I mean of all the things to waste the medium on. But there it is on HDNet! WTF? Why make the transfer? Why waste the bandwidth? Why why why?
Very interesting. But stupid. 
Seriously, If I have to watch crapola 60’s sitcoms in HD, give me Gilligan’s Island, Bewitched, and Barbara Eden, um, I mean, I Dream of Jeannie! I really don’t need to see Sgt. Shultz in such detail…
Thankfully Gilligan’s Island never made it across the Atlantic so I have no fond memories of it. ‘Bewitched’ I have throbbing adolescent memories of but something about HH tickled my funny bone. Not enough to want to watch it in HD though.
Some things are just best left as fond memories.
I’ve noticed that too.
So, what’s the deal? Were those shot on 35 mm film in widescreen format or something?
You can’t turn “Cheers” into HD if it was shot on TV cameras in SD.
Just because you can put lipstick on a pig doesn’t mean you should.
Many sitcoms were shot and post produced in 35mm. If prints survive they can be remastered into HD. More modern television shows may have been shot on 35mm, but all the post was done in standard definition video after the transfer was made. This is why we will never see “LA Law” or “Star Trek: The Next Generation” in HD. The original 60’s Star Trek series was more easily remade into HD, but they had the original 35mm, and were able to generate the few brief CGI sequences with ease because the show didn’t rely on a lot of fx to begin with.
Anyway, if they can get Bob Crane’s perverted mug in HD, I wants my Mary Ann and Ginger!
With the full knowledge that I may be berated and downgraded in the minds, if not the posts, of other dopers for my opinion, I will say that Gilligan’s Island was a great little show. A gem of it’s time. Give it a look sometime!
Hey, Hogan’s Heroes must have been funny, because the audience laughed every single time they opened up the fake tree trunk tunnel exit.