Search - That '70s Show: Complete Giftset on DVD

Good Show, Great Package...

R. Williams | USA | 03/27/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I was a slightly-more-than-casual fan of the show during its' initial run, but I phased out when the media decided to focus more on the antics of the celebrity cast members than the show itself (I call it the "Friends Syndrome).

Amazon sold this collection for under $100 as a Gold Box Deal recently and it was too cheap to resist. After receiving the series and taking a good look at the packaging, I am glad I made the impulse purchase.

The box set itself is designed to look like a 45RPM Singles Box, complete with metal buckles on the sides to keep it "locked" and a plastic strap on top. The box is cardboard but the sides are printed with nostalgic-looking textured paper, complete with cheezy "sticker art" highlights. The front of the box has a plastic window that exposes the first season's promotional cover. All in all it feels solid and durable and MUCH higher-quality than I expected it to be in when I bought it.

Opening the box: each season has been sectioned off in individual boxes with promotional art on them. Each disc inside the box in in a paper sleeve that emulates the sleeves that you would keep your 45's in. Very well-done.

In addition to all 8 seasons, the box set also comes with a miniature yearbook-style retrospective (complete with doodled-on 'paper' slipcover) that pretty much sums up the contents of the box and covers your main characters' timelines within the series. The feeling of 70's nostalgia fades when you go from page to page inside the book, but I am being picky, and if the weakest element of the box set is that the interior of the supplemental booklet feels more 80's than 70's, I am digging pretty deep.

Finally, for some reason the box set includes a copy of the final script for the final episode of the show. They even went as far as to bind the tiny teleplay with brass rivets. The box advertises that this item is "signed by the cast!" which SOUNDS neat, but if you are looking for an actual penned autograph you are obviously out of luck. I'm not sure why they chose to include the FINAL script of the series (I would think that the FIRST episode might have been more interesting to read) but once again... I am probably looking for something to whine about.

All in all, I look forward to watching the entire series in-order and filling in the cracks where I tuned out during the show's actual run. I had considered getting individual seasons of the show in the past, as I am an avid collector of TV-on-DVD, but I never got around to it. I am very pleased that I waited as the kitsch value of this complete box set is so high. If you have the means and even a passing appreciation for the show, I recommend it."

An awful decade to be young ... and the series lets you forg

calvinnme | 07/13/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am about three years older than the kids portrayed in the series. Born in 1958, I learned to drive during the first gas shortage, and got my first post-college graduation job during the second gas shortage in 1979. The 70's were a truly dreadful time to be young - inflation, competing for after-school minimum-wage jobs with laid-off thirty-somethings, dreadful music, worse clothes.

The funny thing is, this series doesn't ignor any of that and still manages to make the 70's look fun, even for those of us old enough to know better. It manages to look the 70's directly in the face - complete with time-authentic clothing - and yet fill the show with the hopefulness of youth and the things that make the high school and college years both the best of times and the worst of times. Then there are the parents. The two young lovers in the show - Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti - truly have dreadful parents with the best of intentions. Eric's parents, Red and Kitty, are not exactly June and Ward although they are conventional for the decade. They represent what happened when the 60's finally reached the suburbs during the 1970's. Donna's parents are two people who have been waiting for the 1960's to show up their whole lives in order to give their weirdness legitimacy. Eric's friends Fez, Kelso, and Jackie round out the group representing nerdiness, well-meaning incompetence, and snobbiness respectively. Hyde is an unusual teenager for a show about the suburbs, but he largely represents someone who has to play the cards he was dealt even when those cards are dealt by largely absentee and negligent parents. I highly recommend all eight seasons even though season eight does lag a bit due to the absence of Eric."

This box set finally gave me a reason to buy the entire seri

Duane D. Linscott | 11/02/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have to admit that I didn't really watch this show when it was on air, but just like most shows that I get into, it's when they are in re-runs. I really got into this show when I started working at a TV station that aired "That '70s Show." The problem was we nevered really aired all the episodes, so since getting the box set I started seeing episodes that I have never seen before and viewing the shows in the order that they originally aired, makes show a lot more sence to me. I find this box set to be exactly what I wanted when purchasing all the episodes. I wasn't looking for a lot of thrills, just the DVDs containing all the episodes. This box set is straight to the point and doesn't take up a lot of room on my DVD storage shelf. I do find the interviews and the few extras very interesting and having a copy of the final script to the last episode was a nice little touch. The only complaint I have is that the DVDs are packed a little to tight in the box. Other than that I am very happy with this purchase and I would recommend this DVD box set to any person who is a fan of "That '70s Show." My only question is what would have happened if the show went more than 10 seasons, because a decade is only 10, years long. Just an after thought. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

PURE SATISFACTION

Dave Barkewitz | Hamburg, NY, USA | 02/25/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This well written and superbly acted series is here in it's total splendor. All 8 seasons are here with enormous amounts of bonus material. The packaging is extraordinary! Each disc is in it's own paper sleeve and all are contained in a clasp enclosing case. For those not old enough to know, it resembles a collection of 45 RPM's. Very nostalgic and appropriate. The show is LOL funny and is as classic as Seinfeld and Friends. You'll find youself watching episode after episode without pause."