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TV Shows on Hi-Def Discs
TVShowsOnBluRay.com and TVShowsOnHDDVD.com...check 'em out. Both URLs lead you back to TVShowsOnDVD.com...but just as a redirect, because so far there just hasn't been enough TV-related content on high-def disc to warrant doing more than that with those addresses.
So just what is available on Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD for television-related programming? Many of you are getting players for one or the other format (or both!) this holiday season, and may want to know! I've kept a running list as titles get announced and released, and I've got a look at them for you below along with their release dates (including a few items that aren't released yet):
Blu-ray Disc
- 01. 12/19/2006: The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1
- 02. 01/30/2007: Discovery Atlas - Australia Revealed
- 03. 01/30/2007: Discovery Atlas - Brazil Revealed
- 04. 01/30/2007: Discovery Atlas - China Revealed
- 05. 01/30/2007: Discovery Atlas - Italy Revealed
- 06. 04/24/2007: Planet Earth - The Complete Collection
* 07. 05/29/2007: Weeds - Season 1
* 08. 06/05/2007: Rescue Me - Season 3
* 09. 07/24/2007: Weeds - Season 2
- 10. 09/04/2007: Nip/Tuck - The Complete 4th Season
- 11. 09/18/2007: Smallville - The Complete 6th Season
- 12. 10/02/2007: Galapagos - The Islands that Changed the World
* 13. 10/16/2007: Masters of Horror - Season 1, Volume I
* 14. 10/16/2007: Masters of Horror - Season 1, Volume II
- 15. 10/23/2007: The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 2
* 16. 10/23/2007: The Company - The complete Mini-Series
* 17. 11/13/2007: Masters of Horror - Season 1, Volume III
* 18. 11/13/2007: Prison Break - Season 1
* 19. 12/11/2007: Lost - The Complete 3rd Season: The Unexplored Experience
* 20. 12/11/2007: Masters of Horror - Season 1, Volume IV
* 21. 01/28/2008: Damages - The Complete 1st Season
HD-DVD
* 01. 11/28/2006: Smallville - The Complete 5th Season
- 02. 12/19/2006: The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 1
- 03. 01/30/2007: Discovery Atlas - Australia Revealed
- 04. 01/30/2007: Discovery Atlas - Brazil Revealed
- 05. 01/30/2007: Discovery Atlas - China Revealed
- 06. 01/30/2007: Discovery Atlas - Italy Revealed
- 07. 04/24/2007: Planet Earth - The Complete Collection
* 08. 08/28/2007: Heroes - Season 1
- 09. 09/04/2007: Nip/Tuck - The Complete 4th Season
- 10. 09/18/2007: Smallville - The Complete 6th Season
- 11. 10/02/2007: Galapagos - The Islands that Changed the World
- 12. 10/23/2007: The Sopranos - Season 6, Part 2
* 13. 11/20/2007: Star Trek - Season 1
* 14. 12/04/2007: Battlestar Galactica - Season 1
* 15. 03/25/2008: Star Trek - Season 2
To the left of each title is either a dash indicating that the release is available in both formats, or an asterisk telling you that this item is unique to the format it's listed under. As you can see, Blu-ray's got the edge on HD DVD releases of television programs.
Of course, the lists above only include titles that are compilations of episodic TV shows (a series or mini-series), so you won't find one-shots like High School Musical 2 or direct-to-video releases like Justice League: The New Frontier on them. Nor do theatrical films spun off of TV shows qualify, so titles like Twilight Zone: The Movie and Serenity aren't included, either. And I'm sticking to stuff sold in stores in North America, so overseas releases in hi-def like The Tudors or Robin Hood aren't on these lists, nor anything for the HD-VMD format yet.
There are also a number of shows expected to come to hi-def formats in 2008, of course, but haven't been officially announced yet. Friends rumors have circulated since the beginning. The 2002 incarnation of He-Man and the Masters of the Universe from BCI is looking good for Blu-ray, and could possibly head to HD DVD as well.
Well, what do YOU think? Which titles tickle your fancy? Is there anything you see on one list and wish was on the other format's list? What shows SHOULD be on either of the hi-def formats, but aren't yet?
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Nov 27, 2007 3:49 PM
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It's nice that studios are releasing TV on Dvd for the Hi Def fans but as a consumer of shows on regular dvd, I'm curious. So many studios take years between season releasing and many more shows are abandoned due to 'Unmet Sales Expectations.'
My concern is that with a dvd player in nearly every home in America, and sales for many shows being unmet, how the heck are the studios going to meet hi-def sales expectations to continue releasing a series? Not only are there fewer hi def players in people's homes, but the hi def dvds are also more expensive.
If many of the dvds being released are too expensive for regular dvd consumers, how will hi def dvds fare? Will the studios leave those consumers high and dry like they have with us regular dvd fans?
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Nov 27, 2007 4:16 PM
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Brett, you've assuredly hit upon one of the reasons these release lists are so light at the moment. Fewer players in homes means lower sales expectations, so studios are releasing on these formats only when they feel that it's a good bet it will be worth the cost of producing the releases.
But then, the last sentence describes any TV-on-DVD release, too.
Barney Rosenzweig, the Producer of Cagney & Lacey (and husband of show star Sharon Gless), posted a blog entry last July which was VERY profound in its description of how this process works:
"Fox and MGM will have to decide on whether to go to the expense of trying to launch another season of Cagney & Lacey on DVD. Normal 'executive think' is to simply move on to whatever product is next in their warehouse, throw that up against the proverbial wall, hoping it will stick, and to keep doing that until something does. They have a lot of boxes, of a lot of different shows in those vaults, and executives, especially those not vested in the material in the first place, don’t like revisiting their failures."
Everything I see about the industry says that Rosenzweig is right on the money about this process, with few exceptions. To avoid those "failures", they try really hard to figure out what will work in advance. That's even more critical in the hi-def market, as each studio tries to grow the format they have pledged allegiance to.
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Nov 27, 2007 5:07 PM
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I want me some Buffy and Angel high-def goodness....since they're both owned by Fox, that would mean Blu-ray only, but I am format neutral so it works for me just fine.
Considering those are my two favorite shows of all time, I'd be willing to rebuy them in high-def, but I just can't justify the cost of repurchasing all the other shows I have already bought the full series of on standard DVD however. (X-Files, Seinfeld, Friends, Sopranos, all the Star Treks, etc.)
I'm sure someone might argue that the first couple seasons of Buffy wouldn't benefit from a jump to high-def, but I am sure if they went back to the original 16mm negatives and did a full remastering effort, it would greatly improve over the current DVDs. Also, I'd want Fox to go the route used by Paramount for the new Star Trek HD-DVDs and keep all seasons of Buffy (and the first one for Angel) in it's original 4:3 aspect ratio, pillarboxed within the high-def 16:9 frame. While seasons 4 through 7 of BTVS were released overseas in the 16:9 format on DVD, Joss has specifically stated that 4:3 is the correct framing, so it should remain that way on Blu-ray!
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Nov 27, 2007 8:14 PM
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