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Lucille Ball in High-Definition (Blu-Ray, HDTV)


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Have there been any recent developments with plans to release any of the Lucy series or Lucille Ball films on Blu-Ray or air anything of hers on high-definition television?

 

Nearly all of Lucille Ball's TV series and specials were shot on 35mm film (except for the videotaped Lucy Calls the President (1977) and possibly other later specials). These 35mm film elements contain over twice the resolution (or picture information) of a high-definition picture, which would make them more than suitable for release on Blu-Ray or for broadcast as HDTV. And roughly speaking, Blu-Ray releases or HDTV airings would be over twice as visually clear as the current standard for Lucy releases, which as been DVD media.

 

I recall reading a few years ago that when I Love Lucy was transferred for DVD release, new high-definition transfers were packaged by Paramout, though I have not heard that this HD package has been aired by any television station.

 

A taste of an HD I Love Lucy was presented in Macy's 150th Anniversary commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0wwwXKm30U

 

And Lucille's very memorable kinky scene from Ziegfeld Follies (1946) (of her in a pink outfit whipping/taming some lady panthers) was included on the That's Entertainment! III (1994) Blu-Ray. This is one of the few (if not the only) release of Lucille Ball on HD media as of today:

http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Entertainment-Complete-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B000WC3AJE/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1326074750&sr=1-1

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I'm hoping thats the plan for CBS, once they finish out TLS on DVD.

 

The ILL DVDs plus the collectors set were a gold mine for CBS. The consumers that supported the series were a mix of die-hards, Casuals and Histroians/Collectors. TLS has been a success as well. I highly doubt that CBS would pass on the chance to milk the red head once again.

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I'm hoping thats the plan for CBS, once they finish out TLS on DVD.

 

The ILL DVDs plus the collectors set were a gold mine for CBS. The consumers that supported the series were a mix of die-hards, Casuals and Histroians/Collectors. TLS has been a success as well. I highly doubt that CBS would pass on the chance to milk the red head once again.

Oh they would never miss that chance, at milking the Lucy cow.

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Have there been any recent developments with plans to release any of the Lucy series or Lucille Ball films on Blu-Ray or air anything of hers on high-definition television?

 

Nearly all of Lucille Ball's TV series and specials were shot on 35mm film (except for the videotaped Lucy Calls the President (1977) and possibly other later specials). These 35mm film elements contain over twice the resolution (or picture information) of a high-definition picture, which would make them more than suitable for release on Blu-Ray or for broadcast as HDTV. And roughly speaking, Blu-Ray releases or HDTV airings would be over twice as visually clear as the current standard for Lucy releases, which as been DVD media.

 

I recall reading a few years ago that when I Love Lucy was transferred for DVD release, new high-definition transfers were packaged by Paramout, though I have not heard that this HD package has been aired by any television station.

 

A taste of an HD I Love Lucy was presented in Macy's 150th Anniversary commercial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0wwwXKm30U

 

And Lucille's very memorable kinky scene from Ziegfeld Follies (1946) (of her in a pink outfit whipping/taming some lady panthers) was included on the That's Entertainment! III (1994) Blu-Ray. This is one of the few (if not the only) release of Lucille Ball on HD media as of today:

http://www.amazon.com/Thats-Entertainment-Complete-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B000WC3AJE/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1326074750&sr=1-1

Thanks so much for mentionning those, i forgot all about them, at last Lucy on Blu Ray!!!

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Actually, in terms of runtime, a Bluray disc will hold about the same amount in HD as a DVD in SD.

Yes, the added HD visual information is also much higher in terms of the amount of disc space. So to accommodate these large HD file sizes, a capable disc media is used: Blu-Ray, which can store 50 GBs per disc. At this time, the only way you'd have a lot of episodes on one Blu-Ray disc would be if you had them transferred and compressed them from lower quality DVD sizes.

 

BUT there are ongoing developments to create a 1 TB (=1,000 GB) sized Blu-Ray disc (= 108 high quality DVD discs) by next year (2013).

Currently, CBS/Paramount would fit about 10 HD Lucy episodes on one 50 GB Blu-Ray disc.

If this technology pulls through, we could potentially see 200 HD Lucy episodes per one 1 TB Blu-Ray disc.

Note: My guess is that it would also take a few years for this to catch on, but it will happen if Blu-Ray continues to strive.

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Yes, the added HD visual information is also much higher in terms of the amount of disc space. So to accommodate these large HD file sizes, a capable disc media is used: Blu-Ray, which can store 50 GBs per disc. At this time, the only way you'd have a lot of episodes on one Blu-Ray disc would be if you had them transferred and compressed them from lower quality DVD sizes.

 

BUT there are ongoing developments to create a 1 TB (=1,000 GB) sized Blu-Ray disc (= 108 high quality DVD discs) by next year (2013).

Currently, CBS/Paramount would fit about 10 HD Lucy episodes on one 50 GB Blu-Ray disc.

If this technology pulls through, we could potentially see 200 HD Lucy episodes per one 1 TB Blu-Ray disc.

Note: My guess is that it would also take a few years for this to catch on, but it will happen if Blu-Ray continues to strive.

Lucy in high tech, what a concept!

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Actually, in terms of runtime, a Bluray disc will hold about the same amount in HD as a DVD in SD.

 

 

To be honest, since my Bluray player upscales ILL so nicely, I wouldn't mind them being put on a bluray disc at SD, or a lower encoded HD. I'd rather see more episodes on fewer discs than super 1080p quality...it really won't make much of a difference.

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Yes, the added HD visual information is also much higher in terms of the amount of disc space. So to accommodate these large HD file sizes, a capable disc media is used: Blu-Ray...

 

:viv1: Now there's a monumental conclusion!

 

LOL, teasing...yes, you're right of course, but think of all the upscaled 480p content those bad boys could hold!

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:viv1: Now there's a monumental conclusion!

 

LOL, teasing...yes, you're right of course, but think of all the upscaled 480p content those bad boys could hold!

I'm not that technically savvy on how they work but I can tell you having collected recent seasons of a handful of shows on blu that if/when they come out that way for ILL (and TLS would be fine by me too!) I'd snap 'em up because they are able to fit so many more episodes on a disc than with DVDs, so for that reason alone....and they do look even more amazing than DVDs, believe it or not, if those I've got are any barometer! Plus for e.g., Big Bang Theory's entire 24 episode season fits on two discs -- how cool is that?? -- Smallville's 22 episode last season fits on four, whereas on DVD it takes 6. Coolness!! :D

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I have all five seasons of The Twilight Zone on Bluray and it looks absolutely mindblowing. Even though I have every Lucy season released on DVD I would not think twice about getting it in HD, especially ILL.

Agreed, i would also buy everything all over again to get them all in HD and my wallet's not too happy about that.

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