Seinfeld will be released on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD in December, but the two releases offer different presentations of the series.
If you’re ready to experience the puffy shirt, the soup nazi, and Festivus in the glory of 4K, then I have some good news for you! Sony Pictures Home Entertainment announced that they will release Seinfeld: The Complete Series on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD on December 17th in honour of the show’s 35th anniversary.
However, collectors will want to know that the two home-media releases offer very different presentations of the iconic series. The Blu-ray edition will feature the series in a 1.78 format, while the 4K Ultra HD edition will feature the series in its original 1.33 aspect ratio. The 4K set is also being billed as a limited edition, so if you want the original aspect ratio, you might not want to sleep on this.
The Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD sets will include all nine seasons on 24 discs. Both sets will also include audio commentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers, insider looks, and “alternate versions” of select episodes. Going by the SRP, Seinfeld: The Complete Series on Blu-ray will cost $149.99, while Seinfeld: The Complete Series on 4K will cost $249.99.
Given Seinfeld‘s popularity, it’s surprising that this marks the show’s first leap into high definition (in a physical release). The show was released on DVD season by season, starting with seasons 1 & 2 in 2004 and concluding with season 9 in 2007.
Jerry Seinfeld has been in the news recently, taking back comments he made blaming the “extreme left” for the demise of the TV sitcom. “I said that the ‘extreme left’ has suppressed the art of comedy. I did say that. That’s not true,” Seinfeld said. “It’s not true. If you’re a champion skier, you can put the gates anywhere you want on the mountain and you’re going to make the gate. That’s comedy. Whatever the culture is, we make the gate. You don’t make the gate, you’re out of the game. The game is where is the gate and how do I make the gate to get down the hill.“
Seinfeld continued, “Does culture change and are their things that I use to say that [I can’t because] people are always moving [the gate]? Yes, but that’s the biggest and easiest target. You can’t say certain words about groups. So what? The accuracy of your observation has to be 100 times finer than that just to be a comedian…So I don’t think, as I said, the ‘extreme left’ has done anything to inhibit the art of comedy.“
Will you be adding Seinfeld to your Blu-ray or 4K collection?