My Other Self

They're just now coming out with the next season of Streets of San Francisco. I don't understand any of that.

Michael Corvin

In OAR? Wasn't the one on HDNet 16:9?

JZ1276

Thats how the airings used to be on TBS. Now they are just like Seinfeld is

Jay G.

This came out today. It's on sale for $149 at Amazon. Anybody grab it?

Here's an interview with co-executive producer/director Kevin S. Bright about the set, and the show in general:
http://www.wqow.com/story/20082377/f...veryone-is-now

TheMovieman

Comparing it to a site which chronicles the additional footage/dialogue, the Blu-rays are of the Original Broadcast Version not the same what's on the DVD sets.

Jay G.

Note that this is true of all the episodes, except for a few which are altered from the original broadcast version.

For Season 7, the episodes that were originally broadcast as "supersized" are in HD as edited "half hour block" episodes, while the supersized versions are in SD on the bonus disc.
http://www.blu-raydefinition.com/rev...ay-review.html

lamphorn

Interesting. I had been under the impression that ALL of the episodes of Friends was extended on the DVD's. If it's true that it was only done to some of them, then this might not be so bad. I loved Friends, but considered the lack of the extended cuts a dealbreaker for a very expensive bluray set, but this may change my mind. I'll wait to hear if the picture quality is amazing. It's going to have to be to justify the purchase, as they show Friends in HD on cable all the time.

Jay G.

They were (or at least most of them were). The Blu-ray set is missing all the DVD extended cuts.

I was referring to episodes that were actually broadcast in extended cuts originally. The Blu-ray set has the originally broadcast versions for the extended episodes in seasons 9 and 10 in HD. However, for season 7, the originally broadcast versions for the extended episodes are only SD, while the HD versions are edited.

Note that while the Blu-ray episodes are shorter than the DVD's in most cases, they're also going to be longer than what you see on cable/syndication, as those airings are even shorter, cut to allow more commercials.

dolphinboy

I'm ok that I felt like I needed to get hubs not sleeves and imported, I'm ok with lossy audio, I'm ok with the broadcast versions and I'm ok they crammed 10 episodes on a disc.

I think that's enough of me being ok with what could be considered some real disappointments with such a big name, expensive release.

I'm not ok that there are edited versions in season 7 and not the shows as they were originally aired in HD. That really pisses me off.

Jay G.

The reasoning I've heard was that the "supersizing" of the season 7 episodes was a last-minute thing, and so the extra footage was added in SD video. This was fine for the DVD releases, but when they went back to remaster in HD, this footage wasn't available.

I think it would've been better if they could've placed the extended SD versions on the same disc as the HD versions. Then they could've also done a hybrid cut, like Paramount is doing with an episode on the Star Trek Next Generation Season 2 set.

Throwing Copper

Is this series in widescreen on BluRay, and does it look good in this set?

I love the show and really want to buy, but don't want the old 4:3 version with black bars on the right and left side of the picture.

RocShemp

It is in a 1.78:1 aspect ratio: http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Friend...Blu-ray/48413/

Michael Corvin

Maybe the first time they did it, but it ended up being a season long 'thing' for NBC. There's no way the writers, producers & directors were in the dark about it every time.

Jay G.

It could be that NBC didn't tell them which episodes would be supersized until near the broadcast time. It's also possible that it could've been a budgetary decision: NBC asked for longer cuts of some episodes, but didn't actually give them more money for those episodes, so the producers went with the cheapest option for extending the episodes, which was editing on video.

Now, I don't know how Friends was usually edited, but I could see a situation where they transferred all the film elements to video, edited the episodes down on video, then produced a cut sheet for producing the film cut of the episode. In that instance, it would've been relatively easy to add back cut scenes to the video edit and export, while not as easy (and possibly not thought necessary or advisable) to recut the episode on film. This is likely how all the DVD extended versions were created as well.

Whatever the reasons, it's clear that the supersized edits of episodes from Season 7 are not readily available in either film or HD form. Now, Universal could've done what CBS is doing with Star Trek TNG and go back to the original film elements and reproduce those cuts in HD, but they chose not to.

This thread says that commentary on the DVDs confirms that the first two supersized episodes were indeed last minute requests from NBC, while the reason for why the other episodes are in SD video is probably in line with what I wrote above:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/topi...l-super-sized/

Matthew Chmiel

Fixed.

Since the HD masters were originally made for the series' broadcast in cable and syndication, I am not surprised Warner didn't take the time to master the "super size" edits of the episodes. Warner could've easily included the longer cuts or even just the extra footage as a bonus feature. Considering the Blu-rays are rocking lossy audio, I don't think presentation was at the top of Warner's list when releasing the complete series to Blu-ray ...

... especially since Warner crammed 12-13 episodes per disc.

mhg83

For some reason the UK Blu-Ray is only $109.98.

The U.S. version is $157.49 Guess the extra is for the packaging. I like the U.K. Packaging more since it's not housed in the sleeves.

bruceames

I prefer the U.K. packaging too, and was lucky enough to get this from Amazon.uk for about $75 shipped a few months ago. Can't beat $7.50 a season.

Throwing Copper

I bought the U.S. version on Amazon, and the picture quality is excellent. I really love it.

It's also nice to have the glossy booklet that has each episode outlined throughout the seasons.