TVshowsonDVD has the press release up from Warner - no art yet AND even more glaring - no mention of any special features which for fans of the series is a huge disappointment.

For those not aware they shot two different endings for the final episode since it was down to the last minute as to whether One Tree Hill or Everwood would get the renewal when WB and UPN merged (down to the last minute to the extent that there even was a cwtv.com/everwood website created talking about what to expect for the fifth season that went live prior to their upfront presentation).

While it's a shame that there may not be any extras for it, it's just good news that they finished the series...

/\ I am happy as well that Warner Brothers is finally finishing this series after all the years and flights. But as the OP mentions it would be shame if WB doesn't include the Alternate Ending on the set. There have been deleted scenes present on all the previous sets so there is a possibility and it would be a huge marketing ploy to get people on the fench about the purchase.

I'm kind of hoping for a complete series set with season 1 in widescreen. Too much to hope for?

Damn good series nevertheless but glad they're completing it. maybe CBS HE nd especially Sony can take/learn a lesson throughotu all this on certain shows.

While I would like to see this (for the exact same reason you quoted), again, I think we're lucky that they finished the show at all.

TVShowsOnDVD announces extras!

I was half-expecting this to be a DVD-R

Was just coming here to post about the extras - we got our alternate ending!! Will be really good to have this complete series on DVD and despite the delay, really pleased with Warner Home Entertainment.

I'm really glad that WB has decided to finish off the series including the alternate ending/deleted scenes footage.

Just saw the news on the alternate ending as well. Good stuff! If I recall that was filmed in the event that there was going to be a 5th season along with a cliffhanger.

I thought only the pilot and season 1 finale were filmed in widescreen and specially broadcast at the time?

yep, they will cut the bottom and top of the image, so the idiots could have a "fill the screen" and again screw the people who want OAR

According to wikipedia there were three versions of the finale scripted and two filmed. I wonder if any tests and/or production designs ever existed for the original 'series ending' that took place in the future?

But I'm glad to finally get a look at what season 5 would have bene like.

I believe this is now coming out on 8/2/2011 but I may be wrong, with the alternate ending and a few deleted scenes and finally it will get completed.

The pilot and the season 1 finale were both letterboxed when they aired in SD, which is why they are like that on DVD. Currently, thewb.com has an episode of Everwood from season 1 on their site and it's in widescreen.

Is it cropped from the 4:3 image, or did the originally film them in widescreen?

Regardless, I doubt WB will ever re-release the series with new picture. The best bet would probably be somebody like Shout picking up the rights in a a few odd years and putting some money into reworking things. I just don't think they've sold well enough for the WB to redo them.

They originally filmed them in widescreen. I pulled out my DVDs and you can see much more picture on the left and right sides of the image. However, just because widescreen masters of the show exists, it doesn't mean the producers want them to be in widescreen (like Buffy). However, considering that the pilot and season 1 finale are presented in widescreen, it seems likely that 1.78:1 is the correct aspect ratio.

If they put out a complete series set, there is a possibility season 1 will be widescreen in that. WB did that with the OC. I don't know why WB didn't put more thought into some of their releases. The worst offender is probably Fastlane, which was clearly a show shot for widescreen (in full screen, most episodes go into widescreen at least once or twice).

When I bought The O.C. complete series set on its day of release, the two deciding factors (other than loving the show) were the price and the exclusivity of a widescreen season 1. The individual season sets were very expensive at the time (though they are practically bargain prices now) and there was no way I could've afforded them that way. The complete series was a steal in comparison, though I had to relocate the discs out of that cool but not very practical picture book packaging.

Another show, though it's Fox and not Warner, is ANGEL, which has widescreen masters for season 1, but was shot and intended for 4:3 broadcast and DVD. Like Everwood's first season, it's viewable in widescreen online, such as hulu, The WB's own site had it that way (it along with several shows are no longer on the "channel") and for sale in widescreen on iTunes.

Side note: My mother watches those ABC soaps and on one of them was a grown-up Vivian Cardone (Delia), who not only looks very similar, but absolutely sounds the same as she did as a kid on Everwood.

I just looked at a season 1 episode of Angel on Hulu and it looks like they stretched the 4:3 image.

They have a 4:3 stretched "Sense and Sensitivity" but a 16:9 widescreen "The Bachelor Party", "I Will Remember You", "Hero" and "Parting Gifts". They had a widescreen version of every episode before. Very, very strange!

There's a 4:3 replacement for "City Of" that was put up because the 16:9 version was incorrectly framed, but the remainder of the episodes were in true widescreen, just like season 2, and the UK seasons 4 through 7 of "Buffy" where the image was expanded to reveal the sides and other should've-stayed-hidden elements.

I actually...acquired (through nefarious means) all of the widescreen season 1 episodes off of hulu (even worse considering I'm in Canada where hulu isn't even available...gotta love proxies) and made several screen grabs of various episodes showing some of the funny aspects of the expanded framing:

ANGEL: Season 1 widescreen oddities

I purchased "City Of" on iTunes for its corrected widescreen framing, as for some reason the image wasn't expanded correctly on the hulu version which is why it was replaced with a 4:3 version. If they've gone and replaced the episodes with stretched versions, that's not what they had up originally.

I've had "Everwood" season 1 sitting unwatched for about 6 years, and it'll be nice to finally go through the show (seasons 2 and 3 are also unwatched until season 4 comes out - might as well wait for it now) and recapture the fond memories of it on the good old WB.