Post-Pacific Generation Ready to Thrill – But Not in HD

TV One will maintain its military Monday strand with an Iraq War miniseries from The Wire’s David Simon but, unlike The Pacific, Generation Kill won’t screen in HD.

The decision is as daft as TV One repeating Band of Brothers in SD and is a double-blow for fans of premium drama: the network’s decision to pick up Generation Kill at the last minute has delayed its Blu-ray release.

Indeed, it even forced Warner Bros NZ to withdraw from sale the DVD of the miniseries it released late last year. It now plans to re-release the DVD simultaneously with the Blu-ray once Generation Kill’s been broadcast (it premieres on June 21); had it not been for TV One’s change of heart, the Blu-ray would have been out in February.

The frustrating irony is none of the broadcast networks was interested in Generation Kill when HBO first shopped the 2008 production in this territory. Programmers thought it too raw and challenging for primetime here, and arguably too overtly American (which is why the Emmy-winning John Adams, another HBO triumph, has never aired here).

But it’s likely HBO would have twisted TVNZ’s arm to buy Generation Kill as part of the broadcaster’s deal for The Pacific (which bows on Blu-ray in November). It’s just a pity that TV One wasn’t willing to reward viewing of this outstanding miniseries with an HD showcasing, especially given how spectacular The Pacific has looked over the last nine weeks.

Because of digital infrastructural issues, TVNZ is still only able to broadcast a fraction of its schedules in HD. But it beggars belief that having doubled its Monday night viewership with The Pacific, TV One would revert to SD for an equally esteemed war drama that’s deserving of the same pristine 720p presentation.