Roundabout Entertainment Breathes New Life into “NYPD Blue”
Facility completes sparkling 2K restoration of eight seasons of the Emmy-winning series that defined police dramas in the 1990s.
In a project for 20th Century Fox spanning nine months, Roundabout Entertainment restored and remastered the first eight seasons of the classic procedural police drama NYPD Blue. More than 170 1-hour episodes were scanned and finished in 2K, restoring the show to pristine quality for a new domestic release.
The new restoration was created from 35mm cut negative—the first eight seasons were shot on film—and other original elements. 2K scanning was performed by Roundabout Colorist Juan Zorn using Lasergraphics archive scanning system The Director.
Smollin and his crew found missing scenes by combing through original production dailies. They used a Steenbeck flatbed film editing system to view 20-year old film elements and match them against video reference.
All of the material underwent a scrupulous digital process of removing dust, scratches and other artifacts conducted by Roundabout’s restoration experts using MTI Film’s DRS Nova. During the color grading process that followed, particular attention was given to replicating the gritty, cinema-verite look of the series—one of its signature elements.
Roundabout also restored the series’ soundtrack. The original stereo surround stems were remixed in 5.1 surround.