10 TV Shows You Never Need To Buy On DVD/Blu-ray!

My brother once told me a very funny story about something that occurred in a branch of HMV. A man goes in with his kids; one of the kids says to him “Let’s get Family Guy Dad.” To which the father replies “No, it’s on every night!” Well, he was right! Family Guy is on TV every night; so what would be the benefit in purchasing it on DVD or Blu-ray (or Home Media if you prefer)? Pretty ironic really; especially as it’s thanks to DVD purchases that saved the series in the first place.

Many shows get repeated on TV; some more than others, to a point where purchasing them on DVD/Blu-ray really would be a giant waste of money. This got me thinking, and I thought I would do a list of shows that get repeated so much that purchasing them on DVD/ is just out of the question. I may also provide suggestions for why you might want to consider purchasing them (like if there are certain aspects of the show not regularly broadcast); but it may be the case that I might not find a reason; but we’ll see. Anyway, here is my list of 10 TV Shows that you never need to purchase in either DVD or Blu-ray format; Enjoy!

10. Only Fools and Horses – A bit of an obvious one really given that it is probably the most repeated show in the history of UK television. There are many classic British comedies that are shown a lot, but Only Fools and Horses is the king of that hill. However, given it’s long and lengthy history, it could still be possible to miss episodes from the collection, and so if you want to fill those empty spots of lost episodes of Only Fools and Horses, then, either lookout for them on playback, or just buy the DVD’s!

9. Inspector George Gently – Compared to ITV crime shows (which we will get onto later); the BBC‘s collections are rarely shown. This one though does seem to be on every night on some channel somewhere. You can browse through the TV guide and you will probably (Las Vegas high probability) be able to find a repeat of it somewhere. The show isn’t a bad one, however the older episodes are usually shown more than the more recent ones, so if you want to conclude the series at long last, a DVD/Blu-ray purchase might be your best option!

8. The Bill – I wouldn’t necessarily consider this a crime show, as it’s plots and stories are more akin to soaps than detective shows. It is though shown regularly at a rate of at least once a day (excluding possibly Sundays), followed by an omnibus collection on Saturdays. It’s all repeats of course as there hasn’t been a new episode produced in over 10 years. It’s also unlikely that you would be able to get this on DVD/Blu-ray as the only ones readily available in the shops and online, are just the first three series. So anything later than that that you might be missing, you will just have to wait for another repeat!

7. The Big Bang Theory – It’s on every day, and unlike some of the other shows on this list; it’s on at different times throughout the day. You could be watching season 1 episodes in the morning, season 4 in the afternoon, and season 9 at night time. This wide spread means that if you watch it at all showings throughout the day, then you never really need to buy it on home media versions. But purchasing it on DVD could be a viable option if you either don’t get to see it at all, or if the episodes you’d rather watch aren’t being shown at the time you can watch it on TV!

6. Doctor Who – I used to really be into Doctor Who, but around when Matt Smith started, I just lost interest. I think the last time I sat down to watch an episode of the current Doctor Who; it was that dreary and cliched new years day special with the new look Dalek. Anyway; Doctor Who is regularly broadcast each weekend on W. However; there is a part of the show which is rarely ever broadcast; the original series run of the show. Despite the show being hailed as a genuine TV classic; these classic episodes dating from 1963-1989; are rarely ever broadcast! So, in that case; purchasing them on DVD is your best bet if you want to watch them. It has become a recent hobby of mine collecting and watching them (back when the Daleks were actually scary)!

5. Classic ITV Crime Shows – I just think it would be unfair to fill this list with all of the following shows; but they are all repeated way too much! It’s almost on a constant turn of the wheel, as in when one ends; another takes it place, and so on, and so forth, constantly! These shows are amongst ITV’s best known classics, where as others like Taggart (particularly the Alex Norton era) are rarely shown at all. The chief offenders are: Vera, Foyle’s War, A Touch of Frost, DCI Banks, and Midsomer Murders. You don’t need to purchase any of these shows at all, as like I mentioned above; as one ends, another takes its place; endlessly. There is one other, but due to a small glaring issue, I thought I would give that one it’s own spot on the list!

4. Sharpe – I am not knocking Sharpe; it is an awesome TV series with great stories and great characters; but it is shown probably more times in a year than number two on this list. It is frequently shown as a Saturday morning filler on Drama (which is an interesting choice due to it’s rather violent content). Anyway, the show is a fun watch if you haven’t seen it before; but unfortunately it is hard to find a positive spin on purchasing this one at all, other than to watch episodes that you may have missed the first time round!

3. South Park – I really like South Park. I have become a big fan of the show in it’s more recent years, and find the show very funny! Now, this show is shown a lot, but due to it’s content, it has to be shown past a certain time. So if you go to bed before that time, but still want to watch the show, then purchasing it on Home Media is fair enough. Many of the more recent series have been made available on Netflix (at least in the UK), but many of the more recent series, pre-date these, and so are not available (which sadly includes the hilarious Game of Thrones parody trilogy)!

2. Scott & Bailey – This is a pretty recent addition to the selection of constant repeats, with an average re-showing ratio of at least twice, if not thrice a year. The show is not a bad watch; but the series does reach it’s peak during it’s third season, and then just sort of plateaus from there. There is one reason though why buying it on DVD/Blu-ray (if that second option exists) might be beneficial however, as during the show’s repeats of it’s third season: ITV has made it a habit of regularly not broadcasting the penultimate episode! They usually (for some unknown reason) continually skip it; and so if you want to see it; purchasing the home media version is your best bet (but only get season 3, not the rest of it; ITV does show all the other episodes after all)!

1. The Simpsons – If there’s one show that gets repeated way more times than any other show in the history of Television; it’s most likely The Simpsons. There’s barely a day of the week where there are no showings at all! It can sometimes be seen in the early evening, as well as other times in the day. But, there may be a reason to consider it’s purchase on home media. Given the large number of episodes produced, the series could broadcast all it’s episodes at least once in a year (from a rough calculation); however, some episodes are more frequently shown than others, with some of the more recent (and lesser quality) episodes shown more than others. So; if you would prefer to see your favourites which are rarely ever broadcast, then buying those episodes on DVD might be more worth it…or you could just wait around to see if they are ever broadcast again!