Shows that look vastly better on TV and streaming than on DVD releases (1 Viewer)

[Neil Brock]

I'm recording 7th season Wagon Train and 6th season Wells Fargo from on demand. They look great. WT was put out by Timeless, cut and off old 1980s one inch transfers. Same with WF. They weren't cut but they only had tape on 22 of the 34 shows. What other series look far better now than on their DVDs?

 

[benbess]

The Virginian and Mannix both look really good in HD streaming.

 

[Wiseguy]

The Virginian and Mannix both look really good in HD streaming.

Better than DVDs?

 

[benbess]

Better than DVDs?

Yes.

 

[smithbrad]

I'm recording 7th season Wagon Train and 6th season Wells Fargo from on demand. They look great. WT was put out by Timeless, cut and off old 1980s one inch transfers. Same with WF. They weren't cut but they only had tape on 22 of the 34 shows. What other series look far better now than on their DVDs?

Besides the previously mentioned, Virginian and Mannix, here are a few more:
- Gunsmoke
- MASH (if you don't mind widescreen)
- Highway to Heaven (if you don't mind widescreen)
- Waltons (if you don't mind widescreen)
- Dick Van Dyke Show
- Rockford Files
- Mission Impossible
- Lost in Space
- Outer Limits
- Twilight Zone
- Wild Wild West (s2-s4)
- Danny Thomas Show (s4-s11)
- I Love Lucy (s1-s2)
- Hawaii Five-O (s1-s9)
- In the Heat of the Night
- Death Valley Days (s7-s11)
- Perry Mason
- Laramie
- Tales of Wells Fargo
- Wagon Train
- Andy Griffith Show
- Columbo
- Kung Fu (if you don't mind widescreen)
- Star Trek (TOS)
- Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
- Night Gallery
- Californians
- Space 1999

All are either streaming in HD or released on blu-ray (or both)

 

[smithbrad]

Yes.

They are now available in HD, so they are going to be better than the SD on the DVDs.

 

[Neil Brock]

They are now available in HD, so they are going to be better than the SD on the DVDs.

Not what I meant. I am more interested in shows that were put out from 16mm prints or decades old tapes and they are now remastered.

 

[smithbrad]

Not what I meant. I am more interested in shows that were put out from 16mm prints or decades old tapes and they are now remastered.

I would think the majority of us are interested in what the best quality available is, which is what I provided. However, the same answer applies for those only interested in only SD quality. The reason you are finding certain shows with better prints available now then their older DVD releases (e.g., Wagon Train, tales of Wells Fargo) is because new HD transfers were made for the future. In cases of SD streaming/broadcast, it is very possible they will benefit from the new HD transfers. Within the shows I listed, all have a potential for showing up in more recent SD broadcasts in better quality.

 

[jdee28]

Is the video quality on streaming better than on blu ray, or are the two about the same? The blu rays on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits are amazing! Can the streaming versions really be better?

If the streaming services want a side business, they should really make their HD shows available on blu ray to those who might want a copy!!

 

[smithbrad]

Is the video quality on streaming better than on blu ray, or are the two about the same? The blu rays on The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Twilight Zone, and The Outer Limits are amazing! Can the streaming versions really be better?

No, any blu-rays from the same source will almost always be better (i.e., unless they messed up the encode for the blu-rays). Streaming is generally going to be at a lower bitrate than what is on blu-ray and the audio on the blu-ray is typically lossless (uncompressed), while it is compressed in streaming. As to how noticeable these differences are will depend on the person and setup and the streaming service. I've found, for example, that Prime streams at a higher bitrate than Netflix.

I've always been about physical media, but I have to admit having access to classic TV content on streaming in HD when only SD on disk has drastically changed my position. Even when I own the blu-ray, it is hard to deny the convenience of tracking where I am across series that is available through streaming.

If the streaming services want a side business, they should really make their HD shows available on blu ray to those who might want a copy!!

I highly doubt that would be allowed within the licensing agreement they signed with the studio.

 

[Robbie^Blackmon]

Some Sanford and Son shows fare better on streaming. Many have been upscaled to 1080p quite nicely, and the episode "Blood Is Thicker Than Junk" is now remastered and uncut AND upscaled.

 

[Neil Brock]

Some Sanford and Son shows fare better on streaming. Many have been upscaled to 1080p quite nicely, and the episode "Blood Is Thicker Than Junk" is now remastered and uncut AND upscaled.

Sanford and Son DVDs had cut episodes? Do you know which ones?

 

[Lecagr]

Along with Blood Is Thicker Than Junk from season 2, This Little TV Went To Market from season 3 and A Matter Of Silence from season 6 also appear to be edited on the DVD.

 

[Dan McW]

Where is Sanford and Son streaming? I seem to recall the Columbia House VHS tapes having the same cut episodes.

 

[Neil Brock]

Does anyone know why the Wagon Train episode, The Stark Bluff Story, is missing from Starz Encore on demand and streaming? Do they run it over their channel or is it missing from there too?

 

[Bryan^H]

Does anyone know why the Wagon Train episode, The Stark Bluff Story, is missing from Starz Encore on demand and streaming? Do they run it over their channel or is it missing from there too?

I'm sure they will add it soon. They skipped a few of the season 7 episodes and are adding them as they are ready apparently.

 

[Neil Brock]

Now is Odd Couple running anywhere uncut?

 

[Robbie^Blackmon]

Where is Sanford and Son streaming? I seem to recall the Columbia House VHS tapes having the same cut episodes.

It's on Peacock. Not all episodes are uncut, just Blood Is Thicker Than Junk, and that's where I ripped that episode from for my own collection. Still surprised me to see that complete.

The Hawaiian Connection is still missing the airline and accommodation credits and is cut into 3 parts on Peacock.

Also, no episodes that I've watched have the complete ending film that trails on about 2 minutes or so past the credits as the theme song plays out. A unique, mono version produced especially for the show, too. Not the single or album version.

Back in the day, tv shows had extra padding at the end (and ran roughly 26 minutes during the early to mid 70s) to cover for affiliate switching, commercials and manual master control issues. Only once did I ever see the complete end play and it was, though the memory is hazy, a rerun of an earlier season episode during the original run of season 6.

When you see the episodes that predate 1977 with a still-screen copyright of 1972-1977, you know it's a syndicated copy. The first four seasons should have Norbud Productions and the copyright year in roman numerals.

Would love to have these shows re-transferred with modern compression techniques and have at least one episode play from the opening slate to the very end of the credits film. Just ONCE!!

Why, oh, why, out of all the shows that might have been recorded and salvaged from the 70's, did this series not get one, solitary, episode saved on some consumer format as originally aired? Would be so wild to see!

And, those black & white rehearsal tapes, clips of which were shown in the Redd Foxx Biography episode.. If only we could see those!!

And, while I'm at it-- Sanford, the series that started in 1980? The first, hour-long episode, The Meeting Part 1, originally a one hour premiere, has been forever chopped into two, shorter episodes since its first run. We lose some of the banter between Fred and Clara, Cal goofing off with the exercise bike and, of course, Fred's first time approaching Eve's house with the stuff she bought (I think some of the missing exchange between Fred and Clara is shown in one of the promos on YouTube-- "Your face is screamin', 'U-u-u-u-ugle-e-e-e!!'").

Cal's diet was originally an hour long, now a two-parter with some stuff missing, as well as Here Comes The Bride (Though still the edited version, BET once aired the original teaser opening, about a minute and a half of highlights with the main theme playing underneath). Sometimes, Retrospective turns up unedited, running the full 50 minutes, other times it's cut by 6 minutes or chopped into 2 half hours with full open and closing credits, plus some edits.

 

[smithbrad]

For those interested in Wagon Train in the best quality.

A while back I had STARZ on Prime and checked out "Wagon Train". Seasons 1 through 4 were in SD at 576p, while seasons 5 through 8 were in HD at 720p. Season 4 was also missing the first 24 episodes. I don't currently have STARZ to see if anything changed.

However, I did notice that FreeVee on Prime has the first 5 seasons of Wagon Train available. What I found interesting is that:
- Season 1, contains 10 out of 39 episodes in HD 1080p, the remaining in SD 576p
- Season 2, contains 32 out of 38 episodes in HD 1080p, with only 6 episodes remaining in 576p
- Season 3 has all episodes in HD 1080p
- Season 4 has all episodes in HD 1080p, including the first 24 episodes missing from STARZ
- Season 5 has all episodes in HD 1080p, but still missing the same two episodes as STARZ.

 

[ScottRE]

When SeaQuest hit streaming, the episodes looked light years better than the DVDs.

Since then, the series was released in restored blu ray.

Babylon 5 looks much better streaming than on DVD. The DVDs were blown up to 16:9 and the effects scenes (which included live action with the CGI integrated) were upscaled since the original FX files are gone. The series looks like ASS on DVD and the widescreen sucks. The streaming version is back to 4:3 and everything looks better.

Every time one of these 4:3 shows gets a release in 16:9, the series producer says "oh we shot it that way to future proof it." Yeah, you were visionary enough to shoot it in widescreen but not enough to create your effects in higher resolution? Never mind that heads are cut off and the framing was obviously done for 4:3.