Sex and the City: The Essential Collection [DVD] - Complete Series Box Set for Romantic Comedy Fans & TV Show Enthusiasts - Perfect for Girls' Night In, Binge-Watching, and Gift Giving

After two years of wanting this DVD set more than I wanted anything else, I finally have it. And, after finally having it, I spent nearly 50 hours watching every single episode back to back to back. I barely left my room, I barely talked to my friends, and I loved it.There are some definite drawbacks to the set, it's true. However, unlike many here, I actually didn't have a problem with the packaging. I admit that the height is a bit of a problem, because even though my shelves are extra-large, it doesn't fit in with the rest of my DVDs. That's actually okay by me, because it just means that they'll get a place of honor all their own on another shelf. And I don't mind that they're in cardboard slots in a binder. It's good quality, stiff cardboard and there's no reason it won't last as long as you're taking care of your set. The main issue I have with packaging is that the set comes in a plastic case that actually broke during transit, so that I no longer have anything to keep the dust off the velvet cover. Oh well, c'est la vie. I'm not sending the whole set back just for a broken case that may well break again when they send me another one.The reason I bought this set is because of the television show, which I adore. I never thought I could forget how great this show was, but apparently I did, because watching it all together like I did really made me see it with new eyes. I found myself looking at it from a completely different perspective, especially now that I have two years of my own experience to add to it. I was surprised, for instance, by how much I dislike Carrie Bradshaw now, as a character. When I watched the show season by season, she just seemed like a fun, flawed character. But once I saw how screwed up she really was as a person, most of my sympathy for her went right out the window. Luckily, as the seasons went on, it became clearer and clearer that she wasn't the main reason to watch. She didn't evolve or change as a character at all, but everyone around her did. And maybe that was the point.Unfortunately, I'll never know for sure if that was the point or not, due to the laziness in putting this "Collector's Giftset" together. The extras compiled here are definitely the most pathetic extras I've ever seen. There are some silly and poorly constructed games (The one where you choose which SATC man you're most compatible with doesn't even make any sense. Play it and see.), some thoroughly pointless and badly edited clip packages and a bunch of other extras that might have been useful *IF* anyone had actually put some thought into them.For instance, there's a guide to all the men the women dated on each episode. But they don't give the name of the actor, in case you want to look him up. And when they tell you what disc to put in to watch that episode, they do it numerically: "Insert Disc 11", etc.. However, the discs aren't actually numbered that way, so you'd have to sit there and count every disc in order to figure out which one was the right one. They DO give the names of all actors who play the main men, but that's nothing you can't easily find on IMDb, so that's a cop-out.Also, the discs themselves have been re-printed with new pictures on the outside, but they have the same exact layout and content as the discs from the individual seasons. It's a cheap and lazy ploy, and it's outrageous that for $200, HBO couldn't be bothered to get the main actors, writers and producers into a studio to record some fresh commentary tracks. I've already heard all these commentary tracks, so none of this is new. It's outrageous, but it's not surprising. HBO has a long history of gouging people for as much money as they can in exchange for as little content as they can get away with, so it's buyer beware, at all times.Yet, in spite of all this, I still think the show is amazing, and I'm still so thrilled to finally have it all at my fingertips that I'm willing to overlook just about anything. After all, I didn't buy this for the extras. And neither should anyone else. If you already own every other season, throw out your cheap plastic packaging and invest in a nice CD wallet to hold your discs, but don't throw out all the discs just to buy this set. It's not worth it. (And if you only own a few seasons and are looking to this to complete your collection, you're better off just buying the ones you're missing on their own. Trust me.) However, if you don't own ANY of the discs, then by all means, invest. I can't think of a better way to spend $200 and 47 hours.