Hello Honeys,
How are you? Staying warm I hope? Our furbaby Jade and I have been sharing a large Sherpa throw on the sofa. Jade happily goes for a nap and I've been trying to keep up with Blogtober, the yearly writing challenge for Bloggers. We are challenged to write 31 blog posts in 31 days during the month of October.
Here we are then on the 17th day, and today I thought I'd share a few of our favourite TV box sets. What better way to pass a chilly evening than disappearing into a favourite movie or TV series 😊
Hubby and I have always been collectors of our favourite movies and TV series, first on VHS (how old does that make me sound lol) and then on DVD. I know that everyone streams and stores things in the cloud these days but Hubby & I are old school.. or maybe just getting old 😊
We don't tend to go out socially any more, our furbaby Jade doesn't like to be alone and my increasingly limited mobility makes it difficult too. Even sitting in the cinema is too painful now, at least at home I can pause a dvd to get up and move around when the pain in my spine gets to be too much. Enough moans from me dear ones! I don't do pity parties and if truth be known I don't like to be away from Jade either.
So, having decided to write this post, of favourite box sets to pass chilly evenings, I started rummaging through our dvd collection trying to pick out some favourites and discovered it's far more difficult to only pick a few box sets than I thought it would be.
Long story short dear ones, I ended up with too many favourites! Even being really, really tough with myself I ended up with too many for a single post. After taking a minute to be thankful that this is even a problem, I decided I might need more than one post.
We do love our box sets honeys. We both, Hubby & I, often say that if it weren't for watching dvds, our TV would never be switched on and that's pretty much the case.
You'll notice immediately that most of our favourites do go back in time a little ways. I think we were blessed to grow up when we both did. We got to watch some fantastic programmes and while our favourites may seem "vintage" to some, we do love each and every one of them.
I've chosen to limit myself to ten box sets in this post... I cannot even begin to tell you how difficult that was for me. Also, it became very apparent that we do love a lot of American TV shows. Really a lot. For that reason I thought I'd devote an entire post to ten (of the very many) wonderful series that travelled across the pond and made us love them 💖
I will write another follow up post listing our favourite British box sets too honeys, who knows there might even be a couple you haven't seen and might like to? I'll do that early next week I think, since I have two long shifts ahead of me tomorrow and Saturday, and just taking and editing the photos will take a while.
Back to today's post then, why not go grab a cuppa then dear ones, I will too, and I'll meet you back here in a few minutes to see if you agree with any of the shows I chose...
Welcome back honeys 💗 Do you have your cuppa? Cool, me too ☕ Let's talk TV shows shall we?
The Munsters
The Munsters followed the lives of a not so ordinary family of kind, good natured people who also happen to resemble classic movie "monsters." Even as a child I always thought the moral of this series was not to judge people by appearances. For that alone, this series should be loved 💖 It's just such a shame that this lesson still needs repeating over fifty years later dear ones.
The much loved Munster family are:
Herman Munster: Father of the Munster family, dear Herman is sweet, kind and funny. He also resembles the classic Universal movie studio version of Frankenstein's monster, complete with bolts through his neck and being over seven feet tall.
Lily Munster: Lily is the perfect TV mother, running her household and caring for her family unit. Lily also happens to be a beautiful vampire.
Grandpa: Grandpa is Lily's father, also referred to as "The Count" he too is a vampire and even wears the classic Universal movie costume of a tuxedo and cape of Count Dracula. Grandpa has a laboratory in the basement, accessed via a trap door under a rug in the living room. He is always talking about life in "the old Country" and complains how tiring it is to fly all the way to Transylvania, and back, after transforming into a bat of course 😊
Marilyn: Marilyn is very definitely the odd one out in the Munster family, being the most "human" in appearance. Marilyn, as hinted at by her name's connection to the beautiful Marilyn Monroe, is a stunning blonde. She is the teenage daughter of Lily's sister, being raised by Lily and Herman as part of their family. Herman mentions her unfortunate appearance by saying that "nobody looks like that on his side of the family."
Eddie Munster: The only child of Herman and Lily Munster, Eddie is a werewolf and has a pet dragon, who lives under the stairs, called Spot.
The Munster family lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane and as a child I always thought they, much like the Addams Family, would be fun neighbours to have. As an adult, I still do 😊
The Addams Family
Did you just hear the famous theme music, composed and sung by Vic Mizzy, in your head with the equally famous finger clicking? I did 😊 The Addams Family ran on ABC Television for two years and for 64 wonderful episodes and followed the adventures of the Addams family members in their wonderful, gothic home.
The Family members were:
Gomez Addams: Father and head of the Addams family household, Gomez is suave, sophisticated and very much in love with his wife, Morticia. He is of Castilian decent and always refers to Morticia with pet names such as "cara mia" or "querida." Gomez is constantly smoking a cigar and checking often on his assorted stocks and shares. He owns numerous companies and the family is independently wealthy. Gomez is also a retired lawyer.
Morticia Addams: Gomez's wife and the mother of the family, Morticia is stunningly beautiful, cultured and is often the calmest, most sensible member of the family. She knits, paints and raises carnivorous plants in their conservatory. She is often to be found snipping the heads off roses and arranging their thorny stems in a vase.
Uncle Fester: Uncle Fester is Morticia's uncle and lives with the family. He's friendly, fun and adores being uncle to his niece and nephew, Wednesday and Pugsley, Gomez & Morticia's children. He is often accused of spoiling them. His hobbies include sitting in his tree house during lightning storms and setting off dynamite caps.
Grandmama Addams: Grandmama is Gomez's mother, she too lives with the family. She is a witch, tells fortunes and adores her grandchildren. She also wrestles alligators.
Pugsley Addams: Gomez and Morticia's first born child, Pugsley is very smart and has a very kind, sweet nature. He, like his Uncle fester, enjoys blowing things up with dynamite caps, and has a pet octopus called Aristotle.
Wednesday Addams: Pugsley's younger sister, is also very smart. She has a pet black widow spider, named Homer and her favourite doll is headless and is called Marie Antoinette.
Lurch: The Addams live in Butler. Lurch tends to frighten visitors to the Addams home with his imposing appearance, he is very tall, has a deep voice and a very stern expression, but is in actual fact a very sweet character. He plays the Harpsicord and is very protective of the Addams family members.
Thing: Thing is a disembodied hand that appears from boxes on tables around the Addams home. He has been a member of the Addams family household for many years and was a friend to Gomez as he grew up. He plays chess, pours tea for the family, lifts the telephone receiver for Morticia and even brings her the mail.
The Addams are, in spite of their slightly odd appearances, a sweet natured, kind, generous family, always keen to help those they come into contact with. Again, as with the Munsters, there is a moral running throughout the series of not judging anyone by their appearance, since not all of the "normal" visitors to the Addams home have good intentions.
It's interesting to note that the first episode of the Addams Family series was screened on 18th September 1964, and 6 days later the first episode of The Munsters was screened.
Batman
There are no words for how much I adore this Batman box sets honeys 💖 I loved the series as a child and love it just as much now.
As with "Whovians" or Dr Who fans (I'm married to one of those 💗) who will all have their favourite Doctor, Batman fans will have their favourite caped crusader and for this girl the only man who can fill that cowl is the wonderful Adam West...
I got ridiculously excited when this box set was released since it's rarely seen on TV anymore and the idea of having every single beautifully filmed, fabulous episode sitting there on a shelf waiting to binge watched (I literally can't watch just one episode) was just too wonderful to be true 💗
The box set itself, other than allowing me to disappear into all 120 fabulous episodes set in Gotham City with it's many arch villains, is also beautifully produced. The slipcase contains 18 discs, split into the three seasons, and comes complete with a gorgeous episode guide full of photos and an introduction by Adam West himself..
Aside from a mammoth running time of (according to the details on the slipcase) 2897 minutes (well, there are 120 episodes after all) there is also over 3 hours of additional special features including chats with Adam West and celebrity fans, a look at the art and design of the series and even lots of rare memorabilia. It's a joyful celebration of the series honeys and for fans, just a perfect way to enjoy it all over again.💖
Fantasy Island
Another of my TV favourites growing up, this wonderful series was set on the most beautiful, tropical island, where guests could live out their fantasies for a price.
The series ran for 7 years, and there were also two movies, but so far I've only been able to find season one on dvd (which includes one of the movies) but I've just loved watching them again, having not seen the series for so many years.
In my teens, I so wished I could visit that beautiful Island and meet the mysterious Mr Rourke and dear Tattoo. There's still a wee part of me that does honeys 💖
Cheers & Frasier
As excited as I was to add the Adam West Batman series to our box set collection, I was just as excited to add all 11 seasons of both Cheers and it's spin off series Frasier tooBoth are much loved series, both still occasionally appear in the early morning slots on Channel four here in the UK, and whatever I'd doing, if I spot it in them schedules, I sit down to watch 💖
I'm currently re-watching Cheers honeys, happily watching each disc in turn and loving every episode every bit as much as I adored them when they were first screened.
I've reached season 5 so far and when I eventually reach the last episode, I'm planning to re-watch all 11 seasons of Frasier too. That should keep my mind off the chilly, rainy and increasingly blustery days for a while.
Can there be anyone who hasn't ever watched Cheers, or Frasier? Just in case honeys, Cheers is set in a bar in Boston, Massachusetts and follows the lives of the bars owner, Sam Malone, an ex professional baseball player, his bar staff and their regular customers.
Frasier was one of Sam's regular customers, and also a love interest of Diane's, one of Sam's waitresses. Dianne also dated Sam too.
The series Frasier followed the title character, Frasier Crane, as he moved back to his home town of Seattle and introduced his father, Martin, a retired cop and his brother Niles, also, like Frasier a noted psychiatrist.
I'm not sure how long it'll take me to watch the remaining six seasons of Cheers and then all eleven seasons of Frasier but it'll certainly help get me through autumn, and maybe even a wee bit of winter.
When I eventually reach the last episode of Frasier, then I'll pick another favourite box set and winter can stay outside our closed curtains while our furbaby Jade and I happily fill our afternoons with wonderful television memories. Well, mostly me, Jade tends to snuggle under her blanket on the sofa next to me and naps 💖
M*A*S*H
I only finished watching the last disc of this box set (containing all 36 discs, which make up all 11 seasons plus the movie and lots of special features) a few months ago but I might well watch them over again when I reach the end of the Frasier episodes. The series really is that good honeys.
Following on from the 1970 movie of the same name, starring Elliot Gould and Donald Sutherland, the MASH TV series followed the lives of members of the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital of the title, stationed in Korea, during the war.
I actually prefer the TV series to the movie (am I allowed to say that?) being a huge fan of Alan Alda and if you haven't seen this wonderful series honeys, I really, really recommend it. The stories contain as many tears as they do laughs and it's just as wonderful now as when they originally made it.
A bonus of this box set, named on the box as the "martinis & medicine collection" is the ability to turn off the annoying "laugh track" and watch all of the episodes without it.
Monk
Adrian Monk is a detective. A former policeman who, after the unsolved death of his much loved wife, develops obsessive compulsive disorder.
Even though he's no longer officially working as a homicide detective, Adrian still helps solve cases with the assistance of his assistant.
Monk always reminded me of another of my favourite detective series, Columbo, in that he would see things, pick up on small details that everyone else missed and usually it was these details that solved the case.
If you are a fan of detective series and haven't seen it yet, I would recommend Monk, it's a great series, it ran for 8 seasons and yes, we do finally learn, in the last season, why his wife Trudy died.
Note: I just noticed in the image above that the seasons have been put back in the wrong order!! You might not know this about me honeys but that's kind of a big thing for me and I have to go upstairs right now, see if the discs are still out of order and if so, fix them. Oh dear.
Quantum Leap
I love, love, love this series 💖 Well, obviously Rosie, or it wouldn't be listed here among your favourites 😄
This is such a gem of a series honeys, so fondly remembered by everyone who watched it. The central character, Dr Sam Beckett, is a scientist who thanks to an experiment which goes wrong is literally lost in time.
Over the course of ninety seven episodes, and five seasons, Sam "leaps" into the bodies of other people through time. Each time he leaps he is there to help them overcome problems or issues in their lives they need help with and can't leap out again until the problem has been solved and their life is back on track again.
Sam's only connection with our world, and the time he belongs in, the present day (or 1989 when the programme first aired) is a hologram only he can see of his friend Al who also worked on the project. Al can advise him on the effects his actions in the past have on the lives of the people he's helping, as seen from the future.
Sam's hope is that some day, one of the leaps will take him home. I cried my eyes out watching the last episode of this series honeys, and I'll do it again when next I watch them 😍
Babylon 5
I lived and breathed this series when it was originally shown and it will forever be one of my favourites 😍💗
Saving the best for last honeys. Babylon 5 is a whole universe of wonderfulness. It's essentially a soap (space) opera that runs across 110 episodes (in 5 seasons) plus 6 movies, and two spin off series called Crusade and Babylon 5: The Lost Tales.
This is the 25th anniversary year of the beginning of Babylon 5, having originally been screened in April of 1994. It really is, in my ever so humble opinion, one of the best TV series ever made.
The story takes place on the Babylon 5 space station, the "last, best hope for peace" and follows the various stories of the crew and visitors to the station. It has politics, intrigue, love, crime, war, space battles, deaths. It's beyond wonderful honeys, if you haven't seen it, it is so, so worth watching.
So, there we have it honeys, 10 TV box sets worth binge watching💖 This list really is endless though, seriously. I didn't get to mention Lost in Space, The X Files, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits (original of course) Night Gallery, Supernatural, 24, CSI (the original Vegas version) House and Suburgatory... Like I said, the list is endless 😍
Good grief this has been a long post! Thank you for keeping me company, it means more than I can say 💗 Over to you then, do we share any favourites? Which are your favourite dvds for a cosy night in front of the TV?
Till next time dear ones, do stay warm, it's really starting to get chilly now, smile lots and hug even more, hugs always x
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