I'm thinking about buying some older TV shows on DVD, is it still safe to purchase them or is all of the older shows going to be re-released on bluray? I'm going to be buying Star Trek TNG, Voyager, etc.

Until the cost on tv sets on Blu come down to reasonable pricing, I think you are safe. Then again Star Trek in an enigma all unto its own.

It's impossible to say that a show will never be released on Blu-Ray. Even shows shot in SD video could theoretically appear on BD.

However, I think you're asking whether a show will ever be released in HD. That's a bit trickier. Star Trek TNG, DS9, and Voyager were all shot on film, but were edited on SD video, with the effects composited on SD video, if not rendered in SD video as well. To release them in HD, the shows would have to be re-transfered and re-edited in HD with any CGI possibly needing to be re-rendered. As Michael points out, Star Trek is so insanely popular that the studio may actually go through those great lengths for that show in order to have it in HD.

Other shows that were shot on film but initially edited on SD video have already had HD re-edits, like Seinfeld and Cheers. These shows didn't rely on special effects, so HD re-edits are much simpler.

Basically, the only shows that you are "safe" in buying on SD DVD are shows shot on SD Video, since there is no higher-resolution source to go back to on those types of shows. So something like All in the Family is pretty much a safe bet getting in SD. With all shows shot in film, there's always a chance, no matter how remote, of it eventually showing up in HD.

I'd imagine TV shows on DVD would still be the safest thing to buy in SD. Many might eventually get a Blu-ray release, but TV show releases seem to be pretty slow right now on Blu-ray. And really, there were hardly any TV shows on DVD during this time in DVD's life. But as others have said, who knows when it comes to Star Trek?! I can see it getting a Blu release for sure, but obviously nothing has been announced or anything.

Thanks everyone, I guess I'll buy them on DVD then, I'm not looking for an HD version, just concerned about investing in DVD sets and then having them re-release them on bluray with less discs.

That concern will always be there. Any show has a chance of being re-released on Blu-ray. Right now though, unless you want to wait quite awhile; keep purchasing TV shows on SD.

A large portion of my DVD collection is TV on DVD titles. Lucky, I didn't buy a lot of movies on DVD, so I've been picking up a lot of movies I haven't seen before on BD that aren't double-dips. A few of my BDs are ones I own on DVD like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut are all ones I wanted in HD. More of the movies I've bought on DVD will be re-bought on BD. HD is just so much better and I always like to see the film with the best quality possible. It's the same with TV shows, but I don't see a lot of them coming out on BD for a while and by that time I'll probably want to double-dip on them.

If you have a good HDTV and a good upscaling DVD player (or PS3); your TOD titles are going to look good. They aren't going to look HD good, but I think you will be pretty impressed with the PQ of some of your old DVDs.

Star Trek is already available on HD DVD (where it sold poorly) and will eventually be available on Bu-ray as well.

But for them most, don't expect much TV on Blu-ray at all in the next year or so.

I'm still buying TV on DVD without worrying about it. There is little on BD and most of that is priced way more than I would pay. Weeds is currently the only show I buy in HD and that is only because Lionsgate prices it close to the DVD cost. I'm not paying 2-3 times the cost to have shows in HD.

That makes two of us for sure. I also purchased Battlestar Galactica on HD DVD but it was only at the clearance price from ezydvd. I would buy some for sure, if they were lower in cost and there were some shows I actually wanted to see.

This is an interesting point, though. For a long time we'd been speculating about having a complete season on one larger-capacity disc. It hasn't happened so far because of the greater storage space needed for high definition, but if the shows remained in SD, that theoretically could happen. I don't know if it'd be worth the effort, though.

I bought the HD-DVD of Heroes, but aside from that the only Blu-ray TV shows that I have are Weeds and Mad Men. I did pre-order Pushing Daisies, though.

But didn't TV show prices start higher on DVD as well? I seem to recall the first TV shows to appear (like X-Files, even though I never collected it) had a higher price point than they do now. As more start to get released, I'm sure the prices will start to come down some.

Yep, X-Files was $150, I believe

I thought so. I can't remember the first shows I collected, but I remember them being really expensive. For some reason, the only show from the early DVD days that I can really remember is Monty Python's Flying Circus.

X-Files was expensive because it was not only one of the first TV Shows on DVD, but also a test to see if they would sell well. Before that we would typically get some random episodes on VHS or a season spread out on 10-12 VHS tapes.

Now, with TV on DVD proven, the high prices should not be, well, so high. Sure, BD discs are more expensive than DVD, but as Weeds has proven, they will sell as long as they are priced right. Terminator and Pushing Daisies should do pretty well when they get released due to the fact they are only $10-$15 more than the DVD counterpart.

However Greys Anatomy will be priced at almost double the DVD counterpart, and by the time the DVD version reaches the typical $25 or less statues (a month or two) the BD will still sell at a high price. Heroes and Lost Season 3 sold pretty well, while other shows (Sopranos, Battlestar Galactica, Prison Break, Nip/Tuck, Rescue Me) did not. Because of that, we never did get the newer season of Nip/Tuck or Rescue Me, and Prison Break skipped Season 2 completly to have Season 3 be day and date with the DVD.

I'm all for TV on BD as long as its priced fairly. No reason why the BD should be twice as high as the DVD and have the studios wonder why no one is buying.

S4 of Nip/Tuck was on Blu-ray (I just finished watching that season). S5 (part 1) just aired and no announcement regarding home video release has been made yet.

So aside from Weeds, Prison Break and Heroes, the only other show to have more than one season on Blu-ray is Smallville?

Oh wait... Lost S4:The Expanded Experience lands on 12/9. SNAP!

My bad. I thought Season 5 was already available on DVD. Rescue Me Season 4 still never came out on Blu.

So aside from Weeds, Prison Break and Heroes, the only other show to have more than one season on Blu-ray is Smallville?

Oh wait... Lost S4:The Expanded Experience lands on 12/9. SNAP![/QUOTE]

As I said before, Lost Season 3 sold well enough that it was obviously able to garner the continuation of the show. Heroes is a no brainer for Universal. Other shows...not so much. Smallville managed to get Season 6 and soon to be 7th Season on Blu, while the 5th remains HD DVD exclusive (and the best time for 5 to come out would have been the same time as 7 now that Warner is 100% Blu).

If your trying to turn this into a bash thread, don't. I'm simply stating where TV on Blu stands, and right now only a few shows have actually sold decent enough to continue on. Fox glossed right over Season 2 of Prison Break and HBO seems to have no reason to ever return to bring out the older season of Sopranos. The only studio doing things right is Lionsgate (Weeds and Mad Men) and Warner is slowly starting to put out some of the shows that don't require multiple discs (Pushing Daisies and Terminator had very short seasons). There are tons of other shows that are more successful that could have been released by Warner (House for example) but Warner chose two shows that would only require 2-3 discs.

Good question... I'm presently holding out for a complete Sopranos set, and also Twin Peaks.

Weeds might not be a great example because it's just 10-15 half-hour episodes. So it's priced like a movie.

The problem I think they're facing is that they're losing the impulse buyers. While a street price of $20-30 (or even more) may seem too high for a movie, it's still in that impulse range. A TV show that costs $40-50 on DVD will go for $70 or more on BD. People just don't want to pay that, even if the percentage of the price premium is similar to movies.

If they want to sell more TV shows, either BD prices in general are going to have to come down, or they're going to have to price them with a lower increase over the DVDs.

How can my previous post even remotely considered an attempt to "turn this into a bash thread"? I was just trying to see if there was anything but the series I mentioned that had more than one season available. Lighten up buddy.

That's not likely to happen, for reasons covered in this previous thread:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=535813

For one, multiple discs are perceived as a better value. With a single-disc BD of a multiple-DVD set, the BD will have to be priced cheaper, or otherwise it'll be viewed as a rip-off.

Also, in terms of compatibility, you can always play a DVD on a BD player, but not vice-versa. So a DVD set of a show can be played by everyone, but a BD has a much more limited audience, so releasing both a DVD and SD BD doesn't make sense to a studio, since they'd have two releases of the same content where one has a severely smaller customer base that can already be served by the other release.

HBO really is an awful example to use for Blu-ray prices. Their regular DVDs are already priced way above the impulse buy range. That's why I have never completed a collection of any of their shows. They just get so damn pricey!

They aren't pricey anymore. You can get Oz seasons for under $20 a season. Six Feet Under and Sopranos for ~$25.

Theres a "TWIN PEAKS SEASON 1 - BLU-RAY" placeholder up at amazon now, but I'm unsure if this means anything: http://www.amazon.com/Twin-Peaks-Fir...6754102&sr=8-1

Any thoughts?

I think it is a perfect example. Weeds Season 3 has the exact same MSRP for BD and DVD. This isn't just the episode length, Lionsgate simply choose to charge the same price for both. You will find the DVD cheaper since stores discount DVDs more, but at least the final cost isn't double like other shows.

With Heroes Universal choose to charge an MSRP of $40 more for the HD DVD. With the discounts stores give on TV boxsets I was finding it for $20 - $30 on DVD compared to $70 for HD DVD when it first came out. There is just no way in hell I pay that much more for HD.

I found similar things with the Sopranos. It has a $99.99 MSRP, but stores still regular sell it for $40. However, the BD sets rarely drop below $100. There is just no way the set is worth that.

I think it is a combination of stores selling DVD TV sets for 50%-60% off and BD sets having a $20 - $30 higher MSRP. Since stores rarely discount BD as heavily you end up with a huge price difference. Until that gets evened out I'm passing or at least waiting until I can find a great deal on the HD version.