Almost all primetime TV series are broadcast in high definition these days. Many (a majority, even) from years past were photographed on film and could be remastered in HD. (Just look at the beautiful restoration of the 1960s ‘Star Trek‘.) Despite this, we still have a distinct lack of TV shows available on the Blu-ray format. With that in mind, this week’s Roundtable is pretty straightforward: Which TV series (not currently available) would you most like to see released on Blu-ray?
We’ve asked each participant to pick one drama title and one comedy title.
Our friends Adam Tyner from DVDTalk and Mrs. Z join us once again. We’ll let site editor Mike Attebery lead us off:
Mike Attebery
- Drama: ‘The West Wing’ – Both of my picks happen to be Warner Brothers television productions oft-rumored for Blu-ray release. So far, no dice. Come on, guys, these shows would burn up the sales charts if they hit Blu-ray. Since both were shot on 35 mm film, there’s no excuse for not releasing them on the best format possible! The first of my picks is truly addictive television that cries out for an HD release. The first season of Aaron Sorkin’s masterful series hit standard DVD in 2003 in its original 1.33:1 broadcast aspect ratio. As if the obsolete formatting weren’t reason enough to remaster them, the discs also featured truly rotten transfers. Each of the following seasons were released in 1.78:1. Aside from the much, much better transfers, the framing and style of the show were also enhanced by the more cinematic appearance. I can only imagine how good this would all look in glorious 1080p. Plus, just imagine the bonus feature possibilities on Blu-ray! It would just be too good. I want this. I want this now. How about we fast track the Blu-ray box set of the complete series, then start planning to revive the series with a new administration. That would be brilliant. BRILLIANT!
- Comedy: ‘Friends’ – I recently caught some episodes of ‘Seinfeld’ that had been prepared for HD broadcast, and I have to say that the results were fantastic. Aside from a few blurry, episode-specific establishing shots, the wider frame and the increased resolution made for some terrific HD viewing. That got me thinking. Aside from some ‘Seinfeld’ Blu-rays (of the Larry David seasons only, please), what about getting the complete run of ‘Friends’ prepped for Blu-ray? Hell, the studio could get this and ‘The West Wing’ ready at the same time, market them together, then sell the new masters for broadcast syndications to maximize profits. Seriously, I should just be running Warner Brother these days. Sure, ‘Friends’ can seems pretty cheesy now and again, but for me, the nostalgia factor is strong.While not to the same degree as ‘Seinfeld’, there are so many references to the series that surface in day to day exchanges with my friends, that I can only imagine the same is true for countless others who grew up watching the show throughout high school and college. As someone who wound up marrying his across-the-hall neighbor, I’d love it if we could re-watch some of the Chandler and Monica storylines in 1080p.
Drew Taylor
- Drama: ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ – Joss Whedon’s groundbreaking, seven-season comedic drama, which combined coming-of-age pathos with end-of-the-world scenarios, may not initially seem ideal for the high definition format. (Especially when you consider that earlier seasons where shot on grungy 16 mm.) But, really, it is. Mostly because the series, which starred Sarah Michelle-Gellar as the valley girl tasked with rescuing the world from all manner of supernatural destruction, was so damn good. Later seasons, with their accompanying bigger budgets, opened up the visual scope of the show considerably. (The series’ final hour has an almost ‘Lord of the Rings‘ vibe to it.) There would also be a chance to exploit the Blu-ray disc’s expanded storage space, with brand new documentaries, retrospective looks, and an exploration of the greater ‘Buffy’ mythos. (For example: stuff like ‘Fray’, ‘Angel’, and the expanded comic book universe.) And speaking of comic books, there was talk out of Comic-Con that the ‘Season Eight’ comic will be coming to Blu-ray in the form of a semi-animated “motion comic.” Why not bundle that disc with the other seven seasons for a definitive box set?
- Comedy: ‘The Jim Henson Hour’ – ‘The Jim Henson Hour’ was an experimental late-’80s television series that wound up being creator Jim Henson’s last great, ambitious project before his death less than a year later. The ‘Hour’ was a spectacular, visionary “What If?” that combined ‘Muppet Show’ type “Let’s put on a show!” comedy (this time, Kermit and the gang ran a multi-pronged cable channel), cutting edge technology (including Waldo, an all-CGI Muppet), and ambitious storytelling techniques. (Sometimes the entire hour was given over to a stand-alone story.) It would be hard to reconcile the different parts of ‘The Jim Henson Hour,’ since half of it (the John Hurt-led ‘The Storyteller’) has been on DVD for a few years now, and pieces of the remaining half hours are now being released with little fanfare by Lionsgate. But to have the entire hour together, loaded with special features describing the intent and cultural impact of the series, would be something altogether brilliant. (If anybody can pull it off, it’s Disney, who now owns the Muppet characters.) ‘The Jim Henson Hour’ was so ahead of its time that even today it would look positively groundbreaking… if only somebody would give it a chance.
Adam Tyner
- Drama: ‘Nero Wolfe’ – This isn’t the most obvious choice, no, but from its sparkling wit to its breathtakingly gorgeous cinematography, I love A&E’s ‘Nero Wolfe’ mysteries. These adaptations of Rex Stout’s sprawling stack of mystery novels take a repertory theatre approach to casting that I never really see on television, and its period setting and sharp sense of humor set the show apart from the rest of the procedural thriller crowd. Its keenly cinematic visual eye certainly ought to translate marvelously to Blu-ray as well. The series is set in a very different era than ‘Mad Men’, but both series do share an intelligence, a healthy respect for their audiences, and their own distinctively sleek period aesthetics. So I believe ‘Nero Wolfe’ could also appeal to the many admirers of ‘Mad Men’ if marketed the right way.
- Comedy: ‘Arrested Development’ – As for a comedy I’d really like to see claw its way over to Blu-ray, who wouldn’t vote for ‘Arrested Development’? This is a series that still ranks dizzyingly high on most critics’ lists. With a show this ridiculously rewatchable and a following this rabid, I don’t think fans would mind forking over their credit cards for another go-around in high definition. Maybe if that movie ever gets off the ground, Fox’ll swoop in with a high-def release of the series to ride its coattails.
Mrs. Z
- Drama: ‘The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ – Based on the popular books by Alexanader McCall Smith, ‘No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency’ was produced for the BBC and ran for one season on HBO. (Apparently, the jury is still out on whether or not a second season is forthcoming). The show follows Precious Ramotswe, feisty owner of the title firm as she puts her natural intuitiveness to good use solving cases ranging from infidelity to missing persons. The show is filmed on location in Botswana and gives us a glimpse of an Africa rarely seen on film or television. Rather than showing the extremes of the continent, the show focuses on everyday Africans living in a modern city with a rich cultural history. While the tone is definitely on the lighter side, the series does not shy away from the real issues facing Africans (and Americans, for that matter) such as poverty, AIDS, domestic violence and organized crime. Singer Jill Scott proves that she has acting chops with her portrayal of the charming Mma. Ramotswe. She is both strong and vulnerable as she tries to forge her way in the still largely male dominated world of Gaborone. Along the way, she’s aided by her trusty (and high-strung) assistant and the local hairdresser. Her reluctant romance with a local mechanic is both sweet and compelling. They are not young or what we traditionally think of as beautiful, but you will root for them and wonder why we don’t see more couples like this on TV. The series pilot was directed by the late Anthony Minghella and is absolutely gorgeous. The natural landscape combined with the brightly-colored interiors and costumes give it a look that is like nothing else on television. The first season has an ending of sorts, but definitely leaves the possibility of an additional season open. I still have my fingers crossed. There’s a great interview with set decorator Melinda Launspach if you’re interested in learning more about how she created the look and feel of the program. Fair warning: after a few episodes, you may be compelled to start researching a trip to Botswana.
- Comedy: ‘Wonderfalls’ – If you blinked, you probably missed the brief broadcast run on Fox for ‘Wonderfalls’ back in 2004. A midseason replacement buried in the Friday night graveyard, the show never really had a chance to find an audience and was canceled after only 4 episodes. Fortunately, thanks to critical acclaim and small but devoted fan base, it found a new life with a 2005 DVD release of all 13 episodes. The show follows twenty-something slacker Jaye, a Brown graduate with an advanced degree in philosophy who works as a clerk in a Niagara Falls gift shop. Much to her dismay, the animal figurines in the shop begin talking to her. Thinking she’s losing her mind, she tries her best to ignore them. But they’re quite insistent. She begins to grudgingly follow their cryptic instructions, and slowly becomes more involved in the lives of those around her. The show is the brainchild of Brian Fuller, creator of ‘Dead Like Me’ and ‘Pushing Daisies‘. His touch is very evident here. Though less stylized than ‘Daisies’, it has a similar aesthetic. And like his later work, the ‘Wonderfalls’ world is populated with a host of wonderfully eccentric characters. (Look for Lee Pace, the pie maker himself, in a supporting role as Jaye’s brother – an atheist PhD student studying comparative religions.) Shot on location at Niagara Falls, the show has a strong sense of place, and the set design is dense and rich. More importantly, despite its short broadcast run, the 13 episodes that were produced have a coherent story and a satisfying ending. It’s definitely a series that would benefit from a Blu-ray release.
Josh Zyber
- Drama: ‘Twin Peaks’ – In the two decades since its spectacular debut (and equally spectacular burn-out a season later), there has never been another series on television like ‘Twin Peaks’. Certainly, many shows have tried to adopt one aspect or another of the ‘Peaks’ formula – be it the supernatural mystery, the quirky characters, or the dark surrealism. But nothing has even attempted, much less succeeded, in copying everything that ‘Twin Peaks’ did. The show was simultaneously a murder mystery, a fantasy, a soap opera, a supernatural thriller, a teenage melodrama, an offbeat comedy, and a devastating emotional portrait of the dark underside of an all-American small town. It could be all of these things at once, without contradiction, woven up into a tightly structured serial narrative that demanded strict attention from its audience. It was simply amazing. And it was also beautifully photographed, with lush feature film-quality production values that would translate spectacularly to high definition. I would pay any amount of money for a comprehensive “Complete Series” box set of ‘Twin Peaks’ on Blu-ray. Did you hear that, Paramount? I’m standing here with cash in my hand!
- Comedy: ‘Sports Night’ – I am not a sports fan. Professional sports, college sports, high school or Little League – it doesn’t matter to me. I have never understood the fascination with watching illiterate, steroid-enhanced jocks chase a ball around or pummel the crap out of one another for 30 seconds on Pay-Per-View. Perhaps this goes back to always being picked last for team sports in grade school, or perhaps I was always picked last because I just never cared enough to try at them. In any case, I hate sports. By all accounts, I should be absolutely the wrong target audience for a sit-com about the workings of a 24-hour cable sports network. And yet, somehow, I can say without reservation that I consider ‘Sports Night’ one of the best television series ever made. The show (written by ‘West Wing’ creator Aaron Sorkin) had a sparkling wit, snappy dialogue, and characters who were refreshingly passionate about coming to work every day and putting in their best effort. You don’t have to like sports to like ‘Sports Night’. You just have to love great television. While the show’s photography wasn’t anything special or elaborate, I would welcome a Blu-ray release if for no other reason than to give the studio (I believe Shout! Factory currently holds the rights) the opportunity to remaster the first season and strip out the horridly inappropriate laugh track that the ABC network forced on Sorkin against his will. (He had enough clout by the second season to do away with it at that point.)
That’s what we’d like to see released on Blu-ray. What TV shows are you waiting for?
Jane Morgan
The West Wing, Sports Night, and the British sex comedy series Coupling, which was written, every episode, by a master playwright in the same league as Aaron Sorkin.
Lahrs
My vote would be for the Wonder Years, since to this day we have no medium, other than poor quality torrents, to view the show. Unfortunately, I still do not see this happening due to the issue that is always brought up, the copywrites to the music.
slearl
I wish Damages would return to Blu-ray.
Josh Zyber
AuthorMe too. Especially since my DVR purged most of Season 3 when I hit my storage limit.
motorheadache
X-Files for me, though they’d have to go back to the original film elements and recut the episodes from scratch. It would be especially nice to do this for Season 2, which is one of my favorite seasons yet it has a much lower “blurry” picture than the other seasons, possibly due to the shape of the master tapes or something.
Ben Jennings
Um, The Sopranos, seasons 2 through 5, please.
Is this the only show where they have somehow managed to relase the first and last seasons but none in between? Idiocy.
EM
I’m surprised by the lack of cartoons among the choices cited thus far. My two picks are the animated “Star Trek” and “Challenge of the Superfriends”. (They’re both dramatic, though the latter is silly enough to qualify as a comedy for the roundtable’s purposes.) Both series are colorful and fun, and I would expect high-def to make them even better.
However, the two series I want on Blu-ray most of all are outside the roundtable’s scope; for they’re already on Blu-Ray—indeed, already in my collection: the original “Star Trek” and “Pushing Daisies”. When I first got an HDTV, the high-def broadcasts of both those series convinced me that I had made a worthy purchase and that Blu-ray was a must.
There aren’t many TV series that I’ve wanted on DVD, and very few interest me as candidates for Blu-ray. I like some of the series that the panel chose (“Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Arrested Development”, “Wonderfalls”), but I’m not sure I’d seek them out on BD. (Well, OK—I suppose that the “Buffy” musical episode “Once More, With Feeling” sounds like a good choice.)
EM
By the way, mightn’t both “Buffy” and “Wonderfalls” be susceptible to the problem of having had special effects mastered in SDTV resolution?
Josh Zyber
AuthorThe animated Star Trek is almost certain to be released on Blu-ray, probably in the near future. There’s an HD transfer of one of the episodes in the TOS Season 2 box set. You know CBS/Paramount is working on the rest.
William Henley
I thought the episode on the Blu-Ray was an upconvert. In any case, it looks awful – the series was produced so cheaply that you can really see the flaws in the animation and painting. The animated series also is going to have a very limited fan appeal. Even the DVD series, when it came out, I had to go to a couple of different places to find it – not because places were sold out, but simply because no one stocked it. The DVDs I think also recycled old tape transfers. As much as I would like to see this, I don’t think that a full HD restoration will be available for a few years, at least not until Blu-Ray has more market penetration.
Josh Zyber
AuthorThe DS9 Tribbles episode was an upconvert and looked awful. The TAS Tribbles episode was a real HD transfer.
Shayne
Absolutely hell yes Buffy & Angel please! Not only would be that be my number one choice for a series on blu ray that is my number once choice for ANYTHING on blu ray. For comedy my choice would be Spaced (even though it probably wouldn’t look particularly dazzling in high def.
Other shows I’d love to see include:
Bottom
The Young Ones
Doctor Who (The specials blu rays look great)
Evan Withrow
Would love to see Friday Night Lights. Though I know it will never happen, considering the DirecTV network had to pick it up just to save it from cancellation. Such a fantastic and under appreciated show.
BostonMA
The Wire.
it needs to come to Blu-ray.
besch64
I would literally give all my money away for Twin Peaks and Six Feet Under complete series box sets.
Dail Whiteley
sienfeld for comedy and as much as i love buffy i would go with Angel since it was made for “the wide”.
Shayne
I know one of the main reasons that Joss refuses to upgrade Buffy is because it was shot in standard and it couldn’t be made in widescreen, but I couldn’t give a shit. I would happily take a cleaned up blu ray version with the same AR because those dvd’s really look pretty terrible. Furthermore, the menus are dreadful, there’s no “play all” function (which pisses me off no end) and the special features are hidden throughout the various discs. You have to open each episode (through at least two overly long animated menus) just to find out whether that episode has special features or commentary. Seriously even if the upgrade was a minor improvement in PQ and they fixed the menu situation, it’d be well well worth it.
Josh Zyber
AuthorThe first two seasons of Buffy were shot on 16mm film. The show moved up to 35mm at Season 3. Visual effects were rendered in standard-def all along. I’m not certain whether the show was post-produced and edited in standard-def too, or if this could be a situation like Firefly where the quality jumps from HD to SD every time VFX are introduced.
The aspect ratio is controversial. The show was always broadcast here at 4:3. Nevertheless, Seasons 4 onward were released on DVD in the UK in 16:9 with more picture on the sides. (Clips from earlier seasons also have more picture on the sides.) Whedon claims that the show was composed for 4:3, and the extra picture was never meant to be seen. But I’ve watched it both ways, and think the 16:9 framing is generally better balanced.
Some fans point to the occasional (fairly rare) flubs at the edges of the 16:9 version (lighting and camera equipment visible on set, etc.) as “proof” that the show wasn’t composed for that ratio. Yet they conveniently ignore that there are just as many flubs visible in the 4:3 version too.
My opinion is that both aspect ratios are valid. I tend to prefer it at 16:9.
motorheadache
I don’t know much about film cameras and techniques, but if Joss Whedon never wanted Buffy in widescreen, why was it shot in a 16:9 frame and then matted on the sides for 4:3? Isn’t the actual full film frame 1.37:1? Why didn’t they just shooting it using the entire frame?
Josh Zyber
AuthorIt’s a little complicated. 35mm film is just a strip of celluloid. The aspect ratio of each frame is determined by how many perfs (the perforations along the edges) are exposed per each frame. For feature films, the standard is to expose 4 perfs worth of film at a time. That yields an aspect ratio of 1.37:1.
However, for television production, generally only 3 perfs are exposed for each frame. You have the same width, but less height. This gives an image of about 16:9. When shooting in 3-perf format, a 4:3 image is extracted from the center of the 16:9 frame.
In addition to being a good fit for HDTV, shooting 3-perf also saves a considerable amount of film (because you’re exposing smaller segments). That helps to make the film last longer and keep the budget down.
Eric Hulen
I’d like to see Star Trek TNG on Blu-ray. Yes I know the special effects were done in SD but I still would like to see the bridge in HD glory.
I’d also like to see Northern Exposure on Blu-ray. I know Universal has already rescanned the first few seasons in HD because they aired in HD on Universal HD for a little while until they stop for some reason. They looked really good in HD to.
Thomas
“I am not a sports fan. Professional sports, college sports, high school or Little League – it doesn’t matter to me. I have never understood the fascination with watching illiterate, steroid-enhanced jocks chase a ball around or pummel the crap out of one another for 30 seconds on Pay-Per-View. Perhaps this goes back to always being picked last for team sports in grade school, or perhaps I was always picked last because I just never cared enough to try at them. In any case, I hate sports. By all accounts, I should be absolutely the wrong target audience for a sit-com about the workings of a 24-hour cable sports network. And yet, somehow, I can say without reservation that I consider ‘Sports Night’ one of the best television series ever made.”
Just a wild guess Josh, were you a nerd in high school?
Well I’m the opposite, I love sports and can’t get enough of them and yes I love ‘Sports Night’. It’s basically a behind the scene show about ESPN. You know what that is Josh? I’m just kidding. 🙂
I hope it’ll be on Blu-ray soon.
Col.Mayhem
FASTLANE! with Peter Facinelli, Bill Bellamy, and Tiffani Thiessen
mh
I’ve enjoyed seeing MOONLIGHT again in HD this summer, so I’d love to have that one season of episodes on Blu-ray.
I’d also cast another vote for FRIENDS in HD.
William Henley
Oh, I have so many, where to start:
Enterprise – there are already HD versions of this being aired on HDNet (don’t know why SyFy insists on showing the SD version of it).
Star Trek TNG, DS9 and Voyager – these would probably need to be remastered like TOS was, as my understanding is that all post-production was done on SD tape.
The Waltons and Little House On The Prarie – even the DVDs of these look bad, a full restoration is probably needed soon before we loose these shows forever, especially on The Waltons.
Lost In Space – Nuff said.
Full House – will never happen, the show was shot on SD tape, and no film elements exist.
Micky Mouse Club
Muppet Babies (there are no DVD releases of this either that I could find, probably due to the fact that they always splice animation over movies, and there is probably some copyright concerns)
I am sure there are more, but that is all I can think of right now
Paul in Ballston Lake
I would love Buffy on Blu Ray as well as Angel, and Six Feet Under. Wish HBO would include the amazing promo videos they made for each season set to the music of Coldplay and Nina Simone!
Scott
I would like blu rays of the following tv shows available in standard definition: Buffy, Angel, The West Wing. I would also like blu rays of the following shows not available in any format: Nothing Sacred (the 1997 ABC show and my all-time favorite starring Kevin Anderson), Blind Justice (about the blind police officer), and Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends Season 3 (which has the fantastic Two Towers/Lord of the Rings parody episode titled “Duchess of Wales”).
Finally, I would love a blue ray set of the original ESPN Sportscentury documentaries (which was also never released due to rights issues).
slimdune
Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex
William Henley
I would love to see more Animes, stuff such as Oh My Goddess, Ah My Goddess, the Tenchi series, Love Hina, Sailor Moon (especially R, S, Super S, and Stars, and please give us uncut subtitled, not the horrible mangled Dic dubs), as well as some more, ahem, adult animies such as End of summer and Magical Twilight.
jgslima
I’d like to see In Treatment on blu-ray.
Shannon Nutt
Seinfeld was shot open matte…I don’t think the same is true for TWIN PEAKS and FRIENDS, so they couldn’t be transfered to a 16:9 format without significantly cutting off material on the top and bottom of the frame. Seinfeld is cutting off material, but because it was shot open matte, there isn’t as much info cut off as these other two shows would need.
Branko
Gerry Anderson’s “UFO” is what I am hoping for on blu-ray the most. And I hope ITV (or whoever does this – Network DVD would be the best choice, just look at their wonderful release of “Prisoner”) decides to release it in original 4:3 and not cropped 16:9. For me, it’s the best series ever!