Back in 2002, FX was not the player in original cable programming that it is now. That quickly changed when The Shield introduced viewers to Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis), a renegade cop who went on to become one of television’s most memorable antiheroes. The series ran for seven seasons on FX, and it was widely hailed as a classic.
Amazingly, The Shield has never been released on Blu-ray, but that is going to change in the future. Via Collider, series creator Shawn Ryan revealed in a series of tweets that he is overseeing a major 4K conversion for every episode of The Shield, which will get the show ready for a Blu-ray release and 4K streaming.
“Thrilled to announce that after months of talking/tests that Sony and Fox are moving forward with a 4K conversion of The Shield,” wrote Ryan. “I was dubious going in since the gritty, grainy look of the show is so essential to its impact. But the tests really won me over. Since we filmed on 16mm film and not digitally, Shield is an ideal candidate for this. Plus we always filmed for widescreen safe.”
“This will be a big project and will take some time,” continued Ryan. “Current plan is to have all complete by 15th Anniversary of pilot – March, 2017. I will personally oversee and approve the work on each episode and make sure that the quality is what it needs to be. The tests showed that in 4K the gritty look could be maintained while updating it for a 2015 audience. It really looks spectacular. This conversion will allow for the release of Blu-Ray DVDs as well as comply with most streaming sites that will soon be all 4K.”
“I pushed hard for this and want to thank everyone at Sony and Fox, especially Steve Mosko for making this happen,” added Ryan. “I’ve always viewed The Shield as a legacy show and even when we were making it I obsessed with how it would be viewed in 10-15 years. This 4K conversion of The Shield will allow it to live on in the digital age and I couldn’t be more excited.”
Two years is a long time to wait for The Shield to finally hit Blu-ray and streaming, but it is also one of the rare series that lives up to its hype and it even had an ending that ranks among the best in TV history. In a later tweet, Ryan also noted that all of the music rights have been dealt with, and the episodes will all feature the music that was originally used.
What were your favorite episodes of The Shield? Let us know in the comment section below!
