So... that sounds like it was shot in 16:9 with the main action in a protected 4:3 area. Essentially cropped for 4:3 with no loss of important information on the sides. That's absolutely acceptable as long as the original protected 4:3 image area is untouched (no cropping of any type). If the...
Because it wasn't broadcast that way. AOR is preferred by collectors.
If they had released the entire series in 16:9 I would never consider a purchase as that's not how it was originally aired.
I somewhat expect a replacement program to fix that errant 16:9 episode, putting it back in...