# Hit TV Shows you didn't watch "live" but caught up with on DVD or Netflix
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [June 27, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035 "2011-06-27T16:33:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/1 "2011-06-27T16:33:45Z")
It’s getting to be a big gamble to get all invested in a new show based on the hype and promotional excesses networks cram down our throats pre-season. Because of that we have been progressively more reluctant to get into new shows for fear they’re just going to be jerked away right as things start getting good.
After the bastards killed _Terriers_ this past year, I fear I will be waiting until the cream has risen to the top and do the way we have on:
Dexter
Grey’s Anatomy
Weeds
Breaking Bad
Mad Men
The Wire
… and probably several others that I have forgotten we were late arrivals for.
How many shows did you give at least a season’s (or more) headstart on?
Are you more or less willing to give a new show a shot than in years past?
Is there a network you trust more than the others not to kill off good shows?
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### Author:  [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/2 "2011-06-27T16:55:07Z")
Battlestar Galactica (the remake), and i am very glad i did because those season ending cliff hangers were freaking brutal.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/3 "2011-06-27T16:59:02Z")
Weeds.
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### Author:  [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/4 "2011-06-27T17:05:38Z")
Most dramas (except Madmen) need a season before I’ll invest in them. I’ve caught up with:
The Wire
Dexter
Alias
Gilmour Girls
via DVD
I’ll be getting the Shield and Lost at some point.
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### Author:  [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/5 "2011-06-27T17:07:02Z")
Quite a few HBO shows, including The Wire, Deadwood and Big Love. I don’t get HBO so I’m only able to watch their programming once it hits DVD.
Also Veronica Mars. My wife had been a fan of the show, but stopped watching it when she moved in with me as we didn’t have UPN where I lived at the time. So we just ended up getting the shows from Netflix after the seasons ended.
As kind of a sidenote, I remember getting to the final episode on the second-to-last disc of the third season, the show’s last. It ended on a cliffhanger, and I couldn’t wait to see how all the threads were wrapped up, so I popped in the last disc, thinking it was going to have the last three or four episodes of the series, only to discover it was just bonus features, and the cliffhanger episode was the last.
☹
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### Author:  [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/6 "2011-06-27T17:08:18Z")
Spartacus from Starz. Started with the prequel Season 2 and am catching up on season 1.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/7 "2011-06-27T17:08:37Z")
> [@phreesh](#):
>
> Most dramas (except Madmen) need a season before I’ll invest in them. I’ve caught up with:
>
> The Wire
> Dexter
> Alias
> Gilmour Girls
>
> via DVD
>
> I’ll be getting the Shield and Lost at some point.
_The Shield_ – I was lucky enough to trust some recommendations early on and I think I have yet to see the first few episodes of Season 1 even yet. But it is the choice show for that sort of catchup, I believe. One of the best shows of the past 20 years.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/8 "2011-06-27T17:08:37Z")
Almost all shows are DVD (or Hulu) series for me. I will sometimes watch the animation line-up on Sunday. I watched House, Chicago Code, and Castle on Mondays. And I watch Mythbusters and Archer.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/9 "2011-06-27T17:10:29Z")
Dexter
Lie to Me
Bones
Castle
Wire in the Blood (BBC)
Probably others. They’ll come to me later.
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/10 "2011-06-27T17:11:07Z")
> [@Zeldar](#):
>
> _The Shield_ – I was lucky enough to trust some recommendations early on and I think I have yet to see the first few episodes of Season 1 even yet. But it is the choice show for that sort of catchup, I believe. One of the best shows of the past 20 years.
That’s surprising. Because most Shield fans (including me) got into the series by watching the first episode.
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### Author:  [@MyFootsZZZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MyFootsZZZ)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/11 "2011-06-27T17:11:19Z")
Just finished season 4 of **Dexter** … is season 5 worth waiting for? Did season 6 air yet?
I tried to get into **Weeds** , but it didn’t interest me.
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### Author:  [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/12 "2011-06-27T17:11:31Z")
We’re watching Chuck this way. I’d catch up and watch them as they come out, but by the time one season’s DVDs are out, the next season has already started. It’s irritating.
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### Author:  [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/13 "2011-06-27T17:13:26Z")
Not really a hit but a big cult following: “Firefly”
I watched a couple on Netflix and then bought the DVD.
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### Author:  [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/14 "2011-06-27T17:15:41Z")
Dexter. Just as I started this one, I find out that Netflix’s license is about to expire so I’ll never get to see it all (I don’t have the DVD service).
Eureka
Thinking of watching Sanctuary or Warehouse 13 next.
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### Author:  [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/15 "2011-06-27T17:26:22Z")
I watched The Wire for the first time from beginning to end with a mix of Netflix and On Demand.
I was late to the party for several shows but then caught up have watched the last few seasons 'live" including:
Dexter
Rescue Me
Battlestar Galactica
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/16 "2011-06-27T17:29:23Z")
> [@MyFootsZZZ](#):
>
> Just finished season 4 of **Dexter** … is season 5 worth waiting for? Did season 6 air yet?
>
> I tried to get into **Weeds** , but it didn’t interest me.
Please permit me to plug a couple other threads on the same general topic:
> **[Zeldar's Nielsen Ratings Help](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=613832)**
>
> I want to try to predict which of my regular TV shows have a good chance of staying alive at least into first half of the next season. I’m not counting new shows that will be premiering this next year, just the ones I have already built up a liking...
Zeldar’s Nielsen Ratings Help
> **[Return date(s) of your favorite TV show(s)](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=603724)**
>
> I’d like to find the dates when my favorite shows that are now in hiatus, or maybe even in limbo, will be back on the air. I make it a habit each weekend to look ahead in the two-week (fortnight?) window on our cable box for shows that may be...
Return date(s) of your favorite TV show(s)
And for a direct answer to your _Dexter_ question see [this post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13958854&postcount=28) where I copied
> [@](#):
>
> +++ Dexter
> [Dexter (TV series) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_(TV_series))
> The series was picked up by Showtime for a sixth season, which was billed as not being the final season, leaving possibilities open for a seventh.
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### Author:  [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/17 "2011-06-27T17:30:54Z")
I’m watching the new Doctor Who series right now, which I have not been following.
Terriers - worth it
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/18 "2011-06-27T17:38:41Z")
Mad Men & Archer are two that were hitting their second season before they hit my radar and caught up on DVD.
My wife watched something like five or six seasons of How I Met Your Mother within a week’s time using the cable “on demand” service. Whatever season this last one was, it’s the first she saw “live”.
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### Author:  [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/19 "2011-06-27T20:13:17Z")
Firefly, Battlestar, Buffy, Angel, Big Bang Theory, The IT Crowd. Probably at least one I’m forgetting.
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### Author:  [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hit-tv-shows-you-didnt-watch-live-but-caught-up-with-on-dvd-or-netflix/587035/20 "2011-06-27T20:19:11Z")
Mad Men
Dexter
The Sopranos
Lie to Me
The Wire
Oz
True Blood
Penn and Teller’s Bullshit
The Venture Bros.
I’m sure there are several others. Truth be told, I use Netfilx more for TV than movies nowadays.
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