TV Answer Man, I heard on TV today that Netflix will start having Seinfeld episodes. When will this start and will they be available in 4K? — Gene, Rockville, Maryland.
Gene, you heard right. Netflix announced today that all 180 episodes of the classic 1990s sitcom starring Jerry Seinfeld will debut October 1 on the streaming service. Netflix acquired the rights from Sony to Seinfeld in 2019, but the deal didn’t take effect until this year. (Hulu’s pact to carry Seinfeld finally expired earlier this year.)
When the Netflix-Seinfeld agreement was announced in 2019, there was talk that the episodes would be available in HD and 4K. So, will they be in 4K on October 1?
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We asked Netflix today and a company spokeswoman told us that yes, all 180 episodes will be available in both HD and 4K on day one. The show, which aired in standard-definition when it was on NBC in the 1990s, has been remastered for both formats.
In case you’re not familiar with Netflix’s programming packages, you’ll need its most expensive plan (“Premium”) to watch Seinfeld in 4K, or any other 4K title, for that matter. The Premium plan costs $17.99 a month and also enables you to stream on four different devices at the same time.
For $13.99 a month, you can watch Seinfeld (and everything else) in high-def as well as stream on two devices simultaneously. Netflix’s basic plan, which is $8.99 a month, features standard-definition programming only, and one device at a time.
Gene, hope that helps. Happy viewing, and stay safe!
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— Phillip Swann
Does this mean that Seinfeld was filmed so they can re-master in 4K? Are they going to be broadcast in 4:3 or crop to 16:9?
Zero details beyond what’s in the story.
Absolute WORST TV SHOW EVER!!!
I was never a fan, because I never liked the characters. But the characters were meant to be likable; selfish, self-indulgent S.O.B.s. Seinfeld said it was a show “about nothing.” the characters were never on the hero quest. I always found the writing clever rather than funny. They had some very smart people writing. The “occult” interpretation of the final episode is “pure genius.”
This is a good question about Seinfeld…about the picture quality. Was it filmed? Was it shot on analogue tape? (Not an expert on technical this stuff). I have a 4K TV and the Seinfeld promo shown in Netflix was slightly blurred.
Comparison: American Graffiti was shot on grainy fast film. I had the film on VHS tape and the picture was OK (for VHS that is). I replaced that with DVD and the picture was better. But, when I replaced that with Blu-ray the quality went down the toilet, because the Blu-ray showed up all the graininess of the original film stock.
So are we going to be stuck with this with 1980-90s technical quality standards shown up on 2020s 4k?