But the issue extends beyond just changing the aspect ratio. Remastering shows that were originally filmed with older technology can sometimes go terribly wrong, like that I Love Lucy clip that went viral last year, featuring background actors whose once-blurry appearances were sharpened to the point where they resembled surreal Picasso sketches. I visited the set of Frasier in the late nineties, just as the TV industry was gearing up for the transition from standard definition to high definition. While I admired the décor of Dr. Crane’s living room, one of the show’s producers lamented that everything would look much less appealing in HD compared to the more forgiving SD format, fearing they might need to rebuild their sets entirely. Frasier, Lucy, and countless others were produced without any consideration for how they might appear in a format that hadn’t even been conceived at that time.
Although many classic films have been successfully remastered for HD or 4K, they are often standalone projects, allowing for careful attention to every single frame. On the other hand, Seinfeld and I Love Lucy both produced 180 episodes, while The Simpsons has 429 episodes in standard definition. Conducting quality control on that scale is incredibly challenging, which is why so many errors occur. (In fact, Disney+ eventually added an option for viewers to watch the first 20 seasons of The Simpsons in their original aspect ratio.) Occasionally, you find a case like The Wire, where creator David Simon insisted on being involved in the process of adjusting the gritty drama’s image quality and aspect ratio, but such instances are rare.
The specific error with Mad Men is particularly unusual, as the show was always presented in HD widescreen. However, since the first four seasons were shot on film, it’s possible that during remastering, someone mistakenly used a different take of the vomit scene that hadn’t had the crew members digitally removed. A source familiar with the situation mentioned that Lionsgate sent HBO Max “incorrect files,” and the correct versions will be uploaded as soon as possible.
