Search - Northern Exposure - The Complete First Season on DVD

Poor Form

Joshua Etarbelak | Rochester, NY United States | 06/15/2004

(1 out of 5 stars)

"Let me first apologize to all the furious Northern Exposure fans for the single star rating. I know that's going to burn some people. But Amazon asks for a review of the DVD, and this a honest rating of this DVD set. The show itself deserves five stars, of course. But you already knew that. There are few people out there who are going to buy this set having never seen the show. So, to be blunt, this DVD set is really a piece of garbage. It appears that absolutely no thought was put into making it. Well, perhaps they thought about how cheaply they could make it. But that's about it. The weak points: 1. You only get eight episodes. While I know the first season only has eight episodes, it is deceptive to market like other seasons that contain 20 or more epsiodes. Why not combine the first two seasons on one set? Better to rip off the fans, of course.2. There are only two double-sided discs in the set. This is inexcusably cheap. It is also unecessary, since they could easily fit four episodes on one side of a disc. (Especially since they lack any substantial bonus materials.)3. Here is my biggest gripe. There are mandatory previews to watch at the beginning of the DVD!!! When I say mandatory, I mean your remote control is locked out, and you have to sit and watch the previews EVERY TIME you put in the disc. Now, before anyone contradicts me, I acknowledge that you can fast forward. But you cannot chapter-skip ahead or jump straight to the main menu. What this does is essentially reduce the DVD medium into an glorified VHS tape. With all the unlimited possibilities of DVDs, this studio gives us almost no bonus materials and decides instead to force us to watch their crappy previews. What's next, Pepsi commercials?You would think with piracy alledgedly being such a problem for these studios, they would make more of an effort to make a product people would be happy to pay for. Instead they give us what amounts to a VHS tape on a disc, poorly designed, and cheaply made. Fans who supported this show deserve better. And consumers buying this set deserve better."

High Price = Music Clearance; Not Greed

Mr. | Chicago, IL | 05/27/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As most of you who are interested in buying this set already know, Northern Exposure is a great television show. The sharp intelligence of its creators is evident in every aspect of the production: from the characters to the wonderful music. The DVD set features amazing visual quality, nice extras and ALL THE SONGS FROM THE ORIGINAL BROADCASTS. This is no small feat. Remember, there are great shows from the same era released on DVD (i.e. Wiseguy, Felicity, etc.) that have not been able to secure rights to songs that were crucial to their original success. Northern Exposure is more dependent on the original soundtrack than other shows. For example, during a single episode included in this set, "A Kodiak Moment," the music ranges wide: from an aria from Verdi's "Rigoletto" to "Rhinestone Cowboy" by Glen Campbell to Shep & The Limelights' "Daddy's Home." All that in one episode, and it's all here on DVD. Yeah, it's an expensive set. But Universal should be praised for taking the time to do right by the show, especially for spending the money to secure the music. That is what we, as consumers, are paying for and it is worth it. Wait a couple of months until the set is discounted, but please do not let the price of this set sway you from owning a wonderful piece of television history."