Oh boy. After 12 seasons stuck in standard definition, South Park will finally be shown in glorious high-def. The new season starts on March 11th and is a long time coming. The season 13 premier hopefully sets a standard that the likes The Simpsons and Family Guy must follow. I mean, come on. It’s 2009 and those cartoons are some of the last prime time shows stuck in the past. Some would argue that cartoons in HD makes no sense, but to them (mainly Doug) I say ‘Are you dumb?’
The Simpsons Movie looks incredible. The depth of field is great, the detail is increased, and the over all experience is a modern take on the hand-drawn classic. I’m not saying to deviate from the overall look, but rather increase the quality of the product with the help of high-definition. The Simpsons is getting a little stale and maybe going to high definition would bring back some of the original Gen X audience.
I do understand that part of the draw (thank you) to shows like King of the Hill and The Simpsons is that the story is more important than the picture, but at least make the shows widescreen friendly. I’m pretty sure that those two cartoons are the only shows I watch that are still 4:3. South Park is great but It’s time folks, lets have these other shows in HD already.
Family Guy and Simpsons are in HD already. I watch them on directv in HD on the local stations (although not widescreen). Repeats of Family Guy on Adult Swim are in HD (16:9 widescreen at that). Don’t know if they’re cropping, but it definitely does not look stretched.
I forgot to add, I’m glad that South Park will be making this switch to HD. But how will we see it in HD? Comedy Central is still only broadcasting in standard def. I guess there’s iTunes if you’re willing to purchase the episodes after they air.
Neither of those shows are HD right now, the Simpsons goes HD on 2/15.
King of the Hill aired in 4:3 HD one time on Fox and never again, Fox has not said why.
The airings on cartoon network HD are defiantly stretched, its just not as noticeable on animated shows.
The Simpsons is going HD on Feb 15th
I hear King of the Hill will be HD 16 x 9 on Feb 8
Im watching fox cartoons right now on February 15th, 2009 and i just watched The Simpsons 16×9 HD and KIng of the Hill is 16×9 HD as I type. Now lets just hope for Family Guy. Im lovin’ it!
You can watch every south park episode online at http://www.southparkstudios.com/ it’s owned by comedy central and has a short advertisement where the ads were shown in the broadcast. The latest season looks great in HD widescreen. Most episodes were uncensored, but for some reason not known by me, a few of the episodes still contain the censors.