Murder, She Wrote on Start TV

[HoldenIsHere]

I'm a big fan of MeTV. It puzzles me that M*A*S*H is in wide screen. I didn't think it was filmed that way.
Great American Family enlarges Murder, She Wrote to wide screen. You can tell as the opening credits drop off the bottom of the screen.
I've overlooked Start TV, but now have a better reason to check it out.

M*A*S*H* was not filmed in widescreen.
TV shows weren't filmed in widescreen until the 2000s I think.
But many pre-widescreen shows are aired today in a "faux widescreen" format achieved by cropping off the top and bottom.
It's like pan-and-scan in reverse.
I hate it!

[jimimac71]

The faux widescreen is obvious on Great American Family.
M*A*S*H, on MeTV, doesn't look out of place.
MSW on Hallmark Mystery is in proper aspect ratio with a big HD to the right of the picture.
I remember P&S on my old video discs.
Who can forget Panavison from TCM on an old CRT TV.
Nice avatar Holden.

[CinemaInternational]

I'm a big fan of MeTV. It puzzles me that M*A*S*H is in wide screen. I didn't think it was filmed that way.
Great American Family enlarges Murder, She Wrote to wide screen. You can tell as the opening credits drop off the bottom of the screen.
I've overlooked Start TV, but now have a better reason to check it out.

M*A*S*H* was not filmed in widescreen.
TV shows weren't filmed in widescreen until the 2000s I think.
But many pre-widescreen shows are aired today in a "faux widescreen" format achieved by cropping off the top and bottom.
It's like pan-and-scan in reverse.
I hate it!

The first TV shows to be done in Widescreen were in the late 90s, but they were few and far between. Two short lived shows in 1997: C-16 and Feds, were the first to actually be broadcast that way.... but 1994's ER was actually filmed in widescreen but reduced to pan-and-scan on early TV airings. The DVDs, TV prints, and internet streaming copies of ER are all in widescreen, save for the opening credits, which were always in the 4:3 ratio. Law and Order did the same pan and scan thing for their original broadcasts/widescreen filming and later DVDs beginning around that time as well.

It also seems as though The X-Files switched to widescreen in 1998.But it is true that most shows switched over in the 2000s to widescreen, reaching maybe up to a third by 2003, but didn't become a majority until 2006. After the digital TV switch in 2009, almost all shows switched to widescreen.

But, yes, I have noticed the reverse pan-and-scan on other shows, such as Murder She Wrote and The Waltons on TV (indeed in Murder, She Wrote's case, part of the writing of the guest star credits is occasionally cut out of the frame). And then there is the case of LA Law. All of the episodes are on Hulu in the "fake" 16:9 format, whereas 2/3s of the episodes are in their original format on Amazon Prime. The irony is not just the fake widescreen for that series, but also that to do so they had to recut and re-edit the opening credits montage! (it's true. Just look at LA Law on Amazon, and if you pick a 4:3 episode and a 16:9 episode from the same season, their opening credits are slightly different)

[HoldenIsHere]

I'm a big fan of MeTV. It puzzles me that M*A*S*H is in wide screen. I didn't think it was filmed that way.
Great American Family enlarges Murder, She Wrote to wide screen. You can tell as the opening credits drop off the bottom of the screen.
I've overlooked Start TV, but now have a better reason to check it out.

M*A*S*H* was not filmed in widescreen.
TV shows weren't filmed in widescreen until the 2000s I think.
But many pre-widescreen shows are aired today in a "faux widescreen" format achieved by cropping off the top and bottom.
It's like pan-and-scan in reverse.
I hate it!

The first TV shows to be done in Widescreen were in the late 90s, but they were few and far between. Two short lived shows in 1997: C-16 and Feds, were the first to actually be broadcast that way.... but 1994's ER was actually filmed in widescreen but reduced to pan-and-scan on early TV airings. The DVDs, TV prints, and internet streaming copies of ER are all in widescreen, save for the opening credits, which were always in the 4:3 ratio. Law and Order did the same pan and scan thing for their original broadcasts/widescreen filming and later DVDs beginning around that time as well.

It also seems as though The X-Files switched to widescreen in 1998.But it is true that most shows switched over in the 2000s to widescreen, reaching maybe up to a third by 2003, but didn't become a majority until 2006. After the digital TV switch in 2009, almost all shows switched to widescreen.

But, yes, I have noticed the reverse pan-and-scan on other shows, such as Murder She Wrote and The Waltons on TV (indeed in Murder, She Wrote's case, part of the writing of the guest star credits is occasionally cut out of the frame). And then there is the case of LA Law. All of the episodes are on Hulu in the "fake" 16:9 format, whereas 2/3s of the episodes are in their original format on Amazon Prime. The irony is not just the fake widescreen for that series, but also that to do so they had to recut and re-edit the opening credits montage! (it's true. Just look at LA Law on Amazon, and if you pick a 4:3 episode and a 16:9 episode from the same season, their opening credits are slightly different)

I had to really search to get a DVD set of the the 1991 revival series DARK SHADOWS (which sadly lasted only one season) in the correct 4:3 aspect ratio. All the streaming versions I found were forced into a fake widescreen format so I did not want to own those.