Why did CBS DVD/Paramount do more... (1 Viewer)

...for "Lucy" (extras and picture quality) and "Hawaii Five-O" (picture quality) than they did for the first season's worth of "Matlock," which, regrettably, lacks in both of those areas?

Regarding Hawaii Five-0, they didn't have to spend much on the H50 picture quality because it was already digitally remastered in 1997 for cable/syndication, partially subsidized by the Family Channel.

Plus the show was one of the most-requested DVD releases at the time if I recall, and still sells well 4 seasons in. Not sure if Matlock was or not.

I just wish they had done more for extras other than recycle a 10-year-old documentary (which was good nonetheless) and instead produced some new interviews and other material.

Matlock's picture "problem" is not because CBS DVD did less of a transfer job than Hawaii Five-O. It's because of how the show was made. While it was shot on 35mm, in order to save money on the production budget, the negative was transferred to video for editing. There is not a 35mm version of Matlock.

Not sure why there's no lack of extras. You'd figure the folks at Paramount-CBS could dip into the Entertainment Tonight vaults to grab any clips related to the show.

It is interesting to note when shows that were filmed started to be edited on video. Since the video used was 480 lines, these shows will never look better in Hi Def unless they go back to the originial film , if it exists, and redo the editing and effects. Does anyone know when they started doing this and what shows were done this way. I know Star Trek the Next Generation is one of these shows.

I didn't know that "Matlock" was shot on 35MM negative film and then transferred to video for editing-- I always thought (based on the lone 1-star review at Amazon) that CBS DVD had done a generally poor job of it, but I stand corrected. Was the same done for "MacGyver," the ABC series w/Richard Dean Anderson?

That said, thanks, Corey3rd, for your response.

not sure all the shows were done this way. but the dead giveaway can be found in the way the credits are done. If they look video based instead of created at an optical house, the show was probably shot film and cut on video. Plus if they do crummy video effects to jazz up the opening credits.

And those would have to be redone in HD. Even if CBS/Paramount was able to obtain all the footage possible to re-edit the show in HD, would they?

It will be interesting to see if Matlock has any more releases. It runs a LOT on cable which may work against it in terms of sales. Diagnosis Murder is a similarly themed show with similar demographics and exposure and it appears to have been abandoned after 3 releases, all of which were released fairly close to each other. (I bought all 3 and would buy more if they are released.)

It is ironic that shows from the 1980s will look worse on DVD than shows 10 to 30 years older. Unfortunately, this will be the case for video edited shows unless the studio decides to go back to the original film and re-edit it (undoubtedly a very expensive proposition).

I'm in for more Matlock if they are released. However, I must admit this Fugitive debacle has me leery of future CBS/P releases.

if they have the edit notes and the negatives, they could be able to go back to the 35mm to at least get the HD transfer of the footage since it's just a picture cut. They audio wouldn't need to be remixed. If Paramount wants to launch an HD version of TVLand, something like this would pay off. They can always do the graphics as part of the HD edit.

I shudder to think of how I Love Lucy would have turned out if Greg Oppenheimer had not been involved.