Comedy Central to air Friends in true HD

Nope, the end is nigh this weekend.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14761922

A good move by C4, as it will help reduce the impact of the show moving, as people will forget about it to a degree during the month off and they will hope they will retain as much as the audience for the slots as possible. If it was a straight switch over to Comedy Central, then those that can may just switch and not even give E4's new lineup a chance.

ITV ran Home and Away so they were only a few days off Australia before they lost the rights, leaving a huge gap before C5 took over.

Note as well nothing is directly replacing Friends at 8pm on E4 - instead they're basically opening up the hour for a mix of shows and starting their "primetime" schedule an hour earlier. As well as My Name is Earl on Mondays there is David Blaine on Tuesdays, films on Wednesday, The Big Bang Theory moves an hour earlier on Thursdays, paired with Perfect Couples while their lifestyle line up on Fridays begins an hour earlier with Jo Frost: Extreme Parental Guidance.

Okay, now I'm confused. I thought that it was shot in 15:9, but now, a screenshot from the recent premiere airing of Friends on Nick at Nite (in America) shows the screen expanded on all four sides:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=20908781#post20908781

Anyone know an explanation for this? Where the first couple seasons shot in 15:9 and the rest in 16:9?

Is there a reason why the DVD versions weren't in widescreen? I read a post on DS explaining that if an old US show was released on DVD, it'd be taken from the master copy rather than the tape used by broadcasters that wears over time.

The US never really went in for SD Widescreen like we did over here though. 16:9 is very much tied in with HD

Because the show master tapes were 4:3 until very recently. Its only as new rights deals have been signed (or old ones renewed / renegotiated) that the HD versions have appeared. Presumably Warner Bros realised the demand and, as it was possible, spent the time and money creating them.

You'd think they'd want to cash in by releasing the 'remastered' versions on DVD and Blu-Ray, although they may feel that, currently, those buying the DVDs are happy with the 4:3 versions, particularly as the current releases are extended edits, rather than those cut to time for broadcast. (As well as the fact that most people will be stretching the 4:3 picture on a 16:9 set and don't realise / won't care.) It may be that over time, as people see the HD versions on TV they'll expect to be able to buy them. From the screen grabs I've seen it appears theres a big improvement over the old mater copies- which never were very good.

Warner are being quite slow in releasing TV shows on Blu-Ray. There are HD versions of ER and The West Wing which have been shown / made available elsewhere (ER on TV, TWW on HD download) but have yet to be released to buy on disc.

It's just very rare there, since the DSO was completed, some cable/satellite broadcasters have chosen to downscale their HD feed to SD by broadcasting in a 4:3 letterbox format, meaning viewers with 16:9 sets would have to use the zoom function.

It's pretty common with the news and sports channels (such as: ESPN, CNN and Fox News) as well. The only chance you will find true 16:9 SD is usually a sub-channel of the main network affiliate. (which varies) So its common to see any sports bars or shops with SD cable/satellite TV with stretchy 16:9 (its like stretching 4:3 letterbox to 16:9)

Well from what you're saying, its easy to see why they're not selling the BD yet.

Any producer who shot on a format where they can remaster to HD is truly in the *sweet spot* no one could have imagined.

Lots of entertainment channels, globally, have recently gone HD, and will be falling over themselves to broadcast guaranteed hits with the added value of high definition. I will definitely re-watch shows to see them in HD.

Their value will be in another round of syndication for now. Blu Ray sales will follow.

I don't understand this whole "rewatching because it's in HD" stuff. It doesn't actually make, for example, a comedy programme funnier?

Matt le Blanc in HD? I could go on, but the point is made to my satisfaction.

Message received and understood