And I totally agree (and I know all about the widescreen processes - that, and I say yet again, was not the question). The question was about TV shows made all the way up to the late 80s that obviously was never intened to be matted for any other presentation outside of TV let alone be seen...
I just didn't see how it was relevant. Your post only explained letterboxing. We all know what letterboxing is - that wasn't the issue. The issue was... what instances were some DVD releases of some shows being mastered in widescreen 16x9 when they were originally shot and shown 4x3...