I think some reviewers have unrealistic expectations for a tv show that was shot on videotape in 1977. And thank Ma Otter there’s a full frame version this time! The 16:9 DVD from last year(?) was pretty awful to look at.
I watched the Blu-ray last night and I can’t help but feel it’s worse than it should’ve been. Lots of ringing/halo artifacts around edges. No reason for that type of artifact to appear in analog sources without some type of processing. Whether it was intentional edge enhancement or just bad upscaling (which can cause ringing), I can’t say. The frame rate is also 23.976, which something shot on video certainly shouldn’t be.
Having it in 4:3 is nice, but if the original broadcast tape still exists, I find it hard to believe this is the best they could do. Seems to me they’re just recycling the same old master.