedited episodes extraordinary difficult.

Duckman: This is probably the strangest of the shows on this list. It follows a crass anthropomorphism duck who works as a private eye with his more talented pig partner. It focused on the strange and bizarre, with a distinctive style that people either loved or hated.

Spin City: Another gem from the 90’s that focused on the behind the scene runnings of politics. The show starred Michael J. Fox as the deputy mayor of New York City who often had to put a positive spin on an arised problem. Other memorable performers were Barry Boswick as the dim witted mayor, Richard Kind of "Mad About You" as the cowardly press secretary and Michael Boatman as the head of minority affairs. The show was funny in it’s ability to show how what we hear in politics isn’t always what is true in politics.

And that completes my list.