Dukes of Hazzard on Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Radioman970]

Would LOVE to own Enos.


At radio station I used to work at, there was a completely automated AM station down the hall and around a few corners. I'd go in there sometimes to goof off and look through old albums. There was one that was "Enos Sings" or something like that. I guess every single person ON the Dukes put out a record album!!!

 

[jeremy223]

When CMT began showing Dukes in HD, I wondered if maybe part of the deal was that they had exclusive rights to the HD versions for a certain length of time. I was hoping it was one year, which has just passed. Then we would hear something about some kind of release. I'm thinking digital downloads are more likely than blu rays. In any case, I think we will hear something eventually. No way were these new masters made just for CMT to butcher.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

When CMT began showing Dukes in HD, I wondered if maybe part of the deal was that they had exclusive rights to the HD versions for a certain length of time. I was hoping it was one year, which has just passed. Then we would hear something about some kind of release. I'm thinking digital downloads are more likely than blu rays. In any case, I think we will hear something eventually. No way were these new masters made just for CMT to butcher.

Maybe not specifically for CMT, but you shouldn't discount the value of HD masters for worldwide syndication (and digital downloads). I'm sure WB feel that offering the show for syndication in HD will make them more money overall than re-releasing the episodes onto Blu-ray, and if we're being honest with ourselves, they'd probably be right. I'm sure the DVDs sold okay, but I doubt very seriously there's a big enough fan-base who'd buy them all over again on BD, and even fewer who'd buy BDs who didn't already buy the DVDs.

 

[Ron1973]

Maybe not specifically for CMT, but you shouldn't discount the value of HD masters for worldwide syndication (and digital downloads). I'm sure WB feel that offering the show for syndication in HD will make them more money overall than re-releasing the episodes onto Blu-ray, and if we're being honest with ourselves, they'd probably be right. I'm sure the DVDs sold okay, but I doubt very seriously there's a big enough fan-base who'd buy them all over again on BD, and even fewer who'd buy BDs who didn't already buy the DVDs.

I can't speak for everyone obviously, but I just can't see there being that big of a market. I was faithful to the show growing up and didn't miss a Friday night watching it. Now when I watch it, well, it doesn't hold that "charm" that it did when I was 9 or 10 years old. Maybe it's the fact they're butchered all to heck or that CMT seems to keep running the same episodes over and over, but I'm not going to rush out and buy these if they do come to blu-ray.

 

[Classic44]

I honestly think this will happen in due time, simply because more and more people are buying bigger and bigger televisions and the traditional DVD with no digital perks, doesn't register that well on these screens. For example, I have a 55" HDTV flat screen. Season one actually plays fairly descent on it. But any subsequent season is surprisingly average to subpar. And that's a measure I don't see on allot of TV DVD's. So Dukes is not even hitting the average picture quality compared to most. So somewhere along the way, someone in the studio will need to recognize these old sets have a compatibility issue with what is increasingly becoming 'normal viewing' for many households. So unless they desire this show to collapse as it's original viewership ages out, then they will need to upgrade the viewing quality to keep audiences coming back. A bad quality picture will kill long term interest in any show. And given the Blu-ray upgrade is not that expensive at this point, it should be fairly cost efficient to start adding these seasons to the current standard. IMO.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I honestly think this will happen in due time, simply because more and more people are buying bigger and bigger televisions and the traditional DVD with no digital perks, doesn't register that well on these screens. For example, I have a 55" HDTV flat screen. Season one actually plays fairly descent on it. But any subsequent season is surprisingly average to subpar. And that's a measure I don't see on allot of TV DVD's. So Dukes is not even hitting the average picture quality compared to most. So somewhere along the way, someone in the studio will need to recognize these old sets have a compatibility issue with what is increasingly becoming 'normal viewing' for many households. So unless they desire this show to collapse as it's original viewership ages out, then they will need to upgrade the viewing quality to keep audiences coming back. A bad quality picture will kill long term interest in any show. And given the Blu-ray upgrade is not that expensive at this point, it should be fairly cost efficient to start adding these seasons to the current standard. IMO.

I don't know what kind of DVD player you're using, but most DVDs look just fine on my 52" and 60" TVs, but I'm watching them on an Oppo blu-ray player with its way above-average upscaler. Unless you're using a really cheap player, or sitting closer to the TV than the recommended distance for SD content, I just really don't get it. DVD is plenty fine-enough for most people watching this show, and I think you should prepare yourself for the reality that there is not going to be a stamped of Dukes fans demanding blu-rays from Warner.


True, the show does have its fans, but I doubt they have the built-in, organized fan base (and deep pockets) of Star Trek fans, who have proven several times over the past few decades just how willing they are to re-buy 'their' show on the next, best home video format. I just don't think that WB will take the risk on this show (or, indeed, on many other shows).


Something has to be an almost universally-acknowledged classic/blockbuster/what have you for the studios to push out the boat for blu-ray. That's why shows like Twilight Zone and I Love Lucy get blu-rays, while shows like Dukes of Hazzard and Marcus Welby do not.

 

[Ron1973]

I don't know what kind of DVD player you're using, but most DVDs look just fine on my 52" and 60" TVs, but I'm watching them on an Oppo blu-ray player with its way above-average upscaler. Unless you're using a really cheap player, or sitting closer to the TV than the recommended distance for SD content, I just really don't get it. DVD is plenty fine-enough for most people watching this show, and I think you should prepare yourself for the reality that there is not going to be a stamped of Dukes fans demanding blu-rays from Warner.


True, the show does have its fans, but I doubt they have the built-in, organized fan base (and deep pockets) of Star Trek fans, who have proven several times over the past few decades just how willing they are to re-buy 'their' show on the next, best home video format. I just don't think that WB will take the risk on this show (or, indeed, on many other shows).


Something has to be an almost universally-acknowledged classic/blockbuster/what have you for the studios to push out the boat for blu-ray. That's why shows like Twilight Zone and I Love Lucy get blu-rays, while shows like Dukes of Hazzard and Marcus Welby do not.

I'm using a semi-cheapish Magnavox that is supposed to be upgrading to 1080. I watch SD content all the time on my 55" LED and I'm more than pleased with the quality.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I'm using a semi-cheapish Magnavox that is supposed to be upgrading to 1080. I watch SD content all the time on my 55" LED and I'm more than pleased with the quality.

Of course, all standard def signals going into an HDTV are getting up-converted to 1080 (or 720, depending on the screen's native resolution). Either the player itself is doing the conversion, or if it's feeding a native SD signal, the TV itself is doing the upconversion.


In the case of a really cheap (or really old) player, one might be better off letting the TV do the upconversion (if the TV is significantly newer than the player), as it probably has a newer/better scaler.


I don't know what sort of masters were used by WB for their Dukes releases, but if the problem isn't his player, maybe WB used really old tape masters for the DVDs rather than remastered episodes? Sourcing from really old tapes (especially if no restoration work is done) can really have an adverse effect on quality, but that doesn't really sound like WB, though.

 

[Classic44]

I don't know what kind of DVD player you're using, but most DVDs look just fine on my 52" and 60" TVs, but I'm watching them on an Oppo blu-ray player with its way above-average upscaler. Unless you're using a really cheap player, or sitting closer to the TV than the recommended distance for SD content, I just really don't get it. DVD is plenty fine-enough for most people watching this show, and I think you should prepare yourself for the reality that there is not going to be a stamped of Dukes fans demanding blu-rays from Warner.


True, the show does have its fans, but I doubt they have the built-in, organized fan base (and deep pockets) of Star Trek fans, who have proven several times over the past few decades just how willing they are to re-buy 'their' show on the next, best home video format. I just don't think that WB will take the risk on this show (or, indeed, on many other shows).


Something has to be an almost universally-acknowledged classic/blockbuster/what have you for the studios to push out the boat for blu-ray. That's why shows like Twilight Zone and I Love Lucy get blu-rays, while shows like Dukes of Hazzard and Marcus Welby do not.

I have a Sony Blu-ray player S6200, so it's not a player issue. I don't buy my equipment from Walmart. My cables are also HD, so my setup is not an issue here. We might just have different definitions of what constitutes "fine". That quality may rank higher on your grading scale than mine. I'm just surprised these box sets do not deliver a cleaner image. There's no mistaking this was made back in the 80's. You can watch episodes of Lost in Space or Gilligan's Island with ten fold better picture than these and I just find that sad. So if I'm to assume you're stereotype assessment of Dukes fans as being the A-typical Walmart shopper who never upgrades, then perhaps the fad is dying out.

 

[Dan*T]

I would love for them to release a proper box set of the entire series in some cool packaging, and have them include Enos. I am too young to remember watching the Enos episodes when they aired (although I'm 41)

But I would love to watch them with my kids now..

I really hope that Enos is "on the radar"

 

[Ron1973]

I would love for them to release a proper box set of the entire series in some cool packaging, and have them include Enos. I am too young to remember watching the Enos episodes when they aired (although I'm 41)

But I would love to watch them with my kids now..

I really hope that Enos is "on the radar"

I *vaguely* remember Enos. I was always a big fan of him on the show, so it was "must see TV" for me as kid. Even though I'm not as big of a fan of The Dukes of Hazzard as I was when I was in 3rd grade, I would still purchase Enos in a heartbeat. I seem to remember it having a more serious tone than the parent show.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I *vaguely* remember Enos. I was always a big fan of him on the show, so it was "must see TV" for me as kid. Even though I'm not as big of a fan of The Dukes of Hazzard as I was when I was in 3rd grade, I would still purchase Enos in a heartbeat. I seem to remember it having a more serious tone than the parent show.

I think the 'more serious tone' you mention, though, is only a slight bit more serious (such as in the types of cases they were working). You could say the seriousness of Enos vs. Dukes mirrors that of Lobo and The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.

 

[jeremy223]

I think CMT has shown all the Dukes episodes in HD now, except for the Coy and Vance episodes. CMT has shown the reunion movies before. Have they shown the two reunion movies in HD? Did they show the Coy and Vance shows and I just missed them?

 

[Ron1973]

I haven't seen the Coy and Vance episodes at all

 

[Bryan^H]

Man, I still remember Friday nights on CBS. The Incredible Hulk followed by the Dukes. I was only 7, or 8 but it was my first trip into the world of must see tv. Then on to the weekend with The Love Boat/Fantasy Island on Saturday(ABC) and on Sunday I want to say The Wonderful World Of Disney/Ripley's Believe it Or Not, and the ABC Sunday Night movie.

At any rate if Dukes goes Blu, I'm there day one.

 

[t2smith]

If the Dukes come out on Blu at Little House type prices, I will get it. If it were to come out at Batman, Star Trek:TNG, Andy Griffith, or I Love Lucy type Blu-ray prices, I would wait awhile or try to find a cheap UV copy somewhere.

 

[Classic44]

I've been able to finally catch some of the hi-def episodes on CMT. While the resolution is modestly better, I feel differently now about a need for blu-ray conversion. I don't think the picture changes THAT much. And to Andy, regarding the existing picture quality on the DVD sets, my description of the degraded quality stems from the opening intro's after season two. It seems there was no interest given to cleaning up the picture (on the intro) for subsequent seasons. The last season is especially frustrating because after the intro, there's even an awkward edit to black before the episode starts.

 

[Classic44]

Does Warner Bros even still produce Dukes on DVD or has this been in moratorium for a while? I guess if they still od, they'll be doing a facelift on the box set covers. What a shame.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

They may remove the flag from cover artwork to block it but the show would remain untouched.


I do have a question for those who own the season box sets. From what I can tell Season 1 was re-issued a few years back as a 5 disc set, so I assume those discs are bow single sided. Are any of the other seasons that were released in the digibook form double sided discs?

 

[bigshot]

Better buy it quick!