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Preparing MacGyver for HD (1 Viewer)

LCD22

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Any updates? I spoke to Gord Lacey, and he said it is technically possible but wonder if Paramount would go to the expense.

I personally would like to see a Blu-ray release that also includes extras (following in the footsteps of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Enterprise).
 

AndyMcKinney

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Not very likely, though. Blu-ray sales for Next Generation fell below expectations, and that's a series with an arguably much bigger fan base than MacGyver (and a fan base that's more proven to buy "stuff").
 

LCD22

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I had heard Star Trek: The Next Generation bombed. I'm also not known to buy stuff.

MacGyver has a global market and somewhere CBS would have to see that preparing this for high definition would be prudent, at least.
 

The Obsolete Man

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I had heard Star Trek: The Next Generation bombed. I'm also not known to buy stuff.

MacGyver has a global market and somewhere CBS would have to see that preparing this for high definition would be prudent, at least.

They won't even do more Star Trek. And if they won't do more Trek, it's not very likely anything else gets that treatment.
 

LeoA

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I imagine MacGyver would be much cheaper to do at least. Not nearly the same amount of computer generated special effects as Star Trek presumably has.
 

jcroy

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Do we know whether the original MacGyver was edited on film or videotape?

From skimming through some episodes yesterday evening, I couldn't immediately figure it out either way.
 

LeoA

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It must have been edited on videotape judging by this conversation, since otherwise there would be no special impediments to HD transfers beyond the typical cost of any other show that CBS creates HD transfers of.

Also telling is the Syndication Bible. Not one episode has a HD transfer available, where as it has been commonplace for other filmed CBS shows that have reached DVD and still see some syndication. If it was as simple as creating a HD scan from original film elements, surely they'd of done it for this one since it's popular enough.

Is this new MacGyver getting anywhere? Maybe if that succeeds, that will spur some action on this front. Either way, I think it looks pretty good as it is on DVD and on channels like Me-TV.
 

LCD22

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It must have been edited on videotape judging by this conversation, since otherwise there would be no special impediments to HD transfers beyond the typical cost of any other show that CBS creates HD transfers of.

Also telling is the Syndication Bible. Not one episode has a HD transfer available, where as it has been commonplace for other filmed CBS shows that have reached DVD and still see some syndication. If it was as simple as creating a HD scan from original film elements, surely they'd of done it for this one since it's popular enough.

Is this new MacGyver getting anywhere? Maybe if that succeeds, that will spur some action on this front. Either way, I think it looks pretty good as it is on DVD and on channels like Me-TV.

I haven't noticed the video quality suffer in any way on DVD.

MacGyver is still relevant to me in 2017. A reboot has already been done. I haven't been watching and haven't turned back to network television since 2011.
 

MatthewA

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CBS/Paramount remastered Cheers in HD years ago and hasn't done a thing with them on Blu-ray yet. That show started out being shot and edited on film but switched to being shot on film and edited on tape the same year MacGyver premiered. The credits are a dead giveaway.

They also released I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show on Blu-ray, so we'll see how far they get with those.

You'd think with the reboot they'd want to have HD masters of the original ready to go, even if not to put on disc to have available for HD rerun channels or for streaming. If they don't want to go through the trouble of making and selling discs, they could always let one of their sub-licensers have it. Universal let Mill Creek have Miami Vice and Quantum Leap for Blu-ray, so obviously they can see the value in it.
 

jcroy

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(On a tangent).

At this point, I would also be skeptical of the MacGyver reboot being released on bluray.

I like the reboot a lot.


CBS/Paramount might still have a bad taste in their mouth, from releasing season 1 of Scorpion on bluray a few years ago.
 

bmasters9

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CBS/Paramount remastered Cheers in HD years ago and hasn't done a thing with them on Blu-ray yet. That show started out being shot and edited on film but switched to being shot on film and edited on tape the same year MacGyver premiered. The credits are a dead giveaway.

Is the giveaway in the look of the credits (seemingly chyroned from what I saw of them, albeit I might be mistaken)?
 
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Here's a first lo-res side-by-side look at the remastered version:


The full press release is available at https://www.home.cbssi.com/news-press-details/the-original-macgyver-hd-remastered/

All seven seasons will be finished by the end of the year and there's no word yet on where/when they'll be released.

At this point, I don't think a BD release is very likely, considering that almost all studios have dropped HD releases for their shows. At the moment, this info is mostly for business partners, i.e. tv stations, so I guess the first place we'll see this will be during reruns on HDTV (like the new transfers of Family Matters and Kung Fu, for instance) and an iTunes download version will probably be available at the same time.
 

bmasters9

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Here's a first lo-res side-by-side look at the remastered version:


That's pretty darn good! Apparently, the titles are redone as well, similar to those of O-R NBC 60s Trek.

What led CBS Digital (I think those are the people behind it) to remaster O-R ABC 1985-92 MacGyver, anyway-- was it that there is a newer one on CBS now w/Lucas Till?
 
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I guess it's the demands of tv stations. The old master is basically unwatchable on flatscreens lager than 30 inches. And with Ultra HD etc. coming up, at some point, broadcasters won't buy SD versions anymore (especially very poor SD versions). It's also possible that streaming partners like Netflix demand higher quality. But of course, if this was indeed done with a Blu-ray release in mind, that would be quite cool.
 

jcroy

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Wonder how much current demand there is by streaming + cable channels for HD versions of the original MacGyver, largely riding on the coattails of the rebooted MacGyver being on CBS over the past two years.

(None of my current cable channels play any original MacGyver reruns).
 
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Maybe more on an international scale? Here in Europe, Mac has always been immensely popular and especially here in Germany pretty much on constant reruns ever since the original airing. And even when it gets off the air after the third or fourth complete series run, it usually doesn't take more than a year until the next rerun. So that could be a reason. But yeah, it's just as well possible that they're doing it because of the new show.

On the other hand, other studios' shows, like Warner's Family Matters and Kung Fu, have been remastered in HD without any current reboot to push them.

But thinking about it, maybe it is indeed because of the reboot as they're also remastering Charmed which will also be rebooted next season.
 

potnoodle

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Wonder how much current demand there is by streaming + cable channels for HD versions of the original MacGyver, largely riding on the coattails of the rebooted MacGyver being on CBS over the past two years.

(None of my current cable channels play any original MacGyver reruns).

Me-TV ran MacGyver about a year ago, twice nightly, but pulled both airings after just a few months. Apparently they were disappointed with the ratings.
 

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