My favorite part of any DVD is the extra features. I like watching outtakes and extended scenes, as well as the quick documentaries about how a very difficult sequence was ultimately put together. If it's a sports movie and the DVD has a documentary about the real story behind the movie I just watched, that is even better. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. The point is, I expect every DVD to offer me some type of additional features. In fact, if I put the DVD into the player and it only gives me the options to choose the scene, change the language or play the movie, I actually find myself getting very annoyed. How dare this production company not supply me with entertainment beyond the multi-million dollar film I'm about to watch for the next two hours?
The thing is, my need to watch additional footage pretty much begins and ends with movies, but it seems no one told the people who produce TV shows. Increasingly, it seems that when I am watching a show these days, at some point a graphic will appear along the bottom of the screen which reads, "For more behind-the-scenes footage and other exclusive content we couldn't show you, head to the show's website." I find this to be very annoying, because on more than one occasion my curiosity has gotten the better of me and I have gone to the website, where it turns out the vast majority of the time the "exclusive footage" is stuff they very well could have showed us, they just didn't. There is nothing exciting, interesting or provocative about it, it simply didn't fit in the time allotted.
I think the reason I get more annoyed when a website's extra footage is not worth my time versus when a DVD's is because the extra effort that has to be put in to watch the TV show's stuff. Often you've got to fire up your computer and if your computer is anything like mine has been lately, that can take a while. After a few minutes of waiting, going online to watch this footage begins to feel like homework. When I watch a DVD's features it take an extra 20 seconds; going to online to see this content takes considerably more time. If I'm going to put in the effort to sit through buffering and a couple of quick commercials (because there are always commercials on websites these days. Hell, half the time the 'exclusive content' is nothing more than a glorified commercial), then you had better give me something better than 10 seconds of footage where it is painfully obvious as to why it was on the cutting room floor.
Now, I know why shows do this kind of thing: it's another way to see just how many people are loyal and dedicated fans of a show. Those page views translate into figures the marketing people use to a better idea of just how much they can charge the advertisers, both for the show and space on the website. I get all that and I'm more than willing to be an unofficial participant in your little survey. I just feel like these shows aren't holding up their end of the bargain. If I'm going to help you make more money, the least you could give me is something interesting for my time. And, just in case you're wondering, watching people stand around and talk about how much they love the car they get to drive on the show doesn't count as interesting. If that was on a DVD I would have already returned to the Main Menu.
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