Original "Flipper" TV Show...shot in 16X9? (1 Viewer)

[Scooter]

I was playing with digital cable while working on my review of the BenQ W20000 and I happened across a channel called "Family Room" and Flipper was on....and in widescreen!

I looked REALLY closely to see if there was any stretching of image or overcropped shots lopping off the tops of head. Saw none of that. Seemed nicely framed and sharp as hell!!!

I remember when the color episodes of the original "The adventures of Superman" were found and aired. Some forward thinking producer knew color was coming, thus shot many episodes as such. Was there a seer into the future at MGM and Ivan Tors who knew HD and 16X9 was coming?

 

[TravisR]

I'm certainly no expert but I doubt it. They probably just chopped off the top and bottom of the image to fit a 1.77 frame.

 

[Mark-P]

Are you sure you were watching an episode of the series and not "Flipper" from 1963 or "Flipper's New Adventure" from 1964? Both were theatrical movies starring Luke Halpin as Sandy and ran before the TV series debuted in the fall of 1964.

 

[Scooter]

No question it was the series. Watched the episode from top to bottom. And like I stated before, framing was spot on. Nothing to indicate any cropping, stretching, etc.

If anyone here has the VOOM channels, I believe it's on daily.

Edited to add: The image was also crisp as hell. Generally when something is cropped and zoomed that much, especially something as old as this is, there is a softness and increased grain to the image. I saw none of that.

 

[MatthewA]

It is unlikely they would have shot it in 16x9 because:

1) In the 1960s nobody saw HDTV coming, never mind its wider ratios. Maybe if we were talking about the 1980s.

2) The 3-perf option for cameras didn't exist, and even though 2-perf Techniscope had been around since 1961, why would it be used for TV work?

3) Super 16 film, with a 1.66:1 aspect ratio that could be cropped minimally to 16x9 didn't exist until 1971.

It's likely the framing was just not too tight for a widescreen crop. Perhaps there was at some point an idea to edit some episodes together and release them as a movie overseas?

 

[Scooter]

That could be. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. during it's 2nd season clipped together 2 episodes and released'em to Drive Ins. One was called "The Spy With My Face", IIRC.

I hope someone who get's this channel watches an episode so I see a different opinion on what they see.

 

[Martino]

I've also seen Hogans Heros showing on the HDNet - and it looks good as well....

 

[Scooter]

Is is in 16X9?

I emailed the network...maybe they can shed some light.