Looking at my compulsion to collect DVDs... like movies I don't want to own, even to complete the set.
Being a completist I want the complete set of stuff I own on DVD. But some times I don't like a film or season... but not owning it bugs me. This is my attempt to exorcise the completist demons by sharing why I don't want certain discs in my collection.
Part of my completist urge is I don't like incomplete box sets. You know, the "Season 1 to 3" of a 5 season series. One exception is Scrubs. I was happy to buy the Season 1 - 8 box set of Scrubs (Scrubs: The Complete Seasons 1-8
) and not to buy Season 9 (Scrubs: The Complete Ninth and Final Season
).
Scrubs Season 1 - 8 tells the story of JD, a new doctor starting from his first day as a intern at Sacred Heart Hospital. The series is told from JD's point of view as he grows as a doctor and a person through 8 seasons. It's a comedy, but the life and death nature of the hospital setting allows it to have truly moving episodes (like the 4 episode of season 1 where an elderly patient accept death and refuses further treatment.) The entire series (sans a very few special episodes) is told from his point of view and we get to see the world from within inside his - very weird - head.
As time goes on and the situation changes the show weakens a little, has more and more gimmick episodes (a musical episode, a fairytale episode) and the obstacles and twists in the JD/Elliot relationship become more horrible than fun, but (IMHO) it doesn't jump the shark. Season 8 ends with one of those rare good series finals, a bittersweet ode to all that has gone before with JD leaving the hospital forever.
Then comes Season 9. Sacred Heart Hospital has been torn down and rebuilt on the campus of "Winston University" and series regulars Cox and Turk are now teachers of a new cast of young student doctors. The credits contained the words Med School to try to denote a spin-off without taking the actual risk of making it a spin-off.
JD appears for 6 episode but it is no longer his POV, rather one of the new students have taken that role.
I'll admit, that was enough for me to pre-judge the show. I didn't like it before it was even shown. I didn't watch. Then, I relented an watched an episode. But, whether it was me still pre-judging it, the charm of the original 8 seasons was gone. Perhaps a real spin-off would have worked better, perhaps this new concept was fatally flawed. Either way, I didn't watch a second episode. And I'm not buying on DVD.
~ DUG.
I stopped after S8. I don't own the DVDs but if I were to buy them and/or watch the show again, I would stop at S7. Normally I think of myself as a completist (and it would annoy the hell out of me not to have a complete set) but I also don't need to clutter my life with something I know won't be put to use and, the truth is, I refuse to suffer through S8 again. I can't even imagine what would happen if I were to watch S9.
ReplyDeleteThe last few seasons it's becomes about visiting characters you new and loved, but does have the power or the joy it once had. Too forced, gimmicky and repetitive. That said the final episode of Season 8 was a great final episode for the series. But, yeah, don't bother with Season 9, even out of curiosity.
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