"Get Smart" gift set shows benefits of complete series DVD sets

November 19, 9:17 AMTV on DVD ExaminerJohn Stahl

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86 and 99 of 'Get Smart'

This entry is in response to the reader who pointed out the relatively high cost of complete series DVD sets and noted the difficulty of paying the $100 or more that these sets cost typically in these tough economic times. He asked as well why studios do not always release single season sets of every show that is released as a complete series.

I sympathize genuinely with this reader and can share that I felt that I could not justify taking advantage of a great sale of DVD sets of individual seasons of "The Simpsons," which I consider to have maintained mind boggling quality over 20 years, that Target is holding this week. However, I want to discuss the benefits of complete series sets.

From an economic point of view, the per-season cost of a complete series DVD set of a TV show is often less than buying the seasons individually. I think also that they are generally a good entertainment bargain and most likely will be downgrading my cable service because I am watching more DVDs. I truly am enjoying these DVDs much more than most of what networks are broadcasting currently. I also dislike having to pay for many channels that I do not want to get a few that I do.

Additionally, I find that friends love coming over for pizza or Chinese food and watching the DVDs and the extras that the complete series sets include that you typically cannot get with a single season DVD. This is despite having to fight my two kittens for the people food.

These fun evenings in are more economical than going out to dinner and a movie. I also think that the older shows that make up the majority of my collection and the handful of newer ones that I own are much better than most current movies out there. A comment that a producer of "Get Smart" made during a film of a 2003 seminar on the show that was an extra on the complete series of "Get Smart" makes two of these points.

The producer remarked that "Get Smart" succeeded so well because it had a distinctive voice in many respects; he stated too that it really did not matter if a current blockbuster cast Brad Pitt or Ben Affleck. Conversely, the panel commented a few times that comedian Tom Poston was originally slated to play Maxwell Smart and noted how hiring Don Adams made such a significant difference.

The $88 that I spent for the "Get Smart" set missed paying $86 for it by that much, and I expect that I would have paid more total for each season as they were released individually. Season one is the only one that has been released individually, and it does not include any extras. I predict that the other four seasons that will be released individually will also not have extras. Sorry about that, readers.

The portion of the "Get Smart" seminar that I watched is the only extra that I have seen, but I am really looking forward to the numerous other features that include a roast of Don Adams on his 75th birthday and interviews with creator Buck Henry and Adams' co-star Barbara Feldon.

It is worth mentioning too that I agree with the statement of a fan during the seminar that Feldon's portrayal of Agent 99 set the standard for sexy, cool, and smart. I particularly liked a comment that she she made during the seminar when Adams was struggling for the term for the opposite of satire and Feldon replied that it was UPN, which was a short-lived broadcast network with awful comedies.

I have watched the black-and-white pilot and a few other episodes; I will be watching several more hours of the show over the next week and loving it. Would you believe that I will be watching it non-stop from now until Thanksgiving? Would you believe that I will watch all 139 episodes by then? How about most of the first season and several extras? You can believe that I will stop being such a CONTROL freak when I finish writing about this set.

To answer the question regarding why some shows are released only as complete series, the short answer is that the individual seasons are almost always are released before a complete set but might be pulled before that set is released. This typically is because of a lack of space in warehouses and stores. This shows the additional advantage of a complete series set allowing someone to get the entire collection of a show that he or she first remembers or discovers years after initial DVD releases.

The reader mentioned the example of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." as a show that is available only as a complete series. I admit that I probably would not have collected this show if I was not a TV on DVD reviewer. However, it is now one of my favorites that I regularly pop into my DVD player. Additionally, the interviews that are available only in the complete series set helped turn me onto the show. I was interested particularly to learn that Richard Donner, who has directed several big-budget films, directed episodes of U.N.C.L.E. and of "Get Smart."

I hope that this entry answered the reader's question and provided all of you with more information about the virtues of complete series DVD sets. Please do submit any comments or questions as additions to this entry or e-mails to tvdvdguy@gmail.com.