Back in 2004, Fox Home Entertainment released That '70s Show - Season 1 on DVD, and since their version of the title has been discontinued the folks at Mill Creek Entertainment licensed the show from its production studio, Carsey Werner, and put it out on DVD just a month ago...at a substantially lower list price for the exact same material. Can things get any better for fans of the folks in Point Place? Well, yeah, we'd love a high-def Blu-ray Disc release, but the studios can't provide that, can they? They can? Oh, Carsey Warner/Mill Creek, you DO care!

Today we got the scoop from Mill Creek Entertainment, that they are preparing to officially announce the Blu-ray release of That '70s Show - Season 1. Not all details are being disclosed, but it's confirmed that all episodes have had 1080p high-def transfers, with a 5.1 audio remix, and that the episodes will be presented in the original widescreen aspect ratio.

"BURN!," you say...weren't those episodes shot on tape? Nope, Carsey Werner has confirmed for our contacts a Mill Creek how That ‘70s Show was "shot on film, in widescreen" (I'm directly quoting). We're told the first season "has undergone an extensive transfer so it'll be at full 1080p".

Well, are these the COMPLETE original as-broadcast versions then? Because some people have said that the Season 1 episodes on the DVDs (both from Fox and Mill Creek) aren't complete as-originally-aired, but have missing bits here and there. We've worked with a fan who feels strongly that way (we're grateful to Peter Butler for his extensive help on this!), and we've worked with Mill Creek as well, who in turn worked with Carsey Werner about it. We even gave them a sample episode to consider. The reply from Carsey Werner/Mill Creek is this: "we are 100% positive that the original network broadcast edit of the mentioned episode is exactly the same as our DVD episode"; they are similarly confident that all the other DVD episodes are exactly as originally aired. And that this will be the case for the upcoming Blu-ray Disc release as well.

This high-def BD release of That '70s Show - Season 1 is a new project just getting underway, and so it's too early for the studio to have decided upon a release date, package art, or pricing so far. Like all Mill Creek releases, though, they want to keep it highly affordable...we'll see if it turns out to be affordable enough to warrant the double-dip (knowing this studio, though, it very likely will be!). You can expect further updates from us, as soon as any other developments occur. Stay tuned!