The Wire is one of the greatest television series ever, so it's exciting that HBO is embarking on a rebroadcast marathon of the gritty drama. We should be pumped that The Wire is getting remastered in HD, right? Not so fast. HBO is about to ruin a classic.
HBO is billing the rebroadcast marathon as "The Wire Remastered," and the promo spot boasts that the show is "Remastered for the first time in high definition." That sounds pretty spiffy and awesome, but unfortunately, broadcasting the show in HD requires cropping the original picture to make it fit the wider HD dimensions.
Since the show was shot on film, the first four seasons were actually edited for the older 4:3 broadcast standard. You cannot make a 16:9 HD frame out of a 4:3 picture without cutting some of the original goodness out.
We've seen this done before and it never ends well. Why can't HBO just broadcast it as the series creators and editors intended? We'll take the little black bars on the side over losing any inch of Snoop. [HBO Watch via Kottke]
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