I hate regional coding
As a Comcast digital cable subscriber, I have access to a lot of shows on their On Demand system, which works kind of like pay-per-view (except most shows are free, although there is actual pay-per-view programming also). The best things about it are access to decent TV in the middle of the night when most cable channels have only paid programming, and being able to see shows that originally aired on cable channels that I don’t necessarily get with my cable subscription. Until I upgraded my cable package last week, I didn’t get the National Geographic Channel or BBC America or the Science Channel — all of which had really terrific shows that I watched on the On Demand.
One of the main reasons I upgraded was to be able to watch a specific show on BBC America, a nifty supernatural show called Hex, which airs Thursday nights on BBC America. I tried to explain it to Karel this evening, probably quite badly, as “a combination of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Felicity, Charmed, and the Da Vinci Code.” (It’s actually a lot more intelligent than any of those, with the possible exception of the very best writing on a few episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.) One of the things I like most about the show — besides the delicious eye candy of the bad guy — is that the supernatural themes are appropriately treated as dark and dangerous, with serious consequences. There’s plenty of wit and humor in the writing, but it’s often a snarky or even black humor.
So tonight I looked online for information about the show — since I really want to get it on DVD (and that means I’m really hooked, since I hesitate to buy DVDs unless I’m really wild about a TV show). Unfortunately, it appears that the only DVD release of Hex is region-coded 2 for Europe, so unless I’m willing to invest in another DVD player, I’m shit outta luck. (But I just may consider getting a region-free DVD player, as Amazon has them from around $60 on up.)
My online sleuthing also informed me that there were only 18 episodes made of the show before it was cancelled (in its second season). Le sigh. I’ve seen the first 7 episodes…at least I have nearly a dozen more to enjoy. Still, I’m going to go scream in frustration now…
It’s incredibly annoying to have a show cancelled just when you’re really into it. You know what’s almost as bad? When a series survives until the later seasons, and the writers/producers mess it up really badly in terms of character growth and such. Egh.
I miss my region-free DVD player in Thailand. I was like, no more worries about regions. Too bad I don’t have one in Spain. It would make things a bit more convenient, heh.
It was actually, honest-to-goodness cancelled? Int’resting… I didn’t think The Beeb operated quite that way. (Yes, I know Doctor Who was sort of cancelled… by virtue of ordering a short season and declining to order the season after. Eh.)
One thing you /will/ need to consider if you’re seriously thinking of ordering British Region 2 discs – how to convert the PAL signal to NTSC.
That’s going to be something that you’ll need the player to be capable of, otherwise the disc /will/ play, but the video signal’ll be borked.
My friend just got the DVD’s of those yesterday. She’s realy been wanting me to see them. I have only heard good news about it.
[...] made cologne!) collection in a nifty milkcan tin, the first season of Hex on DVD (now on American DVD release!), and Lyse promised me the first season of Stargate SG-1 as soon as we find a store in town that [...]