Family Guy to Make HD Bow in US

TV3 is replacing its Sunday HD comedy combo of The Simpsons and Modern Family with SD re-runs of the former and season eight of Family Guy, which starts on July 18.

It also will re-run “the most outrageous and naughty” episodes of Family Guy from 10.05pm Fridays, beginning July 16, after a newly expanded 7 Days.

But the freakin’ sweetest news for fans is Family Guy will go HD from September in the US, joining the ranks of The Simpsons, King of the Hill and American Dad.

Because King and American Dad are C4 properties, and MediaWorks has ruled out the possibility of its youth channel going HD, they will continue to air here in SD.

But now that TV3 has reacquired Family Guy from its sister channel, expect to see the Griffin clan in HD from next year (for a sneak peek of how the show will look, check out the Blu-ray of Family Guy’s The Empire Strikes Back spoof, Something, Something, Something Dark Side).

Sunday’s Modern Family caps a week of HD season finales on TV3, including Bones, CSI, The Good Wife and RadiRadiRah, with NCIS: Los Angeles to follow with a double-episode send-off on Monday.

Meanwhile, the season one Blu-ray of NCIS: Los Angeles, which releases in the US on August 31, will include such exclusive extras as a two-part NCIS crossover episode, a commentary and behind-the-scenes shorts.