What is the Trend with 50's-60's TV on Blu-Ray (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Willis]

I was curious about this and wanted to check with you guys on what's been released (or announced) on Blu-Ray with 50's-60's TV shows.

Here's the ones that I can think of at present:

- Honeymooners

- Twilight Zone Original Series

- DIck Van Dyke Show

- Prisoner

- Star Trek TOS

With BR being available since '06 and about 5 years after the HD DVD format battle was settled (HD-DVD gone), that averages about 1 BR series per year.

Does anyone think we'll see an increasing trend with 50's-60's BR releases?

I'm not seeing that as yet.

 

[Gary OS]

I don't know if we'll see an increase or not, but right now that's a very, very slow output for older material (not that I personally care as I've yet to take the plunge into BR at all).


Gary "Jeff, wasn't there predictions years ago about how BR would be putting out a ton of vintage material?" O.

 

[Jeff Willis]

I don't know if we'll see an increase or not, but right now that's a very, very slow output for older material (not that I personally care as I've yet to take the plunge into BR at all).


Gary "Jeff, wasn't there predictions years ago about how BR would be putting out a ton of vintage material?" O.

I seem to recall those predictions but we'll see what happens down the road.

 

[Rob_Ray]

Just to stir the waters a bit --

I'm not sure the bluray format does many TV shows any favors. Forgetting about all the 70s era shows shot on tape, even ones shot on 35mm film were designed to be seen on small analog NTSC quality televisions and the startling quality of bluray is apt to show what limited budgets most television shows had. As much as I love watching the Dick Van Dyke Show on bluray, I'm constantly noticing how filmsy the sets are.

My DVDs upscale nicely onto my Panasonic 55" set. And while I hope that new releases will increasingly be brought out on BluRay as the format of choice, I'm not in a big hurry to re-purchase a lot TV titles on BluRay. Outdoor westerns of the type that Gary is fond of, maybe. But will set-bound outdoor shows like Bonanza look better or just cheesier on bluray? I wonder...

 

[Gary OS]

I'm with you on that assessment all the way, Rob. I understand the format makes the picture that much more stunning, but as you said it also reveals things that shouldn't be revealed - flimsy sets, wires pulling objects, imperfections in both props and humans. Unless BR releases something I've yet to buy on standard DVD, or releases something that wasn't cleaned up at all when put on SDVD, I don't think I'm apt to take the plunge for a good long while yet. If I were more of a fan of modern TV then there's no doubt my opinion would be different. But my upconverting DVD player creates a nice enough picture to suit my tastes for now.


Gary "perhaps tomorrow we'll get news of the complete Ozzie & Harriet on Blu and then I'll buy in - but I'm not holding my breath" O.

 

[MatthewA]

Just to stir the waters a bit --

I'm not sure the bluray format does many TV shows any favors. Forgetting about all the 70s era shows shot on tape, even ones shot on 35mm film were designed to be seen on small analog NTSC quality televisions and the startling quality of bluray is apt to show what limited budgets most television shows had. As much as I love watching the Dick Van Dyke Show on bluray, I'm constantly noticing how filmsy the sets are.

One could argue the same about many theatrical films shot on film as well. And even on DVD, I noticed some of the Dick Van Dyke Shows had a few shots that were out of focus (I can't remember which episodes, but I think they were in the first season). It's one of those quirks of early television, but nobody watched these shows for their production values anyway. Unfortunately, I fear modern generations will ignore the writing and acting quality and focus on the cheap sets.

 

[TravisR]

Now that the major sci-fi series have come out, I think classic era show releases will be very sporadic. Depending on how The Honeymooners does, I think I Love Lucy may come out next year but I'd be surprised if they ever went beyond the BIG titles of the 1950's and 60's.

If it hadn't coming out through Image, The Dick Van Dyke Show almost certainly wouldn't have come out already. About the only hope for an increase in classic Blu-ray material is the studios licensing titles out to a smaller company (and I find the odds of that to be somewhat unlikely).

 

[Hollywoodaholic]

That's my ambivalence about any potential Blu-ray release of "The Outer Limits." The stories hold up beautifully, but even more detail just might cheese up the already cheesy technology featured. Still, the DVDs are screaming to be re-mastered.

The other issue is the aspect ratio. You're stuck with the 4:3 Blu-ray, but I'm not too purist above stretching old shows to fit my 55" better. The middles aren't usually distorted by my set and it gives old shows the appearance of a feature presentation - just a different way to watch them.

 

[Frank Soyke]

I don't know if we'll see an increase or not, but right now that's a very, very slow output for older material (not that I personally care as I've yet to take the plunge into BR at all).


Gary "Jeff, wasn't there predictions years ago about how BR would be putting out a ton of vintage material?" O.

Honestly Jeff, My own prediction is that we won't see too much from that era on BR anytime soon. As Gary said, very little is coming out in any format right now.

 

[JoeDoakes]

The most likely addition to the list is The Avengers, as apparently, there are existing high def masters. I Love Lucy was restored a while ago, and I do not know if there are high def transfers, there probably could be with less effort than many unrestored shows. Beyond that, I don't see much likely to be released, and if CBS thinks 39 episodes of the Honeymooners are worth $100, who knows what they would want for the complete run of Lucy.

 

[MatthewA]

When they get around to I Love Lucy, I imagine they'll go the individual season set route first. As long as they don't go back to breaking up the first season into individual discs.

 

[Professor Echo]

For better or worse, the selling point of Blu Ray from the very beginning has been the significant increase in picture and sound quality, not the fact that Blus have a much larger storage base than standard DVDs. It's the latter which would be best for vintage TV as it could conceivably include long runs of series in just a few discs. This would reduce the packaging and thereby dramatically reduce the shelf space most of us use now for all our old shows on DVD. Just think of all 14 seasons of OZZIE AND HARRIET being in one single box set of, say, 10 Blu Ray discs!

Unfortunately, utilizing the storage capabilities of a Blu disc in that fashion could compromise the picture quality where it might not look any different from a standard DVD. As such, the studios could never and would never use this as a selling point because very few people would look at that Blu Ray logo on the sets and not think it was going to have improved resolution.

So eliminating the advantage of extra space and reducing clutter, you are left with the only selling point of Blu Ray being the stellar caliber of picture and sound quality, something that, quite frankly, is not all that necessary for older shows. Some programs that utilized the excellent film stock of the 60's and were filmed as though they were feature films, e.g. THE FUGITIVE, would look wonderful on Blu, but most series, especially sitcoms, just don't need that added benefit.

I can't see many more vintage shows coming out unless they are licensed out to smaller manufacturers who could actually use the extra space offered on a Blu disc and sell some series in small sets, never making any promises about Blu quality. That's a marketing risk I can see places like SHOUT and MPI taking, but never the larger studios. I for one hope this does happen if it means more old shows stand a chance of being released. Of course, if this ever does come to pass, be prepared for an onslaught of fans who won't consider the fact that they are buying a show transferred in Blu for maximum space and are instead disappointed in the transfers not being up to the Blu standard. In such a case, no one wins.

 

[Ockeghem]

"It's the latter which would be best for vintage TV as it could conceivably include long runs of series in just a few discs. This would reduce the packaging and thereby dramatically reduce the shelf space most of us use now for all our old shows on DVD. Just think of all 14 seasons of OZZIE AND HARRIET being in one single box set of, say, 10 Blu Ray discs!"Professor Echo,This has been my dream ever since blu-ray discs were released. On the day that all six Trek series and films (or the equivalent for other vintage television shows that I love very much) are able to be included on one or two discs per series, I will make the jump to blu-ray.

 

[BobO'Link]

"It's the latter which would be best for vintage TV as it could conceivably include long runs of series in just a few discs. This would reduce the packaging and thereby dramatically reduce the shelf space most of us use now for all our old shows on DVD. Just think of all 14 seasons of OZZIE AND HARRIET being in one single box set of, say, 10 Blu Ray discs!"Professor Echo,This has been my dream ever since blu-ray discs were released. On the day that all six Trek series and films (or the equivalent for other vintage television shows that I love very much) are able to be included on one or two discs per series, I will make the jump to blu-ray.

And I recall that being a selling point early in the push towards HD/BR disks. Several articles I read in those early days touted the ability to have an entire season on a disc or two with no loss in quality over the DVD. Like you, Scott, that's been one of the things I've been waiting on to make the jump. However, considering that the BR folks think the lower quality over a pure BR release would make people wonder "why bother" I doubt it will ever happen.

 

[jcroy]

And I recall that being a selling point early in the push towards HD/BR disks. Several articles I read in those early days touted the ability to have an entire season on a disc or two with no loss in quality over the DVD. Like you, Scott, that's been one of the things I've been waiting on to make the jump. However, considering that the BR folks think the lower quality over a pure BR release would make people wonder "why bother" I doubt it will ever happen.

In addition, there's also the issue that many tv show dvd season sets have been a staple of numerous bargain bins for many years.

Standard-definition (SD) bluray compilations of such tv shows, would be directly competing with stuff that has been a staple of bargain bins.

Basically a no-win losing proposition.