Think the DVD set is bad with no extras and incorrect widescreen framing?
It gets worse.
In a stunning screw-up by a usually top-notch tech services department, the telecine department inadvertently 'corrected' all the filtered day-for-night photography.
OMG - I didn't realize that. But then, I didn't buy the DVD release. And the more I hear about how dreadfully it was botched, the less inclined I am to ever buy it. :-
Speaking of widescreen framing, one of my Christmas gifts to myself was picking up the first two seasons of
The Pretender on DVD. Season 1 was released in 1.33:1 full frame format, but when I began watching Season 2 this week I was surprised to see that it's in 1.78:1 widescreen, just like the '91 DS DVD set. However, unlike the '91 DS, apparently
The Pretender must have shot Season 2 and onward in widescreen format even though it was never broadcast on NBC that way. And also unlike the '91 DS DVD set, the only part of the series that's cropped to conform to the widescreen format is the credits - exactly the opposite of the way things were done with the '91 DS DVD set. (I'm presuming the credits were cropped to avoid producing an all new widescreen version of them, having to frame them with vertical black bars to the left and right, or to avoid how jarring it would be for them to suddenly jump to full screen.)
Here are two examples. First up, the credits:
original broadcast
DVD
But look how much more there is to the actual episode footage:
original broadcast
DVD
If only the '91 DS DVDs could have worked out that way. But alas...