Categories
Fantasy Television

Buy Merlin Season 1 DVDs – They’re on Sale!

I was taking a look at my preorders on Amazon today and noticed that my Merlin: Season 2 DVD order is supposed to be delivered around January 18th. That was a nice little surprise, because we love Merlin.

While I was there, the Merlin season 1 DVD set caught my eye (I already own this one) because it’s on sale for $19.99 and the list price for this set is $49.98. That’s a hefty discount! I can’t say how long this discount will last but for the moment, if you’ve been toying with the idea of purchasing the Merlin DVDs, this might be the perfect time to buy.

In the Merlin Season 1 DVD Box

The box cover and discs are lovely, with a panoramic cast photo spanning the entire back of the unfolded disc holder and character pictures on each of the 5 discs that are part of the season one set.

However, whoever put the set together made one serious mistake. The discs include a disc number and episode numbers, but nowhere on the disks or the box are the episode titles! I don’t know about you, but when I watch episodes, I remember them by title, not number. So, I’ll have to come back to my lists regularly to find a particular episode number I want to watch.

  • Disc One: Episodes 1-3
  • Disc Two: Episodes 4-6
  • Disc Three: Episodes 7-9
  • Disc Four: Episodes 10-13
  • Disc Five: Special Features

DVD Extras – Special Features on the Merlin Season 1 DVDs

Merlin Season One includes some really wonderful and family-friendly episodes and includes these lovely DVD extras.

  • Audio commentary
  • Making-of featurettes: “Behind the Magic”
  • Video diaries
  • Photo gallery
  • Wallpaper

Episodes on the Merlin Season 1 DVDs

  1. The Dragon’s Call
  2. Valiant
  3. The Mark of Nimueh
  4. The Poisoned Chalice
  5. Lancelot
  6. A Remedy to Cure All Ills
  7. The Gates of Avalon
  8. The Beginning of the End
  9. Excalibur
  10. The Moment of Truth
  11. The Labyrinth of Gedref
  12. To Kill the King
  13. Le Morte D’Arthur

Any time I find a series I really enjoy, I try to pick up the DVDs to add to my collection. Merlin is fun and the DVDs are well worth their spot on my shelves.

And in case you have no idea what I’m talking about here, here’s some information about Merlin.

The mythical city of Camelot, in a time before history began. A fantastical realm of legendary beasts and mysterious peoples. A dangerous world in which magic has been banned by the ruthless tyrant, Uther Pendragon. When Merlin, a young man gifted with extraordinary magical powers, arrives in the kingdom, he quickly makes enemies, including the heir to Uther’s crown, the headstrong Prince Arthur. But guided by Uther’s wise physician, Gaius, Merlin is soon using his talents not just to survive but also to unlock Camelot’s mystical secrets. As he does so he discovers that his destiny and that of Arthur, the kingdom’s young leader-in-waiting, are inextricably linked.

Merlin season three premieres on Syfy on January 7, 2011 at 10/9 central.

Categories
Science Fiction Television

SGU and the future of Stargate

This isn’t going to be a long drawn out post about what I don’t like about the new Stargate series, Stargate Universe. There’s more than I had hoped, but I love the concept of the show and I have high hopes that it will continue to improve with every episode.

I admit I wasn’t thrilled by the first few SGU episodes after Air. Air was a good introduction to the characters and series, but the thing that’s getting me about this series is the slowness of it all. I don’t mind waiting for a payoff, but I’ve never been a fan of dramatic series like Lost, Heroes, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, later seasons of Smallville, or any of a number of other TV series. I like the relationship aspects, but I want to see a lot more action and adventure in this show. Why can’t a more character/relationship driven series still have plenty of action?

I like action, humor, and even Battlestar Galactica. ;) However, with the later, I found I could only handle so much drama before I was ready for it to be over with.

The good thing about Stargate Universe is that with “Time“, I saw what could be. That glimpse into the future of SGU has given me great hopes for the show. With “Time,” I know there’s action and adventure to be had and some of the stuff I’ve always loved about Stargate seems to be surfacing at last—the travel, the excitement, the danger…

I saw something special in “Time” and for the first time, I saw myself as a true fan of the show.

Categories
Science Fiction Television

Battlestar Galactica Nominations in the 2009 Emmys

Although I loved Battlestar Galactica, and I think the show deserved more awards than it got, I have to say, the ending of the series kind of left me feeling weird about the series. So… when BSG only ended up with 5 nominations in not-so-great categories, I haven’t found myself as disappointed as I might have been and that’s very sad.

Still, the show got 5 nominations—and that’s 5 more nominations than Stargate Atlantis, Eureka, or Dollhouse received! Read on for details.

Categories
Science Fiction Television

Six visits Chuck…

Found a peek at an upcoming episode of Chuck. Here it is.

And there’s more…

Categories
Science Fiction Television

Battlestar Beckons

I’m holding out at the moment on my decision to avoid watching any more episodes of Battlestar Galactica until the season’s end. I can’t say that I’ll stay strong to the last episode, but watching in two to three episode blocks seems the way to go!

Besides, it will give me more time to catch up on my DVRed The Universe episodes. I caught Gravity this week and was quite amazed at how interesting they made the subject. My family watched with me and we all enjoyed it. Of course, the roller coaster always seems to make it into any documentary talking about gravity, but I think the prop was well used.

Categories
Science Fiction Television

As BSG’s end nears, my nerves wear thin

It’s interesting to note that although I enjoy Battlestar Galactica, I’m becoming a nervous wreck as I watch the episodes. It’s the final season, and inevitably that means someone–or many someones–is going to die. Not that I’m spoiling here, because this is all speculation based on the episodes I’ve seen to date.

As the series winds up, I grow entirely too nervous to watch live. After this latest episode, The Ties That Bind, I think I’m going to start DVRing at least three or four episodes before I watch–hell, I might just skip all of them until the series is over and then spend a Saturday with the rest of the final season.

My nerves are short and I have little patience with drawn out story lines at this point. I know that to pull it all together everything can’t come out rosy, but oh how I wish that it would.

All I can say is that I sincerely hope the show doesn’t become unwatchable in reruns (on DVD of course), with the death of too many sympathetic characters. Quantum Leap, a long ago favorite of mine was relegated to the never-watch-again category after its they-might-as-well-have-stabbed-out-my-heart ending.

This is my plea to the creators of BSG–please don’t ruin the rewatchability of this favorite!

Update: Blah. I don’t think I will ever watch this show again. The ending wasn’t bad, per se, but it didn’t leave me feeling particularly warm and fuzzy about old episodes either. I am notoriously hung up on the big picture when I watch a series and I can’t watch individual episodes as stand alone material. The big picture for Battlestar Galactica didn’t turn out to be that compelling for me.