TV Shows on Blu-Ray
 

I think we need a sticky, but I recognize that most people just don't care much about it. So, up your butt.

With that out of the way, here is a list of TV shows on BD.

Chuck Season 1 (9/16/08)
Weeds Season 1
Weeds Season 2
Weeds Season 3
Master's of Horror Season 1 Vol. 1-4
Smallville Season 6
Smallville Season 7 (9/9/08)
Prison Break Season 1
Prison Break Season 3 (8/12/08)
Damages Season 1
The Sopranos Season 6 part 1-2
Nip/Tuck Season 4
Rescue Me Season 3
Lost Season 3
Lost: Season 4 (12/9/08)
Gray's Anatomy: Season 4 (9/9/08)
Deadliest Catch Season 3
Mad Men Season 1 7/1/08
Robin Hood Season 1 7/29/08
The Tudors - available in UK region free
Heroes Season 1-2 8/26/08
Pushing Daisies Season 1 (9/16/08)
Supernatural Season 3 (11/11/08)
Torchwood Season 1 (9/16/08)
Justice League Season 1 (8/9/08)

Available for pre-order, but no date

Firefly
Terminator - The Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 1
Seinfeld Season 1
Hex Season 1
Monty Python's Flying Circus
Sex and the City
Six Feet Under
Rome
Carnivale
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Deadwood
Family Guy Vol. 1
The Simpsons Season 1
The Prisoner
West Wing
Stargate Atlantis Season 1
Stargate SG Season 1
Stargate The Ark of Truth
24 Season 1
24 Season 7
CSI Season 1
Twin Peaks Season 1
NCIS Season 5
CSI Miami Season 6
Dexter Season 1
Dexter Season 2
Dexter Season 3
Doctor Who
John Adams Miniseries
The Tudors Season 1
The Tudors Season 3
Star Trek Enterprise
Star Trek Voyager
Star Trek The Next Generation
Star Trek Deep Space Nine
Star Trek the Animated Series
Jericho
Rescue Me Season 1
Rescue Me Season 4
Buffy The Vampire Slayer
Desperate housewives
Farscape
Battlestar Galactica miniseries
Battlestar Galactica Season 1
Battlestar Galactica Razor
Frazier
Ugly Betty
Boston Legal
Weeds Season 4
Babylon 5
Entourage Season 1
Entourage Season 2
Entourage Season 3
Entourage Season 4
Entourage Season 5
Big Love Season 1
Big Love Season 2
Big Love Season 3
Californication Season 1
Californication Season 2
Brotherhood Season 1
Brotherhood Season 2
Brotherhood Season 3
Veronica Mars
Xena: Warrior Princess
Prison Break Season 2
The X-Files
Dune Miniseries


That is what shows up at Amazon. Pretty dang pathetic what we have offered. Personally, I'm not going to watch a show in HD, then buy the SD version of some show. That's stupid.

I also hate that they release current seasons without prior seasons. Lost Season 3 was amazing. I want more. I want many more, but we are getting the shaft.

Update: Filled in the rest of the pipedream crap that Amazon lists. Also, wb.com has the first season of Chuck which doesn't show on Amazon.

I've watched Prison Break (deal on ebay) and Damages (B2G1 Sony Rebate) on Blu-ray. I borrowed both in SD from a friend -- upconverted both shows look great. I did some back and forth flipping. Not HD great, but I'm thinking I wouldn't miss the difference here. Heroes and Battlestar Galactica also look amazing. I've had no reason to look for BR versions.

I'm thinking I'll rent further shows on BR.

-beebs

"Up your butt" AND "sticky"? - see how mature I am for not making any jokes?



Well, there's nothing I want more (in terms of home video) than 'Buffy' on Blu-Ray. But even I would recommend starting with issuing the later seasons first. Can't image the 16mm first couple of seasons would look much better. (Though from a marketing standpoint, maybe a complete series box set might make some sense)

(I'd also be VERY curious as to whether they'd release a show on HD with its original 4:3 aspect ratio, or if they'd INSIST on widescreen, much as they used to insist on pan-'n'-scan in the good ole' days.)

Shows like 'Battlestar Galactica', 'The Office', 'Gilmore Girls', 'The Wire' that were broadcast in HD NEED to be issued on BD immediately. (but, again, maybe not so much the early seasons of GG)

Rumors of 'Firefly' (since confirmed) and prior season of 'Sopranos' can only be welcome news. My wallet WILL be open and ready. I also hope that this may be the cause of the interminable delay for 'Simpsons' season 11; mayhap a day-and-date Blu-Ray edition is being prepared? (don't laugh, the movie sold great on BR)

I realize this is not exactly what the thread is for, but I will just say why the above is not stupid for me:
My BD and HD DVD players are connected to my front projector in my dedicated home theater. For watching TV on DVD, even shows that are broadcast in hi-def, I generally prefer SD DVD for the following reasons:
-- I like the flexibility of being able to watch them on any TV in the house.
-- I like the flexibility of being able to rip episodes and put them on my iPod.
-- I don't really care to use bulb life in my projector on TV shows.
-- On my 37" 720p LCD, SD DVD episodes of, for example, the Office and 30 Rock upconverted to 720p by my Oppo are practically indistinguishable from the HD broadcast, at least from where I sit (which is admittedly, farther than usual for that size TV).
-- TV shows on DVD are expensive enough and even more outrageous on BD - I'd rather buy the TV show on SD and use the money I saved to buy movies, my true love, on BD.

When Blu-ray becomes much more prevalent and I have a BD player connected to most TVs in the house, a BD-drive in my computer, etc, then I will probably be more interested in TV shows on BD. I will say though that some shows, such as the Sopranos, I would buy on BD even now, because the episodes are longer and the experience is more "cinematic" so the convenience factor is not as important.

All that said, I don't really want to derail the thread. It's a great idea and one I agree should be stickied, since I do want to keep up with it as Blu-ray progresses.

Depends on the show for me. I watched Arrested Development and continue to watch The Office in high-def, but I'd rather have standard definition copies I can watch anytime I want -- and get oodles of extras to boot -- than not to have anything handy at all. It's a step down, yeah, but it's more than tolerable. On the other hand, I'd buy Heroes in high-def, but I'd pass on DVD. I just don't feel that same burning desire.

I'd love to see many more series on Blu-ray, and I'm looking forward to Mad Men in a couple of months.

Contact me when "Six Feet Under" is available on BD. Best show ever.

Yeah but I don't know if the show would benefit(or could?) be on bluray since its never aired in hd on television.

The Tudors is available as a region free import from the UK. I believe Robin Hood is also available as a region free title. The UK has several BBC shows on Blu-ray coming. You also forgot to list several TV mini-series that have been put on Blu-ray like The Company.

I'm hoping for Dexter...

I'm waiting for The Sopranos boxset (and a wicked sale to go along with it).

4x3 material like The Simpsons and Family Guy are fine in SD for me.

It all comes down to price. Price 'em reasonably and I'll buy 'em. For now? Pass.

I'm still waiting for 24 Season 1 to come out, I think Fox announced it over a year ago. It probably would have come out if not for the writers' strike cancelling this season.

It would be nice to see some studios step up and release some big HD shows, like CSI or Alias, starting with their first seasons.

So am I

Still waiting for Supernatural S1-3 to hit Blu-ray. :(

To be honest, I was pretty surprised that they released TV shows in High Def format in the first place. As great as it is, HDM is highly expensive, right now. TV on DVD didn't take off until the cost of DVDs became cheap enough that we could get a season set for less than $50. For a long time, TV season sets were $100+ (think X-Files), but when they started getting below $50, they started to become popular. And now that season sets are selling for $20 - $30 (during sales, usually, but still what people expect), I think it would be tough to sell a high cost HDM version of the set. I know a lot of people want HD versions of their shows. I'm in the same boat. Now that Heroes is on sale for $20, I really considered getting it (especially since my wife missed the first several episodes), but knowing it's out there on HD DVD, I can't seem to talk myself into buying it, even at that great price. I was even tempted to purchase Lost Season 3 when they had that price mistake (I don't remember where it was, now, though), but since I didn't have a Blu Ray player, I was stuck with the SD version. But HDM is a hard enough sale, as it is, with movies being $30 or so, not less $80 - $100 TV sets.

But this is just the beginning. Just as TV on DVD took a while to become popular (mostly due to lowering costs), the same will be for Blu-Ray. Once the prices become a decent price (players for one, and especially the media itself), I'm sure TV on Blu-Ray will become more popular and thus more released. Right now, I don't think it's financially worth it for the studios to spend money releasing the shows on Blu-Ray. There's not enough people with Blu-Ray players (for one), and definitely not enough people willing to spend the money on an expensive set. But give it a couple of years (hopefully), and I'm sure the studios will look into it more.

As for making this a sticky, I can see that. There are people interested in what's out there, and having a list of TV shows released on HDM, that is easily accessible is a good idea.

I couldn't disagree more. BSG looks OKAY but FAR, FAR, FAR from "amazing" compared to LOST S3.

LOST was a "test the waters" for BVHV. I don't know how well it fared sales-wise, but if they decide not to go forward with Blu-ray season sets, at least we know that the original HD footage exists meaning these HD shows WILL show up on HDM someday. That being said, I refuse to purchase any show shot in HD on anything LESS than HDM (so mind you that means I can still purchase Scrubs through to the end of the series.;)).

Just give me the other seasons of LOST on Blu-Ray and I'll be happy. I'm sure that it will be very pick and choose when it comes to the titles at least for the next few years.

For the record, The Wire isn't exactly HD. It is 4X3 and may be on an HD channel, but I truly believe that putting it on Blu won't make much of a difference.

I agree with a poster above, a lot of these companies tested the waters. Which was not a good idea, since no one had a player! Now, it would make more sense to test the waters, but I digress.

But if they want to bring people in, two things need to be done. Bring in new shows (like Pushing Daisies for instance) and bring up classic titles (The Sopranos is a good one...since everyone is waiting for the full series set). If they do that, people will buy it.

An a related note, the studios need to drop the price point and make sure all the extras transfer over.

We are so close to twins, but then diverge. :lol: I watch in a dedicated theater room with a 122" screen. I won't really watch TV in any other room if given the choice. I don't rip anything, and can't really stand to watch anything on my ipod. Just too small. I would buy a new bulb a month if I had to, but fortunately, even with watch TV, movies, etc. around 30 hours a week, I am still on my first one.

I agree that TV shows are expensive though. But for the most part, I would rather own TV and rent movies instead of the other way around.

I'll update the list, thanks to all.

Still waiting for The Dead Zone from Lionsgate as well.

Fans of TV on DVD need to thank the X-files and Star Trek fans. Without them (me) shelling out high dollar for full seasons, I doubt TV on DVD would have taken off at all. There is a parallel on HD as well with genre shows like Lost & Heroes leading the charge at higher price points. Question is, did those fare well enough to convince other studios to take the dive?

I'm totally down for the first two seasons of Lost and I'd definitely double dip on the first season of 24 if they put that out. I watch more TV on DVD than anything. It comprises most of my viewing purchases. I can't wait until I can get some of these shows in HD at a decent price. Bring 'em on!

Ditto and add "Angel"... the only two shows that I will double-dip on...

Agreed. I get more viewing enjoyment from a few well-selected TV on DVD series than I do from my movie discs.

I don't get much in the way of broadcast TV where I live but, even if I did, I would prefer TV on DVD because of its advantages:

— No commercials.
— The ability to watch as many or as few episodes as I want in a single evening (no waiting for the second part of a "to be continued" episode, for example).
— Perfect "reception", i.e. excellent picture and sound all the time (sometimes 5.1 sound).
— Plenty of extras. (Yes, I enjoy the extras of my TV on DVD series and almost always watch them.)


Nevertheless, I would be reluctant to upgrade to BD any series I currently have on DVD, due to the expense. Most of the TV on DVD sets I have look pretty good upscaled. If the BD season sets were available for $20 or so, as is often the case with DVDs several years after release, that would be different. But $50 to $100 (or more!) a season? I'll pass.


Good idea for a thread.

Let's not forget the not-yet-announced but seemingly confirmed work FOX is currently doing on a FIREFLY Blu-ray release.

Personally, I'd double-dip to get 24 on Blu-ray.

Yep, me as well. Supernatural looks pretty damn good in HD :up:

Also, from the Discovery Channel...

-Sunrise Earth: American Sunrises
-Fearless Planet
-Planet Earth
-Discovery Atlas: Australia, China, Brazil, Italy
-Human Body: Pushing the Limits 5/5
-Build it Bigger 5/2

Also, CSI: Miami season 5 is coming this summer in the UK, not sure if it will be region free.

The new season of Entourage starts in September. HBO didn't start filming the series in HD until Season 3. I hope they start releasing those in BD to tie-in with the new series, but I'm sure the first BD release we get will be Season 5...in 2009.

I am new to the CSI shows, so any of those on Blu (CSI s1, which was full frame on DVD) would be a good way to start my Blu collection.

I opted not to include the miniseries type stuff, but if people really have interest, I can add those.

I also didn't put up announced things with no dates because I have no faith in them. I'll buy Firefly in a heartbeat, but I don't think it will happen soon, even though it is announced.

It doesn't seem like a very comprehensive list if that is the case. :scratch2:

Yeah, I just don't think of them really as tv. I don't know why. :lol:

I don't even have a B-R player yet but I'm done with DVD for the most part.

The real question for me is whether they'll just release full series for shows like BUFFY and WEST WING that are already available that way on DVD, or if they'll go back to individual season sets.

I'd guess it'll be slow until there's more market saturation, but I expect SOPRANOS to be released as a full series BR box set sooner than later, and the rest of the industry to pay very close attention to how it sells.

There is quite a bit of TV I would buy on Blu. I just have Lost: S3 & Planet Earth right now, but I will be excited to get more. The price of some of these do freak me out a bit, for instance, I love the Sopranos but I haven't bought Season 6 on Blu. It is just too expensive, especially split in two like it is. And I will be excited by the prospect of getting Band of Brothers later this year, but good god how expensive will that be. $100+

Star Trek OS HD DVD was 4:3, right?

Yes.



Okay, I just got done with disc 1 of BSG Season 3. SD, upconverted, 122" projection. This is very good. By that, I mean the clarity is very, very good. On that big of a screen I can still see significant improvement with HDM, but still very good.

So I pop in Season 1 HD-DVD just to see how it is. Consider also that I don't consider Season 1 on HD-DVD to be a great PQ disc. But here is the difference. Even though it is a dark show, the color just isn't there with an upconverted disc. I didn't think it made that huge of a difference until I went back to season 1. The color is the biggest difference, and I am amazed at how flat the SD is. Sure, it's clear, but it is almost like watching it in black and white.

Lost season 3 is an obvious one where the colors are magnificent. But even this convinces me even more that these need to be on BD.

I am in the same boat. I don't own a Blu player yet, but it seems silly to get certain things on DVD when I know full well they will be (and will look awesome) on Blu...like CSI. I am also all over the Sopranos and I will probably upgrade my Lost sets.

However, I still will buy DVD stuff when warranted. But for now, I am holding off, researching Blu titles and getting ready to buy the Panasonic BD50.

Lastly, I want to make mention of the various thread here...there is some very valuable information for a guy like me, who isn't tech stupid, but doesn't know the ins and outs yet. So thanks to everyone who posted that stuff and to anyone who answered my questions.

I know this sounds like crazy talk to many, but just get the PS3. The biggest complaint I had with HD-DVD is how long it took to start up. It took a long time because it wasn't a very powerful CPU. The PS3 is very powerful, and thus, much quicker. The stand alones are all slower, and yet, still more expensive.

If you just hate the thought of having a game machine, just have a BD player. That's what I do. Don't own, rent, or play games on it. But after doing all the research, it is the only BD player I would buy.

Don't forget self-firmware-upgradable if you have it connected to the internet!

I have been taking that into consideration. I'm on the fence. I want the Blu, but I don't get a chance to play games anymore...so that is where I justify it. But at the same time, I am all about things being cheaper. So I will have to do a little more research before I do buy anything.

Absolutely agree on both of these. I haven't purchased S6 on DVD hoping for a Bluray release.

Firefly I will definitely double dip on.

Of the three shows I have in HD right now (Lost, Heroes, Smallville S6) they all look great.