Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Alan Gordon]

I came here expecting Jeff to have already commented on the "Dollhouse" cancellation.

~Alan

[Jeff Kleist]

Jeff has been working very hard on many things today

The Church of Joss's official position on the matter is that Aaron Spelling, who is still alive and just wants you to think he's dead is still chasing Joss's shows, making sure they're put in death slots and otherwise kept out of the eye of anyone who might like them, or on at a time when their audiences might actually relax in front of the TV instead of enjoying the start of their weekend and leaving it to the DVR

You may have won this round Spelling, but sooner or later someone will re-imagine Dynasty and you'll get yours.

I'll leave it with his holy word:

Apparently my news is not news.

I don't have a lot to say. I'm extremely proud of the people I've worked with: my star, my staff, my cast, my crew. I feel the show is getting better pretty much every week, and I think you'll agree in the coming months. I'm grateful that we got to put it on, and then come back and put it on again.

I'm off to pursue internet ventures/binge drinking. Possibly that relaxation thing I've read so much about. By the time the last episode airs, you'll know what my next project is. But for now there's a lot of work still to be done, and disappointment to bear.

Thank you all for your support, your patience, your excellent adverts. See you again. -j.

EDIT- Sweet, I managed to scare everyone off for the night

[FourToedStatue]

I'm a big fan of Dexter and Mad Men. Both shows I'm pretty sure pull less viewers than Whedon's shows ever did. I hope he does a show on Showtime or HBO next where his efforts will be appreciated. Its too bad he cant take Dollhouse to another network.

Jeff do you know what is FOX's mindset when it comes to Friday nights? The fact that shows go to die there was brought up on Family Guy years ago, Why do they keep doing this?

[MerrickG]

Jeff,

Played Modern Warfare 2 yet? Im having a blast with it so far and Im actually playing the game on Hardened when I normally play FPS games on the normal mode.

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by FourToedStatue

I'm a big fan of Dexter and Mad Men. Both shows I'm pretty sure pull less viewers than Whedon's shows ever did. I hope he does a show on Showtime or HBO next where his efforts will be appreciated. Its too bad he cant take Dollhouse to another network.

Jeff do you know what is FOX's mindset when it comes to Friday nights? The fact that shows go to die there was brought up on Family Guy years ago, Why do they keep doing this?

A Joss Whedon HBO or Showtime show would be awesome. I'm just not sure he'd be all that thrilled with the "why don't you have more sex scenes" questions.

[Jeff Kleist]

I have no idea what Fox is thinking with Fridays, neither do they it seems because they keep throwing shows there from genres that don't work, and expect them to work. Definition of insanity

MW2 is pretty short, I cleared the campaign in 6 hours and I'm now getting my butt shot off on Veteran. I tried the online last night and am definately finding it annoying. I like COD4 but maybe it's the fact i don't have any good weapons at my low rank and don't know the maps at all. SpecOps is a lot of fun with a friend though.

[aramis109]

Hey Jeff, I know you guys have a pretty good connection with WB, so was just curious about some speculation on the new UCE of Watchmen. Some folks are saying they think it's a bit sharper and are questioning if it's a new transfer:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...=89841&page=39

I can't imagine them re-doing the whole thing just to splice in the extra Black Freighter/newstand scenes, but hell, stranger things have occurred. Any truth to this or can we put it to bed? Watchmen looks fantastic as-is in my opinion.

[Jeff Kleist]

There won't be any new transfer of Watchmen or other newer films. It's all DI straight into the encoder

Any differences you're seeing is almost certainly just how lucky they got on the screenshot, or even if a differnt player was being used to source it. Any improvements gained from leaving out maximum movie likely went into making an additional 20 minutes of Black Freighter possible

[Moonlight Shadow]

Hey guys, do you know if Sony is working on more Ray Harryhausen Blu-rays? I know that Warner will release CLASH OF THE TITANS soon, but that isn't exactly my favorite Harryhausen movie.

[garytma]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I have no idea what Fox is thinking with Fridays, neither do they it seems because they keep throwing shows there from genres that don't work, and expect them to work. Definition of insanity

My guess would be that Fox is desperately trying to re-ignite their Friday night success with X-Files.

[Jeff Kleist]

I don't think anyone working at Fox was there, and neither was the person they replaced, and probably the person that person replaced either. Fox tossed X-Files to Sunday the minute people started watching. This was a completely different Fox, still in startup mode and finding an identity, and also newly with a football contract that would decimate their Sunday night lineup as well due to meatheads not being able to tell time. Before Fox gave up on the 7PM hour on Sunday, many shows died (Futurama, Space Above and Beyond come to mind) after strong pre-season ratings because people got sick of rolling the dice on being able to watch

The marketing people at Fox network don't understand the shows that Fox television keeps giving them to put on, and they see that Sci-Fi does well with their Friday lineup, and they figure everyone who watches that stuff are dateless nerds anyway.

Dollhouse was the most DVR'd show last year. While both it and Terminator only did something like 3 million "live' viewings, they did something like 11 after DVR was counted

[SpaceDog]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Dollhouse was the most DVR'd show last year. While both it and Terminator only did something like 3 million "live' viewings, they did something like 11 after DVR was counted

Networks really need to cope with this as the new reality. Much as I hate obvious product placement (though 30 Rock does a tremendous job here), I think it's going to be paramount that successful shifted shows start incorporating inline ad content. I think this can be done without being obnoxious. I also think signing up sponsors for commercial breaks involving actors from the program possibly shot by the series directors on the sets would encourage eyes to stay on ads.

[Jeff Kleist]

They already are, by putting the little things in the middle of the ad breaks. They've also found that the vast majority of people are too lazy to hit the 30 second bump button, and so the DVR fear will go away in the next couple years, and they'll embrace it as the best thing that ever happened to them, because more people can watch their shows

It's just too bad a bunch of bodies will be left in the learning curve's wake of great shows

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Any differences you're seeing is almost certainly just how lucky they got on the screenshot, or even if a different player was being used to source it. Any improvements gained from leaving out maximum movie likely went into making an additional 20 minutes of Black Freighter possible

Comparisons between the DC & the Paramount theatrical seem to show a very small (and I stress very small) application of either DNR on the DC or additional space for less compression on the theatrical. So Warner may have left the DNR button "off" or it was better compression.

[Jeff Kleist]

Well then, probably just more open bandwidth thanks to Maximum movie mode not chewing bits

either way, I'm not that concerned about it

[aramis109]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Well then, probably just more open bandwidth thanks to Maximum movie mode not chewing bits

either way, I'm not that concerned about it

Heh, I was just curious more than anything. I have no intention of double-dipping on this title as I'm quite happy with the DC offering.

[depooter]

Jeff. Heard some rumblings about Alias being released on blu. Any news?

Thanks

[Jeff Kleist]

Catalog TV is not really on the radar, and Alias, like many shows of its vinatage is not going to wow new buyers. Think the reaction to Firefly

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Catalog TV is not really on the radar, and Alias, like many shows of its vinatage is not going to wow new buyers. Think the reaction to Firefly

Alias ran for 5 seasons though. Firefly barely aired more than 5 episodes.

It was also pretty well shot, very good photography and sound. HD broadcasts were pretty impressive. I wasn't surprised when LOST had similar production values.

They could tie it in with the new JJ Abrams produced M:I:IV...

[FourToedStatue]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Alias ran for 5 seasons though. Firefly barely aired more than 5 episodes.

It was also pretty well shot, very good photography and sound. HD broadcasts were pretty impressive. I wasn't surprised when LOST had similar production values.

They could tie it in with the new JJ Abrams produced M:I:IV...

I think that if they can't even release catalog tv shows of shows currently on (like smallville and Supernaturals unreleased seasons), then shows that ended already are gonna be a tougher sell. Hell even Sony is losing faith on new releases (see The Shield, Breaking Bad, Damages).

Still, I can't wait for the day Bill or Jeff announce that the studios are gonna open the floodgates on tv shows on Blu-ray.