3 shows I bought on DVD because Netflix, Hulu, and Disney wouldn't give me all the episodes

Published Jul 21, 2026, 10:45 AM EDT Former radio and TV guy (I Heart Radio and PBS). Now a writer, researcher, and musician who writes about the absurdity of our modern world and other offbeat topics. Specializes in weird music, the old web, retro video games and tech, and researching strange, yet interesting things. His work has appeared in Vice, Tedium, Star Trek.com, Today I Found Out, Typebar, SyFy Wire, and How To Geek. Currently working on a variety of music, web, and writing projects. Visit him on the web at https://djbuckfreelance.neocities.org/. For me, being a fan of physical media never went out of style. I've never much cared for streaming, and when I do use it, I'm selective or self-host whenever possible. With some companies ditching physical media altogether, there's never been a better time to start collecting again. Of course, prior to now, streaming services have always been missing episodes of our favorite show despite its convenience. So I grabbed four of my favorite shows on DVD so I could have a complete collection. It's tough to be a Brooklyn Nine-Nine fan If you like the show, DVD is the way to go Poor Brooklyn Nine-Nine fans always seem to get the short end of the stick. Netflix removed 45 episodes from the platform earlier this year. That's a few seasons' worth of the show. And they're important ones, since they're at the beginning. For a show that wrapped five years ago, there should be more options to watch it in its entirety. Ideally, we'd be able to watch this hilarious cop show (featuring the phenomenal Andy Samberg in the lead role) uninterrupted. Apparently, there are licensing issues and agreements that prevent other streaming services from hosting the entire series at any given time. Sure, you technically can watch the entire thing on Peacock right now (at least in the U.S.), but there are also concerns that some episodes have been edited on streaming, so the best bet is to buy the DVD. I picked up the entire series for less than $50, no subscription required. It has the missing episode and worthwhile features Community went through some major ups and downs while it was on the air. Dan Harmon's writing on the series is pretty sharp, and the character dynamic is just fun to watch. When the final season of your series streams on Yahoo Screen of all places, it might be time to do some soul-searching. But those early seasons of the show are magnificent studies in character, absurdity, and, well, community. When it hit Netflix and Hulu in 2020, the platforms removed the episode, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, because it featured Ken Jeong's character, Chang, cosplaying as a Drow Elf in a D&D game. It made sense, with Dan Harmon understanding why it needed to be done, despite proclaiming its "one of the best episodes of Community." The episode returned several years later, but I'm still happy with my DVD purchase. Community is one of those shows that just sort of works, but no description of it will ever do it justice. The DVD and Blu-ray sets are both still in print. I bought The Simpsons season 3 for the third time At least one episode isn't available on streaming Credit: Dan Helyer / How-To Geek I'm a huge fan of The Simpsons, at least until around season 9 or so. Those first 8 seasons were like a golden age for me. I grew up watching them, and when they became available as DVD sets, I bought all of them right away. Season 3 has always been a personal favorite of mine. Episodes like Treehouse of Horror II (the one with the monkey's paw), Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington, and Brother Can You Spare Two Dimes? are all classics. Flaming Moe's and Homer at the Bat are among my favorite episodes of the series. But the episode Stark Raving Dad went missing in 2019, following controversy related to the Michael Jackson documentary Finding Neverland. The series producers famously pulled the episode from circulation, with Disney+ following suit. So if you open Season 3 on the platform, it begins with Mr. Lisa Goes to Washington, which is subjectively a better episode, but not having the first episode available is a completionist's nightmare. Now, Stark Raving Dad was never my favorite episode, so skipping it doesn't bother me as much, but not having the full season available makes the "I must own everything, even if it sucks because I'm a completionist" part of my brain go a little haywire. But that's not the only episode that was pulled from the air or streaming; it's just the most famous one now. I picked up most of those early seasons a few years ago so I could listen to the episode commentaries and because I like physical media, but it's wild that an episode of The Simpsons was pulled at all. I'll never stop using physical media I'm not opposed to streaming. It can be convenient at times. I get a subscription to some of them free as part of my phone plan, so it's not a cost issue. I don't, however, like missing out on an episode or losing the ability to watch something. So physical media still has value for me. DVDs are still a versatile medium, too. Just make sure you're taking care of your DVDs so you can keep them for a long time to come.